Consequences, norms, and generalized inaction in moral dilemmas
The CNI model of moral decision-making
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6200593 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bertram Gawronski (0000-0001-7938-3339, The University of Texas at Austin), Joel Armstrong (0000-0002-9701-9204, Western University), Paul Conway (0000-0003-4649-6008, Conway School of Landscape Design), Rebecca Friesdorf (Wilfrid Laurier University), Mandy Hütter (0000-0002-0952-3831, University of Tübingen) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 113 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 343-376 |
| Publication date | 2017-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037/pspa0000086 |
| PMID | 28816493 |
| OpenAlex | W2746351266 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 97 |
Research on moral dilemma judgments has been fundamentally shaped by the distinction between utilitarianism and deontology. According to the principle of utilitarianism, the moral status of behavioral options depends on their consequences; the principle of deontology states that the moral status of behavioral options depends on their consistency with moral norms. To identify the processes underlying utilitarian and deontological judgments, researchers have investigated responses to moral dilemmas that pit one principle against the other (e.g., trolley problem). However, the conceptual meaning of responses in this paradigm is ambiguous, because the central aspects of utilitarianism and deontology-consequences and norms-are not manipulated. We illustrate how this shortcoming undermines theoretical interpretations of empirical findings and describe an alternative approach that resolves the ambiguities of the traditional paradigm. Expanding on this approach, we present a multinomial model that allows researchers to quantify sensitivity to consequences (C), sensitivity to moral norms (N), and general preference for inaction versus action irrespective of consequences and norms (I) in responses to moral dilemmas. We present 8 studies that used this model to investigate the effects of gender, cognitive load, question framing, and psychopathy on moral dilemma judgments. The findings obtained with the proposed CNI model offer more nuanced insights into the determinants of moral dilemma judgments, calling for a reassessment of dominant theoretical assumptions. (PsycINFO Database Record
Consequentialism · Deontological ethics · Dilemma · Epistemology · Framing (construction) · Moral development · Moral disengagement · Moral psychology · Moral reasoning · Morality · Social cognitive theory of morality · Utilitarianism · Ethics in Business and Education · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology
Dilemas morales
The Effects of Foreign Language and Religiosity on Moral Decisions
Effects of incidental emotions on moral dilemma judgments
Not just bad actions
Moral Frameworks for Approaching Academic Integrity
Moral Judgments
Sacrificial utilitarian judgments do reflect concern for the greater good
Deontological and Utilitarian Responses to Sacrificial Dilemmas Predict Disapproval of Sin Stocks
Opinions towards Medical Students’ Self-Care and Substance Use Dilemmas—A Future Concern despite a Positive Generational Effect
Perceived organizational status and bootleg innovation
A Tutorial on Response-Time Extended Multinomial Processing Tree Models in Social Cognition
When You Think of and Identify Yourself as a Nurse, You Will Become More Deontological and Less Utilitarian
The Influence of Situational Factors in Sacrificial Dilemmas on Utilitarian Moral Judgments
The Light Triad and Utilitarian Moral Judgment
La percepción de la toma de decisiones a través de inteligencia artificial cuando se produce daño a las personas
Trolley Dilemma in Papua. Yali horticulturalists refuse to pull the lever
Association of natural sleep with moral utilitarianism
Online Moral Conformity
Disentangling the negative effects of envy on moral decision-making
The effect of malicious envy on sequential moral decision-making
Exploring cultural and gender differences in moral judgment
Childhood trauma reduces sensitivity to moral norms
Is the more psychopathic more concerned with human beings overall? A data reanalysis exploration
Brains, trains, and ethical claims
Intergenerational transmission of moral decision‐making inclinations
On Communal Transgressive Behaviour; A Moral Dilemma Variation on the Classic Asch Paradigm
Using the Process Dissociation Paradigm to Independently Measure the Ethical and Organizational Dimensions of Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior
Using the CNI Model to Investigate Individual Differences in Moral Dilemma Judgments
Invariance Violations and the CNI Model of Moral Judgments
Thinking About Reasons for One’s Choices Increases Sensitivity to Moral Norms in Moral-Dilemma Judgments
Psychopathic Traits and Utilitarian Moral Judgment Revisited
Temporal Stability of Moral Dilemma Judgments
Attitudinal Effects of Stimulus Co-occurrence and Stimulus Relations
Is It Fair to Kill One to Save Five? How Just World Beliefs Shape Sacrificial Moral Decision-making
Deontology and Utilitarianism in Real Life
The Drunk Utilitarian Revisited
Political Ideology and Moral Dilemma Judgments
(How) Do You Regret Killing One to Save Five? Affective and Cognitive Regret Differ After Utilitarian and Deontological Decisions
The Schweitzer effect
Question framing and sensitivity to consequences in sacrificial moral dilemmas
Moral preference reversals
Many heads are more utilitarian than one, but are they also less deontological? Reply to Baron and Skovgaard-Olsen (2026)
People's judgments of humans and robots in a classic moral dilemma
Many heads are more utilitarian than one
Applying process dissociation to self-sacrificial moral dilemmas
Moral-dilemma judgments by individuals and groups
Untangling Decision Routes in Moral Dilemmas
Sensitivity to Moral Principles Predicts Both Deontological and Utilitarian Response Tendencies in Sacrificial Dilemmas
An Eastern Look at a Western Dilemma
Kant be Compared
Social Impressions and Moral-Dilemma Judgments
Clarifying Gender Differences in Moral Dilemma Judgments
Artificial Morality
Social class and moral judgment
The influence of decision time on sensitivity for consequences, moral norms, and preferences for inaction
State and trait gratitude in moral decision-making
Using a foreign language does not make you think more
Making Moral Judgments
Reasoning supports utilitarian resolutions to moral dilemmas across diverse measures
Revisiting the divide between deontology and utilitarianism in moral dilemma judgment
Identity fusion leads to willingness to fight and die for the group
Exploring personality factors as modulators of the foreign language effect on moral decision-making
Personality and moral judgment
Moral characteristics predicting Covid ‐19 vaccination
Religious Fundamentalism, but Not Centrality of Religiosity, is Related to Online Conformity
Two Paths to Deception
Perceived Stress and Society-Wide Moral Judgment
Revisiting the foreign language effect on moral decision-making
Associations of aversive (‘dark’) traits and affiliative (‘light’) traits with moral-dilemma judgments
Big Five Personality Traits and Moral-Dilemma Judgments
Individual attitudes towards moral costs and benefits drive responses to moral dilemmas
Moral judgment under uncertainty
Innocence over utilitarianism
Religiosity and the value of being moral
Effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others' decisions in moral dilemmas
Moral impressions and presumed moral choices
Foreign language effects on moral dilemma judgments
Reflecting on God's will
Sequential decision-making impacts moral judgment
Taking the moral high ground
To beckon or not to beckon
Consequences, Norms, or Willingness to Interfere
Morals for the sake of movement
The authentic catch-22
When skeptical, stick with the norm
The search for predictable moral partners
Power and moral dilemma judgments
Cognitive Variation
Understanding How Moral Judgments Vary Across Cultures
No foreign language effect in self-sacrificial moral dilemmas
Bilinguals on the footbridge
Learning from outcomes shapes reliance on moral rules versus cost-benefit reasoning
Exogenous testosterone increases sensitivity to moral norms in moral dilemma judgements
Situational factors shape moral judgements in the trolley dilemma in Eastern, Southern and Western countries in a culturally diverse sample
What motivates information (non-)seeking behaviors about a healthy diet
Reflective reasoning & philosophy
Investigating the Relationship between Centrality of Religiosity, Instrumental Harm, and Impartial Beneficence through the Lens of Moral Foundations
| Unique citing works | 97 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 12,13 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 93 |