The effects of parental care motives and time constraints on trolley problem decision-making: A virtual reality study

Abstract

“Trolley Problem Decision-Making” refers to deciding which of the two pedestrians to hit on each side of the lane. Understanding how humans make trolley decisions provides insights into establishing autonomous driving ethical algorithms. Given that parental care motivation heavily influences moral judgments and decisions, this study aimed to explore the effect of parental care motivation on trolley problem decision-making and its underlying mechanisms. In study 1, parental care motivation was implicitly primed by using pictures of children in a text-based method. The participants had to decide which of the two targets (a child and an adult) to hit. The results showed that the probability of hitting the child target decreased significantly when parental care motivation was activated. In a virtual reality (VR) environment of Study 2, parental care motivation was activated using a 3D child avatar and scripted audio. Participants needed to decide which of the two targets to hit under different time constraints. The results showed that in the fast decision condition, parental care motivation had a stronger effect on the child hit rate, indicating that the effect of parental care motivation relied more on the intuitive emotional system. Therefore, the current study’s findings were discussed within the domain of the dual-process model and fundamental-motives framework.