The universal declaration of ethical principles for psychologists: challenges in finding a language together

Abstract

The adoption of the Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles for Psychologists is a welcome step toward identifying and professionally acting on internationally shared concerns and aims. However, challenges come with coordinating what it means in different cultures, particularly given that different conceptions of professional helping, psychology, and research are practised across cultures. This paper examines those challenges and proposes some process ethics for extending the dialogues of international psychologists as they keep the Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles ‘alive’ as an aspirational language.