What are ethical principles of psychologists?

Preamble

All members of the JPA shall recognise and honour the basic rights of all people, shall respect people’s liberty and pursuit of happiness, take care to maintain the welfare and protection of non-human creatures, and assume responsibility for their actions as professional psychologists. These principles and guidelines are based on the foregoing; in the event that a judgement is required regarding the ethicality of a member’s actions as a professional psychologist, as well as the results of those actions, members shall follow these principles and guidelines.

1. Awareness of responsibility and self-study As professional psychologists, JPA members shall be aware that their research, studies, and practical activities in the field of psychology may have effects on society and the individuals that it comprises. Furthermore, members shall, through their activities, aim to improve people’s welfare and happiness.
In order to make such a contribution to society, members shall constantly strive to develop an appropriate professional dignity, shall study to improve themselves, and endeavour to improve their abilities, knowledge and professional proficiency. To that end, members shall acquire the latest specialist knowledge and techniques, as well as a wide range of related information. Members shall further learn about ethical ideology, as well as pertinent laws—both in Japan and overseas, shall take an active part in the education of junior professionals, and aim to increase awareness among society at large.

2. Legal compliance and respect for rights and welfare
JPA members are not simply expected to obey laws in their capacity as regular citizens. As professional psychologists, members are expected to comply with the regulations of the professional institutions and organisations to which they belong and to respect the standards, customs, cultures, and values of the organisations to which the participants*1in members’ research and practical activities belong. Members must never take respect for the individual or animal welfare lightly. Members should always be careful to honour the rights and benefits of their colleagues and students who participate in members’ research, education, and practical activities, as well as all other people otherwise involved in members’ work, and shall always be considerate of such people’s human rights and welfare. In particular, when engaging in research, education, or practical activities that involve animals, members shall comply with all pertinent laws, ensure animals are fed and kept appropriately, and work to prevent abuse and otherwise improve animal welfare. Furthermore, where wild animals are involved, members must be careful to protect the environment and consider the effects on the local community and ecosystem.

3. Explanation and consent
When carrying out psychology-related activities, JPA members must fully inform all participants of the details of the activities and must generally obtain the consent of participants in writing*2. Where it is difficult for members to gain informed consent regarding their research from participants, members must obtain such consent from a proxy, such as a close family member. Additionally, participants must be told in advance that they have the right to suspend or terminate their participation, even before the research has finished.

4. Confidentiality
JPA members must never conduct any research, education, or practical activity which invades the privacy of any individual without first obtaining that individual’s permission nor shall members cause any physical or psychological damage to participants. Where a member is in a position of authority over a participant, the member must never use that position for personal benefit. Furthermore, members must store and administer information gained through research, education, and practical activities in the strictest confidence, making sure that such information is never divulged to anyone else; such information must generally not be used for any purpose other than research, education, or practical activities.

5. Public statements and responsibility
When a JPA member publishes information gained through research, education, or practical activities, the member shall first obtain the consent of the participants and others involved and must ensure that participants cannot be identified through published information without the participant’s prior permission. In the case of joint research, the member must also obtain the consent of his or her fellow researchers when making public statements and fully consider his or her rights and responsibilities.

*1: Participants (including those taking part in, related to, or cooperating in research) were formerly referred to as “subjects”; however, in line with the principles set forth in the foreword, are herein referred to as “participants.”

*2: Bearing in mind that some research is carried out using questionnaires in a group survey or by post, and that the very efficacy of some research is rendered useless by describing in detail the contents of the research to participants, members are required to take measures and strive to ensure that informed consent is obtained in writing without compromising the research. Where prior consent is impossible, members must obtain consent—and the understanding of the participant—ex post facto.

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In Psychology some of the most contested issues are ethical issues. Many of the greatest psychological studies have been hugely unethical. For example, Milgram (1963), Zimbardo (1973). One of the problems one encounters when conducting psychological research is considering the extent to which the research depends upon being unethical. Milgram’s infamous study conducted to the highest ethical peaks would not have provided such an insight of human obedience because it would have become completely ecologically invalid — in real life we cannot simply withdraw from the research. Furthermore, demand characteristics would have undoubtably had a confounding effect upon the results.

The British Psychological Society (BPS) and the American Psychological Association (APA) have provided an ethical framework for psychologists to attempt to adhere to when conducting psychological research.

If you are taking an a-level psychology exam, or conducting psychological research, it is important to know these ethical principles.

Protection From Harm

Perhaps the most important ethical principle is that participants should be protected from harm, psychological or otherwise.

Psychological harm can be difficult to operationalise because it can depend upon the person and it can be difficult to detect, both the participants and the researchers may not know that participants have been harmed psychologically. However, that being said, researchers can do their upmost to prevent any undue stress for their participants.

Right to Withdraw

Giving participants the right to withdraw does not just informing them that they can leave the study at any time, but also informing them that they have the right to withdraw their results from the study at any time.

This is important because some participants may feel pressured into continuing with the study. It is also important because it prevents the participants from feeling embarrassed about their results. Take for example a study in which a person has to take an IQ test, that returns the result that they have below average intelligence. This could be embarrassing for the participants and may lead them to want to withdraw.

Confidentiality

Following on from the previous point. Ensuring that your results are anonymous and also confidential follows the ethical code put forth by the British Psychological Society.

No one outside of the experiment—and ideally in the experiment too—should be able to identify the participants from the results.

Informed Consent

For any research to be ethical, the researcher must have gained informed consent from the participants. The ‘informed’ part of this ethical principle is the most important part. It is no use to gain consent from participants when they are not informed about the true nature of the study.

Take for example Milgram’s 1963 study. The participants were told that they would be participating in research on memory and learning, and they consented to take part based on that knowledge. Milgram therefore did not gain informed consent because the participants were not fully informed about the true nature of the study, that is, it was a study into obedience. However, arguably informed consent was gained after the participants were debriefed, which brings us on to the next point.

Debriefing

Debriefing is conducted with the participants after the study has taken place. It has a number of aims. Firstly, it aims to ensure that none of the participants have been harmed in any way by the study. Secondly, it aims to make sure that the researchers have informed consent. Thirdly, it allows the participants an opportunity to remove their results from the study. Finally, it allows the participants to ask any questions about the study to make sure they fully understand the content of it.

There are a number of times when debriefing the participants of a study is not possible. To give an example, Piliavin et al., which was a field experiment. The participants of that study could not be debriefed because they did not know that they were taking part and it would have been nearly impossible to complete.

Deception

Some studies require that the participants are deceived in some way. The majority of the time this is to prevent demand characteristics, which can confound upon the results and conclusions of the study.

Deception however, is against the ethical standards set by the British Psychological Association. Deception includes: misleading the participants in any way and the use of stooges or confederates.