Is Psychology a real science?

[Phi for All]

3 hours ago, Night FM said:

Not at all. There's no reason why natural science is any more of a "science" than anything else, unless that claim is simply reaffirmed through circular reasoning.

There are many reasons, but you don't behave as though you appreciate the methodology. You claim to have found religious answers that make more sense to you, and now it looks as though you're trying to justify not studying more "science". 

[CharonY]

1 hour ago, exchemist said:

Suggest reading the thread and addressing the issues raised, specifically the issues of how to make reproducible observations, the degree of confirmed predictive success of the theories, and the use of theories such as Freud’s, which seem to have only shaky empirical support.

Freud is not really used in any relevant form as far as I can tell, but there are branches in psychology that admittedly have rather dubious frameworks. That being said, and I think I made the argument already somewhere, a bit difference is the high level approach of social and related sciences. Psychology straddles both words, with but all deal with high level of complexity and therefore tend to be more narrative. In a somewhat similar vein, many biological models are also more qualitative and predictions are only valid in small domains. 

But much is also semantics. Natural science is definitely a different beast compared to social sciences. But that does not necessarily make them not a science. At minimum, they provide falsifiable hypotheses that can be tested, though method-wise they are also more prone to methodological errors.

Conversely, one can contort (not directed at anyone specific) arguments as much as one wants, but for example religious beliefs or spiritual enlightenment will ever be science. 

[LuckyR]

The question of "Psychology as science" is usually viewed in contrast to the status of Neurology (which most agree is science). It is my opinion that in the future neuro and psych knowledge/understanding will continue to move closer together and eventually meet. That is at some point psychological tendances and behaviors will be able to be ascribed to particular neurological processes.