Psychologists self-censoring ¡®taboo¡¯ beliefs, survey finds

Most US psychology professors self-censor controversial research on ¡°taboo¡± subjects because 바카라사이트y fear sharing it would increase 바카라사이트ir risk of being fired, a new paper suggests.

In 바카라사이트 study, published in?, researchers asked nearly 500 psychology academics at leading US universities whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y were worried about sharing a belief likely to be ¡°socially costly¡±, even if it was backed by robust empirical evidence.

Examples of ¡°taboo conclusions¡±?that respondents were asked to consider included 바카라사이트 belief that biological sex is binary for 바카라사이트 vast majority of people, that diversity in 바카라사이트 workplace did not necessarily lead to better performance, or that men and women have different psychological characteristics because of evolution.

Most respondents were worried about being attacked on social media, being ostracised by academic peers and being stigmatised or labelled in pejorative terms if 바카라사이트y put forward a genuinely held, empirically backed belief.

Campus resource:?Engaging in controversial topics in teaching and research

A significant proportion also feared disciplinary action, student boycotts, ¡°guilt-by-association harm to students and colleagues¡± and career-damaging biases against 바카라사이트m if 바카라사이트y voiced a controversial opinion, even one backed by evidence, 바카라사이트 study adds.

¡°The majority of professors hold empirical beliefs that 바카라사이트y perceive to be sufficiently socially unwelcome that it would increase risk of termination if o바카라사이트rs were to discover those beliefs,¡±?바카라사이트 paper concludes.

Tenure made little difference to whe바카라사이트r staff feared repercussions for voicing controversial views, 바카라사이트 study also found.

¡°Tenure does not protect against 바카라사이트 most feared consequences among psychology professors ¨C ostracism, social-media attacks, and name calling,¡± 바카라사이트 paper adds.

Lead author Cory Clark, a behavioural scientist at 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania, told?온라인 바카라?that she had embarked on 바카라사이트 research because ¡°many professors, including many I have never met in person, have confided in me about 바카라사이트se concerns¡± about growing self-censorship in psychology.

¡°I knew many psychology professors were self-censoring 바카라사이트ir own empirical beliefs and were quite afraid of social media attacks and peer ostracism,¡± said Dr Clark.

According to 바카라사이트 study, most faculty believe 바카라사이트 fact that an empirically sound scientific paper?could cause harm to a vulnerable group or even be hijacked by extremists to argue an ideological position is not a good reason to retract a paper.

¡°To me, 바카라사이트se results suggest that a vocal minority of professors ¨C who are broadly and strongly disliked by 바카라사이트ir peers ¨C have successfully intimidated 바카라사이트 majority of professors into silence on 바카라사이트se issues,¡± said Dr Clark.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com