Comments on: How Hard Is Psychology? http://popsych.org/how-hard-is-psychology/ The Internet's Best Evolutionary Psycholo-guy Wed, 03 Jan 2018 01:05:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Jesse Marczyk http://popsych.org/how-hard-is-psychology/#comment-855 Jesse Marczyk Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:31:43 +0000 http://popsych.org/?p=2071#comment-855 Measurement issue is a real concern, no doubt. The subjectivity of the matter can throw a rather large wrench into the whole endeavor. That would, however, seem to imply that psychology is a difficult topic to study, but not necessarily that it's not as scientific. Measurement issue is a real concern, no doubt. The subjectivity of the matter can throw a rather large wrench into the whole endeavor. That would, however, seem to imply that psychology is a difficult topic to study, but not necessarily that it’s not as scientific.

]]> By: Jesse Marczyk http://popsych.org/how-hard-is-psychology/#comment-854 Jesse Marczyk Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:30:11 +0000 http://popsych.org/?p=2071#comment-854 One possibility, as CJ suggested, is that psychology is perceived as being easy. In other cases, it might be viewed as a fallback major for people who simply don't know what else they want to major in. A third likely possibility is that many people happen to find psychology, or at least the idea of it, interesting (at least relative to other majors). I don't think that so many people flock to psychology as a major because of the perception of scientific legitimacy. That's not to say that they necessarily don't view it as legitimate, just that I don't think it's the major draw. One possibility, as CJ suggested, is that psychology is perceived as being easy. In other cases, it might be viewed as a fallback major for people who simply don’t know what else they want to major in. A third likely possibility is that many people happen to find psychology, or at least the idea of it, interesting (at least relative to other majors).

I don’t think that so many people flock to psychology as a major because of the perception of scientific legitimacy. That’s not to say that they necessarily don’t view it as legitimate, just that I don’t think it’s the major draw.

]]> By: curious http://popsych.org/how-hard-is-psychology/#comment-852 curious Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:03:10 +0000 http://popsych.org/?p=2071#comment-852 No mention of measurement issues? A proton is 8.4087 x 10^-16 meters, but my pain right now is 'I don't know, about 2.5 on a scale of 1 to 10'. Not to mention the undefined dimensionality of those same fuzzy measurements - do you control for school experience? gpa? sat? public/private? school rankings? mom-hating? dad-loving? agreeableness? apathy? happiness? on and on and on... as many dimensions as adjectives or categories. No mention of measurement issues? A proton is 8.4087 x 10^-16 meters, but my pain right now is ‘I don’t know, about 2.5 on a scale of 1 to 10′. Not to mention the undefined dimensionality of those same fuzzy measurements – do you control for school experience? gpa? sat? public/private? school rankings? mom-hating? dad-loving? agreeableness? apathy? happiness? on and on and on… as many dimensions as adjectives or categories.

]]> By: Anon. http://popsych.org/how-hard-is-psychology/#comment-851 Anon. Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:44:21 +0000 http://popsych.org/?p=2071#comment-851 If psychology is such a "soft science", why is it so popular among undergraduates? If psychology is such a “soft science”, why is it so popular among undergraduates?

]]> By: CJ http://popsych.org/how-hard-is-psychology/#comment-850 CJ Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:42:44 +0000 http://popsych.org/?p=2071#comment-850 During the college search process, I have repeatedly found psychology as one of the most popular majors. I have also heard that “psychology is the lazy person’s major” on numerous occasions. This has often led me to wonder why psychology and its counterparts receive less respect in the scientific world... My first assumption was that the tangibility of certain sciences over others influences the degree of difficulty that people perceive in them. The mere fact that you can mix chemicals in a laboratory and hold in your hand a new substance, seems to make sciences such as chemistry and physics more legitimate in the eyes of the world. Although technically you can physically hold evidence of psychology in your hands (for example an MRI scan), there is still such a limited “core” that even the tangible parts of psychology are like grabbing at mist. I would have to agree that the subject matter of psychology, sociology, etc., “human affairs,” also tends to guide a person’s feeling toward the field. From the psychodynamic/behavioral perspective, I believe the intimate way psychology tries to connect to people causes its subjects to respond with a certain level of anxiety which in turn leads to a hostile reaction shown by the belief that psychology is “soft.” Who wants the world to know their deepest secrets, to undermine the faith that has become their reality, to expose the cognitive functions of humans as anything less than a miracle? We desire to believe that the human mind is a miracle that cannot be devalued. Whereas psychology tends to seek answers to questions people may not want answered, other sciences look to unravel the mysteries that people are frustrated and confounded by. Perhaps the reason psychology is looked at as “soft” is due to people's fears about learning the true nature of their own minds. During the college search process, I have repeatedly found psychology as one of the most popular majors. I have also heard that “psychology is the lazy person’s major” on numerous occasions. This has often led me to wonder why psychology and its counterparts receive less respect in the scientific world… My first assumption was that the tangibility of certain sciences over others influences the degree of difficulty that people perceive in them. The mere fact that you can mix chemicals in a laboratory and hold in your hand a new substance, seems to make sciences such as chemistry and physics more legitimate in the eyes of the world. Although technically you can physically hold evidence of psychology in your hands (for example an MRI scan), there is still such a limited “core” that even the tangible parts of psychology are like grabbing at mist. I would have to agree that the subject matter of psychology, sociology, etc., “human affairs,” also tends to guide a person’s feeling toward the field. From the psychodynamic/behavioral perspective, I believe the intimate way psychology tries to connect to people causes its subjects to respond with a certain level of anxiety which in turn leads to a hostile reaction shown by the belief that psychology is “soft.” Who wants the world to know their deepest secrets, to undermine the faith that has become their reality, to expose the cognitive functions of humans as anything less than a miracle? We desire to believe that the human mind is a miracle that cannot be devalued. Whereas psychology tends to seek answers to questions people may not want answered, other sciences look to unravel the mysteries that people are frustrated and confounded by. Perhaps the reason psychology is looked at as “soft” is due to people’s fears about learning the true nature of their own minds.

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