AASP Code of Ethical Principles and Standards
The Association for Applied Sport Psychology’s (AASP) is committed to the professionalization and advancement of the field of sport and performance psychology.
Consistent with this commitment, all AASP members must recognize their work-related professional privileges and associated responsibilities.
The AASP Ethical Code is an important component of our professional responsibilities. AASP members and visitors should become familiar with the Code.
- AASP Ethics Code
- Ethics Committee Resources to Manage the COVID-19 Crisis
- Educating Members About the AASP Code of Ethics, Encouraging Members to Use the Ethics Committee for Ethical Inquiries, and Responding to Allegations of Ethical Violations
- Ethical Decision Making Tree for AASP Members
- Questions to Ask Yourself As You Make an Ethics-Informed Decision
Submit a Consultation Request or Formal Ethics Complaint to the Ethics Committee
Additional Resources
Below are past AASP Newsletter articles that deal with ethical issues in sport and performance psychology. Please use these articles to help you better understand these specific areas of ethical concern.
- Shall We Talk Over Lunch? How Much Should You Self-Disclose to Your Clients and Remain Ethical?
- Gee, I Hate to Bother About This, But…:Addressing the Unethical Behavior of Colleagues
- Ethical Supervisors: Responsibility Rolls Uphill
- Ethics and Cultural Competence
- Thinking of Ethics: Competent Teaching
- Considering Ethics: Using the Internet in Sport Psychology
- Speaking of Ethics: Listerv Nettiquette
- Thinking of Ethics: There's a Rogue Elephant on the Loose!
- Ethics: Soft Core or Integral Fabric of our Field?
- AASP Position Statement - Dealing with Professionally Unethical Behavior (PDF)
- AASP Ethics Committee: Report Comparing the APA and AASP Ethics Codes (PDF)
Questions or Concerns Related to Ethics
- Members of the AASP Ethics Committee are available to answer questions that may arise when ethical uncertainties arise in your practice of sport, exercise, and performance psychology.
- Concerns about the ethical behavior of any AASP member should be directed to the Chair of the Ethics Committee.
- Questions regarding research ethics can be directed to the Editor of the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology.
AASP Ethics Code: Purposes and Organization
Our professional privileges originate in society's recognition of AASP members as trained persons possessing specialized knowledge and skills. Our responsibilities stem from society’s belief that AASP members will:
- Self-regulate our work-related conduct
- Do no harm to people we work with and serve
- Protect the dignity and welfare of people we work with and serve
- Respect the autonomy and independence of people we work with and serve
AASP developed and adopted a code of ethics conduct in the 1990s. It is largely based on the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists and code of conduct (American Psychologist, 1992, V47, #12, pp. 1597-1611.) Our code reflects the core values of our association and of society.
In general, all current AASP members agree to understand, respect, and follow our ethics code to:
- Foster the public’s trust in AASP and its members, and to
- Enhance the potential of AASP members to be of service to society
No single set of guidelines can anticipate and address all ethically challenging situations related to our consulting, research, supervising, teaching, and other work-related activities. However, our code provides useful:
- Proactive guidance to direct the thinking and action of its members
- Reactive guidance when ethical problems or dilemmas arise
The AASP Ethical Principles and Standards (the Ethics Code) consists of:
- Introduction
- Preamble
- 6 General Principles
- 26 Standards
The Introduction, Preamble and General Principles of the Ethics Code are designed to guide AASP members toward the ideals of thinking and practice in our unique field. The Standards specify the boundaries of professionally acceptable, ethical behavior.
Whereas the Preamble and the General Principles are not enforceable rules, they should be considered when contemplating ethical courses of action. In contrast, the Standards are enforceable rules that mandate specific behavioral actions on the part of AASP members.
AASP members must know that, in many ethically challenging situations, other ethical and legal codes may be applicable to their thinking and action. When making decisions regarding professional conduct, AASP members must consider the AASP ethical code, other applicable ethical codes, or the law.
If the AASP ethical code suggests a higher standard of conduct than is required by other ethical guidelines or the law, AASP members should meet that standard. If the AASP ethical code Standard(s) appear to conflict with the requirements of law, members must communicate their commitment to the AASP Ethics Code and take steps to resolve the conflict in a responsible way. If neither law nor the Ethics Code resolves an issue, AASP members should consider other professional resources (e.g., guidelines and standards that have been adopted or endorsed by other professional physical education, sport science, and social science organizations), the dictates of their own conscience, and consultation with knowledgeable professional peers when this is warranted.
AASP Policy for Responding to Allegations of Ethical Violations
