Is Psychology a Social Science?

What are Social Sciences?

Social sciences are branches of science that study aspects of human society and social relationships. They investigate social behaviour and institutions using observation, surveys, interviews, experiments, and other methods.

Table of Key Facts

Psychology is often categorized as a social science, but some argue it should also be considered a natural science. So, is psychology truly a social science or does it straddle both domains? Let’s explore this debate in detail.

Some key characteristics of social sciences include:

• This field of learning may focus on humans as individuals and in groups and their interactions, culture, institutions, development, etc.
• It may study observable and measurable aspects, such as opinions, attitudes, and behaviour, rather than internal mental processes or states.
• It would make use of both qualitative and quantitative methods suitable for the study of social aspects.
• The endeavour would be to understand societies and human behaviour to meet social problems. Theories would be tested and built through empirical research.
• Likewise, related fields are sociology, political science, anthropology, and economics.

Major social science disciplines commonly recognized include sociology, political science, anthropology, economics, human geography, communications studies, social work, international relations, criminology, etc. They all study some aspects of human society and social life.

What are Natural Sciences?

Natural sciences are branches of science that try to explain natural phenomena using empirical evidence and quantitative models and theories. They typically study non-living and non-conscious systems.

Some key aspects of natural sciences include:

• Study the physical world and the natural world by applying scientific methods.
• Understand how and why natural systems work the way they do.
• Testing hypotheses is an important means of knowledge-building through experimentation.
• Theories should be falsifiable and predictive. Knowledge builds up incrementally through testing.
• Major fields include physics, chemistry, earth sciences, astronomy, and biology at various levels, such as cells and genes.
• Laboratory and field-based studies, experimentation, modelling, and quantitative analysis heavily depend on them.

Arguments for Psychology as a Social Science

There are good reasons why psychology is mostly considered a social science:

• It mainly deals with studying human behaviour, cognition, emotions, and the development of human interaction in society. It seeks an explanation of the social aspect of human life.
• Methods Applied: The common methods applied to the subject involve observational studies, surveys, and interviews, as well as qualitative methods applied to social sciences. The experimental methods also study social factors or group factors.
• Relationship to Other Fields: Psychology is closely associated with sociology, anthropology, and political science – unquestioned social sciences. It borrows and feeds back into these disciplines.
• Social Impacts: The overwhelming majority of the applied branches of psychology address factors devised to improve human life, relationships, organizations, etc. – concerns basic to society. The resultant findings often form part of the input to social policy.
• History: Psychology started to get established as an academic discipline in the late 19th century, and most of its development was along the lines of, and similar to, other social sciences such as sociology.
• Departments Housed In: Most university psychology departments are located in a social sciences or arts faculty rather than in natural sciences.
• Journals/Publications: Most psychological research gets published in social science journals rather than natural science ones.

So, in terms of its key subject, methods, relationships, impacts, and history – psychology is strongly aligned with other social sciences. This is why it is predominantly categorized that way.

Arguments for Considering it a Natural Science

However, there are also good reasons why psychology could straddle natural sciences or be partially considered one:

• Subject Studied: While focused on humans, psychology also tries to understand cognitive and biological processes such as perception, learning and memory through empirical methods.
• Methods Used: In addition to qualitative methods, experimental psychology extensively employs controlled experimentation and quantitative analysis – typical of the natural sciences. Neuropsychology employs many of the tools of natural science.
• Relationship to Biology: Results in biopsychology, behavioural neuroscience, and psychophysiology overlap and feed into biological insight into the human mind and its functions.
• Quantitative Rigor: Some would even say that the sub-disciplines employing highly quantitative research, emphasising accurate measurement, modelling, and predictive theories, might be closer to the natural sciences.
• Interdisciplinary Links: With the development of neuroscience, cognitive science, etc., links between psychology, biology, and other natural sciences develop extremely fast by the two-way flow of theories and data.
• Universities: Some renowned university psychology departments, such as Stanford, consist of scientific faculties, not social sciences.

So, in summary, while psychology centres on human subjects, some of its methods, focus areas, and relationships align it more closely with natural sciences, depending on context. This view sees it as an interdisciplinary field spanning both domains.

Nature vs. Nurture Debate

The debate between “nature vs. nurture” has historically played a significant role in positioning psychology. Early psychological theories were more predisposed toward the innate/biological influences on human behaviour and more aligned with natural science.

However, when empirical, quantitative social research started to develop in psychology from the early 20th century onwards, the influences of nurture/social environment became more predominant, thus aligning it more closely to other social sciences, particularly those keen on socio-cultural impacts.

The more contemporary outlook, however, is an interacting systems view: It holds that nature and nurture are inextricably intertwined. People are complex bio-psycho-social organisms, and it is impossible to tell what is innate and what is learned.

Today, the various biochemical, neurological, developmental, cognitive, and social/environmental orientations or approaches represent modern mainstream psychological perspectives; a considerable amount of interdisciplinary work is done in many subfields. The dividing line between natural and social determinants of human behaviour is blurry.

Conclusion – A Hybrid Field Spanning Domains

In conclusion, while psychology is predominantly considered a social science, given its historical development and key focus areas, rigid categorization is oversimplified. It is best thought of as:

• A field strategically positioned at the intersection of natural and social sciences, drawing on and relating to both domains.
• Consists of sub-disciplines with diverse orientations, some more socially oriented, with a greater emphasis on qualitative methodologies, while others are more experimentally/biologically oriented.
• An interdisciplinary umbrella that integrates knowledge from various scientific standpoints, reaching a holistic picture of human behaviour and mental life.
• It continuously extends its scope and methods to keep up-to-date with the new cross-fertilizations coming from other fields, such as cognitive neuroscience, behavioural genetics, etc.

It is, in fact, neither fully natural nor social but a hybrid that connects several scientific standpoints. It flexibly moves between quantitative and qualitative paradigms; it works at that exciting cross-pollinating frontier between nature and nurture. Its goal, ultimately, is to understand that all human beings transcend narrow disciplinary boundaries.