Abstract
Psychological science has been going through turbulent times due to the “replication crisis” and the various reforms it has motivated (Gervais, 2021; Szollosi et al., 2020; Devezer et al., 2021; Flis, 2019; Buzbas & Devezer, 2023; Field & Derksen, 2021; Penders, 2024; Lilburn et al., 2019; Flis, 2022). Until relatively recently, “psychological reform” mostly meant methodological and statistical reform of empirical research practices in psychology. However, there is growing awareness that improving psychological science necessitates improving its theoretical practices (Devezer, 2024; Guest & Martin, 2021; Irvine, 2021; van Rooij & Baggio, 2021; Navarro, 2021; Irvine, 2021; Fried, 2020; van Rooij & Baggio, 2020; Proulx & Morey, 2021; Goldrick, 2022; Guest & Martin, 2023; Devezer et al., 2021; Gervais, 2021). There has been great unclarity, however, about what this entails and how it may be achieved. With this special issue, we aim to make progress by inviting deeper reflection on the longstanding question: “What makes a good theory?”