#787 Kennon Sheldon - Freely Determined; The New Psychology of the Self, and How to Live
RECORDED ON FEBRUARY 16th 2023.
Dr. Kennon Sheldon is Curator’s Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri. His research is in the areas of well-being, motivation, self-determination theory, personality, and positive psychology. In 2002 he was a recipient of a Templeton Foundation “Positive Psychology” prize, and in 2014 received the Ed and Carol Diener award for mid-career achievement in personality psychology. He is the author of several books, the most recent one being Freely Determined: What the New Psychology of the Self Teaches Us About How to Live.
In this episode, we focus on Freely Determined. We talk about free will from a psychological perspective, and go through topics like the limitations and psychological effects of determinism; self-determination theory, intrinsic motivation, internal rewards, and autonomy; the role of the social environment; organismic integration theory, and how people perform behaviors they don’t like; causality orientations theory, and three free-will-relevant personality styles; levels of organization, personality, and downward causation; how people make decisions; the relationship between happiness and free will; and the symbolic self, and potential digital selves.
Time Links:
Intro
Free will from a psychological perspective
The limitations and psychological effects of determinism
What if determinism was right?
Self-determination theory, intrinsic motivation, internal rewards, and autonomy
The role of the social environment
Organismic integration theory, and how people perform behaviors they don’t like
Causality orientations theory, and three free-will-relevant personality styles
Levels of organization, personality, and downward causation
When faced with a decision, how do we call up various options, and how do we decide between them?
The relationship between happiness and free will
The symbolic self, and the possibility of digital selves
Follow Dr. Sheldon’s work!
Follow Dr. Sheldon’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3McflKN
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/3Y8OIMd
Freely Determined: https://bit.ly/3uCB32s