Network Analysis in the Discussion and Interdisciplinarity Application in Psychology

• Grant number: 25/02780-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: January 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Experimental Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Briseida Dôgo de Resende
• Grantee: Igor Marques dos Santos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psicologia (IP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The present work focuses on psychological and social issues at play in the dynamics of the production, maintenance, and circulation of interdisciplinary scientific work. We begin by defining the challenges behind interdisciplinarity, such as its production context and the social demands it addresses, in order to explore what a discipline is and how its adoption has become widespread and uncritical. In this context, we present proposals to discuss ways to produce and map dialogues between different disciplines within the field of Psychology, as well as their development, primarily through the tools of Network Analysis-used here as a distinctive methodology to capture the relationships between actors, rather than a simple list of absolute values.Two practical studies are proposed: The first involves analyzing a mapping between psychoanalysis and ethology within the discussion of attachment theory to assess the internal validity of this new use of Network Analysis and to capture how the three most central concepts in this dialogue shape the field. The second focuses on the analysis of structural holes in the network from the first study to propose bridges and suggest the use of Developmental Systems Theory, advocating Network Analysis as a powerful tool not only to map knowledge but also to assist in creating future interdisciplinary proposals in strategic and broader spaces for such dialogues. (AU)