Reference no: EM133725987
Question: In a 10-year ethics survey that was initiated in 2009 and followed up on 2019 from professionals from SIOP, a reduction of ethical incidents was noted from 292 in 2009 to 157 in 2019 (Lefkowitz & Watts, 2021). However, 2019 surveys saw an increase in more covert incidents of ethical violations such as role conflicts, values conflict, and conflicts of interest than previous surveyed years for I/O psychologists (Lefkowitz & Watts, 2021). An example of conflicts of interest, values, and interest may be an I/o psychologist that is serving in a consulting or executive coaching capacity for an organization that has been asked to participate in research for a competing organization. The need for transparency as well as the conflicting roles within the organizations would need to be expressed. Another example is a client requesting an I/O psychologist to implement a specific change management strategy that they got inside information was the most effective. After analysis, the I/o psychologist determines the program is not supported by evidence and has a high probability of failure for organizational goals and after providing this feedback to the client, they still want to move forward. The dilemma is: does the I/O psychologist walk away from the high salary earned from this venture or move forward with the client's request knowing there is a high potential of change failure and future organizational consequences (Lefkowitz & Watts, 2021).
I found this example from Lefkowitz & Watts (2021) insightful and eye opening because when we think about applying ethics to our roles and positions, we think of full disclosure. In this example, the client was fully aware of the potential harm and still made the decision to proceed. However, according to APA Code of Ethics:
3.06 Conflict of Interest-refrain from roles that impair objectivity, competence, etc. OR expose person or organization to harm or exploitation, and
3.04 Avoiding Harm-taking reasonable steps to avoid harm where it is foreseeable and to minimize harm when unavoidable, proceeding with the client's request would be in violation knowing that the outcome would be harmful to the client and the organization. Engaging with this client would also harm my career and I have worked too hard to get to this point to jeopardize my values and ethics.