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Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis

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Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis. / Everett, Jim A. C.; Colombatto, Clara; Awad, Edmond et al.
In: Nature Human Behaviour, Vol. 5, No. 8, 08.2021, p. 1074–1088.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

HarvardHarvard

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, Marechal, MA, Mancinelli, F, Mathys, C, Olsen, AL, Pearce, G, Prosser, AMB, Reggev, N, Sabin, N, Senn, J, Shin, YS, Sinnott-Armstrong, W, Sjastad, H, Strick, M, Sul, S, Tummers, L, Turner, M, Yu, H, Zoh, Y & Crockett, MJ 2021, 'Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis', Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 5, no. 8, pp. 1074–1088. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01156-y

APA

Everett, J. A. C., Colombatto, C., Awad, E., Boggio, P., Bos, B., Brady, W. J., Chawla, M., Chituc, V., Chung, D., Drupp, M. A., Goel, S., Grosskopf, B., Hjorth, F., Ji, A., Kealoha, C., Kim, J. S., Lin, Y., Ma, Y., Marechal, M. A., ... 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

CBE

Everett JAC, Colombatto C, Awad E, Boggio P, Bos B, Brady WJ, Chawla M, Chituc V, Chung D, Drupp MA, et al. 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

MLA

Everett, Jim A. C. et al. "Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis". Nature Human Behaviour. 2021, 5(8). 1074–1088. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01156-y

VancouverVancouver

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):1074–1088. Epub 2021 Jul 1. doi: 10.1038/s41562-021-01156-y

Author

Everett, Jim A. C. ; Colombatto, Clara ; Awad, Edmond et al. / Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis. In: Nature Human Behaviour. 2021 ; Vol. 5, No. 8. pp. 1074–1088.

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis

AU - Everett, Jim A. C.

AU - Colombatto, Clara

AU - Awad, Edmond

AU - Boggio, Paulo

AU - Bos, Bjoern

AU - Brady, William J.

AU - Chawla, Megha

AU - Chituc, Vladimir

AU - Chung, Dongil

AU - Drupp, Moritz A.

AU - Goel, Srishti

AU - Grosskopf, Brit

AU - Hjorth, Frederik

AU - Ji, Alissa

AU - Kealoha, Caleb

AU - Kim, Judy S.

AU - Lin, Yangfei

AU - Ma, Yina

AU - Marechal, Michel Andre

AU - Mancinelli, Federico

AU - Mathys, Christoph

AU - Olsen, Asmus L.

AU - Pearce, Graeme

AU - Prosser, Annayah M. B.

AU - Reggev, Niv

AU - Sabin, Nicholas

AU - Senn, Julien

AU - Shin, Yeon Soon

AU - Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter

AU - Sjastad, Hallgeir

AU - Strick, Madelijn

AU - Sul, Sunhae

AU - Tummers, Lars

AU - Turner, Monique

AU - Yu, Hongbo

AU - Zoh, Yoonseo

AU - Crockett, Molly J.

PY - 2021/8

Y1 - 2021/8

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

U2 - 10.1038/s41562-021-01156-y

DO - 10.1038/s41562-021-01156-y

M3 - Article

VL - 5

SP - 1074

EP - 1088

JO - Nature Human Behaviour

JF - Nature Human Behaviour

SN - 2397-3374

IS - 8

ER -