'Utilitarian' judgments in sacrificial moral dilemmas do not reflect impartial concern for the greater good.

ABSTRACT: A growing body of research has focused on so-called 'utilitarian' judgments in moral dilemmas in which participants have to choose whether to sacrifice one person in order to save the lives of a greater number. However, the relation between such 'utilitarian' judgments and genuine utilitarian impartial concern for the greater good remains unclear. Across four studies, we investigated the relationship between 'utilitarian' judgment in such sacrificial dilemmas and a range of traits, attitudes, judgments and behaviors that either reflect or reject an impartial concern for the greater good of all. In Study 1, we found that rates of 'utilitarian' judgment were associated with a broadly immoral outlook concerning clear ethical transgressions in a business context, as well as with sub-clinical p

SUBMITTER: Kahane G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4259516 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature