Differences in moral judgment predict behavior in a Covid triage game scenario

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Behavioral Economics
• Moral Psychology

Background:

• Moral beliefs guide decisions, but research often uses hypothetical dilemmas.
• Understanding moral judgment's real-world behavioral impact is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if moral judgment (utilitarian vs. deontological) predicts behavior in a commons dilemma game.
• To examine resource extraction in a simulated tragedy of the commons during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Main Methods:

• 248 participants played a multi-round commons dilemma game against programmed bots.
• Behavior was analyzed in relation to participants' moral judgment (utilitarian/deontological processing).

Main Results:

• Increased utilitarian processing was associated with reduced resource extraction from the community pool.
• Behavior in the game simulated real-world resource management challenges.

Conclusions:

• Moral judgment, particularly utilitarian processing, influences behavior in ecologically valid dilemma situations.
• Findings support the connection between morality, resource management, and Covid-19 vaccine opinions.