Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 47, Issue 5, Pages 923-934Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2011.03.018
Keywords
Morality; Moral dilemmas; Decision making; Rules; Accessibility
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The literature on how people solve moral dilemmas often focuses on situations in which individuals have to make a decision where different moral rules are in conflict. In some of these situations, such as in footbridge dilemmas, people have to choose between sacrificing a few people in order to save many. The present research focuses on how people decide what to do in dilemmas involving conflicting moral rules. We propose that the rule that is cognitively most accessible during the decision making process (e.g., Save lives or Do not kill) will influence how people solve these moral dilemmas. Three studies are reported that indeed demonstrate that the most accessible rule influences willingness to intervene within footbridge dilemmas. This effect is found even when the accessibility of the rule is induced subliminally. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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