Weird Psychology
Psychological studies are what shape our perception of the human mind and behavior, supposed to be generalizable to the population of Earth, but the majority are done in America, based on upper-class white populations. It has been pointed out that psychology as a practice has a WEIRD problem — Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. These populations make up the vast majority of participants in psychological studies, so how can we confidently state that the findings are true of all humans?
This is especially emphasized in studies on children. Think about the kind of person who brings their child to participate in a study. They have free time, they live near a university conducting research, they have access to the places these studies are advertised, and they care. This means that the data we have about children and their development is based on this WEIRD population, and not at all applicable to all children.
Not only is this true of populations within America, but 96% of psychological studies are also done in countries that are WEIRD, which only account for 12% of the global population. Adding to this, 86% of psychologists are white. This can leave many who attend therapy feel isolated, as, often, psychological issues are tied to race and culture, something a white psychologist is not fully able to treat or even understand.
When WEIRD populations study non-WEIRD populations, there is an ethnocentric bias. Even in a quantitative study, the analysis, discussion, and previous research are influenced by cultural norms and attitudes. If a group of white psychologists assumes that, for example, a remote tribe they are studying are primitive, they are less likely to assign complex thought and reasoning to them when analyzing results. Or, as has happened in the past, racial differences in attitude and psychology are attributed to genetics rather than culture, which we know is not true.
The debate on nature vs. nurture is one that has been widely discussed by psychologists, philosophists, and the general population for decades. Do we inherit our personalities, or are they instilled in us through our experiences, culture, and upbringing? Of course, like most things, the answer is probably a nuanced mix of both.
There are psychological disorders that we know are passed down through families, although sometimes it is unclear if this is for genetic or other reasons. You are more likely to struggle with addiction if your parents have, but does this mean addiction is a genetic disorder? Or is it exposure to drugs, alcohol, gambling, and a general attitude that these things are normalized? Geneticists have found that those with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, ADHD, autism, and depression share certain genetic markers, leading to the idea that these are inherent traits from birth, which seems logical, as it is hard to imagine that someone’s upbringing could cause schizophrenia, despite what movies like Joker have us believe.
However, are these mental illnesses even aspects of our personalities? Perhaps a more philosophical debate, but if someone has depression, is it part of their personality, or is it completely separate? 50 years ago, someone with a mental illness like depression or ADHD may have just been seen as having a melancholy disposition, or being a little quirky.
Okay, I probably covered way too much information here, and there is such a broad span of topics I could go on. But I’ll cap it with the idea that psychological paradigms are ever-changing, and the things we think we know are probably at least partially incorrect. Always.
