loading . . . Are the social sciences and humanities becoming “harder”? - Scientometrics This study aims to answer the question: Does the “hardening” phenomenon in the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) represent the parallel development of empirical research and interpretive research, or is it a linear extension of the scientific hierarchy? Taking 161,084 articles published from 2000 to 2024 in Social Sciences (Management, Education, Economics, Sociology, Psychology) and Humanities (History, Literature, Art, Philosophy) as the research objects, this study employs bibliometric methods to elucidate the hardening characteristics of SSH. Our findings reveal that SSH hardening is an irreversible trend, unfolding in three distinct phases: accumulation, acceleration, and sustained enhancement. Based on hardening values and growth rates, disciplines fall into four types: rapid-hardening (Psychology, Arts), first-hardening (Education), later-hardening (Sociology, Management), and hardening-stable (Literature, Economics, Philosophy, History). Overall, the social sciences exhibit stronger hardening than the humanities, a differentiation shaped by both knowledge hardness and organizational hardness. Meanwhile, “hardening” does not entail paradigm replacement but rather an extension of the methodological spectrum. The convergence of SSH toward greater logical rigor and precision does not imply abandoning their core values of speculation and critical thinking. Instead, it represents a necessary evolution to enhance their capacity to address complex real-world problems, engage in interdisciplinary dialogue, and contribute critical insights to contemporary challenges. https://bit.ly/4wtlS9s
