[Seminaire CREM] Présentation de David Dickinson, Appalachian State University
Consequential ethical dilemmas: The payoff-Trolley game
Abstract:
This paper introduces a novel Payoff-Trolley dilemma task, where other participants’ payoffs are at stake on the main or sidetrack in a trolley dilemma. Different dilemma scenarios varied the number of “others’ payoffs” on the sidetrack and main track. As such, we go beyond the standard question of utilitarian versus deontological morality by considering scenarios where more clearly immoral choices of commission and omission are identifiable. Study participants had also made hypothetical Trolley dilemma choices in a separate study 4-5 years prior, allowing for a direct comparison of hypothetical and subsequent consequential moral dilemma choices. One key finding is that past hypothetical choices are statistically significant predictors of present consequential choices in the Payoff-Trolley task. Also, we find that one’s degree of cognitive reflection is the most robust person-specific characteristic that predicts choices—higher cognitive reflection predicts more utilitarian choices, a reduced likelihood of immoral acts of commission and omission, and it impacts one’s sensitivity to immoral choices for a given level of net-harm present in the scenario. These results hope to bridge a gap in our understanding of how choices in hypothetical moral dilemmas inform behaviors in consequential moral dilemmas.
