Academic Background and Moral Decision-Making: Insights from the Trolley Problem
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15584/johass.2025.2.8Keywords:
ethical dilemma, higher education, Trolley Problem, moral norms, academic disciplines, economics, medical sciencesAbstract
This article presents the results of a study on the relationship between academic education and students’ ethical decisions. To determine whether field of study correlates with choices in moral dilemmas, we conduct a survey confronting respondents with the Trolley Problem—a famous thought experiment that requires reference to fundamental moral norms, in which the respondent must decide whether to sacrifice the life of one person in order to save five others. Analysis of the empirical data gathered from students across a wide range of academic disciplines—including humanities, medicine, social sciences, natural sciences, and fine arts (N = 1084)—revealed differences in the response distributions among the studied groups. Students in medical and health sciences, as well as those studying national security and military studies, were more likely to express a willingness to sacrifice one life in order to save five compared to students from other fields. Contrary to our expectations, it turned out that despite the importance of the utility maximisation concept in economic theory and teaching, economic education is not correlated with a greater tendency to make active (“utilitarian”) choices. Our findings suggest that academic education may shape students ’moral decisions, but this influence is most evident in professional contexts and ethical challenges specific to their field of study.
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