Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis
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Date
2021-08
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
Trust in leaders is central to citizen compliance with public policies. One potential determinant of trust is how leaders resolve conflicts between utilitarian and non-utilitarian ethical principles in moral dilemmas. Past research suggests that utilitarian responses to dilemmas can both erode and enhance trust in leaders: sacrificing some people to save many others (‘instrumental harm’) reduces trust, while maximizing the welfare of everyone equally (‘impartial beneficence’) may increase trust. In a multi-site experiment spanning 22 countries on six continents, participants (N = 23,929) completed self-report (N = 17,591) and behavioural (N = 12,638) measures of trust in leaders who endorsed utilitarian or non-utilitarian principles in dilemmas concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. Across both the self-report and behavioural measures, endorsement of instrumental harm decreased trust, while endorsement of impartial beneficence increased trust. These results show how support for different ethical principles can impact trust in leaders, and inform effective public communication during times of global crisis.
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published
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Book title
Journal / series
Volume
5 (8)
Pages / Article No.
1074 - 1088
Publisher
Nature
Event
Edition / version
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Software
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Date collected
Date created
Subject
Ethics; Human behaviour
Organisational unit
03955 - Stephan, Klaas E. / Stephan, Klaas E.
09845 - Drupp, Moritz / Drupp, Moritz
Notes
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