An empirical study of research ethics and their role in psychologists’ data sharing intentions using consequentialism theory of ethics

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine how different ethical dimensions of egoism, utilitarianism, and deontology all help in the formation of psychologists’ research ethics for data sharing, and how the research ethics eventually affect psychologists making decisions regarding whether to engage in data sharing. This research utilized consequentialism theory of ethics as its theoretical framework to develop its research model of psychologists’ data sharing as mediated by research ethics. It conducted an online survey with psychologists in US academic institutions and collected a total of 362 valid responses. Then, it employed the structural equation modeling technique to evaluate the research model and related hypotheses of psychologists’ data sharing intentions as mediated by the profession’s research ethics. This research found that perceived career benefit, perceived community benefit, and norm of data sharing all significantly contribute to the formation of psychologists’ research ethics for data sharing, and then these research ethics, along with perceived community benefit and norm of data sharing, significantly influence psychologists’ data sharing intentions. This study suggests that the consequentialism theory of ethics nicely explains psychologists’ formation of their research ethics for data sharing and their decision to engage in data sharing. The study also suggests that research communities can better promote researchers’ data sharing behaviors by stimulating their research ethics through different ethical dimensions, including egoism (career benefit), utilitarianism (community benefit), and deontology (norm of data sharing).