Do Adverse Childhood Experiences Make Us More Utilitarian in Moral Dilemmas?

Figures & data

Table 1 Prevalence of Each ACE and ACE Scores in the Study 1 and Study 2

ACEs	Study 1 (N = 1880)		Study 2 (N = 986)
	N	Percentage of Total Sample (%)	N	Percentage of Total Sample (%)
Abuse
Emotional abuse	429	22.82	297	30.12
Physical abuse	516	27.45	332	33.67
Sexual abuse	131	6.97	216	21.91
Neglect
Emotional neglect	180	9.57	96	9.74
Physical neglect	292	15.53	219	22.21
Household dysfunction
Parental separation or divorce	153	8.14	113	11.46
Household domestic violence	124	6.60	188	19.07
Household substance abuse	30	1.60	65	6.59
Household mental illness	99	5.27	117	11.87
Incarcerated household member	55	2.93	85	8.62
ACEs score
0	853	45.37	370	37.53
1	499	26.54	236	23.94
2	267	14.20	131	13.29
3	139	7.39	89	9.03
4 or more	122	6.49	160	16.23

Abbreviation: ACEs, adverse childhood experiences.

Table 2 The Proportions of Utilitarian Choices in Each Dilemma Made by the No, Low, and High- ACE Groups

Groups	Crying baby		Abortion		Vaccine policy		Animal research
	M	95% CI	M	95% CI	M	95% CI	M	95% CI
No-ACE	0.38	[0.35, 0.41]	0.77	[0.74, 0.80]	0.70	[0.67, 0.73]	0.68	[0.65, 0.71]
Low-ACE	0.61	[0.57, 0.64]	0.85	[0.83, 0.87]	0.78	[0.76, 0.81]	0.81	[0.78, 0.83]
High-ACE	0.70	[0.62, 0.79]	0.89	[0.83, 0.94]	0.80	[0.73, 0.87]	0.85	[0.79, 0.92]

Note: Scores range from 0–1.

Table 3 Means and 95% Confidence Intervals of Action Responses to the Four Types of Moral Dilemmas Among the No, Low, and High-ACE Groups

Groups	Proscriptive norm prohibits action				Prescriptive norm prescribes action
	Benefits of action greater than costs		Benefits of action smaller than costs		Benefits of action greater than costs		Benefits of action smaller than costs
	M	95% CI	M	95% CI	M	95% CI	M	95% CI
No-ACE	2.60	[2.45, 2.75]	2.04	[1.88, 2.19]	4.09	[3.94, 4.24]	3.51	[3.36, 3.65]
Low-ACE	2.84	[2.71, 2.98]	2.18	[2.03, 2.32]	3.91	[3.77, 4.05]	3.37	[3.24, 3.51]
High-ACE	3.04	[2.83, 3.25]	2.45	[2.21, 2.69]	3.68	[3.46, 3.89]	3.26	[3.04, 3.47]

Note: Scores range from 0–6.

Table 4 Means and 95% Confidence Intervals of C, N, and I Parameters Among the No, Low, and High-ACE Groups

Groups	C Parameter		N Parameter		I Parameter
	M	95% CI	M	95% CI	M	95% CI
No-ACE	0.10	[0.08, 0.12]	0.27	[0.25, 0.30]	0.48	[0.47, 0.50]
Low-ACE	0.10	[0.08, 0.12]	0.21	[0.19, 0.23]	0.48	[0.47, 0.50]
High-ACE	0.08	[0.05, 0.11]	0.13	[0.09, 0.16]	0.48	[0.46, 0.50]

Note: Scores range from 0–1.

Figure 1 Parameter estimates of sensitivity to consequences (C), sensitivity to norms (N), and general preference for inaction versus action (I) among the no, low, and high-ACE groups. Error bars depict 95% confidence intervals. ***p < 0.001.