Ethical implications of research studies and theory

• As well as ethical guidelines which psychologists have to adhere to when planning research, there are also ethical implications when it comes to what the findings might tell us.
• psychological research might highlight social issues that stigmatise certain members of society or even lead to laws being passed that disadvantage some groups.
• Seiber and Stanley used the term socially sensitive to describe research that has the potential to cause negative social consequences for the participants or the group represented by the study.
• There are several things that researchers must consider
• The research question e.g are there racial differences in intelligence may not be an appropriate topic of study because of the potential social tensions it could produce.
• The research methods i.e this refers to the way participants are treated during research and their rights to confidentiality and anonymity
• The institutional context i.e who is funding the research and how will the findings be used.
• The interpretation and application of findings refers to how the findings will be used in the real world and how people will view them
• E.g research in whether there is a genetic influence on aggression may be socially sensitive because of the negative implications findings may have in society e.g the MAOA gene. This is because


  it could be used as a potential defence against criminal convictions by suggesting it is out of the control of the individual. In addition it could lead to laws being passed to test people with the relevant genes and thus them being stigmatised even if they haven't shown any antisocial behaviour.
• Some researchers have used IQ tests to test whether there are racial differences in intelligence. The debate is whether or not this is an appropriate topic of research because of the clear social tensions and effects it could have on different ethnic groups
• E.g Yerks gave white and black soldiers an IQ test and found that the average IQ of white soldiers was higher. However it was later found that the IQ test used required cultural knowledge of the US and so it was biased towards white soldiers.
• Bowlby's research into attachment may also be considered socially sensitive as by suggesting that the primary caregiver (the mother) being present during the first 2 years of an infant's life was vital for healthy development. This led to


  many women giving up their careers to look after their children thus creating a gender difference in opportunities in the workplace, i.e the theory could be criticised as promoting sexism.
• However some argue that socially sensitive research should still be carried out as the more we know about society's behaviour, good or bad the better, and it may even have positive effects.
• E.g research into the fathers role in attachment showed his importance in healthy cognitive development led to more men taking paternity leave and evening out gender differences in the workplace.
• Some psychologists propose that the only way to minimise social tensions caused by research is to avoid studying socially sensitive topics, however this would leave many psychologists without relevant areas to study
• Perhaps we should encourage researchers to take responsibility for the effects of their findings, thus helping avoid and prevent misuse of data.