A Web-Based Survey of AAASP Members' Ethical Beliefs and Behaviors in the New Millennium

Abstract

Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AAASP) members (N = 1121) were contacted via a series of five broadcast e-mail messages and asked to complete a web-based survey about their personal ethical beliefs and practices germane to the practice of applied sport psychology. The survey inquired about professional beliefs and behaviors of AAASP members using a survey similar to that of Petitpas et al. (1994), which was instrumental in the development and adoption of AAASP's ethics code. Surveys were completed and returned by 322 individuals. Several differences with small to moderate effect sizes were found in the ethical beliefs and behaviors between men and women, professionals and students, AAASP Certified Consultants and non-Certified Consultants, and individuals from physical education and psychology backgrounds. Furthermore, many challenges to respondents' ethical thinking and conduct were identified. Respondents provided suggestions about the dissemination of ethical information and the role of the Ethics Committee. The results provide initial support for potential changes in the current ethical principles and standards of AAASP.

Notes

¹The authors would like to sincerely thank AAASP Ethics Committee members Sandra Foster, Ph.D., Milan, Italy, and Kirsten Peterson, Ph.D., U.S.O.C. Sport Psychology, Colorado Springs, CO, for their assistance with the development of this survey.

¹Effect sizes are reported as Cohen's d.

¹Rare behaviors are endorsed as ethical by less than 5% of the sample (Pope et al., 1987).

²Nearly universal behaviors were endorsed as ethical by more than 90% of the sample (Pope et al., 1987).

³Difficult judgments are situations where the percentage of respondents indicating “don't know or unsure” was greater than 25% (Pope et al., 1987).

⁴Controversial behaviors demonstrated a diversity of judgments reflected by SD > 1.25 (Tabachnick et al., 1991).

∗Indicates items that were also found to be a “rare” behaviors by Petitpas et al. (1994).