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.