I agree with Sheli that people fall victim to reactionary responses. Human brains works through association, most of our learning is through outside influences showing us different associations to make but the curiosity lies within what associations end up sticking with us or repeating in our minds. Consider two siblings with two parents; parent 1 makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a knife (slathering jelly on one side, peanut butter on the other) while parent 2 makes the same sandwich with a spoon. Which parent will the siblings copy? will they go for the knife? the spoon? Will they both want the same way or each their own way? In this situation it comes down to convenience (more ingredients vs a smoother application), favoritism (which parent do they take after more), and quantity (do they feel more comfortable doing something if they’ve seen it done more times one way?). Of course there could be other factors but it’s up to whatever associations they’re making in their head, and this can also change with time.
I believe free will is the decisions you make based upon the associations you believe are correct paired with the ability to change those associations at will once one realizes a fault in their process. Free will is based upon associations you have made because over time one has decided that is the way their world should work. If it is an association made out of fear I believe that is less of a free will response and more of a reactionary response like Sheli mentioned.
I do believe that people have free will because people can change with the right mentoring, but if we did not have free will as far as ethics and morals go there would be a more confusing aspect into play as if there was something else controlling what people end up doing. Akin to the cells in a body unconsciously acting as one to operate a life, we could unknowingly operate for some kind of force that seeks to play out another version of life.
Overall I believe that the ability of free will guides people into discovering what works best for them, what they’re willing to put up with, and what they want to bring into the world with the way that they know how to operate (through those learned associations).