Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41030893›Full record

ArticlePhilosophical psychology2025

The freedom to believe in free will: Evidence from an adoption study against the first law of behavioral genetics.

Emily A Willoughby, Alan Love, Matt McGue, Tobias Edwards, Alexandros Giannelis, James J Lee

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Philosophical psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Emily A WilloughbyDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, USA.
Alan LoveDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, USA.
Matt McGueDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, USA.
Tobias EdwardsDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, USA.
Alexandros GiannelisDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, USA.
James J LeeDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, USA.

Funding

TWIN STUDY OF FEMALE ALCOHOLISMS AND OTHER DISORDERSR01AA009367 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TWIN CITIES · PI MCGUE, MATTHEW K. · 1992 to 2013
$9.0M
A Longitudinal Study of Adopted Youth and Their FamiliesR01MH066140 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TWIN CITIES · PI MCGUE, MATTHEW K. · 2003 to 2013
$5.8M
TWIN STUDY OF ADHD, CD, AND SUBSTANCE ABUSER01DA013240 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TWIN CITIES · PI IACONO, WILLIAM G. · 2000 to 2010
$5.0M
NIAAA NIH HHS R01 AA009367NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA013240NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH066140
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Philosophers and psychologists alike have long debated the etiology of beliefs about human agency. Recently, empirical investigations have shown that lay beliefs about free will and determinism represent stable and important individual differences. Despite a perennial interest in the sources of agentic belief, genetic and environmental influences on such beliefs have never been studied. We administered a battery of items assessing these beliefs to a unique sample of 394 adoptive and biological families with adult offspring to investigate the origins of agentic beliefs and their relationships. We found significant differences between adopted and biological offspring and between the parents of such children, particularly in beliefs about determinism. Biometric modeling revealed especially surprising results: unlike the vast majority of traits studied in family designs, agentic beliefs appear to be weakly or not at all heritable. Since genetic factors might be regarded as typical of the "initial conditions" in philosophical thought experiments about free will and determinism, it is especially ironic that beliefs about free will and determinism may be among the traits least influenced by genetic differences.

Indexed as

adoption studyAgentic beliefsbehavior geneticsfree will and determinismgenetics and environment

Identifiers

PMID41030893
PMCPMC12478530

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.