Specification: Social sensitivity in psychological research.

Ethical implications of research studies and theories

Implications are effects or consequences, and in this section, you need to understand the consequences of research studies and theory.

In year one, you studied ethical issues in psychological research, for example, deception, informed consent, protection from harm, etc. These are examples of ethical implications/consequences for the participants who take part in the research, and psychologists are required to balance the rights of the individual participants against the need to produce research that is useful for society. However, the term ethical implications also refers to other people, and psychologists should consider the impact of their findings in a broader context.

Ethical Implications of Research Studies: If you consider Milgram’s (1963) research, you need to consider whether the ‘ends justify the means’. The participants were deceived and were unable to give fully informed consent. The experiment also caused significant distress, and the participants were told or coerced to continue against their will. On the other hand, the participants were debriefed after the experiment, and a follow-up interview took place a year later. The outcome of these follow-up interviews suggested that the participants had suffered no long-term effects.

Ethical Implications of Theories: Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment suggests that children form one special attachment bond, usually with their mother, which must take place within a critical period. Bowlby also suggested that this attachment bond affects their future relationships through an internal working model. While Bowlby’s theory has contributed to the development of childcare practices, it has also encouraged the view that a women’s place is at home with her children, which could make some mothers feel guilty for wanting to return to work following childbirth.

Exam Tip: If you are to write an essay on the ethical implications of research studies and theories, you can draw on what you know about ethical issues from your year one topics. However, there are also wider consequences that psychologists should consider relating to the communication and publication of their findings. This is especially prevalent with research that is ‘socially sensitive’.

Evaluation

The considerations outlined by Sieber and Stanley provide a mechanism to safeguard individuals who are indirectly affected by psychological research. Because of the problems associated with socially sensitive research, it is not enough to simply safeguard the interests of the participants taking part in the study. There is also the potential for an indirect impact on the participant’s family and co-workers, and therefore researchers need to consider the broader implications of their research. Current ethical guidelines are focused on the direct effects of research practice on participants but may not address the other ways that research might inflict harm on people in society. For example, the current ethical guidelines do not require researchers to consider how their findings may be used by other people or institutions to form and/or shape public social policy. Sieber and Stanley recommend that researchers should consider this when interpreting and applying their findings to ensure that psychological research does no indirect harm to other members of society. Furthermore, because many marginalised groups (such as those with disabilities, the elderly, and the economically disadvantaged) are largely excluded from research, they may in some way be harmed by its conclusions and application.

Socially sensitive research can lead to issues of discrimination, and therefore, some psychologists would argue against conducting this form of research. For example, research examining racial differences in IQ has been used to justify new (and often unwarranted) forms of social control. For instance, between 1907 and 1963, over 64,000 individuals were forcibly sterilized under eugenic legislation in the United States. In 1972, the United States Senate Committee revealed that at least 2,000 involuntary sterilizations had been performed on poor black women without their consent or knowledge. This could be ‘justified’ by (flawed) research findings (e.g. Robert Yerkes) which argued that black Americans had lower IQ scores in comparison to white Americans.

The issues with conducting socially sensitive research (like those highlighted above), are why some psychologists suggest that we should avoid conducting such research, and steer clear of sensitive topics, including ethnicity, gender and sexuality. Some psychologists believe that such research could harm the participants. However, this would probably leave researchers with nothing but trivial questions to investigate. A more acceptable solution might be for psychologists to engage more actively with policymakers after the publication of their findings to help reduce the likelihood that data is misused and to ensure that evidence-based research is used in socially sensitive ways.

Furthermore, some psychologists argue that ignoring socially sensitive areas (e.g. ethnicity or gender-related research) amounts to an abdication of their ‘social responsibilities’. Scarr (1988) argues that ‘science is desperately in need of good studies that highlight race and gender variables…to inform us of what we need to do to help underrepresented people to succeed in this society. Unlike the ostrich, we cannot afford to hide our heads for fear of socially uncomfortable discoveries’.

However, it is important to recognise that not all socially sensitive research is controversial, and some is desirable and beneficial to society. For example, research examining eye-witness testimony, especially the use of child-witnesses (e.g. Flin et al.) has found that young children can be reliable witnesses if they are questioned in a timely and appropriate manner. In this area, socially sensitive research has resulted in a good working relationship between psychologists and the legal profession to help improve the accuracy and validity of children eyewitnesses.

It is also important that psychologists are free to carry out whatever research seems important to them, because if governments start passing laws to prohibit certain kinds of research (e.g. ethnicity-related research), then there is a real danger that research will be stopped for political rather than for ethical reasons. However, there is some evidence that socially sensitive research (at least in the US) is more likely than non-sensitive research to be rejected by institutional ethical committees. For example, Ceci et al. (1985) found that the rejection rate was about twice as great, which suggests that university ethics departments are mindful of socially sensitive research and appropriate measures are put in place at an institutional level to protect individuals and the wider community from socially sensitive research.

Critical thinking

Can you think of an example of socially sensitive research from a topic that you have studied? Think about your year two topics, especially schizophrenia.

Possible exam questions

1. Explain what is meant by ‘socially sensitive research’. (3 marks)

2. Outline one example of research you have studied that is socially sensitive. (3 marks)

3. Raine (1996) conducted brain scans on violent criminals and found that they tended to have subtle damage to areas of the brain associated with impulse control. He suggested that this type of brain damage is a marker for violent criminality. Explain why this research could be socially sensitive. (4 marks)

4. Discuss the ethical implications of research studies and/or theories. (16 marks)