The influence of high-level beliefs on self-regulatory engagement: Evidence from thermal pain stimulation

• Main Authors: Margaret T Lynn, Pieter eVan Dessel, Marcel eBrass
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2013-09-01
• Series: Frontiers in Psychology
• Subjects: Pain; Volition; inhibition; effort; free will; metacognition
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00614/full

Determinist beliefs have been shown to impact basic motor preparation, prosocial behavior, performance monitoring, and voluntary inhibition, presumably by diminishing the recruitment of cognitive resources for self-regulation. We sought to support and extend previous findings by applying a belief manipulation to a novel inhibition paradigm that requires participants to occasionally suppress a prepotent withdrawal reaction from a strong aversive stimulus. Our results suggest that reduction of free will beliefs lead to a form of intentional disengagement that influences action selection and inhibition. It is likely that disbelief in free will encourages participants to be more passive, to exhibit a reduction in intentional engagement, and to be disinclined to adapt their behavior to contextual needs.