The social sciences are easier than the natural sciences, according to second graders.
Adults more or less agree. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology took a look at which disciplines children and adults thought were the most difficult to learn. For the most part, people of all ages think psychology is easy and physics is hard. That bias begins early and changes some, but not much, the older we get.
In one phase of the study, kindergartners, second graders, fourth graders, and college-age adults were asked to rank how hard it would be to learn certain disciplines on their own. Everyone said psychology would be the easiest. Interestingly, kindergartners thought that economics would be the hardest to learn on one’s own, while adults thought it would be easier than the natural sciences (but not as easy as psychology which, again, we all agree is a snap).
While the study did deem natural sciences the most challenging, it didn’t support so-called physics envy — the idea that physics is the king of all sciences and consequently the toughest to understand. Most people think chemistry would be just as hard.
Why is that so? The authors hazard a guess: “If one thinks that most psychological phenomena can be experienced more directly and can be easily controlled, one might well think that they are easy to explain as well.” As for why it matters, the authors think opinions about the difficulty of various disciplines might, for instance, have an effect in courtrooms, where softer scientists are viewed with perhaps less esteem than their hard-science brethren. And more importantly: “Even salaries for professionals in various disciplines may partially reflect conceptions of how difficult it is to attain expertise in those areas.”
The study was done by Frank C. Keil, Kristi L. Lockhart, and Esther Schlegel — all of whom are psychologists at Yale. But, come on, anybody could have done it.
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9 Responses to Physics Envy; or Why No One Respects Psychologists
v8573254 - February 8, 2010 at 4:28 pm
It’s the math!
academicentrepreneur - February 8, 2010 at 4:58 pm
“Softer scientists?”
physicsprof - February 8, 2010 at 6:19 pm
When I took psychology in college it felt easier than physics. When I now teach physics to psychology majors they claim it is harder than psychology.
tebartlett - February 8, 2010 at 6:48 pm
@v8573254 But economics is math heavy and adults think it’s relatively easy.@academicentrepreneur The ones who moisturize, natch.
rick1952 - February 8, 2010 at 8:27 pm
What’s harder than any of the disciplines cited? Thinking. It does not matter whether you are inclined towards the “hard” or “soft” disciplines. But the hardest of all is showing humility towards and respect for disciplines other than our own. Must be something about our professional egos (which are part and parcel of human nature, I guess.)
skocpol - February 9, 2010 at 7:59 am
How many kindergartners know the word psychology? Surely there were substitute questions such as “Which is easier, helping people who are unhappy, or explaining how mirrors work?” The choice of those questions determines the outcome of the study. Even a physicist can understand that much social science.
kjwilson - February 10, 2010 at 12:15 pm
All you need is to have to access a psychologist for yourself or one of your children once to understand that clinical psychology is not something someone even just learns at the university. Guiding someone to sound mental health is not about math but is a special skill, and one which can be dangerously misused or which can fail with disastrous results. Physicists may be very smart but just “smart” doesn’t help someone who, for example, is deeply depressed, dealing with a dysfunctional family, chronically ill or grieving. A clinical psychologist is more than smart and the skills go beyond the training received. A research physicist is just the same, good because it takes more than math and logic to move the discipline forward.
andrew0261 - February 10, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Thank you for the important clarification, kjwilson… It definitively needed to be said in this conversation! I’m not a psychologist myself, but (as a patient) I have dealt with my share of extremely smart, visionary, and perceptive Psychologists.
superdude - March 10, 2010 at 11:09 am
I think it’s because few adults (and no kids) understand what a social scientist does. They know that an engineer designs things, and physicists try to understand how things work (fly, drive, stand up), etc.But most people thing political scientists (for example) are either politicians or pundits. When I got my PhD in the mid-90s, the two most often-asked questions were: “When are you going to run for office?” and “Are you going to get your own talk show?”.Since anyone, no matter how poorly-qualified, can fun for office or yak away on the radio, “political science” as popularly understood, is easy.Sigh.