Three value-based factors predict perceived difficulty in moral decision-making.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Moral Psychology
• Decision Science

Background:

• Moral decisions involve both emotional and reasoning systems.
• Mechanisms of difficulty perception in moral choices remain unclear.
• Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for moral decision-making frameworks.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate factors influencing perceived difficulty in moral decisions.
• Quantify option values and differentiate emotional vs. utilitarian values.
• Examine the relationship between value differences, mean values, victim values, and decision difficulty.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel paradigm to quantify option values.
• Dissociated emotional and utilitarian values.
• Employed linear mixed-effect models to test hypotheses correlating perceived difficulty with key factors.

Main Results:

• Both emotional and utilitarian value differences negatively correlate with perceived difficulty.
• Higher mean emotional value increases decision difficulty for reasoning-motivated choices.
• Values of unchosen victims positively correlate with perceived difficulty, highlighting their critical role.

Conclusions:

• Value differences are fundamental to moral decision difficulty.
• Asymmetric interactions exist between emotional/utilitarian values and reasoning systems.
• Victim values significantly impact perceived difficulty, updating current moral decision frameworks.