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Against the racialization of reason: Science as a universal method of problem-solving
1Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, United States.
Current Opinion in Psychology
|June 9, 2026
Summary
This study defends standard psychological research methods against critiques claiming they are rooted in colonial biases. It argues method validity relies on critical evaluation and problem-solving, not social origins.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Philosophy of Science
- Epistemology
Background:
- Critical scholarship argues standard psychology research methods (e.g., RCTs, psychometrics) are rooted in Western/colonial epistemologies.
- These methods are claimed to perpetuate epistemic exclusion, oppression, and structural racism.
- Concerns extend to scientific rationality being morally and epistemically compromised.
Purpose of the Study:
- Critically examine arguments against standard psychological research methods.
- Evaluate the epistemic coherence of decolonial critiques.
- Defend the rational foundations and validity of scientific psychology's methods.
Main Methods:
- Philosophical analysis drawing on Popper's evolutionary epistemology.
- Application of Laudan's problem-solving account of rationality.
- Critical examination of decolonial critiques of psychological research methodologies.
Main Results:
- Method legitimacy stems from openness to criticism, error correction, and problem-solving effectiveness, not social/cultural origins.
- Decolonial critiques often conflate the social history of practices with their epistemic validity.
- Proposed alternative methods lack demonstrated epistemic grounding or problem-solving productivity.
Conclusions:
- Standard psychological research methods possess rational foundations.
- Critiques of methods must distinguish social genealogy from epistemic validity.
- The defense of scientific psychology's methods is grounded in their empirical efficacy and critical adaptability.
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