Examining the role of the three principles of personal contact, action, and double effect on moral decision making

The three principles of double effect, personal contact, and action are suggested as the chief psychological mechanisms affecting human moral decision making in trolley dilemmas. The purpose of current research was to investigate the claim of the universality of these principles and their role in moral decision making in trolley dilemma in the oriental culture of Iran. In this research, using a semi-experimental single group pre-test-post-test design, four scenarios were used adopted from similar research. The statistical population of this research was the general population active in social media. The sample consisted of 235 participants with an average age of 30.34. Among the subjects, 143 were women and 92 were men. "McNemar" test was used for statistical analysis. Based on the results, the effect of all three principles on the ethical decision making of the subjects in trolley dilemma was confirmed significantly (Pvalue>0.05). Therefore, this research shows that all three principles of personal contact, action, and double effect are effectively influencing moral decision making.