There seems to be a continuous crisis of different types in social psychology as a science, for which I provide a couple of examples from literature. I find this remarkable as social psychology could be considered to have the potential to help to solve contemporary problems of world’s societies employing advanced knowledge of humans, societies, and cultures (Vaitkus, 1990).
Characteristics of social behavior Social psychology is studying a wide range of complex social behavior regarding, e.g., aggression, attitudes, attribution, gender roles, group processes, health and helping behavior, intergroup relations, leadership and motivation, personality, relationships, and social influences (Richard, Bond, and Stokes-Zoota, 2003), just to name a few. It is key that “Humans are a cultural species,” as Heine and Norenzayan (2006) aptly put it.
Demarcating pseudoscience Evidence from neuroscience Neuroscience in popular culture Own biases and ethical considerations Still, we are not only our brains and thinking is not optional:-)
Assessing the mind-brain debate Introduction To assess the importance of the mind-brain debate to the science of psychology, I will in this essay first try to clarify what the differing point of view between the psychological theories of dualism and monism are. I will explain the so-called ‘explanation gap’ based on which I don’t consider the further pursuit of either direction of research in its pure form as a matter … Continue reading
