Effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others' decisions in moral dilemmas
This study aimed to examine the effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others' decisions in moral dilemmas. The following three conditions were examined: the use of one's real name, pseudonymity (i.e., the use of a nickname), and complete anonymity. Participants made de...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-09-01
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| Series: | Acta Psychologica |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825006389 |
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| author | Hitoshi Terai Shinji Kai Misato Oi |
| author_facet | Hitoshi Terai Shinji Kai Misato Oi |
| author_sort | Hitoshi Terai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study aimed to examine the effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others' decisions in moral dilemmas. The following three conditions were examined: the use of one's real name, pseudonymity (i.e., the use of a nickname), and complete anonymity. Participants made decisions and evaluated others' decisions in the trolley and footbridge problems. The results indicated that during decision making, anonymity increased participants' preference for utilitarian decisions. This suggests that anonymity might diminish empathy, leading to a greater inclination toward utilitarian decisions. Conversely, during evaluations of others' decisions, anonymity generally made participants more accepting of nonutilitarian decisions and less accepting of utilitarian ones. These findings suggest that anonymity might facilitate more intuition-oriented evaluations in the process of evaluating decisions. These effects were not observed for pseudonymity, and their significance is discussed. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-463502c8f63140028d1b5dfa0aace9d4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0001-6918 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Psychologica |
| spelling | doaj-art-463502c8f63140028d1b5dfa0aace9d42025-08-20T03:56:17ZengElsevierActa Psychologica0001-69182025-09-0125910532510.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105325Effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others' decisions in moral dilemmasHitoshi Terai0Shinji Kai1Misato Oi2Graduate School of Humanity-Oriented Science and Engineering, Kindai University, 11-6, Kayanomori, Iizuka, Fukuoka 820-8555, Japan; Corresponding author.Graduate School of Humanity-Oriented Science and Engineering, Kindai University, 11-6, Kayanomori, Iizuka, Fukuoka 820-8555, JapanGraduate School of Humanity-Oriented Science and Engineering, Kindai University, 11-6, Kayanomori, Iizuka, Fukuoka 820-8555, JapanThis study aimed to examine the effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others' decisions in moral dilemmas. The following three conditions were examined: the use of one's real name, pseudonymity (i.e., the use of a nickname), and complete anonymity. Participants made decisions and evaluated others' decisions in the trolley and footbridge problems. The results indicated that during decision making, anonymity increased participants' preference for utilitarian decisions. This suggests that anonymity might diminish empathy, leading to a greater inclination toward utilitarian decisions. Conversely, during evaluations of others' decisions, anonymity generally made participants more accepting of nonutilitarian decisions and less accepting of utilitarian ones. These findings suggest that anonymity might facilitate more intuition-oriented evaluations in the process of evaluating decisions. These effects were not observed for pseudonymity, and their significance is discussed.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825006389AnonymityDisinhibitionDual-processMoral dilemmaPseudonymity |
| spellingShingle | Hitoshi Terai Shinji Kai Misato Oi Effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others' decisions in moral dilemmas Acta Psychologica Anonymity Disinhibition Dual-process Moral dilemma Pseudonymity |
| title | Effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others' decisions in moral dilemmas |
| title_full | Effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others' decisions in moral dilemmas |
| title_fullStr | Effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others' decisions in moral dilemmas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others' decisions in moral dilemmas |
| title_short | Effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others' decisions in moral dilemmas |
| title_sort | effects of anonymity on decision making and evaluations of others decisions in moral dilemmas |
| topic | Anonymity Disinhibition Dual-process Moral dilemma Pseudonymity |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825006389 |
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