Psychological and Social Risks of Behavioral Research.

The article discusses psychological and social risks of behavioral research. Risks to human subjects associated with participation in research are an important consideration in the design of studies and in the informed consent process. Yet, there are significant gaps in the knowledge about the psychological and social risks of behavioral research. The review of federal regulations governing research with humans and empirical work pertaining to behavioral research risks shows that researchers have little data on the frequency of specific psychological and social risks and on the implications of these risks for research subjects who experience them.