Resentful demoralization

Resentful demoralization is an issue in controlled experiments in which those in the control group become resentful of not receiving the experimental treatment. Alternatively, the experimental group could be resentful of the control group, if the experimental group perceive its treatment as inferior. They may become angry, depressed, uncooperative, or non-compliant. This may lead to significant systematic differences in the outcome of the control group, obscuring the results of the study and threatening their validity.

Resentful demoralization can also make participants less likely to join future studies. If people feel treated unfairly or get upset with their treatment, they might not want to be part of research again. This can lead to fewer participants and affect the quality of future studies. So, it's important to address these feelings to keep participants engaged and ensure good research outcomes.

See also

• Clinical trial
• Randomized controlled trial

External links

• Resentful Demoralization in Encyclopedia of Statistics in Behavioral Science. (subscription required)