ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author reviews three areas where social psychology has disappointed—methods, theory, and ethics. In the area of methods, there are three issues. The first has to do with the logic of experimentation. Psychology’s purchase on the scientific community has been made on the basis of its scientific methodology, particularly its emphasis on experimentation. The second major issue follows directly. Because demonstration was so central to the academic culture of experimental social psychology, there was little evidence of disconfirmation. The final point is that the field appears to have handicapped itself by a virtually exclusive devotion of its research methods to experimentation. Given the preoccupation with methods, it is hardly surprising that social psychology has failed to develop substantial headway in the development of a theory of action. In social psychology the avenue of theory development has been overshadowed by the moral agendas that have grounded the demonstrations of the classical tradition.
