Citation

Haeny AM. Ethics Behav. 2014; 24(4): 265-278.

Affiliation

Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri - Columbia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10508422.2013.860030

PMID

25342876

Abstract

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 paper 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 paper 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.

Language: en