Humour in trolley problems and other sacrificial dilemmas: killing is not funny at all
Résumé
Three studies were designed to explore a major criticism of sacrificial dilemmas,
namely that their potential humorous aspects may distort moral decision-making.
We collected moral responses (i.e. moral judgment and choice of action) but also
asked participants to rate the funniness of moral dilemmas, in order to combine
humour assessment and moral responses. In addition, the emotional responses to
moral dilemmas were recorded for both men and women (including emotions
related to humour), and the potential effect of individuals’ need for humour was
also considered. Overall, three main results were reported. Firstly, the dilemmas
used in our studies were not rated as funny at all. Secondly, reading moral
dilemmas increased negative emotions (i.e. sadness, disgust, guilt) and decreased
positive emotions associated with humour (i.e. joy, amusement, and mirth), with
gender effects since women experienced stronger negative emotions than men.
Thirdly, funniness ratings of sacrificial dilemmas did not vary according to gender
and need for humour. This series of studies does not report empirical evidence to
support the humorous aspects of trolley-type dilemmas, but invites a more
systematic examination of how sacrificial dilemmas are perceived by participants
who have to produce moral responses.