Belief in free will is related to victim blaming 

The concept of free will is central for moral and legal decision making and thereby a cornerstone of our society. It is, thus, not surprising that irrespective of age and culture, most people believe in free will.

Recent research indicates that people’s belief in free will is related to their intention to punish others for their wrongdoings. The more people believe in free will, the harsher their punishment of criminal offenders. A reason for this finding is that belief in free will leads individuals to perceive others as responsible for their behavior.

While research on belief in free will has mainly focused on how belief in free will affects the perception of offenders, the perspective of the victims has been neglected so far, and it remains open how belief in free will influences the perception of the victims.

Victims suffer not only from the direct psychological and physical consequences of the victimizing event, but also from derogatory responses from others. Research on the phenomenon of victim blaming suggests that people tend to make victims responsible for their bad luck, even when severe events are not self-inflicted by the affected persons.

Research on just world beliefs suggests that when an innocent person experiences misfortune, the belief that the world is inherently just is threatened. To restore belief in a just world, responsibility is attributed to the victim. It might well be that belief in free will is a means to re-establish the belief in a just world. As people have control over their decisions and acts, they are fully responsible for the consequences that happen to them. Therefore, negative life events can be attributed to the affected people themselves.

The more individuals believe in free will, the more they blame victims.