Ethical behaviour of physicians and psychologists: similarities and differences

Journal of Medical Ethics 44 (2):97-100 (2018)
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Abstract

Objective To compare the coping patterns of physicians and clinical psychologists when confronted with clinical ethical dilemmas and to explore consistency across different dilemmas. Population 88 clinical psychologists and 149 family physicians in Israel. Method Six dilemmas representing different ethical domains were selected from the literature. Vignettes were composed for each dilemma, and seven possible behavioural responses for each were proposed, scaled from most to least ethical. The vignettes were presented to both family physicians and clinical psychologists. Results Psychologists’ aggregated mean ethical intention score, as compared with the physicians, was found to be significantly higher =22.44, p<0.001, η2=0.37). Psychologists showed higher ethical intent for two dilemmas: issues of payment and dual relationships. In the other four vignettes, psychologists and physicians responded in much the same way. The highest ethical intent scores for both psychologists and physicians were for confidentiality and a colleague’s inappropriate practice due to personal problems. Conclusions Responses to the dilemmas by physicians and psychologists can be categorised into two groups: similar behaviours on the part of both professions when confronting dilemmas concerning confidentiality, inappropriate practice due to personal problems, improper professional conduct and academic issues and different behaviours when confronting either payment issues or dual relationships.

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Michael Weingarten
Universität Stuttgart

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References found in this work

Ethics in psychology: professional standards and cases.Gerald P. Koocher - 1998 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Patricia Keith-Spiegel.
What is it to do good ethics?Daniel Callahan - 2015 - Journal of Medical Ethics 41 (1):68-70.
Good medical ethics: Table 1.Dan W. Brock - 2015 - Journal of Medical Ethics 41 (1):34-36.
Should physicians be gatekeepers of medical resources?M. C. Weinstein - 2001 - Journal of Medical Ethics 27 (4):268-274.

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