The Pros And Cons Of Deception

Deception is sometimes used by researchers when they conduct psychological experiments. Deception occurs when the participant is misled about the purpose, design, of the experiment, or when the researcher uses deliberate misleading to persuade the subject into believing a certain view (McLeod). Many people believe deception is ethically wrong, and psychologists should not use it to obtain important information. I believe psychologists should be able to use deception if the participant is not psychologically harmed. It is believed that deception is the only way we can obtain true information (Connolly). The knowledge we are able to obtain about psychological tendencies outweighs the temporary effects of deception.

Deception is used to avoid

It can be used to analyze discrimination in hiring employees. One experiment was conducted where students were shown numerous job applicant’s interviews and had to decide what one they would hire based on the job being offered. The applicants were normal weight, but were made to look more obese using theatrical objects and makeup. The students voted more towards the skinnier looking participants. They didn’t know that they were being utilized to conduct the experiment on the discrimination in getting hired, and the deception of the applicant’s size was used to create the theory that obese applicants are less likely to get a job than normal applicants are (Borlotti 10-15). Deception gives us more precise results on certain experiments due to the applicant not knowing what they are being tested

They may end up feeling uneasy, but the American Psychological Association (APA) and the British Psychological Society (BPS) both have strict regulations on how a subject can be deceived. Both associations state that deception can only be used if there is no other way of affectively obtaining the results, and if there is no drastic physical impairment, or no mental abuse. They also require that the participant can withdraw from the experiment whenever they want, and the researcher must inform the subject about the purpose, value of the experiment. There is a fine line that the researcher must walk when using deception. They must make sure that they subject will be fine after the experiment, or its considered an act of injustice. Another reason people don’t approve of deception is the possibility of corruption. If researchers start using deception all the time, people will start to lose their trust in them. If people start to lose trust in researchers, the number of participants can decrease substantially. This argument is not very convincing. The risk of the participant being substantially harmed is very low. Experimenters are not motivated by getting an unfair advantage. Their purpose is solely to collect data, so that they can draw conclusions. The likelihood deception gives psychology a bad reputation is very low if the