l l l Ethical problems arising from psychological

l l l Ethical problems arising from psychological research Attempts to address/avoid these problems; success (or otherwise) of these attempts Discussion of these issues in the context of research into social influence (majority & minority influence; obedience) www. psychlotron. org. uk Ethical Issues

www. psychlotron. org. uk Effects on Participants…

Ethical Issues Informed consent l l l Deception l l Did the pps agree to take part? Did they know what they were agreeing to? Were the pps at any point deliberately misled? Psychological harm l Were the pps put at risk of harm e. g. stress or damage to self image? www. psychlotron. org. uk l

Ethical Issues Asch (1951) l l Zimbardo (1973) l l Psychological damage (stress, self image) Hofling et al (1966) l l Informed consent, deception, damage to selfimage Informed consent, damage to self image Milgram (1963) l All the above www. psychlotron. org. uk l

l l l Could the outcome have been predicted? Could consent have been presumed? Could another method have been used? Did benefits outweigh costs? Was the damage undone (debriefing)? What did the pps say? www. psychlotron. org. uk Discussing Ethical Issues

Dealing with Ethical Issues Guidelines (e. g. BPS, 1995) l l l Remove ambiguity Make responsibilities clear But l l l Still open to interpretation Still rely on self-regulation Only effective if backed up with action www. psychlotron. org. uk l

Dealing with Ethical Issues Ethical Committees l l Active enforcement of guidelines Removes bias in self-regulation More immediate power But l l Still may be biased towards researcher not pps Mainly in universities – what about commercial or military research? www. psychlotron. org. uk l