“A Game We All Play”: Identity, Epistemology, and Transformation in Undergraduate Psychology Students

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v17i1.187211

Keywords:

critical psychology, philosophy of psychology, pedagogy of psychology, replication crisis

Abstract

Through the transformations of their beliefs and identities, students of a scientific discipline reflect its basic epistemological commitments. Despite its radical disciplinary change following the replication crisis, reflexive pedagogical study is rare in the psychological literature. This study aims to capture undergraduate psychology students’ changing commitments within their field. Interviews of first-year and fourth-year psychology students at the University of Toronto were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results show that the fourth-years, though more conversant with their field’s values, were mostly dissatisfied with their ethical and epistemological validity. Fourth-years unanimously reported feelings of alienation and disenfranchisement due to their practical powerlessness to address theoretical issues of which they were critically aware. The results suggest a broad dissolution of confidence in psychology’s knowledge justification, as well as a need for pedagogical change. Opening space in the curriculum and lab culture for critical challenge might allay alienation and resignation expressed by students.

Author Biographies

James Y. Yuan, University of Toronto

James Y. Yuan is a psychological practitioner. He earned his master’s degree in clinical psychology at the University of Toronto in 2025. His research has focused on the areas of critical psychology, queer theory, psychological and philosophical method, and psychoanalysis. He is a co-founder and executive of Res Futura, a public educational collective based in Toronto.

 

Romin W. Tafarodi, University of Toronto

Romin W. Tafarodi earned his doctorate in social psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1994. He has since taught at Cardiff University, the University of Tokyo, and the University of Toronto, where he is Associate Professor of Psychology. He has published in the areas of self, identity, and culture; and taught undergraduate and graduate courses on topics ranging from statistics to the philosophy of psychology to media studies. He is a strong proponent of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary scholarship in an age of increasing academic specialization. He and his students are currently investigating the psychosocial aspects of virtual communication.

Downloads

Published

2026-02-17

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2026)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 James Y. Yuan, Romin W. Tafarodi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with Critical Education agree to the following terms:

  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).