Free Will, Counterfactual Reflection, and the Meaningfulness of Life Events. (April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Seto, Elizabeth; Hicks, Joshua A.; Davis, William E.; Smallman, Rachel
• Is Part Of: Social psychological & personality science. Volume 6:Number 3(2015:Apr.)
• Page Start: 243
• Page End: 250
• Publication Date: 2015-04
• Subjects: counterfactuals -- free will -- meaning; Personality -- Periodicals; Social psychology -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 155.2
• DOI: 10.1177/1948550614559603
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1948-5506

Abstract

Research has found that counterfactual reflection, the act of mentally undoing past events, imbues major life experiences with meaning. The current studies examined whether individual differences in free will beliefs moderate this relationship. Participants described a significant event in their lives, were randomly assigned to counterfactual or factual reflection about the event, and completed measures of meaning and free will. Two studies found that counterfactual reflection enhanced the meaningfulness of life events for people with high belief in free will but not for people with low belief in free will. These studies suggest that beliefs in free will are an important factor in meaning-making processes.