Wykształcenie ekonomiczne jako predyktor decyzji utylitarnych. Kontekst dylematów moralnych
Economic Education as a Predictor of Utilitarian Decisions. The Context of Moral Dilemmas

Summary/Abstract: One of the most interesting issues in cognitive approach to economics is how people make moral choices in professional situations. In this context, the question was asked whether the moral choices made are determined by the learning outcomes achieved at university. Behavioral analyses of moral decisions are based on the so-called trolley dilemma, in which the subjects are put in a hypothetical situation where they can save more people at the cost of one person’s life. The choices in such dilemmas reflect a duality in the approach to morality: the utilitarian conception, which assumes that what is moral or immoral depends on the magnitude of the consequences of the decision made, and the deontological conception, which assumes that consequences do not matter, and that certain actions are inherently evil. In the conducted experimental study, it was assumed that the manager is required to think based on the analysis of profits and losses and to make decisions in relation to the result, which is in line with the utilitarian concept. It was verified whether economic education generates an effect in the form of a higher inclination to make utilitarian decisions in a classic dilemma and in professional relations in a company. The aim of this study was identification and verification of the significance of education for the tendency to make utilitarian decisions in moral dilemma situations of a person. The results of the experiment indicate that economic studies orient towards utilitarian reasoning, both in the classical dilemma and in professional situations. At the same time, it was found that when deciding on employment, women show a stronger inclination towards utilitarian choices.

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