Behavioral science is concerned with human actions, and since behavior is influenced so importantly by people and social settings, the behavioral and social sciences are very closely related. The scientific study of behavior developed in a formal way in the 19th century, and research in the behavioral sciences now makes use of a variety of different research methods that rely on both observation and description as well as statistical modeling and experimentation. The development and testing of general theories that explain behavior is a priority for research that studies social function, development, individual variation, and the various social and biological contexts of behavior.

The core disciplines that contribute to behavioral science include anthropology, psychology, and sociology, but many other disciplines also play an important role, such as the behavioral aspects of biology, economics, geography, law, psychology, and political science. Although behavioral and social sciences have a...