The severity of the pandemic positively correlates with a stronger preference to prioritize treating younger people. In fact, there is a 0.089-unit increase in the importance of the age with one standard deviation increase in the confirmed cases per million people in an area (b = 0.089; 95% CI = (0.039, 0.142))

University of Pittsburgh

The state of the pandemic and characteristics of the decision maker themselves could impact their decisions and place more utility value, or worth, on an attribute. Characteristics of the study participant include:
- Gender
- Education level
- Income
- Age
- Political stance
- Religious beliefs

Individual Differences in Social Preferences 

Jin, L., Huang, Y., Liang, Y., & Zhang, Q. (2020). Who Gets the Ventilator? Moral Decision Making Regarding Medical Resource Allocation in a Pandemic. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. doi:10.1086/711734

Who Gets the Ventilator? Moral Decision Making Regarding Medical Resource Allocation in a Pandemic

One standard deviation increase in the confirmed cases per million people in an area is associated with a 0.085-unit decrease in the importance of survival probability (b = -0.085; 95% CI = (-0.136, - 0.034). This could be attributed to a psychological effect where the idea of being affected by the pandemic causes participants to also prefer personal characteristics when choosing people. 

Impact of the State of the Pandemic in Individual Preference of Using Survival Probability

Female participants attached a greater importance to survival probability (b = 0.485; 95% CI = (0.383, 0.581)) and criminal history (b = 0.142; 95% CI = (0.065, 0.218)) when compared to males. 

Gender Differences in Social Preferences

Those with a higher education placed a greater importance on survival probability with one standard deviation increase from the average education level being associated with a 0.270-unit increase in importance (b = 0.270; 95% CI = (0.201, 0.340)).

Impact of a Participant’s Education Level on Social Preferences

One standard deviation increase in income of the participant found that survival probability was used more (b = 0.090; 95% CI = (0.055, 0.122)).

Impact of a Participant’s Income on Social Preferences

One standard deviation increase in age is associated with an increase in the importance of age (b = 0.093, 95% CI = (0.043, 0.145)) and an increase in preferring survival probability (b = 0.235, 95% CI = (0.202, 0.304)). 

Impact of a Participant’s Age on Social Preferences

One standard deviation increase in political progressiveness found an increase in using survival probability (b = 0.063; 95% CI = (0.018, 0.110)), a decrease in using nationality (b = -0.120; 95% CI = (-0.151, -0.086)), and a decrease in using criminal history (b = 0.112; 95% CI = (-0.148; -0.072)) for allocation decisions.

Impact of a Participant's Political Outlook on Social Preferences

Those who have a religious belief appeared to have a decrease in prioritizing age (b = -0.388; 95% CI = (-0.506; -0.272)), survival probability (b = -0.384; 95% CI = (-0.494; -0.273)), and criminal record (b = 0.164; 95% CI = (-0.282; -0.051)).

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