Moral Conviction, Religiosity, and Ethical Trade-offs in Medical Professionals' Attitudes Toward Medical Assistance in Dying

Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) presents a unique bioethical conflict, pitting the sanctity of life against patient autonomy. While religiosity is a known predictor of opposition to MAiD, the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship remain under-explored. The present study investigates how moral conviction, ethical values, and relational context shape the attitudes of 196 medical professionals and trainees. Results indicated that religiosity was a strong predictor of opposition, but this effect was moderated by moral conviction; framing MAiD as a moral issue predicted opposition only among religious professionals, not secular ones. Furthermore, Respect for Life and Patient Autonomy functioned as competing values – prioritizing one significantly predicted the devaluation of the other. Finally, participants were significantly more supportive of MAiD when the request came from a family member rather than a stranger, though this relational proximity effect was attenuated among those with strong moral convictions. These findings suggest that professional hesitation toward MAiD is not merely a result of religious affiliation, but of specific sacred values that resist cognitive trade-offs and override relational empathy.