Researchers Presented Participants with Two Versions of a Moral Dilemma

question 35

Multiple Choice

Researchers presented participants with two versions of a moral dilemma. In the trolley dilemma, you can save the life of five people but take the life of one person by flipping a switch. In the footbridge dilemma, you can save the life of five people but take the life of one person by pushing a fat man off a bridge. According to the research, what do most people decide?

• A) Because the two dilemmas are logically the same, people make the same choice (kill one and save five) with equal ease in both cases.
• B) Although the two dilemmas are logically the same, people have a more difficult time deciding what to do in the footbridge dilemma.
• C) Although the two dilemmas are logically the same, people have a more difficult time deciding what to do in the trolley dilemma.
• D) Because the two dilemmas are logically the same, people quickly decide in both cases they have no right to interfere in the situation and allow the five people to die.

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