When the ethical is unethical and the unethical is ethical: Cultural Relativism in Ethical Decision-Making

The Ethical Use of Unethical Human Research

The experiments conducted by Nazi physicians and researchers on prisoners in concentration camps during World War II are among the most inhumane and atrocious ever conducted. Prisoners were subjected to harsh conditions and trials to test the limits the human body could reach, or often to simply inflict as much pain as possible. However, there is evidence that the meticulous records from specif...

IS research ethics: defining ethical, barely ethical, and unethical behavior (panel)

Ethical blind spots: explaining unintentional unethical behavior

People view themselves as more ethical, fair, and objective than others, yet often act against their moral compass. This paper reviews recent research on unintentional unethical behavior and provides an overview of the conditions under which ethical blind spots lead good people to cross ethical boundaries. First, we present the psychological processes that cause individuals to behave unethicall...

Ethical Fading: The Role of Self-Deception in Unethical Behavior

This paper examines the root of unethical dicisions by identifying the psychological forces that promote self-deception. Self-deception allows one to behave self-interestedly while, at the same time, falsely believing that one’s moral principles were upheld. The end result of this internal con game is that the ethical aspects of the decision “fade” into the background, the moral implications ob...

The ethical confrontation of the unethical forensic colleague.

In the course of clinical and forensic work, psychologists sometimes discover serious weaknesses in knowledge, performance, or ethics in other psychologists' work. The ethical code of the American Psychological Association mandates confronting such a psychologist prior to making a professional complaint. This mandatory confrontation typically is omitted because of a sense of awkwardness or a fe...