Suppressing Alternative Explanations

Abstract

The completed zero-variable theory, as we have witnessed the course of its formualtion, is an egocentric product. The respondent’s background perspective is shoved aside as the theorist attempts, through discriminance analysis, to win a unique place in the field of verbal description of complex human behavior. A further element now enters the antiintegrative picture: nowhere in the zero-variable literature is the concept alternative explanation taken seriously. In other words, the perspectives of other theories are neglected, not just the perspectives of the respondents. Before we develop this theme, it is useful to take a quick look at the usual character of the alternative explanation; what does it mean in psychological research and what are its consequences?