Interview with Distinguished Professor Arie Kruglanski: a life in social psychology.

Resumen

This article presents an in-depth interview with Arie W. Kruglanski, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland and one of the most influential figures in contemporary social psychology. Through a biographical and theoretical dialogue, the interview explores the intellectual trajectory of Kruglanski and his major contributions to the field, including lay epistemology, the need for cognitive closure, the unimodel of information processing, the quest for significance, and psychological models of extremism and radicalization. The conversation addresses central debates in social psychology, such as the limits of experimentalism, the role of methodological pluralism, the crisis of replicability, and the relationship between scientific rigor and theoretical imagination. Kruglanski reflects critically on the dominance of experimental methods, arguing for a convergent approach that integrates experimental, qualitative, and field-based methodologies when studying complex social phenomena such as terrorism, political violence, and intergroup conflict. The interview also engages with broader epistemological issues, including the influence of Karl Popper’s philosophy of science in Kruglanski, critiques of dual-process models, and the need to reconnect social psychology with real-world problems. Finally, Kruglanski offers reflections on the future of the discipline and advice to younger generations of social psychologists, emphasizing that scientific progress ultimately depends on the development and critical examination of substantive ideas rather than on methodological sophistication alone.