反思主义亦称诠释主义，是政治科学的研究途径之一，属于实然论的一种，故为后实证主义的分流之一，该研究途径通常会和特别相关的主题一同研究，包含女性主义、后现代主义以及批判理论，该研究途径目前面临最大的挑战就是意图成为国际关系学界中的第三条主流论述，国际关系首要的论述是现实主义与历史主义，第二大的主流论述是自由主义以及理想主义，而此反思主义强调对事件的解释而非量化的数据经验，因为反思主义认为那些强而有力的学说是无法解释社会规范的，然而这才是真的对人们有直接影响的力量，这代表了建构主义(学习理论)也是反思主义的研究项目之一，另一方面政治学者并不是十分认同反思主义作为国际关系学界中的第三条论述（因为社会建构主义已经占有此地位）。

Reflectivism is a broad umbrella label, used primarily in International Relations theory, for a range of theoretical approaches which oppose rational-choice accounts of social phenomena and, perhaps, positivism more generally. The label was popularised by Robert Keohane in his presidential address to the International Studies Association in 1988. The address was entitled "International Institutions: Two Approaches", and contrasted two broad approaches to the study of international institutions (and international phenomena more generally). One was "rationalism", the other what Keohane referred to as "reflectivism". Rationalists — including realists, neo-realists, liberals, neo-liberals, and scholars using game-theoretic or expected-utility models — are theorists who adopt the broad theoretical and ontological commitments of rational-choice theory.