Ethics  
     During the past few years, psychologists have frequently addressed the morality of conducting research on nonhuman animals. (Baldwin, 1993)  Some may argue that this research can never be considered morally acceptable, others say its always acceptable, and then there are people who are a cross between the two, acceptable in some situations but not in others.  For example 3/4 of Plous’ respondents of an experiment in which he conducted with psychologists and psychology members supported the use of animals in psychological research, but a majority opposed research which caused pain or resulted in
the he death of the animal.  (Wuensch, Poteat, 1998)
     So how come some people believe that it is good and others believe it is bad?  When we look at Forsyth’s Ethics Position Questionnaire (EPQ), there is a relationship between individuals’ ethical ideology and their attitudes toward animals.  (Galvin, Herzog 1992)   In this Questionnaire it measures two ethical dimensions, idealism and relativism.  People who scored high on the idealism part tended to believe that ethical behavior will always lead to good consequences.  Those who score high on the relativism will usually reject the notion of universal moral principles, and prefer personal and situational analysis of behavior.  (Forsyth, 1980)
    Scientists and other supporters of animals testing are not the only ones involved in this debate.  Another important aspects deals with animal testing in high schools.  Should it be allowed and do students find it ethical and necessary to learn biology?  Well, in Animal Experiments and Bioeithics in High Schools in Australia, Japan, and New Zealand, it reveals some real differences in the way bioehtical concerns are expressed.  For one thing there are more people who have ethical concerns out there than we think. In fact, in this survey 2/3 of the 6 teachers that were asked said that they had ethical concerns about animal experiements.  And in all samples more teachers who used animals in class said that they had ethical concerns and generally they noted that more of their students had concerns compared to teachers who did not use animal experiments.  (Tszuki, Asada 1998)

This page was made by Stacy Kohle, a student at Wayne State College, on April 20, 1999.  If you have any questions or comments e-mail me at stkohl02@willy.wsc.edu.