Further Developments in the Trolley Dilemma

In looking further into the trolley dilemma study, I found an additional article from the Greene Center called Pushing moral buttons: The interaction between personal force and intention in moral judgment. (Greene, J. D., et al. Pushing moral buttons: The interaction between personal force ... Cog- nition (2009), doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2009.02.001)

The article breaks down the scenarios even more, pinpointing the effects of several variables including proximity and personal force. The idea of proximity in this situation compared the reactions of actions where the responder needed to be close to the sacrificial victim with those who could cause the reaction from a distance. The experiments also compared the effect of requiring personal, physical force to cause the reaction.

The results garnered results basically showing that it was seen as more acceptable to sacrifice the single victim if the responder could do so with no personal contact and from a distance.

This reminded me of a clip from Funny or Die, which spoofed the film, The Box. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qRK6yJSRR0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

The study concludes with recommendations for further inquiry. It also raises the possibility that our own moral judgments are based in part in our physical bodies.