Trollbridge : Order effects, and moral dilemmas with three choice alternatives

Research about morality heavily relies on using questionnaires and moral dilemmas when answering different research questions. Despite this very little focus has been put on how the order of presentation alters response frequencies. A test was put forth to test if there is any effect based on order of presentation, and despite that it has been found before, no such effects were found. Why no order effects were found here are not clear, but it shows that it is something that needs to be controlled for in research on moral dilemmas. Secondly, in moral research a lot of focus is put on moral principles to use as explanation for whole groups of respondents, such as deontology, utilitarianism and the DDE. To see if these are strong indicators of what humans will do in these moral dilemmas, two versions of the trolley and footbridge dilemma was put together, where all three response alternatives were presented at once, that is push the stranger, pull the switch or do nothing. In one of these conditions one person are on the side tracks in the switch condition, and in the second three workers are on the side tracks. It was found that although individuals motivate their actions in line with utility and the DDE, less people decide to act when three alternatives are presented. This shows that people are not consistent with their moral evaluation, and that it might be hard to predict what one will do in these situations.