Is the Use of Personality Based Psychometrics by Cambridge Analytical Psychological Science's “Nuclear Bomb” Moment?

摘要

As J. Robert Oppenheimer witnessed the first nuclear explosion in history, he famously quoted theBhagavad Gita: “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds” (Temperton, 2017). Scientistsresponsible for the creation of the atomic bomb would now have to live with the consequences ofbringing about a weapon that could destroy humanity. Whether the reason for participating in thecreation of these weapons was a desire to stop Hitler, patriotism, or a love of the scientific problemof splitting the atom, the consequence of the creation of the atomic bomb has been a world that isforever change and more dangerous than it had been prior to the Second World War.In this article, I argue that psychological science is having its own nuclear moment. In the firstpart, I discuss the role Psychological Science played in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. I arguethat the unleashing of psychometrics which can be used by the Military Industrial Complex andbig data companies has contributed to a world that is more dangerous and forever changed. In thesecond part, I make recommendations for what psychological scientists can do about it.