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Do Difficult Decisions Motivate Belief in Fate? A Test in the Context of the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election

Fate is a ubiquitous supernatural belief, spanning time and place. It exerts a range of positive and negative effects on health, coping, and both action and inaction (Franklin et al., 2007; Parker, Brewer, & Spencer, 1980; Specht, Egloff, & Schmukle, 2011). Despite these consequences, research aimed at understanding the antecedents of a belief in fate is surprisingly sparse, focusing on historical sociocultural sources, such as religious and cultural experiences (Leung & Bond, 2004; Norenzayan & Lee, 2010; Young, Morris, Burrus, Krishnan, & Regmi, 2011). Here, we examine whether belief in fate, beyond its cultural grounding, also varies with immediate situational pressures. What types of situations might predictably motivate belief in fate? We suggest that one such situation is decision difficulty. Decisions are difficult when no dominant option presents itself, either because options are not easily distinguishable or because all have pros and cons. When such decisions are also important to the decision maker and cannot be delayed, they can be stressful and aversive (Kagan, 1972). Belief in fate, defined as the belief that whatever happens was supposed to happen and that outcomes are ultimately predetermined (Norenzayan & Lee, 2010), may be especially useful when one is facing these types of difficult decisions. Deferring responsibility for complex issues and attributing events to external forces, such as governments or other powerful forces, can be psychologically palliative and can reduce stress (Laurin, Kay, & Moscovitch, 2008; Shepherd & Kay, 2012; Sullivan, Landau, & Rothschild, 2010). Fate’s promise of ensuring one predestined outcome may serve a similarly palliative function, especially in contexts of decision stress. Consequently, this belief may become especially attractive (and, therefore, seemingly true; Kunda, 1990) when people are faced with important decisions that are high in difficulty. In two studies, we tested this novel hypothesis using a real-world, important, imminent decision: which candidate to vote for in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.