overpsychologizing

Overpsychologizing is a critique used to describe the practice of explaining a wide range of behaviors, events, or outcomes primarily in terms of psychological factors, especially individual traits or mental states. In this sense, it denotes a tendency to privilege psychological explanations over other possible influences such as social, economic, cultural, or structural conditions. The term is typically used pejoratively, signaling concern that explanations may be overly simplistic or ignore important contextual factors.

The concept appears across disciplines and everyday discourse. In media coverage, a crime or political decision might be attributed mainly to character or disposition rather than to situational or systemic factors. In education or organizational settings, complex outcomes may be attributed to motivation or mindset without considering environmental pressures, resources, or institutional context. While psychological insight can be valuable, overpsychologizing risks reducing multifaceted phenomena to individual psychology alone.

Critics argue that overpsychologizing stems from cognitive biases such as the fundamental attribution error or a preference for easily testable explanations. It can obscure the roles of social structure, power, culture, and material conditions, and may contribute to stigmatization or victim-blaming. Proponents of more holistic analysis advocate integrating multiple levels of explanation, from personal cognition to societal context, and ensuring that evidence supports causal claims across these levels. Related terms include psychologism and reductionism.