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The differences between Psychology and Physiology

The differences between Psychology and Physiology

February 28, 2024

The human being, as one of the most complex animals that exist, you object of study of infinity of sciences. Which try to unravel its mysteries and nature both on the physical or organic level, as well as on the psychological, social or spiritual level.

Two of these sciences are psychology and physiology, two disciplines at the center of which is research and understanding of human functioning. Thanks to them, we know many things about how we react to different situations and how we adapt to the environment. But nevertheless, there are substantial differences between physiology and psychology , which we will try to elucidate throughout this article.


  • Related article: "What is Physiological Psychology?"

Psychology and Physiology: the two parts of a whole

From a general perspective, we can conceive the human being as a whole formed by different planes, which could not live without each other. These plans refer to the physical or organic aspect of the person and the psychological aspect, related to behavior and emotions.

Throughout the history of humanity, sciences were created and developed that, in parallel, had as their mission to discover the secrets of the workings of both planes of the person: psychology and physiology.

However, despite the fact that in both disciplines the subject of study (the human being) is shared, each of them has specialized in different aspects of the organisms . While physiology is dedicated to investigate how different parts of our body work, psychology tries to understand the fundamentals of behavior, behavior and mental processes of people.


As we said, both can be considered as two parts of a whole. Which, although they may seem independent, are closely related and may influence each other.

An example that can help us to clarify these ideas is that in which we compare the mind and the brain. Both concepts are closely related and one can not exist without the other; However, the first of them is part of the field of study of psychology, while the physiology in charge of studying the operation of the second.

However, within the field of psychology we also find the study of how brain functioning is manifested and made visible through the behavior of people.

  • Maybe you are interested: "History of Psychology: authors and main theories"

Differences between Physiology and Psychology

To delve a little deeper into the differences between psychology and physiology, below we will see a brief description of the characteristics of these two disciplines .


1. What is psychology?

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), psychology is the science that studies the mind and human behavior , including both conscious and unconscious phenomena, feelings and thoughts.

This discipline is born with the need to understand the role of mental functions and individual and social behavior, while exploring the physiological and biological processes that underlie cognitive functions and behaviors, hence its close relationship with physiology .

Through the empirical method researchers in psychology study behavior and mental processes, which they include perception, cognition, attention, emotions and affects, and personality , inferring causal relationships and correlations between the different psychological and psychosocial variables.

Although psychological knowledge is usually applied to the evaluation and treatment of problems or conditions of a mental nature, it is also aimed at understanding and solving problems in various spheres of human life, such as academic, work environments, sports and even the media and forensic investigation.

Finally, there is a whole range of branches of psychology which devotes to the study of certain specific aspects of the mind, cognition and human behavior. Some of them are:

  • Clinical psychology .
  • Cognitive and / or behavioral psychology.
  • Psychology of development.
  • Forensic psychology.
  • Health Psychology.
  • Neuropsychology .
  • Social psychology.

2. What is physiology?

On the other hand, physiology refers to that science that is dedicated to scientific study of the mechanisms, functioning, and their interactions, of a living system . More specifically, it is a subdiscipline of biology that focuses on how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells and biomolecules perform the chemical or physical functions that are carried out in the living system, regardless of whether it is of being human or not.

This would also be one of the main differences between psychology and physiology. While psychology has traditionally focused on the study of human mind and behavior, physiology covers the study of the functioning of any living organism .

In this particular case, given that we are making a comparison with psychology, we will focus on animal physiology, which includes the study of the functioning of the organism of human beings.

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But not all are differences

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, although psychology and physiology have different specific objects of study, in human research questions, both fields are interrelated.

This relationship becomes apparent from the first moment in which we understand that the functioning of our body and our organism, starting with the brain, affects the functioning of our mind ; as well as the fact that certain psychological processes and mental disorders are capable of altering the development of the activity of our body in what is known as somatization.

Such is the level of connection between these two fields of study that this led to the emergence of psychophysiology, now known as cognitive neuroscience , a branch of study within psychology that is responsible for studying the physiological bases underlying psychological processes.

For example, while psychology is interested in the causes or factors that cause the appearance of a phobia, psychophysiology focuses on the study of how the brain organs involved in the fear response, such as the amygdala, function in this situation, trying to relate the psychological and physiological aspects of a state of stress and anxiety as it is that of phobias.


What is PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY? What does PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY mean? (February 2024).


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