Systemic Barriers to Progress in Academic Social Psychology

Many social psychologists have expressed general dissatisfaction with the style, focus, originality, and caliber of much research within the discipline. But the emergence during the past two decades of a large critical literature has not resulted in a significant metamorphosis of the field. One source of failed reform is intellectual disagreement; however, many forces involved in maintaining the status quo are nonintellectual. An understanding of knowledge production in academic social psychology needs to include at least three categories of nonintellectual influence on the research act: (a) broad extradisciplinary forces such as Zeitgeist, social movements, and prevalent political ideologies of professors; (b) student selection and socialization processes; and (c) systemic survival demands. Any recommendations for reform should consider the impact of these nonintellectual factors.