removing harmful consequences
an ethical principle requiring researchers to ensure that participants in deception research or other potentially detrimental practices leave a study in the same emotional state as when they arrived. Investigators thus are obligated to alleviate any feelings of alienation, resentment, negativity, and so forth by minimizing study risks before the study begins and providing an in-depth debriefing after the study is complete. For example, at the conclusion of a study in which participants were induced into negative moods, the experimenters would need to take steps to induce a positive mood in participants and explain the reasons for the methods used in the study. See also freedom from harm.