1. Better understand people around you and yourself with the psychology major
Because psychology is focused on human behavior, students will gain tremendous insight into the many dimensions of personality, motivation, and behavioral evolution through the lenses of research and case studies. By learning about and understanding the biological and psychological reasons behind people’s actions, psychology students can become better communicators and facilitators for those around them.
In addition to personal relationships, psychology also helps with professional associations. Business is about relationship management, where one must understand how to approach and work with different personalities and working styles in order to create a healthy and productive environment. In addition, understanding what psychological factors influence what humans want to spend money on can be extremely beneficial for those working in sales or marketing.
2. Various options for specialization and advancement
Because general psychology is an introduction and foundation for its more specialized branches, there are many options to pursue within the discipline. Depending on the branch, you may or may not be encouraged to further your studies with a Master’s or Ph.D. degree.
First, psychology can be divided into two main sections: research and practice. Because our understanding of human behavior is growing and changing daily, branches of psychology are constantly evolving.
According to Very Well Mind, there are 18 specialized branches of psychology:
- Abnormal psychology: focuses on studying unusual patterns of behavior, emotion, and thought – which can be categorized as mental disorders.
- Behavioral Psychology: focuses on studying and discovering patterns in human actions and behavior.
- Biopsychology: focuses on how the brain, neurons, and other parts of human biology influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
- Clinical Psychology: focuses on assessment and treatment of mental illness, abnormal behavior, and disorder.
- Cognitive Psychology: focuses on the internal mental processes- everything inside the human’s brain
- Comparative Psychology: focuses on the study of animal behavior.
- Counseling Psychology: focuses on facilitating personal and interpersonal functioning across human life spans.
- Cross-Cultural Psychology: focuses on how culture influences human behavior.
- Developmental Psychology: focuses on how people change and grow throughout their lifetime.
- Educational Psychology: focuses on studying learning methods and understanding how people take in information.
- Experimental Psychology: focuses on testing theories and applying experimental methods to understand human behavior.
- Forensic Psychology: focuses on the application of psychology in law. The responsibilities and roles vary depending on the legal case.
- Health Psychology: focuses on how biological, social, and psychological factors influence health and illness.
Industrial-Organizational - Psychology: focuses on researching workplace synergy and issues.
- Personality Psychology: focuses on the study of feelings, behaviors, and personalities of individuals.
- School Psychology: focuses on helping kids with academic, emotional, and social issues.
- Social Psychology: focuses on researching social behavior within a social context.
- Sports Psychology focuses on studying psychological factors that influence sports participation and competition.
3. Strengthen your ability to conduct research and data analysis
Research skills are often overlooked in college and the workplace, especially if you are not in the data analysis or market research departments. However, excellent research skills lead to strong problem-solving skills. In the workplace, research skills help employees identify and solve problems utilizing company data. Researchers are also skilled at evaluating available resources and utilizing the right ones for efficiency and productivity. Lastly, with their research skills, employees can help brands identify their target market, explore customers’ needs and wants, and develop appropriate strategies to satisfy them.
4. Critical thinking skills
Critical thinking is a commonly used term in most fields, but do you understand what it truly means in psychology? By studying psychology, you will develop more substantial critical thinking skills, which involve asking thought-provoking questions and using logical principles, evidence, and reasoning to provide analysis and contribute to discussions. Critical thinking is essential in psychology because it allows learners to evaluate all possibilities without biases or assumptions.
Through the pursuit of a psychology major, students gain the opportunity to explore and analyze human behavior, uncovering potential underlying causes for why people act and think the way they do. This type of reasoning can help individuals formulate effective solutions to daily problems or consider potential risks before making important decisions. Additionally, studying psychology provides an understanding of complex social interactions, enabling individuals to become more adept at making informed decisions in any given situation.
Therefore, studying psychology helps students acknowledge their blind spots and ignorance, develop the willingness to look at multiple perspectives, and develop intellectual empathy.
5. Career prospects
With a psychology major, you have the options of various career choices for graduates, as students with psychology majors are trained with transferable skills and knowledge. Caroline Kennedy, Careers & Opportunities Officer at the National College of Ireland, has stated that:
“Graduates can pursue further professional training in any number of areas, depending on their particular interest – anything from clinical, educational to occupational psychology, and more.”
Not every graduate will become a practicing psychologist, but they will gain all the transferable skills and knowledge that will be attractive to any employer. With solid research and communication skills, and an understanding of why people act the way they do, graduates could end up working anywhere from marketing, management, and HR to sports or healthcare — it’s a degree that gives them a wide variety of options.
And, if you decide to work in psychology, the job demand in the field is promising. Depending on your specialization, you can work in hospitals, clinics, schools, NGOs, with an independent team, or on your own. Not only can you choose your workplace, but you can also choose what you want to do. The options are endless, from clinical psychologists, psychotherapists to therapists, forensic psychologists, and psychiatrists.
Aralia is opening up a new Psychology class starting this September; more information is below.
Take Aralia Psychology Courses to get ahead
This Psychology Research Program takes knowledge from the Introductory psychology course, leads students to understand all aspects of psychology, and explores their interests through conducting research. The professor will guide students through an empirical review of current psychological literature.
This course is an introduction to Psychology – what many describe as the science of the mind and behavior, concerned with how and why human beings do what they do. In some ways, this course is like a tasting menu at a fancy restaurant – you get the opportunity to try various aspects of various disciplines of this fascinating science and see which one(s) excites you. This course allows you to learn the basics in each of the major branches of psychology today.
