The Light Triad and Utilitarian Moral Judgment: How Kind, Honest, and Trusting Individuals Navigate Morality

Abstract We aimed to study relationships between the light triad (i.e., humanism, Kantianism, faith in humanity) and utilitarian moral judgment, operationalized in three approaches (i.e., sacrificial dilemmas, CNI model, and two-dimensional model). We asked 717 to join an online survey. We confirmed all our predictions, apart from one. We found that humanism, Kantianism, faith in humanity, and the overall light triad score had a negative association with the traditional score from the CNI model, a positive association with sensitivity to moral norms, and a positive association with impartial beneficence. We also found that (1) faith in humanity had a negative association with sensitivity to consequences, (2) Kantianism and overall light triad score had a negative association with instrumental harm, and (3) humanism had a positive association with the footbridge dilemma. These findings deepen our theoretical understanding of how positive personality traits relate to moral judgment and different aspects of utilitarianism.