Characters’ names drive people’s decisions in life and death trade-offs

This study examines how superficial characteristics (first name) influence people’s decisions in life and death trade-offs, and tests whether these characteristics moderate the effect of a classically relevant cue: age. Participants will respond to a series of moral dilemmas involving a life-or-death trade-off (sacrificing one person to save another). The experimental manipulations will concern (a) the the person's age (10yo, 30yo, 60yo) and (b) the preference for the first name assigned to the individual (captured by the frequency it is given: highly given vs lowly given).