How to Improve Theory Specification in Psychology

Abstract: Psychological theories should meet scientific criteria such as objectivity, coherence, and nontautology. We argue that theories formulated as verbal narratives often fail to meet these standards and propose that all psychological theories should be formally specified to ensure compliance with these requirements. We recommend: (i) requiring authors of new theories to provide sufficient formal specification before publication by changing standards and extending publication manuals; (ii) increasing incentives for the specification of existing theories by introducing a dedicated category of theory specification papers; (iii) encouraging researchers who aim to empirically test a theory to specify the relevant aspects before doing so, if required; (iv) fostering the development of improved theory specification methodologies through methodological debates and consensus-building processes; and (v) enhancing psychology education by incorporating fundamental philosophy of science concepts and formal theory specification techniques. We review theory specification approaches in psychology that can be used to implement these recommendations.