Table 2.

Moral vignettes in different conditions (blank, intoxication, coercion, false information) and kinds of questions (responsibility, causality, punishment, decision-making) for 1st/3rd person version.

Blank condition 1st/3rd person version You (Sam) come(s) home at night to find(s) a stranger standing in your living room. You (Sam) see(s) a sharp kitchen knife on the counter, pick(s) it up and fatally stab(s) the stranger in the chest.

Intoxication condition 1st/ 3rd person version You (Sam) come(s) home at night intoxicated from an evening of heavy drinking and find(s) a stranger standing in your living room. You (Sam) see(s) a sharp kitchen knife on the counter, drunkenly pick(s) it up and fatally stab(s) the stranger in the chest.

Coercion condition 1st/3rd person version You (Sam) come(s) home at night to find two strangers standing in your living room. One is unarmed but the other has a gun. The one with the gun orders you (Sam) to pick up the sharp kitchen knife on the counter and stab the unarmed stranger and says that if you (Sam) fail(s) to comply you (Sam) will be shot in the head. You (Sam) pick(s) up the knife and fatally stab(s) the unarmed stranger in the chest.

False information condition 1st/3rd person version On your way home one night you (Sam) receive(s) an anonymous text message telling you (Sam) that there is a stranger in your (Sam’s) apartment who means to kill you (Sam). When you (Sam) get(s) home there is, indeed, a stranger standing in your (Sam’s) living room. You (Sam) see(s) a sharp kitchen knife on the counter, pick(s) it up and fatally stab(s) the stranger in the chest. However, in fact the text you (Sam) received was a lie. The stranger in your apartment meant you (Sam) no harm and was actually there seeking safety from the person who sent the text.