Abstract
The present study examined whether the induction of a mindful state would influence ethical decision making in a trolley problem that was modified to contain variables relevant to one’s inclusive fitness. N = 312 participants – half of which were presented with a guided mindfulness meditation – were presented with a modified trolley problem in which they were given a choice: let five strangers die, or divert the trolley toward a single target who will be killed by the trolley instead of the five strangers. This single target was manipulated to be one of the following five individuals: a stranger, the participant’s friend, cousin, sibling, or romantic partner. Participants in a mindful state were more likely to divert the trolley away from the five strangers when the individual target was a stranger, friend, or cousin. However, individuals in a mindful state were no more likely than controls to divert the trolley when the single target was a sibling or romantic partner. These results indicate that mindfulness may increase utilitarian decision making when the sacrificial target is not the participant’s close kin member or romantic partner.
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All authors – Carey Fitzgerald, Jody Thompson, and Brittany Lorentz – contributed equally to the study conception, design, and execution. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Institutional Review Board of the University of South Carolina.
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Fitzgerald, C.J., Thompson, J.A. & Lorentz, B. State Mindfulness Increases Utilitarian Decision Making but Not at the Expense of Inclusive Fitness. Evolutionary Psychological Science 8, 424–429 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-022-00328-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-022-00328-x