2.41: Psychology

Psychology is the science of human processes within the mind, such as thoughts,feelings, and behavior. Psychology can be viewed through a multitude of subsects, such as Abnormal, Biological, Clinical, Cognitive, Developmental, Forensic, Industrial, and Social Psychology (Cherry, 2020). Psychology is interested in the way the human mind operates, and how external stimuli may affect or impair various psychological processes. In a society built on a foundation of structural racism, the impacts of racism on psychological well being cannot be overstated. However, it is imperative to question whether Psychology is riddled with the same prejudices that impact higher education across disciplines, as well as society as a whole. On October 29, 2021, American Psychological Association (APA), admitted to failing to lead the discipline of Psychology against racism and systemic inequities, and apologized for their actions and inactions toward people of color and combating systemic racism (Apology to People, 2021). Accepting the consequences of the failures and discrimination that was perpetuated by the discipline is the first step toward improvement; however, it is imperative to view the discipline holistically, starting from a historical perspective.

Historically, Psychology has been responsible for the creation of several racist,primordial beliefs, such as claims about the relationship between intelligence, race, and nationality. Intelligence Quotients, also known as IQ tests, have long been viewed as a resource for judging and gauging one’s intelligence. However, IQ tests are inherently problematic, as they overgeneralize intelligence, which can exist in multiple ways, including those that are not measured in quantifiable or obvious metrics. Dr. Adrian Owen stated that there is no such thing as a single measure of general intelligence, and that a single number cannot explain the differences between people. IQ tests also overlook factors such as age, use of substances such as tobacco, or conditions such as anxiety (Castillo, 2012). IQ tests have been used to argue for racial hierarchies in the past as well. In 1916, Lewis Terman, American Psychologist and education researcher, made the assertion that intellectual deficiencies in Indigenous, Hispanic,and Black people were genetic and based on race. Terman even went so far as to state that, “Their dullness seems to be racial, or at least inherent in the family stocks from which they come ... Children of this group should be segregated into separate classes ... They cannot master abstractions but they can often be made into efficient workers ... from a eugenic point of view they constitute a grave problem because of their unusually prolific breeding” (Martschenko, 2017).

Arguments such as these were the basis of Eugenics supporters, who pressured for the mistreatment and forced sterilization of groups such as people of color, people with varying levels of physical and mental ability, immigrants, poor and impoverished people, and other demographics that were deemed as unfit. The Eugenics movement called for the oppression of any person who was not a wealthy and able bodied white man, and for demographics seen as especially undesirable, Eugenics argued for their forced sterilization (Martschenko, 2017).

The role psychologists contributed to this movement was by using IQ scores through army testing in World War I noting racial differences. This allowed supporters to make connections between the “socially unfit” and “racially unfit”, and use the field of psychology to promote and propose eugenicists programs (Guthrie, 2004).

One of the most significant figures in the eugenics movement was Sir Francis Galton whose story was previously detailed in the Mathematics-Statistics section. Galton was a researcher in several different academic disciplines, such as Anthropology, Biology, Psychology, Sociology, and Statistics. As psychological research is largely dependent on statistics, his contributions are even more connected to the discipline. He was also Charles Darwin’s younger cousin, but was also a father of Eugenics (Gunderman, 2021). Galton and his followers,including Karl Pearson, argued that the British Race was deteriorating due to unfavorable genes being inherited and passed down. Whereas Charles Darwin developed his theories on evolution, Darwin did not believe that those theories justified superiority of specific races.Rather, Darwin asserted that any human alive today is successfully adapted, and by extension,just as perfect as the other people around them.

Today, Galton is most known for his contributions to the field of statistics, and statistical concepts such as the standard deviation, correlation and regression toward the mean (McColl, 2012). However, he is also responsible for the oppression, forced sterilization, and even death of countless people, and by failing to acknowledge these crimes against humanity, higher education will always have a blemish. While Galton’s work in other disciplines, especially statistics, has value, and should continue to be used, a complete history should include Galton’s darker side, as well as the problematic history of psychology as a discipline. Otherwise, we may find that we are doomed to repeat history at some point in the future.

Psychological research also has an inherently white bias.A study conducted by Professor Steven O. Roberts inspected academic journals and the demographics of their contributors. Out of 60 identified editors, 83% were white, 5% were people of color, and 12% were unidentifiable. When looking at writers, the research provided the following data: 63% of the publication’s “first authors” were white, 23% were people of color, and 14% were unidentifiable. However, there was no distinct difference in quality of research by race, as there was no difference in citation count for scholars based on race. Furthermore, in lower tier journals, there were less white researchers than POC, demonstrating that there is not simply a greater amount of white researchers (De Witte, 2020).

Structural racism can help to explain this phenomena; because white psychologists dominate psychological journals and research, they control what is included and excluded from scientific records. The possibility of white fragility, and a hesitance, if not refusal to face one’s own prejudices, can cause race based research or research by psychologists of color to not receive publication. Roberts also addressed several possible solutions and equitable practices to incorporate. The first is communicating a top-down commitment to diversity, where the journal explicitly states whether it publishes research sensitive to and regarding race, and whether the journal values the editing, writing, and participation of racially diverse researchers. Authors should also be expected to articulate the racial demographics of their studies (De Witte, 2020).

In admitting their role in perpetuating and allowing for structural racism and inequality in the field of Psychology, the APA has taken the first steps toward promoting equity and change within the study of Psychology and the fields of Psychological research and clinical mental health. However, this is not a solution as of yet, and the dangers of past misinformation has effects to this day. In 2013, Jason Richwine faced controversy and ultimately resigned from his then position for his Harvard PhD dissertation, in which he claimed that Hispanic and Black Americans are less intelligent than white counterparts, making it more difficult for them to assimilate into white American society. Richwine attributed this to genetic factors, harkening back to the problematic history of Eugenics and IQ tests (Lindsey, 2013). Moin Syed, a Professor at the University of Minnesota, discusses the need for Psychology to address its racist past and its effects on the future. Syed mentions the dangers of awards named after scholars of the past who promoted dangerous and discriminatory ideas, and that it is possible to separate citing and crediting research from granting awards in the name of such problematic figures. Syed further asserts the need to educate on how statistical models and techniques can and have been used in conjunction with racism (Syed, 2020). Despite a variety of psychology research and practice being dedicated to concepts such as culture, discrimination, identity, mental illness in differing racial and ethnic demographics, and more, there is still a need to learn about the past. Students are mature enough and deserve to learn about and discuss topics such as Eugenics and structural racism in their discipline, and failure to do so is a discredit to them and the psychological community as a whole.