The free will/determinism debate revolves around the extent to which our behaviour is the result of forces over which we have no control or whether people are able to decide for themselves whether to act or behave in a certain way.

Free will suggests that we all have a choice and can control and choose our own behaviour. This approach is all about personal responsibility and plays a central role in Humanist Psychology.

Levels of Determinism

Hard Determinism: proposes that all behaviour is caused by factors beyond conscious control. Behaviour is entirely determined by internal or external forces, making free will impossible.

Psychodynamic explanations: Freud argued that behaviour is determined by unconscious conflicts and innate drives. Because these unconscious processes operate outside conscious awareness, individuals have little control over their behaviour. Freud believes that the only way to access the unconscious is through therapy, as it cannot be easily accessed alone.

Genetic explanations: Biological psychologists argue that behaviour may be influenced by genetic factors. For example, Nestadt et al. found that first-degree relatives of individuals with OCD were more likely to develop the disorder themselves.

Neural explanations of OCD: Biological explanations propose that abnormal serotonin functioning may contribute to OCD symptoms, suggesting behaviour is determined by physical processes in the brain.

Soft Determinism: proposes that behaviour is influenced by biological and environmental factors, but individuals still have the capacity to make conscious choices. Free will and determinism can therefore coexist.

Hazan & Shaver (1987) – The Love Quiz: found a strong relationship between childhood attachment type and adult attachment type. The continuity hypothesis suggests that early attachment influences later relationships, indicating determinism. However, because attachment styles do not perfectly predict adult relationships, individuals retain some capacity to make choices and overcome earlier experiences.

Bandura et al (1961) believes that our learning from the environment determines our behaviour and that we can predict future behaviour based on influences such as aggressive models. However, SLT does account for mediational processes and therefore there is an element of cognitive processing and therefore an opportunity for thinking anf reflection which is more freewill.

Cognitive Approach:

The cognitive approach is often viewed as soft determinist because it accepts that behaviour may be influenced by mental processes, but individuals actively process information rather than simply responding automatically to biological or environmental influences.

Levels of Determinism

Environmental Determinism: This is the idea that our behaviour is caused by some sort of outside influence e.g. parental influence. Skinner (1971) argued that freedom is an illusion. We may think we have freewill but the probability of any behaviour occurring is determined by past experiences. Skinner claimed that free will was an illusion – we think we are free, but this is because we are not aware of how our behaviour is determined by reinforcement.

Biological Determinism: Our biological systems, such as genetics, the nervous
system, brain activity govern our behaviour. For example, Nestadt et al. (2000) found that people with first-degree relatives who suffer from OCD are five times more likely to suffer from OCD at some point in their lives.

Psychic Determinism: Freud believed childhood experiences and innate unconscious motivations governed behaviour. Freud thought that free will was an illusion, because he felt that the causes of our behaviour is unconscious and still predictable.

Exam Question:

Model Answer:

Dancho is a talented and famous musician. He was taught to play the piano by his father who was a concert pianist. From the age of four years Dancho attended a specialist music school where he spent many hours each day practising the piano. In a recent TV interview Dancho said, ‘My earliest memories are of notes and melodies, so music is a part of me. To hear the applause in the concert hall is what I live for. Even if I wanted to stop playing, I could not.’ Discuss two or more types of determinism. Refer to the case of Dancho as part of your discussion. [16 marks]

Determinism believes that our actions and behaviours are pre-decided due to our thoughts, biology and past experiences. They believe that free will does not exist and we have no choice in any behaviour we conduct. One type of determinism is biological determinism. This believes that all our actions are due to chromosomes and hormones and so is pre-determined by genetics. Examples of this can be seen in areas such as forensics where having low MAOA led to an increased chance of committing offending behaviour. Also, Dabbs found that high levels of testosterone were associated with those who had committed violent crimes. This therefore shows that hormones and genes can determine criminal behaviour.

In terms of Dancho, his father was a concert pianist, which may mean that the phenotype of being musical is in his genes, which he gained from his father. Perhaps this is due to a diathesis model, where a gene for musical talent was ‘switched on’ for his father when he learned how to play the piano, and this was passed down to Dancho. Even though biology does appear to play a factor in Dancho’s music ability, it is highly unlikely that it is solely down to biology. This can be seen with many twin studies where MZ twins don’t have a 100% concordance even though they all share the same genes. This is therefore a limitation of biological determinism as there must be a third factor, for example environment.

This leads into environmental determinism, which is favoured by behaviourists, and this is where our past experiences shape our future behaviour through aspects such as reinforcement. This would explain why MZ (identical) twins aren’t 100% concordant, as environment would have an influence too on shaping the individuals differently. A strength of environmental determinism is that there is evidence to support it with examples such as phobias, for example in the Little Albert study a young child heard a loud crash whenever he saw a white rat, and as this was repeated he began to associate the fear with the noise with the rat. This meant that this past experience led to the phobia of rats, supporting environmental determinism.

In Dancho’s case he attended a school from a young age, where music was taught and practice encouraged. By being in this environment it would have shaped his behaviour so that he continues to play the piano as he associates it with experiences from the school, perhaps even from the positive reinforcement (both direct and indirect) he and his peers received from playing the music they made. However, by removing free will from this it suggests that Dancho had no choice in how his future work occurred and so may be a limitation as it removes any form of free will from our lives.

Psychic determinism is the third form of determinism and this is where the concept of free will is only an illusion and all choices are made by our unconscious. In Dancho’s case this would be from his id, which works on the selfish principle, wanting the applause in the concert hall and so demanding that he continues to receive this. The biggest limitation of all forms of determinism is that it is socially sensitive, for example if there was found to be a ‘criminal gene’, this would pose huge issues for the criminal justice system as rehabilitation would be difficult and poses the question of what should society do with people with a gene that predisposes them to crime. Therefore, determinism is a difficult factor within psychology and may have wider negative impacts.

This essay was awarded 16/16 marks by an examiner.

Determinism

✅ Strengths

• A strength of determinism is that if behaviour has causes, it can be scientifically studied. By identifying causes of behaviour, psychologists can develop effective treatments and interventions. For example, biological explanations of OCD have led to successful drug therapies.
• Understanding the causes of behaviour has led to useful treatments, such as SSRIs and antipsychotic medication.
• Deterministic explanations are often supported by research evidence from biological and behavioural studies.

❌ Weaknesses

• Determinism can reduce personal responsibility, creating problems for how society views crime and punishment.
• Some deterministic explanations may lead to labelling, discrimination, or psychological harm (e.g. genetic explanations of behaviour).
• Human behaviour is highly complex, making perfect prediction impossible even if behaviour is caused by identifiable factors.
• Many deterministic explanations are reductionist, focusing on single causes while ignoring interactions between biological, cognitive and environmental factors.

Free Will

✅ Strengths

• Free will underpins therapies such as client-centred therapy, which encourage personal responsibility and self-improvement.
• Humanistic psychologists often use qualitative methods, providing rich and detailed insights into behaviour.
• Free will is consistent with society’s view that individuals should be held responsible for their actions.
• It promotes personal agency and recognises that people can choose to change their behaviour.

❌ Weaknesses

• Free will is difficult to test scientifically because conscious choice cannot be directly observed or measured.
• Research based on free will is often less objective and may lack reliability.
• A strong free-will perspective can create a blame culture by suggesting people are responsible for problems such as mental illness.
• Evidence from biology and neuroscience suggests that some behaviour may be determined by unconscious processes, meaning free will may be limited or even an illusion. Libet’s research found that unconscious brain activity occurs before conscious awareness of a decision, suggesting that our actions may be initiated before we believe we have chosen them.

Evaluation Extension: Soft Determinism

Soft determinism argues that behaviour is influenced by biological and environmental factors, but individuals still retain some degree of choice.

Why is this important?

• It combines the strengths of both sides of the debate.
• It recognises the influence of external factors while still allowing for personal responsibility.
• Many psychologists consider it the most realistic explanation of human behaviour.