Academic Journal
Programming Tasks Impact Responses to Moral Dilemmas for Novice Programmers.
| Τίτλος: | Programming Tasks Impact Responses to Moral Dilemmas for Novice Programmers. |
|---|---|
| Συγγραφείς: | Singh, Tanya1 (AUTHOR) singht3@rpi.edu, Ramaprasad, Jui2 (AUTHOR) jramapra@umd.edu, Ganju, Kartik K.3 (AUTHOR) ganju006@umn.edu |
| Πηγή: | Information Systems Research (INFORMS). Jun2026, Vol. 37 Issue 2, p948-962. 15p. |
| Θεματικοί όροι: | *Computer programming, *Computer programmers, Ethical decision making, Ethical problems, Psychological techniques, Utilitarianism, Cognitive styles |
| Περίληψη: | The rapid diffusion of programming skills across education and industry may impact how individuals consider moral dilemmas. Across a series of experiments, we show that performing even simple programming tasks shifts novice programmers' evaluation of the classic trolley problem toward utilitarian responses. After solving a programming problem, respondents are more willing to sacrifice one life to save many. This effect arises because programming induces a deliberative, rule-based cognitive style. However, the effect diminishes with greater programming experience and can be mitigated through interventions, such as time delays or moral nudges. These findings highlight that organizations training employees in coding should be aware that programming tasks may temporarily alter moral reasoning, potentially influencing judgments in ethically charged contexts (e.g., product design, risk management, or AI development). Incorporating reflective cooling-off periods or explicit ethical reinforcement may reduce bias toward utilitarian reasoning. As programming becomes a baseline skill across the workforce, its cognitive spillovers could shape societal attitudes toward contested moral dilemmas. These include ethical trade-offs in settings such as autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence systems. We examine if performing a programming task alters a decision maker's response to a well-known moral dilemma: the trolley problem. In the problem, the decision maker must choose between inaction that sacrifices multiple lives or a deliberate action that changes the course of events and sacrifices a different life. We argue that computer programming requires structured, rule-based cognition, resulting in a deliberative mindset. This mindset leads decision makers to prefer sacrificing a single life to save multiple lives, known as the utilitarian choice to the moral dilemma. Through a series of experiments, we find that performing a programming task (i) increases the prevalence of utilitarian choices on the trolley problem and (ii) this shift is exclusive to novice programmers. We validate this effect with more complex programming tasks. We examine two interventions (a simple nudge and a time delay between programming and the moral dilemma) that mitigate this effect. These results contribute to our understanding of how performing programming tasks impact ethical decision making. We discuss the implications of our results for organizations and society. History: Deepa Mani, Senior Editor; Idris Adjerid, Associate Editor. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.0376. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Information Systems Research (INFORMS) is the property of INFORMS: Institute for Operations Research & the Management Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | Business Source Index |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: bsx DbLabel: Business Source Index An: 194875264 RelevancyScore: 1515 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 1515 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Programming Tasks Impact Responses to Moral Dilemmas for Novice Programmers. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Singh%2C+Tanya%22">Singh, Tanya</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> singht3@rpi.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ramaprasad%2C+Jui%22">Ramaprasad, Jui</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> jramapra@umd.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ganju%2C+Kartik+K%2E%22">Ganju, Kartik K.</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> ganju006@umn.edu</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Information+Systems+Research+%28INFORMS%29%22">Information Systems Research (INFORMS)</searchLink>. Jun2026, Vol. 37 Issue 2, p948-962. 15p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+programming%22">Computer programming</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+programmers%22">Computer programmers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ethical+decision+making%22">Ethical decision making</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ethical+problems%22">Ethical problems</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychological+techniques%22">Psychological techniques</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Utilitarianism%22">Utilitarianism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+styles%22">Cognitive styles</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The rapid diffusion of programming skills across education and industry may impact how individuals consider moral dilemmas. Across a series of experiments, we show that performing even simple programming tasks shifts novice programmers' evaluation of the classic trolley problem toward utilitarian responses. After solving a programming problem, respondents are more willing to sacrifice one life to save many. This effect arises because programming induces a deliberative, rule-based cognitive style. However, the effect diminishes with greater programming experience and can be mitigated through interventions, such as time delays or moral nudges. These findings highlight that organizations training employees in coding should be aware that programming tasks may temporarily alter moral reasoning, potentially influencing judgments in ethically charged contexts (e.g., product design, risk management, or AI development). Incorporating reflective cooling-off periods or explicit ethical reinforcement may reduce bias toward utilitarian reasoning. As programming becomes a baseline skill across the workforce, its cognitive spillovers could shape societal attitudes toward contested moral dilemmas. These include ethical trade-offs in settings such as autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence systems. We examine if performing a programming task alters a decision maker's response to a well-known moral dilemma: the trolley problem. In the problem, the decision maker must choose between inaction that sacrifices multiple lives or a deliberate action that changes the course of events and sacrifices a different life. We argue that computer programming requires structured, rule-based cognition, resulting in a deliberative mindset. This mindset leads decision makers to prefer sacrificing a single life to save multiple lives, known as the utilitarian choice to the moral dilemma. Through a series of experiments, we find that performing a programming task (i) increases the prevalence of utilitarian choices on the trolley problem and (ii) this shift is exclusive to novice programmers. We validate this effect with more complex programming tasks. We examine two interventions (a simple nudge and a time delay between programming and the moral dilemma) that mitigate this effect. These results contribute to our understanding of how performing programming tasks impact ethical decision making. We discuss the implications of our results for organizations and society. History: Deepa Mani, Senior Editor; Idris Adjerid, Associate Editor. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.0376. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Information Systems Research (INFORMS) is the property of INFORMS: Institute for Operations Research & the Management Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1287/isre.2022.0376 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 15 StartPage: 948 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Computer programming Type: general – SubjectFull: Computer programmers Type: general – SubjectFull: Ethical decision making Type: general – SubjectFull: Ethical problems Type: general – SubjectFull: Psychological techniques Type: general – SubjectFull: Utilitarianism Type: general – SubjectFull: Cognitive styles Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Programming Tasks Impact Responses to Moral Dilemmas for Novice Programmers. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Singh, Tanya – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Ramaprasad, Jui – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Ganju, Kartik K. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 06 Text: Jun2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 10477047 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 37 – Type: issue Value: 2 Titles: – TitleFull: Information Systems Research (INFORMS) Type: main |
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