Latane And Darley's Ethical Theory

Are these studies ethical?
This essay argues that the two studies done by Latané and Darley (1968) “group Inhabitation of Bystander Intervention in Emergencies” and Darley and Latané (1968) “Bystander Intervention in Emergencies: Diffusion of responsibity” are unethical. These studies are unethical because they break ethical principles. There are three main ethical principles that the researchers have broken in the two studies. Which were fidelity, respect for persons and nonmaleficence. Ethical principles are important for researchers to follow because it gives participants the right to make their own decisions. It is also important so participants cannot be harmed in experiments. Lastly, it is important so participants do not lose respect
Fidelity is defined by Kitchener and Kitchener as the trusting relationship between the social science researchers and the research participants. In the first study by Latané and Darley, the researches lied to the participants about the real reason they were there. The participants were told that they would be interviewed to discuss the problems they have with life at university. The researchers were not honest to the participants about what was happening or going to happen in the interview. They were actually going to participate in the study. In the second study completed by Darley and Latané, the researchers did the same thing that happened in the first study. These participants were contacted and were told they must participate in an unnamed experiment because it was a course requirement, which was a lie. In addition, they said that the microphones would be turned off while each participant took a turn to talk. The participants were told that they were in groups but in different rooms but that were not true. All the voices they heard were actually pre-recorded voices, not real people
Respect for persons is defined by Kitchener and Kitchener as the fact that every person deserves the right to make their own choices and decisions as long as it does not affect others. The researchers did not give the participants the freedom to make their own decisions. The participants felt like they had no choice but to do what they were told to do. In the second study, the researchers did not give the participants the chance to make the decision on whether they should participate in the experiment or not. Darley and Latané show that the participants had to do the experiment because it was a course requirement and that they will be marked on it. This shows that the participants did not get the respect they need because they were pressured to do what they did not intend to do by