| Abstract: | When two or more ethical principles are in conflict with one another, decision-makers are typically left to determine which of the two should be given most weight. Nonetheless, in the code of ethics adopted by the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), principles are ranked in order of importance. This provides decision-makers with guidance in situations of conflict between ethical principles. In contrast to CPA's code of ethics, other professional codes do not provide such guidance. In a previous paper, we provided a philosophical rationale for a ranking of the ethical principles adopted by the American Psychological Association (APA) in order to help guide decision-making. In the present study, we investigated whether APA members collectively believe that some ethical principles are more important than others, and whether their views about the relative importance of ethical principles are consistent with the order (ranking) outlined in the CPA code. The results suggest that although APA members view all principles of their code as being important, they also view certain principles as carrying more weight. The implications of the findings for ethical decision-making are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
