Beliefs in free will and determinism: associations with social cognition and gambling behavior

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics of study participants.

	N
Age
18–21 years	170
22–24 years	73
25–29 years	32
30–35 ears	23
>35 years	18
Gender
Male	163
Female	148
Other	3
Prefer not to say	2
Ethnicity
White	242
Black	11
Asian	43
Mixed	11
Other	5
Prefer not to say	4
University level
Foundation	4
Undergraduate	224
Postgraduate	88
Religious affiliation
Christianity	82
Islam	9
Hinduism	5
Sikhism	2
Judaism	3
Atheist	158
Other	37
Prefer not to say	20
Political affiliation
Alliance Party	2
Conservative Party	24
Co-operative Party	3
Democratic Unionist Party	0
Green Party	24
Labor Party	87
Liberal Democrats	11
Plaid Cymru	3
Scottish National Party	12
Sinn Féin	2
Social Democratic and Labor Party	6
Other	13
None	113
Prefer not to say	16

Table 2. Descriptive statistics and correlation between study variables.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	M	SD
1. Attitude	–	−.19**	−.31**	.02	.45**	.38**	2.96	.60
2. Perceived behavioral control	−.19**	–	.28**	−.05	−.31**	−.26**	3.51	.49
3. Free will	−.31**	.28**	–	.12	−.42**	−.31**	2.99	.76
4. Determinism	.02	−.05	.12	–	.07	.04	2.72	.64
5. Intention	.45**	−.31**	−.42**	.07	–	.71**	2.82	1.76
6. Behavior	.38**	−.26**	−.31**	.04	.71**	–	.86	1.32

Note. **p < .01

Behavior is represented using the item assessing the number of weeks gambling had taken place within the previous month.

Table 3. Multiple linear regressions of free will and determinism on attitude and perceived behavioral control.

Variable	B	β	R^2	Adjusted R^2	B	β	R^2	Adjusted R^2
	Attitude				Perceived behavioral control
Free will	−.25	−.31***	.10***	.10***	.19***	.29***	.08***	.08***
Determinism	.06	.06			−.06	−.08

Note. ***p < .001.

Table 4. A hierarchical multiple regression analyses of religiosity and political ideology (step 1), attitude and perceived behavioral control (step 2), and free will and determinism (step 3) on intention.

	Variable	B	β	R^2	Adjusted R^2	Δ R^2
Step 1:	Religiosity	.01	.02	.01	.00	.01
	Political ideology	−.04	−.10
Step 2:	Religiosity	−.01	−.01	.26***	.26***	.25***
	Political ideology	−.04	−.09
	Attitude	1.17	.40***
	Perceived behavioral control	−.86	−.24***
Step 3:	Religiosity	−.01	−.02	.33***	.32***	.06***
	Political ideology	−.01	−.03
	Attitude	.96	.33***
	Perceived behavioral control	−.60	−.17**
	Free will	−.64	−.28***
	Determinism	.24	.09

Note. **p < .01, ***p < .001.

Table 5. A hierarchical multiple regression analyses of religiosity and political ideology (step 1), intention and perceived behavioral control (step 2), and free will and determinism (step 3) on behavior.

	Variable	B	β	R^2	Adjusted R^2	Δ R^2
Step 1:	Religiosity	.02	.05	.01	.00	.01
	Political ideology	−.02	−.09
Step 2:	Religiosity	−.01	−.03	.51	.50	.49***
	Political ideology	−.00	−.03
	Intention	.39	.69***
	Perceived behavioral control	−.13	−.06
Step 3:	Religiosity	−.01	−.02	.51	.50	.00
	Political ideology	−.00	−.03
	Intention	.38	.68***
	Perceived behavioral control	−.13	−.06
	Free will	−.00	−.00
	Determinism	.05	.03

Note. ***p < .001.