A survey of 70,000 people from 42 countries finds agreement among multiple cultures on the order of acceptability of moral dilemmas involving sacrifices of one life to save many, suggesting that the moral reasoning that leads to such decisions is likely based on cognitive processes rather than cultural norms; the quantitative acceptability of sacrifices varied by country, however, with rejection of sacrifices associated with cultures that are cautious about alienating social partners, according to the authors.
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Article #19-11517: "Universals and variations in moral decisions made in 42 countries by 70,000 participants," by Edmond Awad, Sohan Dsouza, Azim Shariff, Iyad Rahwan, and Jean-François Bonnefon.
MEDIA CONTACT: Edmond Awad, University of Exeter, UNITED KINGDOM; e-mail: <e.awad@exeter.ac.uk>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences