AI Article Synopsis

  • The study explores how people's ethical decisions in sacrifice dilemmas (sacrificing one to save many) relate to two different ethical frameworks: deontological ethics, which opposes causing harm, and utilitarian ethics, which focuses on maximizing overall good.
  • Researchers conducted four studies with a total of 1,116 participants, manipulating the perceived moral character of the sacrificial target to see how this affected ethical decision-making.
  • Results indicated that participants were less likely to reject harm (consistent with utilitarianism) when the target was perceived as guilty rather than innocent, while general beliefs about justice and fair treatment influenced both ethical perspectives, though these effects were diminished when psychopathy traits were taken into account.

Article Abstract

Sacrificing a target to save a group violates deontological ethics against harm but upholds utilitarian ethics to maximize outcomes. Although theorists examine many factors that influence dilemma decisions, we examined justice concerns: We manipulated the moral character of sacrificial targets, then measured participants' dilemma responses and just world beliefs. Across four studies (=1116), participants considering guilty versus innocent targets scored lower on harm-rejection (deontological) responding, but not outcome-maximizing (utilitarian) responding assessed via process dissociation. Just world beliefs (both personal and general) predicted lower utilitarian and somewhat lower deontological responding, but these effects disappeared when accounting for shared variance with psychopathy. Results suggest that dilemma decisions partly reflect the moral status of sacrificial targets and concerns about the fairness implications of sacrificing innocent targets to save innocent groups.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/01461672241287815DOI Listing

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