Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T05:13:20.540Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Individual identity and freedom of choice in the context of environmental and economic conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2013

Roy F. Baumeister
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4301. baumeister@psy.fsu.eduhttp://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/index.htmlpark@psy.fsu.eduhttp://www.psy.fsu.edu/~ehrlingerlab/Park/Park.htmlainsworth@psy.fsu.eduhttp://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/ainsworth.html
Jina Park
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4301. baumeister@psy.fsu.eduhttp://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/index.htmlpark@psy.fsu.eduhttp://www.psy.fsu.edu/~ehrlingerlab/Park/Park.htmlainsworth@psy.fsu.eduhttp://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/ainsworth.html
Sarah E. Ainsworth
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4301. baumeister@psy.fsu.eduhttp://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/index.htmlpark@psy.fsu.eduhttp://www.psy.fsu.edu/~ehrlingerlab/Park/Park.htmlainsworth@psy.fsu.eduhttp://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/ainsworth.html

Abstract

Van de Vliert's findings fit nicely with our recent arguments implying that (1) differentiated selfhood is partly motivated by requirements of cultural groups, and (2) free will mainly exists within culture. Some cultural groups promote individual freedom, whereas others constrict it so as to maintain elites' power and privilege. Thus, freedom is, to a great extent, a creation of culture.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baumeister, R. F. (1986) Identity: Cultural change and the struggle for self. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F. (1987) How the self became a problem: A psychological review of historical research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 52:163–76. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.52.1.163.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F. (in press) Constructing a scientific theory of free will. In: Moral psychology. Free will and responsibility, vol. 4, ed. Sinnott-Armstrong, W.. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., Ainsworth, S. E. & Vohs, K. D. (2012, submitted) Are groups more or less than the sum of their members? Google Scholar