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Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Everett, JAC; Colombatto, C; Awad, E; Boggio, P; Bos, B; Brady, WJ; Chawla, M; Chituc, V; Chung, D; Drupp, MA; Goel, S; Grosskopf, B; Ji, A ...
Published in: Nature human behaviour
August 2021

Trust in leaders is central to citizen compliance with public policies. One potential determinant of trust is how leaders resolve conflicts between utilitarian and non-utilitarian ethical principles in moral dilemmas. Past research suggests that utilitarian responses to dilemmas can both erode and enhance trust in leaders: sacrificing some people to save many others ('instrumental harm') reduces trust, while maximizing the welfare of everyone equally ('impartial beneficence') may increase trust. In a multi-site experiment spanning 22 countries on six continents, participants (N = 23,929) completed self-report (N = 17,591) and behavioural (N = 12,638) measures of trust in leaders who endorsed utilitarian or non-utilitarian principles in dilemmas concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. Across both the self-report and behavioural measures, endorsement of instrumental harm decreased trust, while endorsement of impartial beneficence increased trust. These results show how support for different ethical principles can impact trust in leaders, and inform effective public communication during times of global crisis. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION STATEMENT: The Stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 13 November 2020. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13247315.v1 .

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Published In

Nature human behaviour

DOI

EISSN

2397-3374

ISSN

2397-3374

Publication Date

August 2021

Volume

5

Issue

8

Start / End Page

1074 / 1088

Related Subject Headings

  • Trust
  • Morals
  • Male
  • Leadership
  • Humans
  • Global Health
  • Female
  • Ethical Theory
  • COVID-19
  • 52 Psychology
 

Citation

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Everett, J. A. C., Colombatto, C., Awad, E., Boggio, P., Bos, B., Brady, W. J., … Crockett, M. J. (2021). Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(8), 1074–1088. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01156-y
Everett, Jim A. C., Clara Colombatto, Edmond Awad, Paulo Boggio, Björn Bos, William J. Brady, Megha Chawla, et al. “Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis.Nature Human Behaviour 5, no. 8 (August 2021): 1074–88. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01156-y.
Everett JAC, Colombatto C, Awad E, Boggio P, Bos B, Brady WJ, et al. Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis. Nature human behaviour. 2021 Aug;5(8):1074–88.
Everett, Jim A. C., et al. “Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis.Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 5, no. 8, Aug. 2021, pp. 1074–88. Epmc, doi:10.1038/s41562-021-01156-y.
Everett JAC, Colombatto C, Awad E, Boggio P, Bos B, Brady WJ, Chawla M, Chituc V, Chung D, Drupp MA, Goel S, Grosskopf B, Hjorth F, Ji A, Kealoha C, Kim JS, Lin Y, Ma Y, Maréchal MA, Mancinelli F, Mathys C, Olsen AL, Pearce G, Prosser AMB, Reggev N, Sabin N, Senn J, Shin YS, Sinnott-Armstrong W, Sjåstad H, Strick M, Sul S, Tummers L, Turner M, Yu H, Zoh Y, Crockett MJ. Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis. Nature human behaviour. 2021 Aug;5(8):1074–1088.

Published In

Nature human behaviour

DOI

EISSN

2397-3374

ISSN

2397-3374

Publication Date

August 2021

Volume

5

Issue

8

Start / End Page

1074 / 1088

Related Subject Headings

  • Trust
  • Morals
  • Male
  • Leadership
  • Humans
  • Global Health
  • Female
  • Ethical Theory
  • COVID-19
  • 52 Psychology