Squishy Science

Do you think psychology is a science? Did you answer “yes” or “no” to this question? This is one of the first things I discuss with my students in my classes. Most people have preconceptions about psychology when they enter their first psychology class. They are not accustomed to examining their assumptions about the world. As such, they do not usually think about psychology as a science in the same way as physics or chemistry.

Any area of study, including psychology, can be considered scientific if it uses the scientific method to acquire information. So, psychology is a science WHEN it uses the scientific method. Sometimes psychology is called a “squishy” or “soft” science because it doesn’t have the laws and certainty of physical sciences such as physics and chemistry. There are many different factors that affect human behavior. Psychologists need to adhere to the scientific method as rigorously as investigators in other fields in order to make cause and effect statements about behavior.

When we educate ourselves about how to discern science from non-science, there will be no debate about whether psychology is a science. Psychology is as scientific as the methods used for testing its hypotheses, collecting data, and analyzing its results. Real psychology is scientific. The stuff that looks like psychology but isn’t scientific is an imposter in disguise. It’s our responsibility as consumers of information to know the difference and throw out the imposters.