Ethics, Obedience and Heroism

Social Influence – Applying Social Psychology Research

In this course, Dr Ayoub Bouguettaya (University of Birmingham) explores the applications of social psychology research to the real world, with a focus on combatting negative behaviour. In the first lecture, we think about the ethics, obedience and heroism present in an imagined field study. In the second lecture, we think about the ethical considerations which need to be made when undertaking social psychology research. In the third lecture, we think about the ‘right’ way to conduct social psychology research, specifying statistics and tools, context, and associated factors. Next, we think about heroism and what it means to perform heroic behaviour. In the fifth and final lecture, we think about Peter Badger’s actions during the COVID-19 pandemic in reference to the definitions of heroism that have been discussed.

Ethics, Obedience and Heroism

In this lecture, we think about the concepts of ethics, obedience and heroism, focusing in particular on: (i) defining a theory as a collection of knowledge based on a combined series of research; (ii) presenting an example study as a case from which to evaluate the ethics of research; (iii) a review of different ethical considerations from this imagined field study; (iv) framing these considerations in the context of ethics, obedience and heroism; (v) definitions of prejudice, obedience and ethics; (vi) the utilitarian perspective on morality as compared to the given definition of ethics.