Hi
On Sat, 24 Apr 1999, Annette Taylor wrote:
> Apparently not according to the "science" people at our university,
> particularly the chemistry dept.
There is at least one study showing that natural scientists in
academia have a generally unfavorable (or at least less favorable
... I don't remember the actual means) view of the social
sciences in general. If I come across the study, I'll post more.
But there is a second, much more speculative, possibility for
hostility towards psychology among natural scientists. Research
has shown that, relative to psychologists, natural scientists are
actually quite a bit more religious and have much higher levels
of belief in the supernatural (i.e., ESP and the like). I've
therefore wondered whether we (i.e., psychologists) might not
find ourselves in the ironic position of being perceived as
heretics and venturing into inappropriate (i.e., sacred) domains
by scientific people who, by rights, should be our allies in
promoting scientific approaches to behavior. That is, we might
elicit in some substantial number of natural scientists the kinds
of resistance that natural scientists themselves had to overcome
in their own early struggles with the larger society (and still
have to in some domains).
Best wishes
Jim
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James M. Clark (204) 786-9313
Department of Psychology (204) 774-4134 Fax
University of Winnipeg 4L02A
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark
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