Moral decision-making in military pilots versus military personnel

Moral sense is the set of rules, accepted by a Society, that underlie the behavior of the individual, classifying his actions in "right" or "wrong". Therefore, its role is undeniable in human life, especially in the processes that include decision-making. It becomes pivotal in operational contexts, especially in aerospace flight experts. Actually, moral decision-making may result a key element in determining the probability of success during a mission. In the present study we investigated for the first time moral decision-making in a sample of aerospace military men, including pilots and non-pilots, which were required to solve 40 moral dilemmas. We also asked them to rate several important aspects of moral decision, such as moral acceptability and emotional state during decision-making. The results of the present study show specific differences in moral decision-making between military aerospace flight experts and military personnel. We discuss the possible causes of these differences, reserving some possible implications for flight experts who are exposed to moral dilemmas daily.