1.1.6—Responsibility

Responsibility means maximizing justified benefit while protecting participants, animals, clients and wider communities from avoidable harm in psychological research, therapy, advice and publication. Ethical judgment continues after formal consent or data collection.

Human research normally requires meaningful informed consent, the right to withdraw, protection from physical or psychological harm, privacy or anonymity where promised, secure data and appropriate debriefing. Deception needs strong justification and debriefing. Research with children, animals, public behaviour or socially sensitive topics requires additional safeguards and proportional cost-benefit evaluation.

Before a study uses incomplete disclosure, reviewers should ask whether the question can be answered without deception, whether risk is minimal, how withdrawal remains possible and how participants will be debriefed. When reporting findings, researchers should avoid stigmatizing a group, state limitations and consider responsible advocacy or correction of misuse.

Potential scientific or social benefit does not automatically override autonomy, safety or dignity, and anonymity is different from confidentiality. Ethical approval is a minimum process, not proof that every application or public interpretation of the findings is responsible.