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An Epistemological Strategy for Initiating Scientific Revolution against WEIRD Psychology

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Abstract

This paper, a reply to the thought-provoking paper The WEIRDest People in the World? (Henrich, Heine & Norenzayan, 2010), makes the fundamental argument that most research paradigms from Western mainstream psychology, including theories, methods, and research procedures, are all very WEIRD once moved to non-Western cultures. We thus face not only biased samples but also a deeply WEIRD psychology. Implanting such a research paradigm into non-Western societies may result in an episteme of self-colonization by formulating a mentality of normative Eurocentrism, which may hinder not only the understanding of a local culture. Through this paper I draw on Kuhn’s (1962) Structure of Scientific Revolutions to argue that a crisis is needed to initiate a scientific revolution against WEIRD psychology. I then draw on Hwang’s (2019a) epistemological strategy as a path for constructing culture-inclusive theories to compliment Western theories found in mainstream psychology.

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Acknowledgments

The preparation of this article is supported by a Fund from Ministry of Science and Technology. Republic of China, with No. 109-2410-H-002-093-.

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    Kwang-Kuo Hwang

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Hwang, KK. An Epistemological Strategy for Initiating Scientific Revolution against WEIRD Psychology. Integr. psych. behav. 57, 361–380 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-022-09681-9

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