Elizabeth Seto

Free Will, Counterfactual Reflection, and the Meaningfulness of Life Events

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.

Straying From the Righteous Path and From Ourselves: The Interplay Between Perceptions of Morality and Self-Knowledge.

The present research addresses the relationship between morally valenced behavior and perceptions of self-knowledge, an outcome that has received little attention in moral psychology. We propose that morally valenced behavior is related to subjective perceptions of self-knowledge, such that people experience lower levels of self-knowledge when they are reminded of their immoral behaviors. We tested this proposition in four studies (N = 1,177). Study 1 used daily-diary methods and indicates that daily perceptions of self-knowledge covary with daily levels of morally valenced behavior. The final three studies made use of experimental methods and demonstrate that thinking about immoral behaviors attenuates current perceptions of self-knowledge. The predicted relationships and effects generally persist when controlling for self-esteem. Based on our findings, we argue that perceived self-knowledge may play a functional role in moral self-concept maintenance and moral regulatory processes.

Disassociating the Agent From the Self Undermining Belief in Free Will Diminishes True Self-Knowledge

Undermining the belief in free will influences thoughts and behavior, yet little research has explored its implications for the self and identity. The current studies examined whether lowering free will beliefs reduces perceived true self-knowledge. First, a new free will manipulation was validated. Next, in Study 1, participants were randomly assigned to high belief or low belief in free will conditions and completed measures of true self-knowledge. In Study 2, participants completed the same free will manipulation and a moral decision-making task. We then assessed participants’ perceived sense of authenticity during the task. Results illustrated that attenuating free will beliefs led to less self-knowledge, such that participants reported feeling more alienated from their true selves and experienced lowered perceptions of authenticity while making moral decisions. The interplay between free will and the true self are discussed.

Positive and Existential Psychological Approaches to the Experience of Meaning in Life

The positive psychology and experimental existential psychology movements have greatly advanced our understanding of the variables that augment and detract from the personal experience of meaning in life. In this chapter, we describe differences in these two perspectives. In our view, experimental existential psychologists have primarily examined variables that contribute to a sense of meaninglessness, whereas positive psychologists often place more emphasis on variables that augment one’s belief that his or her life is meaningful. For each of these perspectives, we further describe variables that relate to the experience of meaninglessness and meaningfulness, respectively. Namely, we argue that a lack of personal freedom, social isolation, and self-alienation are three fundamental threats to meaning that, if experienced, evoke a sense of meaninglessness, whereas personal goals and a grand sense of purpose help augment the feeling that life is meaningful. While we do not suggest that these are the only variables that influence perceptions of meaning, based on current findings in the experimental existential and positive psychology literature, we argue that each of these variables represent fundamental contributors to perceptions of meaning (lessness) in life. Overall, we believe psychologists from both existential and positive psychology perspectives have made great contributions to help us understand the causes and consequences of the experience of meaning in life. This brief chapter represents an initial step to help differentiate these two complimentary perspectives in hopes of generating research ideas for scholars across disciplines.

Becoming your true self: Perceptions of authenticity across the lifespan

Abstract Two studies investigated how authenticity is believed to change over time. We tested for two possible trajectories: (1) A simple positive linear progression driven by self-enhancement motives and (2) a linear progression followed by a plateau indicative of the end of the history illusion. Across both studies, participants completed measures of perceived authenticity for different points in their lives. Study 1 was over a relatively short period of time. Study 2 was over the course of the lifespan. Both studies revealed upward linear trends suggesting that participants believe they are becoming more authentic over time. Study 2 also revealed that people perceive particularly high rates of change in the recent past and near future. The preponderance of evidence favored the self-enhancement perspective.

Investing in the real me: Preference for experiential to material purchases driven by the motivation to search for true self-knowledge

Abstract One mechanism underlying the hedonic benefits of experiential purchases is that one’s core self is more centrally reflected in experiential purchases. However, little is known about whether people consume experiential purchases as a means of discovering their true self. The present research explored the possibility that people value experiential purchases as a potential tool for understanding their true self. Consistent with the hypothesis, Study 1 demonstrated that experiential purchases were perceived to be a more valuable source of gaining knowledge about one’s true self compared to material purchases. Using correlational methods, Study 2 found that the motivation to search for true self-knowledge positively predicted preference for experiential purchases over material purchases. Finally, Study 3 showed a causal effect of motivation to search for true self-knowledge on a tendency to prefer experiential purchases to material purchases. Implications and future directions for well-being research and marketing are discussed.

Thinking about a new decade in life increases personal self-reflection: A replication and reinterpretation of Alter and Hershfield’s (2014) findings.

Alter and Hershfield (2014) recently published a set of studies suggesting that people often search for existential meaning as they approach a new decade in chronological age. The purpose of the current research was to replicate their experimental study (Study 2 in their article) and extend their findings using additional operational measures of search for meaning. Study 1 was a replication comparing the two conditions used in the original study (i.e., experimental and baseline control), whereas Studies 2 and 3 were direct replications of the original methods using all three conditions (i.e., experimental, baseline control, and birthday control). All replications found general support for the original claims with important caveats. Specifically, whereas Studies 1 and 3 replicated their main findings, Study 2 did not. Importantly, however, a factor analysis of Alter and Hershfields meaning-seeking measure revealed two factors underlying a search for meaning: life-reflection and perceived value of meaning. Across all studies, findings suggest that people are significantly more likely to engage in a life review as they begin a new epoch in their lives while there were no differences in their perceived value of meaning. A reinterpretation of Alter and Hershfields findings is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record