Is Psychology Headed in the Right Direction? Yes, No, and Maybe

Abstract

In this piece, I first celebrate the growing contribution of psychology to the understanding and solution of pressing social issues. Then, despite these exciting developments, I worry about whether we have created a field that our students want to spend their lives in, and I suggest concerns that might fruitfully be addressed. Finally, I worry about the potential fragmentation of psychology and applaud programs of research that have shown the unique and important contributions to be made when the methods and perspectives of neuroscience, cognitive science, and computational modeling are integrated with those of social, personality, and developmental psychology. In sum, although this is an exciting time for our field, we can do more to ensure its vigor and its truly interdisciplinary nature as we move forward.