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Contribution Details

Type Journal Article
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title Influence of deontological versus consequentialist orientations on act choices and framing effects: when principles are more important than consequences
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Carmen Tanner
  • Douglas L. Medin
  • Rumen Iliev
Item Subtype Original Work
Refereed Yes
Status Published in final form
Language
  • English
Journal Title European Journal of Social Psychology
Publisher Wiley
Geographical Reach international
Volume 38
Number 5
Page Range 757 - 769
Date 2008
Abstract Text A long tradition in decision making assumes that people usually take a consequentialist perspective, which implies a focus on the outcomes only when making decisions. Such a view largely neglects the existence of a deontological perspective, which implies that people are sensitive to moral duties that require or prohibit certain behaviors, irrespective of the consequences. Similarly, recent research has also suggested that people holding “protected values” (PVs) show increased attention to acts versus omissions and less attention to outcomes. The present research investigates the role of deontological versus consequentialist modes of thought and of PVs on framing effects and act versus omission choices. In a modification of Tversky and Kahneman's (1981) risky choice framing paradigm, we manipulated the framing of the outcomes (positive, negative), as well as whether the certain outcome was associated with an act or inaction. The main results suggest that act versus omission tendencies are linked to deontological focus and PVs. Framing effects, on the other hand, are driven by a consequentialist focus.
Official URL https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.493
Digital Object Identifier 10.1002/ejsp.493
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