Are Utilitarian/Deontological Preferences Unidimensional?

Area of Science:

• Moral Psychology
• Psychometrics
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Extensive research exists on utilitarian and deontological moral inclinations.
• A lack of thorough psychometric evaluation for commonly used measures has been noted.
• Moral dilemmas are frequently employed to assess these inclinations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To psychometrically evaluate the factorial structure of 12 commonly used moral dilemmas.
• To determine if these dilemmas reliably measure utilitarian/deontological moral inclinations.
• To investigate the underlying structure of moral decision-making.

Main Methods:

• Conducted three studies and a pilot study.
• Employed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Schmid-Leimann (g factor) analysis.
• Utilized Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and weak invariance analysis.

Main Results:

• Findings support a single-factor model for utilitarian/deontological inclinations.
• No items required dropping from the scale.
• Consistent error covariance in certain dilemmas suggests areas for future consideration.
• Factor loadings showed no significant differences between Study 2 and Study 3 models.

Conclusions:

• The most common set of moral dilemmas can be used as a unidimensional measure.
• A single latent cognitive mechanism likely underlies utilitarian/deontological preferences.
• Future research should consider specific dilemma characteristics, such as those involving infants, and utilize weighted averages for analysis.