Page 75 - The Social Animal

Conformity 57

sense, they are obligated to use their research skills to advance our
knowledge and understanding of human behavior for the ultimate
aim of human betterment. In short, social psychologists have an eth-
ical responsibility to the society as a whole; they would be remiss in
fulfilling this responsibility if they failed to conduct research to the
best of their ability. Social psychologists face a dilemma when their
general ethical responsibility to society conflicts with their more spe-
cific ethical responsibility to each individual experimental partici-
pant; and to compound the situation, the conflict is greatest when
investigating such important issues as conformity, obedience, help-
ing, and the like because, in general, the more important the issue,
(1) the greater the potential benefit for society, and (2) the more
likely it is that an individual participant will experience discomfort,
anxiety, or upset. For a more complete treatment of this topic, the
reader is directed to Chapter 9.