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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–2Cite as

Psychology

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Synonyms

Moral philosophy; Morality; Social science; Trolley problem; Trolleyology

Definition

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and its functions, including emotions and behaviors. The Trolley Problem has been used to study morality, particularly moral behavior, within psychology.

Introduction

The Trolley Problem is a moral dilemma first used by philosophers and then adopted by psychologists to examine moral thinking (Cathcart 2013). The original problem was created by Philippa Foot and involved deciding whether or not to switch a trolley that was speeding toward five people to a new track with only one person on it (i.e., whether you should sacrifice one life to save five; Foot 1967). Several variations of the Trolley Problem now exist, such as the Fat Man variant where the individual must decide whether or not to push a fat man on the tracks to save five people (Cathcart 2013).

The Psychology Behind the Trolley Problem

Psychologists have used the Trolley Problem and its...

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References

  • Bleske-Rechek, A., Nelson, L. A., Baker, J. P., Remiker, M. W., & Brandt, S. J. (2010). Evolution and the trolley problem: People save five over one unless the one is young, genetically related, or a romantic partner. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 4(3), 115–127.

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  • Cathcart, T. (2013). The trolley problem, or would you throw the fat guy off the bridge?: A philosophical conundrum. New York: Workman Publishing Company.

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  • Foot, P. (1967). The problem of abortion and the doctrine of the double effect. Oxford Review, No. 5.

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  • Gold, N., Colman, A. M., & Pulford, B. D. (2014). Cultural differences in responses to real-life and hypothetical trolley problems. Judgment and Decision making, 9(1), 65–76.

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  • Greene, J. (2013). Moral tribes: Emotion, reason, and the gap between us and them. New York: The Penguin Press.

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  • Singer, P. (2005). Ethics and intuitions. The Journal of Ethics, 9, 331–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Lisa L. M. Welling

Authors
  1. Lisa L. M. Welling
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lisa L. M. Welling .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Lisa L. M. Welling

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Cite this entry

Welling, L.L.M. (2018). Psychology. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_479-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_479-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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