Moral Status Attribution to AI
Ethics & CSRReliability: alpha 0.883 sample items
About this scale
A multi-item measure of the extent to which a user attributes moral status (capacity to be harmed, deserves consideration) to AI agents. Distinct from anthropomorphism — focuses on moral patiency.
Sample item(s)
“AI systems deserve some moral consideration”
“It is wrong to mistreat an AI system”
“If an AI suffers, that suffering matters morally”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.88. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Increasingly relevant as LLMs reach human-like conversational ability.
Source & citation
Pauketat, J. V. T., & Anthis, J. R. (2022): Predicting the moral consideration of artificial intelligences. Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 136, Article 107380.
Pauketat & Anthis (2022): Moral consideration of AI. CHB, 136, 107380.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
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