Why are ethics important in psychological research with human participants?
Javan Ekanayake
24 / 02 / 2015

Ethical principles are essential to good psychological research. The purpose of which is to protect the rights of the participants. They also serve to provide a forum for complaint by the participant (if need be). It is also a place for researchers to account for their method of research.

Psychologists must follow ethical principles that prevent them from lying to their patient for the good of the psychologist. Psychologists also have certain rules and codes they must follow in regards to the protection of the public and as well as their clients. A researcher has the responsibility to protect the participants from any harm. The code of ethics was originally made to protect the public and the psychologist from any abuses that are the result of mishandling a situation.

A researcher has the role of being responsible to care for the participants from any harm as sometimes these researchers may be required to work with vulnerable individuals in sensitive situations. Ethics are used in these researches as they prevent any brutalising behaviour and assure the mental health and safety of the participant. Without any ethical boundaries, these researches become free to psychologically and physically harming an individual. A person should never be harmed within anything to do with scientific studies.

Ethical standards promote the aims or research to display knowledge, truth and avoidance or