Beyond sacrificial harm: A two-dimensional model of utilitarian psychology
Guy Kahane, Jim A. C. Everett, Brian D. Earp, Lucius Caviola, Nadira S. Faber, Molly J. Crockett & Julian Savulescu
Psychological Review 125 (2):131-164 (2018)
Abstract
Recent research has relied on trolley-type sacrificial moral dilemmas to study utilitarian versus nonutili- tarian modes of moral decision-making. This research has generated important insights into people’s attitudes toward instrumental harm—that is, the sacrifice of an individual to save a greater number. But this approach also has serious limitations. Most notably, it ignores the positive, altruistic core of utilitarianism, which is characterized by impartial concern for the well-being of everyone, whether near or far. Here, we develop, refine, and validate a new scale—the Oxford Utilitarianism Scale—to dissociate individual differences in the ‘negative’ (permissive attitude toward instrumental harm) and ‘positive’ (impartial concern for the greater good) dimensions of utilitarian thinking as manifested in the general population. We show that these are two independent dimensions of proto-utilitarian tendencies in the lay population, each exhibiting a distinct psychological profile. Empathic concern, identification with the whole of humanity, and concern for future generations were positively associated with impartial beneficence but negatively associated with instrumental harm; and although instrumental harm was associated with subclinical psychopathy, impartial beneficence was associated with higher religiosity. Importantly, although these two dimensions were independent in the lay population, they were closely associated in a sample of moral philosophers. Acknowledging this dissociation between the instrumental harm and impartial beneficence components of utilitarian thinking in ordinary people can clarify existing debates about the nature of moral psychology and its relation to moral philosophy as well as generate fruitful avenues for further research.Author Profiles
DOI
10.1037/rev0000093
My notes
Similar books and articles
‘Utilitarian’ judgments in sacrificial moral dilemmas do not reflect impartial concern for the greater good.Guy Kahane, Jim A. C. Everett, Brian D. Earp, Miguel Farias & Julian Savulescu - 2015 - Cognition 134 (C):193-209.
Sidetracked by trolleys: Why sacrificial moral dilemmas tell us little (or nothing) about utilitarian judgment.Guy Kahane - 2015 - Social Neuroscience 10 (5):551-560.
Economic games and social neuroscience methods can help elucidate the psychology of parochial altruism.Jim A. C. Everett, Nadira S. Faber, Molly J. Crockett & Carsten K. W. De Dreu - 2015 - Frontiers in Psychology 6.
On the Wrong Track: Process and Content in Moral Psychology.Guy Kahane - 2012 - Mind and Language 27 (5):519-545.
Causal Inefficacy and Utilitarian Arguments Against the Consumption of Factory-Farmed Products.Moti Gorin - 2017 - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 30 (4):585-594.
Cold or calculating? Reduced activity in the subgenual cingulate cortex reflects decreased emotional aversion to harming in counterintuitive utilitarian judgment.Katja Wiech, Guy Kahane, Nicholas Shackel, Miguel Farias, Julian Savulescu & Irene Tracey - 2013 - Cognition 126 (3):364-372.
Pills or Push-Ups? Effectiveness and Public Perception of Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Cognitive Enhancement.Lucius Caviola & Nadira S. Faber - 2015 - Frontiers in Psychology 6.
Authority dependence and judgments of utilitarian harm.Jared Piazza, Paulo Sousa & Colin Holbrook - 2013 - Cognition 128 (3):261-270.
Environmental Harms, Causation, and Act Utilitarianism.Amy White - 2004 - Environmental Ethics 26 (2):189-203.
Das Modell des Homo sociologicus. Eine Explikation und eine Konfrontierung mit dem utilitaristischen Verhaltensmodell.Karl-Dieter Opp - 1986 - Analyse & Kritik 8 (1):1-1.
Preventing Ultimate Harm as the Justification for Biomoral Modification.Timothy F. Murphy - 2015 - Bioethics 29 (5):369-377.
With or Without Empathy: Primary Psychopathy and Difficulty in Identifying Feelings Predict Utilitarian Judgment in Sacrificial Dilemmas.Reina Takamatsu & Jiro Takai - 2019 - Ethics and Behavior 29 (1):71-85.
Analytics
Added to PP
2017-12-22
Downloads
461 (#23,471)
6 months
78 (#13,834)
2017-12-22
Downloads
461 (#23,471)
6 months
78 (#13,834)
Historical graph of downloads
Author Profiles
Citations of this work
Cognitive Load Selectively Interferes with Utilitarian Moral Judgment.Jonathan D. Cohen Joshua D. Greene, Sylvia A. Morelli, Kelly Lowenberg, Leigh E. Nystrom - 2008 - Cognition 107 (3):1144.
Trolleys, triage and Covid-19: the role of psychological realism in sacrificial dilemmas.Markus Kneer & Ivar R. Hannikainen - 2022 - Cognition and Emotion 36 (1):137-153.
Are the Folk Utilitarian About Animals?Guy Kahane & Lucius Caviola - forthcoming - Philosophical Studies:1-23.
Not All Who Ponder Count Costs: Arithmetic reflection predicts utilitarian tendencies, but logical reflection predicts both deontological and utilitarian tendencies.Nick Byrd & Paul Conway - 2019 - Cognition 192 (103995).
References found in this work
What do philosophers believe?David Bourget & David J. Chalmers - 2014 - Philosophical Studies 170 (3):465-500.
The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of the Double Effect.Philippa Foot - 1967 - Oxford Review 5:5-15.