Ethical Considerations for Psychologists Taking a Public Stance on Controversial Issues: The Balance Between Personal and Professional Life

Previous literature has documented the general issues psychologists often face while balancing their personal and professional lives. The struggle stems from attempting to satisfy the need to maintain a life outside of work while having the professional obligation to follow the American Psychological Association’s (APA’s) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (Ethics Code) to prevent their personal lives from interfering with their professional roles and relationships. The present article analyzes the subject of psychologists taking a public position on controversial public issues. Although the APA Ethics Code does not restrict how psychologists conduct themselves during their personal time, taking a public stance on a controversial issue could potentially strain professional relationships and inadvertently reflect negatively on the profession. The present article examines ethical issues that (a) should be taken into account before psychologists take a public position on a controversial issue and (b) are in conflict with APA’s Ethics Code or current research.     

Epistemological beliefs and thinking about everyday controversial issues

The authors investigated the relationship between individuals' beliefs about the nature of knowledge and the nature of learning (epistemological beliefs) and their thinking about everyday controversial issues. Adults (N = 174) ranging in age from 17 to 71 years old with a mean age of 38 completed the Schommer Epistemological Questionnaire (M. Schommer, 1990), which assessed their beliefs in the certainty and organization of knowledge and the speed and control of learning. After they had completed the questionnaire, they responded to a series of questions about two controversial issues that had been discussed in the local newspaper. Regression analyses indicated that the more the participants believed in complex and tentative knowledge, the more likely they were to take on multiple perspectives, be willing to modify their thinking, withhold ultimate decisions until all information was available, and acknowledge the complex, tentative nature of everyday issues. Epistemological beliefs that are heavily influenced by a higher level of education appear to relate to thinking beyond the classroom, and introducing controversial issues into the curriculum may reciprocally foster the development of epistemological beliefs.     

Memory for flip-flopping: Detection and recollection of political contradictions

During political campaigns, candidates often change their positions on controversial issues. Does changing positions create confusion and impair memory for a politician’s current position? In 3 experiments, two political candidates held positions on controversial issues in two debates. Across the debates, their positions were repeated, changed, or held only in the second debate (control). Relative to the control condition, recall of the most recent position on issues was enhanced when change was detected and recollected, whereas recall was impaired when change was not recollected. Furthermore, examining the errors revealed that subjects were more likely to intrude a Debate 1 response than to recall a blend of the two positions, and that recollecting change decreased Debate 1 intrusions. We argue that detecting change produces a recursive representation that embeds the original position in memory along with the more recent position. Recollecting change then enhances memory for the politician’s positions and their order of occurrence by accessing the recursive trace.     

ON THE NORMATIVE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AIMS OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICE

During the last decades it has been common to assert—especially in the field of science and religion—that the aims characteristic of religious practice determine the norms we should employ when evaluating its normative status. However, until now, this issue has not been properly investigated by paying attention to contemporary metanormative research. In this article, I critically examine how different popular theories of normativity relate to the proposed normative significance of the aims characteristic of religious practice. I argue that whether or not, and in what way exactly, the aims characteristic of religious practice are normatively significant is highly dependent both on controversial issues concerning the nature of religion, and on a number of controversial metanormative issues.     

The Liberalization of Young Evangelicals: A Research Note

Media outlets and observers of American religion suggest that young evangelicals are retreating from the ranks of the “Christian right” and are embracing more liberal positions on controversial social issues. We test this hypothesis using the Baylor Religion Survey. We examine two separate measures of evangelical identity as well as a wide variety of political identifications and attitudes. Our study indicates that young evangelicals (1) are significantly more likely than older evangelicals to think that more should be done to protect the environment; (2) hold views similar to older evangelicals regarding abortion, same‐sex marriage, stem cell research, marijuana use, government welfare spending, spending on the nation's health, and the war in Iraq; and (3) remain significantly more conservative than nonevangelicals on these same social issues. We find no strong evidence to support the notion that young evangelicals are retreating from traditional positions or increasingly adopting more liberal positions on hot‐button or controversial social issues.     

Methodology for identifying specific psychological deficits: introduction to the special section

A long-standing problem in psychopathology research is establishing that patterns of differences between groups reflects differences of underlying constructs and not artifacts of research design, measurement, or analysis. This introduction provides a context for 4 articles that consider several controversial issues regarding this problem and presents a précis. Although these articles focus on schizophrenia, it is noted how the issues are of more general relevance to psychopathology researchers.     

Motor intentionality and the intentionality of improvisation: a contribution to a phenomenology of musical improvisation

Continental Philosophy Review - The intentionality of improvisation represents surely one of the most pressing and controversial issues in contemporary action theory: how do we find the way to...     

Rational suicide and the crisis of terminal illness

Abstract

One of the controversial issues facing counselors in the 1990s is whether or not suicide may be considered a rational choice for clients with terminal illness. This article begins by reviewing the definition of rational suicide and the literature and statistics pertaining to suicide and terminal illness. Then various issues related to rational suicide as a treatment option are addressed, including moral and ethical issues.     

ENLARGING THE INTERDISCIPLINARY CIRCLE: JOAN KOSS‐CHIOINO'S AND PHILIP HEFNER'S APPROACH TO SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION AND HEALING

In the current scientific age there exists in academia a certain reservation regarding, even a fear of contact with, controversial issues such as faith healing or shamanism or even spiritual transformation. Although classical medicine, neurobiology, and possibly even social circumstances and forces are recognized, researching the controversial issues evoked may be frowned upon and even be risky for one's academic career. Fortunately, Joan Koss‐Chioino, Philip Hefner, and their colleagues (anthropologists, artists, neuroscientists, physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, theologians, and others) have not shrunk from doing so. The result, reviewed here in some detail, goes beyond what is common knowledge and points the way to further beneficial insights via open‐minded interdisciplinary research.     

Gut Reactions: Moral Conviction, Religiosity, and Trust in Authority

ABSTRACT— Theory and research point to different ways moral conviction and religiosity connect to trust in political authorities to decide controversial issues of the day. Specifically, we predicted that stronger moral convictions would be associated with greater distrust in authorities such as the U.S. Supreme Court making the "right" decisions regarding controversial issues. Conversely, we predicted that stronger religiosity would be associated with greater trust in authorities. We tested these hypotheses using a survey of a nationally representative sample of Americans (N = 727) that assessed the degree to which people trusted the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the legal status of physician-assisted suicide. Results indicated that greater religiosity was associated with greater trust in the U.S. Supreme Court to decide this issue, and that stronger moral convictions about physician-assisted suicide were associated with greater distrust in the U.S. Supreme Court to decide this issue. Also, the processes underlying religious trust and distrust based on moral convictions were more quick and visceral than slow and carefully considered.     

Suicide and euthanasia--special types of partner relationships

Euthanasia is a controversial and important issue in West Germany, especially given the Nazis' killing of minorities during World War II. This paper concentrates on the joint issues of suicide and euthanasia in the context of the doctor-patient relationship. A new evaluation of suicide prevention and euthanasia, especially as they relate to the training of medical students and doctors, is advocated.     

Making use of creationism. A case-study for the philosophy of science classroom

In this paper, I describe an approach to the teaching of philosophy of science that draws normally reluctant students into controversial issues in the philosophy of science. I have found that the topic of creationism is a good vehicle for introducing students to the more difficult issues in philosophy of science. I explore the use of creationism as a case-study in the philosophy of science and detail my own experience in the creationism debate.     

DEVELOPING MULTICULTURAL ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR PSYCHOLOGY

While psychologists have recognized the importance of cultural differences in many areas, multicultural ethical guidelines for psychology are still lacking. This article will review some of the controversial issues that cultural differences raise and discuss literature published on multicultural ethics. The existing American Psychological Association Ethical Principles will be reviewed with suggestions for specific changes to meet the needs of a multicultural society.     

THE FALSE PROMISES OF RISK ANALYSIS

The relatively new discipline of risk analysis promises to provide objective guidance in some of the most controversial issues in modern high-technology societies. Four conditions are discussed that must be satisfied for this promise to be fulfilled. Since none of these conditions is satisfied, risk analysis does not keep its promise. In its attempts to reduce genuinely political issues to technocratic calculations, it neglects many of the factors that should influence decisions on risk acceptance. A list of tentative guidelines is given for numerical decision support that encourages democratic decision-making instead of trying to evade it.     

Advocacy in the study of religion\s

Abstract

This article introduces a thematic issue on advocacy in the study of religion\s. It reflects on some issues relating to instances of advocacy in the study of religion\s such as the importance of personal relationships, intervention on behalf of marginal and controversial religions, forms of and audiences for advocacy, its legitimation, and its relations to scholarly identity and the academy.     

Under the Spell of the Ring

Among orthodox reformed Christians in the Netherlands fierce debates have occurred on moral aspects of Christian life. This essay discusses three major controversial moral issues that are related to conceptions of sex, gender, and sexuality: divorce/remarriage, women’s ordination, and homosexuality. By analysing several contributions to debates on these issues, it proposes and explores a hypothesis that concerns the role of a particular understanding of marriage as characterized by a hermeneutical construct: a communal, deeply rooted and subconscious normative principle that drives our interpretations of texts and practices. This essay illustrates the problems of both the dominance of marriage within Christian communities and lived faith, as well as the modern, romantic aspects of this particular understanding of marriage.     

The Use of Testing Technicians: Critical Issues for Professional Psychology

The controversial practice of using unlicensed individuals to administered psychological tests has been questioned by some psychologists, professional organizations, state and provincial boards of psychology, state governments, departments of education, and third-party health care providers. This article provides an overview of the ethical, legal, and technical issues surrounding the controversy. On the basis of a review of these issues, recommendations are offered that are directed toward state and provincial boards of psychology, developers and publishers of psychological tests, and licensed psychologists.     

场景主旨加工及其机制

场景主旨是指观察者在一次注视场景的过程中所获得知觉和语义信息。近年来, 场景主旨加工研究已经成为视知觉领域的重要内容, 对该问题的研究将有助于揭示视觉信息加工的机制, 对智能机器视觉的研制也有一定的借鉴意义。对场景主旨加工的影响因素、争议性的问题以及场景主旨的神经基础进行评论; 未来可以在场景主旨加工的基本单元、相关的理论解释、层级加工的调节因素、注意的调节作用、时间动力特性和脑功能网络的构建等方面做进一步的探讨。     

Developments in Genetic and Epigenetic Data Protection in Behavioral and Mental Health Spaces

The legal system has been preparing for an explosion of epigenetic issues in public health, environmental regulation and litigation. So far, this explosion has been muted, and for now epigenetic data protection merely seems to be “enjoying” the same technological and legal challenges experienced by other clinical and research data. However, three areas of development suggest where epigenetic data protection may prove problematic. This article examines these three issues, noting the rapid expansion of research based on EMR-sourced clinical data, the large number of data protection models that can apply to genetic data (including point-of-use prohibitions on discrimination and confidentiality), and the increasing and controversial dangers of deidentified information being reidentified. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biblical authority and the not-so strange silence of Scripture about abortion.

Biblical authority is definitive for many Protestants in matters of faith and practice. The question this essay addresses is the deafening silence of this Scriptural authority on the controversial issue of abortion, especially because Christian scholars have argued vehemently against this practice. In particular, Michael Gorman's recent article 'Why is the New Testament silent about abortion?' raises many substantive issues with implications for the very meaning of authority, faith, and the life of the community. It is contended that elective abortion poses significant substantive issues with which a woman, or couple, must struggle, and that it is inappropriate (perhaps unfaithful) to make such a profound decision according to unfeeling or out-modeled patriarchal rules.