Department
Psychology
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Abstract
The present study experimentally investigated the effects of stress, in the form of mortality salience, on decision regret in participants presented with the trolley problem. Participants (N = 166) were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk and randomly assigned to a mortality salience or threatening control topic (dental pain) writing prompt and either the standard trolley problems (i.e., the "switch" and "footbridge" dilemmas) or an experimental reversal where the default was five people on the tracks instead of the usual one. The effects of mortality salience on affective regret, the trolley reversal on cognitive regret, and the relationship between mortality salience and utilitarian choices were examined. While findings were not significant, this study did reveal that the experimental trolley reversal has a significant impact on choosing other than the status quo in the trolley problem. Further research examining the extraneous factors which may have contributed to nonsignificant results in this study is needed.
Advisor
Dr. Janett Naylor-Tincknell
Date of Award
Fall 2021
Document Type
Thesis
Recommended Citation
Perdomo, Nicolas, "Mortality salience and moral dilemmas: The impact of stress on regret in trolley problem decision-making" (2021). Master's Theses. 3186.
DOI: 10.58809/IURD7282
Available at:
https://scholars.fhsu.edu/theses/3186
Rights
© 2021 Nicolas Perdomo
Comments
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