The current research
The central idea of the current research is that decisions in footbridge
dilemmas will be influenced by which rule is most accessible during the
decision-making process. Viewingmoral rules as knowledge structures or
mental representations of appropriate behavior that effortlessly and
automatically can guide behavior in certain situations (see e.g., Aarts &
Dijksterhuis, 2003; Schank & Abelson, 1977), we argue that priming
peoplewith either a “Save lives” or a “Do not kill” moral rule should affect
willingness to intervene in footbridge dilemmas. More specifically, when
individuals are unobtrusively primed with the rule “Save lives” this rule
will become more accessible than the rule “Do not kill” and subsequently
these individuals will be more willing to save five persons at the expense
of one. In contrast, when individuals are primed with the rule “Do not
kill” the heightened accessibility of this rule will result in decisions that
show less willingness to save five persons at the expense of one person.