The mainstream epistemology of social psychology is markedly ahistorical, prioritizing the quantification of processes assumed to be lawful and generalizable. Social psychologists often consider theory to be either a practical tool for summarizing what is known about a problem area and making predictions or a torch that illuminates the counterintuitive causal force underlying a variety of disparate phenomena. I propose a third vision of critical-historical theory. From this perspective, theories should be committed to deep interdisciplinarity and historical validity claims-understanding individual and group experiences as part of historically contingent forces. Theories also should be critical, containing an awareness of the researcher as implicated in the social process and committed to actively improving society. To demonstrate its viability, I review classic works from the history of the discipline that exemplify critical-historical theory and offer concrete implications for theorists interested in employing this approach in their own work.

中文翻译：

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作为历史的社会心理学理论：概述理论的批判-历史方法。

社会心理学的主流认识论是明显的非历史性的，优先考虑被认为是合法的和普遍化的过程的量化。社会心理学家通常认为理论既是总结问题领域的已知知识并做出预测的实用工具，又是说明各种不同现象背后的反直觉因果力的火炬。我提出了批判历史理论的第三种观点。从这一角度出发，理论应致力于深厚的跨学科性和历史有效性主张，这些主张应理解作为历史偶然力量的一部分的个人和群体经验。理论也应该是批判性的，包含对研究人员的认识，包括与社会过程有关并致力于积极改善社会。为了证明其可行性，