Explicit discrimination and ingroup favoritism, but no implicit biases in hypothetical triage decisions during COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: Disturbingly realistic triage scenarios during the COVID-19 pandemic provide an opportunity for studying discrimination in moral reasoning. Biases and favoritism do not need to be explicit and overt, but can remain implicit and covert. In addition to assessing laypeople's propensity for engaging in overt discrimination, the present study examines whether they reveal implicit biases through seemingly fair random allocations. We present a cross-sectional online study comprising 6 timepoints and a total of 2296 participants. Each individual evaluated 19 hypothetical scenarios that provide an allocation dilemma between two patients who are in need of ventilation and differ only in one focal feature. Participants could either allocate the last ventilator to a patient, or opt for random allocati

SUBMITTER: Gradwohl N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10786932 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature