The Consequences of Deceptive Psychological Studies

As the study of the human mind, research in psychology has some gray areas. There has been a long-standing argument regarding the use of deception in psychological research. Some researchers say human action can't be studied in its truest form if the participants are aware of the purposes and reasons why they are being observed. There are negative consequences from this form of deception. Researchers should be careful when working with human subjects.

Professional Ethics

• The American Psychological Association's code of conduct describes circumstances in which deception in research is ethically acceptable. 8.07 in the code of conduct states psychologists should use deception only when the implied value is significant and there are no effective alternative methods. Psychologists will not deceive participants when the research has a reasonable expectation to cause physical or emotional harm. The researcher is also expected to inform the participants of deceptive techniques as early as possible. Ideally this would be at the conclusion of participation in the study.

Personal Autonomy

• Research participants being deceived by a psychological study are having their personal autonomy violated. The nature and terms of the study are not made clear to subjects. The participants are being used for a purpose of which they have not consented to. Ethics dictate that experimenters need to provide informed consent to participants. This includes the detailing the purpose, procedure, and duration of the research. It also includes disclosing alternative procedures and answering any questions regarding the study.

Psychological Harm

• Stanley Milgram's well-known experiment on obedience was criticized for the potential psychological harm it did to its participants. The participants were labeled as teachers. There was also a group of actors hired to act as participants in the study. The actors played the role of learner in the study. The teachers were advised to give a shock to the learner every time a question was answered incorrectly. Each shock would increase by 15 volts from the previous shock. No shocks were actually given. Many of the participants would hit the button to give the learner a shock despite the screaming and pleading to stop. The belief that they were causing harm on other human beings was a potential cause for emotional distress in this study.

Prevent People From Participating

• If people are under the impression psychological experiments involve deception on part of the experimenters, they will be less likely to participate. If psychological studies involve documented deception, the general population may start to question possible deception in any psychological study. Human beings have to consent to participate in a research study. Having access to human participants is vital in the advancement in the field of psychology.