Baumeister's new Perspectives on Psychological Science article on free will and how it relates to self-regulation and rationality:
ABSTRACT—Some actions are freer than others, and the difference is palpably important in terms of inner process, subjective perception, and social consequences. Psychology can study the difference between freer and less free actions without making dubious metaphysical commitments. Human evolution seems to have created a relatively new, more complex form of action control that corresponds to popular notions of free will. It is marked by self-control and rational choice, both of which are highly adaptive, especially for functioning within culture. The processes that create these forms of free will may be biologically costly and therefore are only used occasionally, so that people are likely to remain only incompletely self-disciplined, virtuous, and rational.
Free will is discussed within the 'limited resource' framework of willpower and decision-making, proposing that we are more or less free at different times and that clear individual differences exist.
Interestingly the belief in free will is also important, bringing a new perspective to the debate:
"Belief in free will does support socially desirable actions,
according to Vohs and Schooler (2008). They found that
participants who had been induced to disbelieve in free will
were subsequently more likely than a control group to cheat on a
test. Further studies by Baumeister, Masicampo, and DeWall
(2006) using the Vohs–Schooler methods found that inducing
participants to disbelieve in free will made them more aggressive
and less helpful toward others. If we combine the cheating,
aggression, and helping findings, it seems reasonable to suggest
that belief in free will is conducive to better, more harmonious
social behavior."
link..
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