Differences between Psychology and Anthropology

Psychology and anthropology are two fields of knowledge and research that can often be confused. Both place great importance on the study of the human being, but they do it in different ways.

But… Where exactly are these differences between psychology and anthropology? Are they relevant enough to keep these two disciplines in separate categories? Certainly, if both have different names and are represented by different university majors, it is for something. Let's see at what points each of them are characterized.

• Related article: "Differences between Psychology and Philosophy"

Main differences between Anthropology and Psychology

These are the basic points at which psychology and anthropology diverge. Some of them suggest that these two disciplines overlap in certain cases, and the truth is that in practice it is impossible to completely isolate what each one studies. However, both maintain their identity precisely because this overlap is not total, far from it.

1. Psychology is less socially based

Psychology is a very broad science, and not everything it covers has to do with the social dimension of the human being. For example, basic psychology or biopsychology focus only on the study of the individual, and if they take into account something other than this, they are a few very limited variables.

Anthropology, on the other hand, always studies the human being as being that is a product of the society in which he lives. That is, it studies the way in which different cultures (and their relationship with biology, in the case of biological anthropology) are expressed through the variety of behaviors typical of being human.

• You may be interested: "The main types of sociology"

2. The temporal focus of the investigation

Anthropology always starts from a historical perspective. An attempt is made to understand how certain patterns of behavior and certain forms of expression have emerged, taking into account the way in which generations are taking over from previous ones.

Thus, anthropologists almost always formulate their research topics and the hypotheses that answer those questions. analyzing extended periods of time. This allows a better understanding of those cultural or ethnic characteristics that resist the passage of time.

Psychology, on the other hand, part of the analysis of long periods of time much less frequently. That means a portion of your finds are intended to be timeless. In fact, much of the research on which its advances are based is based on the here and now of the moment of measurement.

3. The claim to universality

As we have seen in the previous point, a good part of psychology looks for timeless findings. This gives us clues about another of the differences between psychology and anthropology: the former does not always take into account the effect of culture and it focuses on the biological and the genetic, while the second, although it may take into account the physical differences between collectives, puts emphasis on the transmission of habits, symbols and customs built collectively and that have been born in constant interaction with the environment.

That is, anthropology studies the human being related to historical contingencies and cultures in which he lives, while psychology does not have to do this and can also choose to analyze what all human beings have in common in their most basic actions, beyond interpretations.

4. They use different methods

Psychology uses the experimental method a lot, which consists of generating a phenomenon (in this case, psychological) under the careful observation of the investigators, take a careful and objective record of the facts and compare this data with that obtained with other people in whom it has not been generated that phenomenon.

It also uses correlation studies, in which they collect various data contributed by a large number of individuals. to analyze these results and see how the variables interact, what behavior patterns appear, etc. For example, this method would allow us to see if people with depression tend to think more about suicide than the rest or not.

These two methodologies are based on the creation of a highly defined and “rigid” system of variables that is “filled in” by the information captured. They are quantitative forms of study.

Anthropology can also make use of these kinds of quantitative techniques, but is rather defined by qualitative methods, those that do not generate rigid schemes before starting to investigate but adapt in real time to what is observed on the object of study.

For example, when an anthropologist goes to live with a tribe in the Amazon rainforest to take notes about what he sees and to interview clan members without following a clear and highly structured script, you are using methods qualitative.