Exceptionality Effect in Agency Attributions: Exceptional Behaviors are Perceived as Higher Free will than Routine Behaviors

Abstract

People experience stronger regret regarding negative outcomes resulting from more exceptional circumstances compared to routine. We hypothesized that the exceptionality-routine attribution asymmetry would extend to attributions of agency and moral responsibility. In Experiment 1 ('N' = 337), we found that people attributed more free will to exceptional behavior compared to routine when the exception was due to self-choice rather than external circumstances. In Experiment 2 (N= 561), we replicated and generalized this effect to other scenarios, with support for the classic exceptionality effect regarding regret, and an extension to moral responsibility. In Experiment 3 ('N' = 128), we replicated these effects in a within-subject design. When using a classic experimental philosophy paradigm contrasting a deterministic and an indeterministic universe, we found that the results were robust across both contexts. We conclude that there is consistent support for a link between exceptionality and free will attributions. All materials, data, and code are available here:' https://osf.io/f2pck/ '

Keywords

• exceptionality
• free will attributions
• moral responsibility
• regret