Psychology is primarily

@shortstories - voted religion.

But I divide psychology into two distinct categories. There's the theoretical, which can be very useful in explaining why people act as they do, and can help predict behavior & can help to shape society in a desirable way.

And then there's clinical psychiatry, where a patient pays a "doctor" to help them figure out their own life. I'm not saying that's entirely useless... But it's useless in at least 80% of cases. This is the side that falls into "religion".

@YoMomz

Research psychology focuses on statistical signifance tests

Statistical Significance tests are based on assumptions of probability and randomness

They are based on the assumption that the outcome of an experiment is somewhat random but within a normal distribution curve

This means the output is not predictable based on the input

For it to be scientific the output should be predicted based on the input

Then there is the question of If behavior is chosen can it be predicted

@shortstories - Philosophy is similarly useful, but not scientific. It's inexact. It's nebulous. But still, it can be useful.