Ethical Principles of

Psychologists and Code of

Conduct
By
Nazish habib
INTRODUCTION AND APPLICABILITY
 It consists of

 Introduction,
 a Preamble,
 five General Principles (A–E),
 specific Ethical Standards
 Introduction
 The Introduction discusses the intent,
organization, procedural considerations, and
scope of application of the Ethics Code
 This Ethics Code applies only to psychologists’
activities that are part of their scientific,
educational, or professional roles as
psychologists
 Areas covered include
 clinical, counseling, and school practice of
psychology; research; teaching; supervision of
trainees; public service; policy development;
social intervention; development of assessment
instruments; conducting assessments;
educational counseling; organizational
consulting; forensic activities; program design
and evaluation; and administration
 This Ethics Code applies to these activities
across a variety of contexts, such as in person,
postal, telephone, Internet, and other electronic
transmissions.
 Membership in the APA commits members and
student affiliates to comply with the standards
of the APA Ethics Code and to the rules and
procedures used to enforce them.
 procedures for filing, investigating, and
resolving complaints of unethical conduct are
described in it
 APA may impose sanctions on its members for
violations
 may also lead to the imposition of sanctions on
psychologists or students whether or not they
are APA members by bodies other than APA,
 May also take action against a member after
his or her conviction of a felony, expulsion or
suspension from an affiliated state
psychological association,
 In the process of making decisions regarding
their professional behavior, psychologists must
consider this Ethics Code in addition to
applicable laws
 If psychologists’ ethical responsibilities conflict
with law, regulations, or other governing legal
authority, psychologists make known their
commitment to this Ethics Code and take steps
to resolve the conflict in a responsible manner.
 Preamble and general principals
 The Preamble and General Principles are
aspirational goals to guide psychologists
toward the highest ideals of psychology.
Although the Preamble and General Principles
are not themselves enforceable rules, they
should be considered by psychologists in
arriving at an ethical course of action
 Psychologists are committed to increasing scientific and
professional knowledge of behavior and people’s
understanding of themselves and others and to the use of such
knowledge to improve the condition of individuals,
organizations, and society
 In doing so, they perform many roles, such as researcher,
educator, diagnostician, therapist, supervisor, consultant,
administrator, social interventionist, and expert witness.
 This Ethics Code provides a common set of principles and
standards upon which psychologists build their professional
and scientific work
 GENERAL PRINCIPALS
 Principle A: Beneficence and
Nonmaleficence
 Psychologists strive to benefit those with whom they work and
take care to do no harm.
 They seek to safeguard the welfare and rights of those with
whom they interact professionally and other affected persons,
and the welfare of animal subjects of research.
 When conflicts occur among psychologists’ obligations or
concerns, they attempt to resolve these conflicts in a
responsible fashion that avoids or minimizes harm.
 Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility
 Psychologists establish relationships of trust with
whom they work.

 They are aware of their professional and scientific

responsibilities. Psychologists consult with, refer to, or
cooperate with other professionals and institutions with
whom they work.

 Psychologists strive to contribute a portion of their

professional time for little or no compensation or
personal advantage.
 Principle C: Integrity
 They promote accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness in
the science, teaching, and practice of psychology.
 They do not steal, cheat, or engage in fraud,
subterfuge, or intentional misrepresentation of fact.
 They keep their promises and avoid unwise or unclear
commitments
 Principle D: Justice
 Psychologists recognize that fairness and justice entitle all
persons to access to and benefit from the contributions of
psychology and to equal quality in the processes, procedures,
and services being conducted by psychologists
 Principle E: Respect for People’s Rights
and Dignity
 Psychologists respect the dignity and worth of
all people, and the rights of individuals to
privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination.
 Ethics in research
 Research ethics concerns the responsibility of
researchers to be honest and respectful to all
individuals who are affected by their research
studies or their reports of the studies’ results.
 Institutional approval
 provide accurate information about their
research proposals and obtain approval prior to
conducting the research
 Informed consent
 psychologists inform participants about
 (1) the purpose of the research, expected duration, and procedures;
 (2) their right to decline to participate and to withdraw from the research
once participation has begun
 (3) the foreseeable consequences of declining or withdrawing;
 (4) reasonably foreseeable factors that may be expected to influence their
willingness to participate such as potential risks, discomfort, or adverse
effects;
 (5) any prospective research benefits;
 (6) limits of confidentiality;
 (7) incentives for participation; and
 (8) whom to contact for questions about the research
 For experimental treatments clarify to participants at the outset
of the research
 (1) the experimental nature of the treatment; (2) the services
that will or will not be available to the control group(s) if
appropriate;
 (3) the means by which assignment to treatment and control
groups will be made;
 (4) available treatment alternatives if an individual does not
wish to participate in the research or wishes to withdraw
 (5)compensation for or monetary costs of participating
including, if appropriate, reimbursement
 Informed Consent for Recording Voices and Images
in Research
 Psychologists obtain informed consent from research
participants unless
 (1) the research consists solely of naturalistic
observations in public places, and it is not anticipated
that the recording will be used in a manner that could
cause personal identification or harm, or
 (2) the research design includes deception, and consent
for the use of the recording is obtained during
debriefing.
 Client/Patient, Student, and Subordinate Research
Participants
 (a) psychologists take steps to protect the
prospective participants from adverse
consequences of declining or withdrawing from
participation.
 (b) When research participation is a course
requirement or an opportunity for extra credit, the
prospective participant is given the choice of
equitable alternative activities
 Dispensing With Informed Consent for
Research
 psychologists may dispense with informed consent only (1) where research
would not reasonably be assumed to create distress or harm and involves
 (a)the study of normal educational practices, curricula, or classroom
management methods conducted in educational settings;
 (b) only anonymous questionnaires, naturalistic observations, or archival
research for which disclosure of responses would not place participants at
risk of criminal or civil liability or damage their financial standing,
employability, or reputation, and confidentiality is protected;
 or (c) the study of factors related to job or organization effectiveness
conducted in organizational settings for which there is no risk to
participants’ employability, and confidentiality is protected or (2) where
otherwise permitted by law or federal or institutional regulations.
 Offering Inducements for Research
Participation
 avoid offering excessive or inappropriate financial or
other inducements for research participation when
such inducements are likely to coerce participation.
 (b) When offering professional services as an
inducement for research participation, psychologists
clarify the nature of the services, as well as the risks,
obligations, and limitations
 Deception in Research
 determine that the use of deceptive techniques is justified
by the study’s significant prospective scientific,
educational, or applied value and that effective
nondeceptive alternative procedures are not feasible.
 (b) Psychologists do not deceive prospective participants
about research that is reasonably expected to cause
physical pain or severe emotional distress.
 (c) Psychologists explain any deception as early as is
feasible, preferably at the conclusion of their participation,
but no later than at the conclusion of the data collection,
and permit participants to withdraw their data
 Debriefing
 provide a prompt opportunity for participants to obtain
appropriate information about the nature, results, and
conclusions of the research, and they take reasonable
steps to correct any misconceptions that participants may
have of which the psychologists are aware.
 (b) If scientific or humane values justify delaying or
withholding this information, psychologists take
reasonable measures to reduce the risk of harm.
 (c) When psychologists become aware that research
procedures have harmed a participant, they take
reasonable steps to minimize the harm.
 Use of animals in research
 Psychologists acquire, care for, use, and dispose of animals in compliance with
current laws and regulations.
 Trained Psychologists supervise all procedures involving animals . make
reasonable efforts to minimize the discomfort, infection, illness, and
pain of animal subjects.
 use procedure subjecting animals to pain, stress, or privation only
when an alternative procedure is unavailable and the goal is justified
by its prospective scientific, educational, or applied value.
 perform surgical procedures under appropriate anesthesia avoid
infection and minimize pain during and after surgery. When it is
appropriate that an animal’s life be terminated, proceed rapidly, with
an effort to minimize pain and in accordance with accepted
procedures.
 Reporting Research Results
 do not fabricate data
 If they discover significant errors in their
published data, they take reasonable steps to
correct such errors
 Plagiarism
 Psychologists do not present portions of
another’s work or data as their own, even if the
other work or data source is cited occasionally
 Publication credit
 Psychologists take responsibility and credit,
including authorship credit, only for work they have
actually performed
 Mere possession of an institutional position, such as
department chair, does not justify authorship credit.
 Minor contributions to the research or to the writing
for publications are acknowledged appropriately
 Duplicate Publication of Data
Psychologists do not publish, as original data,
data that have been previously published. This
does not preclude republishing data when they
are accompanied by proper acknowledgment.
 Sharing Research Data for Verification
 After research results are published,
psychologists do not withhold the data on
which their conclusions are based from other
competent professionals who seek to verify the
substantive claims through reanalysis
 Reviewers
 Psychologists who review material submitted
for presentation, publication, grant, or research
proposal review respect the confidentiality of
and the proprietary rights in such information
of those who submitted it.