The Historiography of the "Behavioral Science" in the 21st Century

From my vantage point as editor of the Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, I identify and outline some of the research trends I have observed in the historiography of the behavioral sciences over the past twenty years. I start by situating and defining what is meant by ‘behavioral sciences'. I note that within the history of science, the field devoted to these sciences has often been regarded as lower in status compared to histories of the natural sciences. However, with the accelerating cultural prominence and ubiquity of the behavioral sciences since WWII, there has been a corresponding expansion and richness in historical scholarship that challenges this traditional hierarchy.

I identify three major trends in this historiography, including a rise in histories of recent social science, transcultural and global histories, and the decolonial turn. I argue that it may finally be time to assert that – at least in the broader landscape of history of science – the history of the behavioral sciences is a field whose time has come. [Publisher's text]