Review Paper : Psychology of the Scientist: An Evaluative Review
Abstract
Although the social processes in scientific inquiry have received extensive analysis, psychologists have devoted relatively little attention to the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the individual scientist. This neglect has resulted in an unfortunate failure to evaluate long held assumptions about scientist behaviour. This article reviews sociological, archival, and recent experimental evidence bearing on the psychology of the scientist. These data suggest that the correspondence between scientist behaviour and accepted scientific 'ideals' may be far less than has been presumed. After briefly reappraising those ideals, it is argued that psychological research - and particularly psychological theorizing- are critical to an adequate understanding and refinement of human factors in science.
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Confirmatory bias may lead scholars to depart from scientific ideals such as objectivity and neutrality, and trigger resistance.
“For instance, con fi rmatory bias -one's tendency to overweight con fi rmatory and underweight discon fi rmatory evidence -may lead scholars to depart from scienti fi c ideals such as objectivity and neutrality, and trigger resistance (Mahoney, 1979).”
From Unraveling scientific impact: Citation types in marketing journals (2015) · cites this paper as Mahoney, 1979
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- Authors
- Mahoney, M. J.
- Corresponding author
- Mahoney, Michael J.
- ORCID
- Mahoney, Michael J.
- Venue
- Social Studies of Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1979-08
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 349-375
- ISSN
- 0036-8539 (ISSN-L)
- 0306-3127
- 1460-3659
- OpenAlex
- W2046898120
- Cited by
- 180
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 38.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Social Studies of Science (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › General Psychology › Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Research, Science, and Academia
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychology Research and Bibliometrics
- Keywords
- scientific ideal, scientific personality, psychology of science
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