Everyday Sadism and Utilitarian Moral Beliefs

We aim to examine the relationship between everyday sadism and utilitarian moral beliefs. Everyday sadism is a dispositional tendency to seek or enjoy the infliction of harm, control, or humiliation in interpersonal settings (e.g., Buckels et al., 2013). Moral beliefs concern the cognitive component of morality, the subjective understanding of what is right or wrong (Paruzel-Czachura, 2025). Moral beliefs will be examined by referring to moral dilemmas that present situations requiring moral evaluation, as well as statements to which participants must take a stance. In the current study, we will focus on utilitarian moral beliefs. Utilitarianism, understood as a specific form of consequentialism, holds that moral decisions should aim to maximize overall good while minimizing suffering for the greatest number of people (Mill, 1863; Singer, 1979). We will measure utilitarianism via three approaches: 1) the classical approach, so we will use classic trolley switch dilemma (Foot, 1967) as well as its footbridge version (Thomson, 1976); 2) the CNI model approach (Gawronski et al., 2017), which allows us to determine whether sensitivity to norms, sensitivity to consequences, or a preference for inaction plays the primary role in shaping responses to moral dilemmas; 3) two-dimensional approach with positive dimension of utilitarianism (impartial beneficence; the tendency to maximize overall good without causing harm) and negative dimension of utilitarianism (instrumental harm; the tendency to maximize overall good regardless of potential harm to an individual) (Everett & Kahane, 2020; Kahane et al., 2018). Such a broad perspective to measuring utilitarian moral beliefs will facilitate a more precise understanding of the relationship between everyday sadism and the cognitive aspects of moral functioning. The selection of instruments to measure sadism (SSIS, CAST-12, ASP-8) is based on the results of the conducted adaptation of these tools. Psychopathy (LSRP) will be measured in the study to control the shared variance with everyday sadism.