Researchers presented participants with two versions of a moral dilemma. In the trolley dilemma, you can save the life of five people but take the life of one person by flipping a switch. In the footbridge dilemma, you can save the life of five people but take the life of one person by pushing a fat man off a bridge. According to the research, what do most people decide?

A) Because the two dilemmas are logically the same, people make the same choice (kill one and save five) with equal ease in both cases.
B) Although the two dilemmas are logically the same, people have a more difficult time deciding what to do in the footbridge dilemma.
C) Although the two dilemmas are logically the same, people have a more difficult time deciding what to do in the trolley dilemma.
D) Because the two dilemmas are logically the same, people quickly decide in both cases they have no right to interfere in the situation and allow the five people to die.

Question

BURHAN ALI YILMAZ · Accepted Answer

Final Answer : B, Explanation :  Most people tend to choose to flip the switch in the trolley dilemma because it feels like they are minimizing harm without actively causing harm. However, in the footbridge dilemma, people have a harder time deciding to actively push someone to their death, even if it would save five other lives. This is because actively causing harm feels more morally wrong than simply allowing harm to happen.

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