COMPARING THE INCOMMENSURABLE: WHERE SCIENCE AND POLITICS COLLIDE
C H R I S T I N A LEE The University of Newcastle, Australia
Summary - - Arguments about the possibility that cognitive variables may play a causal role in human behavior are unlikely to be resolved in favor of one side or the other, because they set against each other two incommensurable views of human agency. Contemporary cognitive models of psychology are based on an implicitly dualist view of human behavior, assuming the existence of a nonmaterial mental realm which has the capacity to act on the material world. Critics, by comparison, frequently argue from an epiphenomenalist position. While there may be sound scientific reasons for rejecting self-efficacy theory, and particularly for rejecting the utility of the concept that behavior is caused by efficacy expectations, this paper argues that epistemic criteria are frequently less important than a sense that a theory is compatible with a particular world view. I argue that cognitive theories are accepted by the psychological mainstream because their dualist basis accords with deeply held cultural beliefs about the relationship between the person and the world. However, the social and political consequences of such models are rarely articulated, and there is a need for psychologists to develop a more explicit understanding of the relationship between psychological theories and their broader implications.
A string of raw facts; a little gossip and wrangle about opinions; a little classification and description on the mere descriptive level; a strong prejudice that we have states of mind, hut not a single law in the sense that physics shows us laws, not a single proposition from which any consequence causally can be deduced. We don't even know the terms between which the elementary laws would obtain if we had them. (James, 1893, p. 468) What I tell you three times is true. (Carroll, 1876)
O n c e again , an a c a d e m i c has p r e s e n t e d a we l l -
a rgued case against the role o f se l f -e f f icacy as a
causal m e c h a n i s m in b e h a v i o r (Hawkins , 1992).
O n c e a g a i n , A l b e r t B a n d u r a has p r e p a r e d an
e l egan t rebut ta l (Bandura , 1995). Th i s is by no
m e a n s the f i rs t t i m e that a r g u m e n t s h a v e b e e n
r a i s e d a g a i n s t t h e f u n d a m e n t a l p r i n c i p l e s
under ly ing sel f -eff icacy theory (see, for example ,
B i g l a n , 1 9 8 7 ; B o r k o v e c , 1 9 7 8 ; E a s t m a n &
Marzi l l ier , 1984; Kirsch, 1986; Lee, 1989; Tryon,
1981, 1982), nor the first t ime that Bandura has
r e s p o n d e d to his c r i t i c s (e .g . , B a n d u r a , 1978,
1981, 1984).
A r g u m e n t o f t h i s n a t u r e is an e n j o y a b l e
academic exercise. But this is one a rgument which
n o b o d y is g o i n g to win, b e c a u s e it sets aga ins t
each other two v iews of sc ience and o f psycho logy
which are basical ly incommensurab le . On the one
hand , we h a v e the f u n d a m e n t a l l y dua l i s t v i e w
a d o p t e d by B a n d u r a a n d b y t h e m a j o r i t y o f
" c o g n i t i v e " p s y c h o l o g i s t s , t ha t t he m i n d has
independent , a l though nonmater ia l , exis tence and
that p rocesses and even t s in the m i n d in f luence
e v e n t s in the ma te r i a l wor ld . On the o ther , we
have the ep iphenomenal i s t v i ew of Hawkins , that
conscious events are no more than by-products of
p h y s i o l o g y a n d b e h a v i o r , s ide e f f e c t s w h i c h
cannot have any causal role.
In such a debate , there can be no ques t ion o f
one side conv inc ing the o ther o f the r ightness of
Requests for reprints should be addressed to C. Lee, Department of Psychology, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia.
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260 CHRISTINA LEE
its position, because the underlying philosophical assumptions are fundamentally incompatible. Thus, the issue becomes not that of which side is right and which wrong, but that of which is the more useful. Which model of human beings provides the more accurate predictions of human behav io r? Which leads to a more comple te understanding of human action? Which is more compatible with the dual goals of understanding behavior and reducing human distress? Which (and this may be the crucial question) is more compatible with contemporary views of human beings and their relationship with society?
I have previously outlined my objections to self-efficacy theory on scientific grounds (Lee, 1989). In this paper, I will briefly reiterate those points, before turning to the broader issue of the social and political implications of cognition- based models in general. It is my contention that this debate is not about facts or theories, but about essentially incompatible views of the relationship between individuals and society.
Despite the sociopolitical nature of human behavior , p syc ho logy is of ten re luc tant to recognise the social influences which have shaped it (Buss, 1975), and to recognise the potential of psychology to be used for social and political ends. Ours is a field in which value judgments are often not identified as such (Scarr, 1985), in which we maintain the illusion that we are studying "behavior" in a pure, ahistorical, apolitical context (Prilleltensky, 1989), and in which the search for scientific "truth" is artificially disconnected from the society in which the research is conducted. Af ter summaris ing some of my sc ient i f ic objections to self-efficacy and related theories, I will argue for a need to examine the broader, social and political, implications of cognition- based models of human behavior in order to understand why this debate continues to generate so much heat and so little light.
Scientific Problems with Self-Efficacy Theory
I have argued on previous occasions that self- efficacy theory is fundamentally flawed (Lee,
1989, 1990). It is based on the assumption that events in the real world affect one's behavior, not directly, but through the mediating effects of e f f i cacy expec ta t ions . Previous personal experience, observations of others, information and other symbolic knowledge, and physiological states are all weighted and combined to produce the e f f i cacy expecta t ion , the final common pathway through which all these factors influence behavior (Bandura, 1986).
A major weakness of the theory is that the process by which this synthesis takes place is not specified. There is no model for predicting the weighting of various types of information. Thus, there is no way of predicting efficacy expectation from a knowledge of these inputs. Because of the large number of potential influences, and the lack of a rigorous model, almost any level of self- efficacy could potentially arise from almost any set of circumstances.
A similar problem arises in describing how efficacy expectations interact with other variables. Bandura (1986) has argued that skill levels and incent ives are also impor tant inf luences on behavior. Again, the model reflects the complexity and variability we perceive in human behavior, and accords with the satisfying view that people are very complicated. However, it is of no actual use. The naming of variables has been substituted for explanat ion . There is no f r amework for specifying how skills and incentives might be assessed independently of the behavior they are supposed to affect, nor for identifying the way in which efficacy expectations will interact with these other variables. Thus, there is no way of predicting what behavior will result from any part icular combinat ion of skill, e f f icacy and incentive. Further, the vagueness of the basic constructs precludes the successful development of such a f ramework. What, for example, is " incent ive"? How is it distinct from outcome expectat ions, from the perceived benefits of action, from health protection motivation?
The theory, and other related theories, postulate a large number of unobservable processes and argue that they interact in an unspecified manner to produce observable behavior. The lack of
Science and Politics
p rec i s ion means that h y p o t h e s e s canno t be developed which will test these theories. It is almost impossible to come up with an outcome which could not be explained, post hoc, in terms of self-efficacy theory. To be scientific, a theory must specify not only what will happen but also what will not happen.
It is true that self-efficacy does predict behavior in relatively uncomplicated contexts with a fair degree of accuracy. But at the level of explaining the p roces ses i nvo l ved in behav i ng and in behavior change, rather than simply providing one of a number of different possible descriptions of them, it does not increase our understanding of human activity. To state that a person behaved in a particular way primarily because of his or her level of self-efficacy is a circular and nonscientific characterisation of that behavior.
In summary, theories of this type, despite their apparent value, are fundamentally invalid. This is because they rely for their apparent explanatory power on unpredictable interactions between hypothetical variables which cannot be observed and are not operationally defined (e.g., Eysenck, 1978; Lee, 1987; Skinner, 1977, 1987).
These arguments, when previously published, have left cognit ive psychologis ts unmoved. I submit that this is because theories are chosen and deve loped , not solely on the basis of their scientific integrity, but also because they "feel right" to their proponents and to the society within which they are promulgated. Freimuth (1992) has argued that scientists, including psychologists, frequently ignore formal epistemic criteria in the development of theory. Theories, he argued, may be viewed as narratives, as constructed stories about the way the world is. From this perspective, a sense of fitting in with an overall view of the world may be more important in selecting one model over another, than is adherence to formal, logical criteria of scientific value.
The Cartesian concept of a division of the universe into two fundamentally different kinds of stuff - - mind and matter - - remains ingrained in our ways of thinking about the world. Cognitive theories, including self-efficacy theory, are based explicitly or implicitly on the computer metaphor
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(Salzinger, 1992), and are essentially dualist in nature (Costall, 1991; Hineline, 1992; Staddon, 1993). E f f i cacy expec ta t ions , ar is ing f rom cogni t ive processes , are neither material nor observable: they, like a computer program, serve as "an abstract set of instructions that controls the body" (Costall, 1991, p. 157).
Thus, in contemporary cognitive psychology, mind is seen as other than, and fundamentally different from, the body. The assumption is made that menta l p rocesses exis t in a d i f fe ren t , nonphysical realm, and that the concepts and processes of thought owe nothing to biology except at the most trivial of levels (Staddon, 1993). Psychology is artificially separated from the natural sciences, and the human being is artificially separated from other animals (Massey. 1993).
In the following section of this paper I examine some social and polit ical implicat ions of the adoption of a dualist model of the human being. No field of scientific endeavor is independent of political and cultural context; however, implicit poli t ical and cultural assumpt ions impact on psychology more directly and more importantly than they do on other disciplines, because our subject matter is human beings, who themselves exist in political and cultural contexts. Thus, it is important for us to be aware of the broader reasons why we might prefer one model over another, and of the possible implicat ions of these broader reasons.
Social and Political Implications of Dualistic Models
Contemporary hostility to behavior ism and other noncognitive models of human behavior, I submit, arises because these models run counter to a deeply-held philosophy that human action is determined by the soul, spirit or mind, and that the mechanism of human agency lies outside the natural world (Hickey, 1994). Our cultural and professional traditions favour a view of the person as a discrete individual, an individual whose essence is a collection of subjective experiences,
262 CHRISTINA LEE
with a body more or less tacked on as a way of getting around. Skinner 's model of the human o rgan i sm as one l a rge ly con t ro l l ed by the environment challenged deeply held, culturally determined assumptions about the relationship between the person and the world (Hineline, 1992).
Cognitive and social psychology focus largely on internal processes and tend to downplay or ignore actual behavior (Argyle, 1991); they are based on the implicit assumption that cognitive even ts are more impor tan t , more cent ra l to understanding human beings, than are social and physical c i rcumstances (Sampson, 1981). An unintended implication of these assumptions is that cultural and political context, together with social conditions, are marginalised, and the current local cultural and political climate is taken as absolute (Jahoda, 1988). This in turn can lead to the a c c e p t a n c e of pa r t i cu la r cu l tu ra l ly or pol i t ical ly based views as if they ref lected a permanent, indisputable reality.
A professional and scientific culture which places more importance on cognitive events than on ob jec t ive rea l i ty is l ike ly to encou rage psychologists to focus interventions on changing cogn i t ion ra ther than a l te r ing ob jec t ive circumstances. Such a tendency will have as one of its effects the protection of the status quo, and the vir tual ignor ing of cultural and pol i t ical in f luences on behav io r . B roade r issues of inequal i ty , pove r ty and v io lence are lost in c o n t e m p o r a r y p s y c h o l o g i c a l ana lys is . "The primacy ascribed to the mind and the individual agent in cogn i t i ve p s y c h o l o g y , in the best Cartesian tradition, tends to reinforce the need to adjust in t r apsych ic , as opposed to socie ta l , structures in the remediation of personal and social problems" (Prilleltensky, 1990, p. 127).
An implicit acceptance of dualism leads to the proposition of an abstract "person" who exists independently of physical, social, historical or cultural context and has "cognitions" which also exist independently of the material world. Thus, dualist models serve to reduce our subject matter from the entirety of human activity to the study of the subjective and individual (Sampson, 1981).
This both rests on and underlies an unexamined assumption that the answer to personal difficulty or distress is not to act to alter reality, but to change cognitions to make them more consistent with existing conditions. The implicit ideology of cogn i t ive p s y c h o l o g y was descr ibed by Prilleltensky (1989) as follows:
A pervasive dichotomy between the individual and society is observed in psychology . . . the individual is studied as an asocial and ahistorical being whose life vicissitudes are artificially disconnected from the wider sociopolitical context. Consequently, solutions for human predicaments are to be found within the self, leaving the social order unaffected. (p. 796)
Regardless of the personal and political beliefs of individual psychologists, psychological theories which have cognition as their primary focus must inevitably assume this dichotomy between the person and the world, and must see human agency as residing within the individual. Kipnis (1994) has argued that, because academics generally lead pleasant, comfortable and desirable lives, it is not surprising that we will feel more comfortable with research paradigms which focus on helping other people to fit into this same society, than with those that seek fundamental change. Individualism and cogni t ivism thus work together to reduce the probability that social inequalities will actually be addressed, except at the most trivial of levels (Prilleltensky, 1990).
My argument is not that social and cognitive psychologists are part of a deliberate conspiracy to main ta in socia l inequi ty . My point is that psychology is often unaware of, and uninterested in, the cultural basis and the cultural implications of its chosen focus. The poli t ical and social conservatism that psychblogy demonstrates is an unintended consequence of the preference for dualist models of humanity. A focus on individual cognition must lead to a view of society as an agglomeration of independent individuals which exist primarily as cognitive processes and only secondarily as physical entities.
The purpose of this discussion has been to make expl ic i t some of the soc iopo l i t i ca l implications of a dualist model of human beings, a model which emphasises the subjective over the
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o b j e c t i v e , w h i c h i g n o r e s a c t u a l b e h a v i o r a n d
e m p h a s i s e s h y p o t h e t i c a l c o n s t r u c t s . A l t h o u g h I
h a v e b e e n in t en t iona l ly pol i t ical , m y a i m is not to
pe r suade readers of a speci f ic pol i t ica l v i e w p o i n t
but r a the r to e n c o u r a g e psycho log i s t s to cons ide r
t he i m p l i c a t i o n s a n d b r o a d e r c o n t e x t o f t h e i r
theories .
M y a r g u m e n t is t h a t t h e d e b a t e a b o u t t h e
poss ib i l i ty of a causal role for cogn i t ion in h u m a n
b e h a v i o r is n o t , f u n d a m e n t a l l y , a s c i e n t i f i c
c o m p a r i s o n o f a l t e r n a t i v e t h e o r i e s . I t is a
d i s c u s s i o n a t c r o s s - p u r p o s e s , in w h i c h t h e
p r o t a g o n i s t s h o l d f u n d a m e n t a l l y i n c o m p a t i b l e
v i e w s a b o u t the r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n b r a i n and
consc iousness , abou t the r e l a t ionsh ip b e t w e e n the
i n d i v i d u a l a n d s o c i e t y , a n d a b o u t f u n d a m e n t a l
m e c h a n i s m s o f h u m a n a g e n c y : w h e t h e r o u r
ac t ions are d r iven by the Ca r t e s i an " g h o s t in the
m a c h i n e " or w h e t h e r c o n s c i o u s n e s s is n o m o r e
than T h o m a s H u x l e y ' s " s t e a m a b o v e the fac tory" .
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