Are you asking Why study psychology ? You may have some of these doubts:
- Do not know if you have a job
- You do not know how much money you will earn
- You ask yourself Where to study it
- Would you like to know the difficulty of the race?
I will resolve those doubts and others so that you can make a decision. In no case I want to convince or discourage you, the decision is yours.
Do not you know how to study psychology? In this article you can know.
Pros and Cons of Studying Psychology
1-Several outputs and options (PRO)
In addition to having several Paradigms -humanism, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, cognitivism-, has several areas that you can dedicate:
- Social psychology
- Health Psychology
- Human Resources
- Clinical psychology
- Psychobiology
- Sports psychology
- Community Psychology
Therefore, the psychologist / a is not only the typical one that is seen in the films attending patients in a consultation, that is to say, the clinical psychologist.
There are other types that are dedicated to:
- Research
- Working in business (Human Resources)
- Working with children (Educational Psychology)
- Working with older people
- Working in justice (judicial psychologists)
- Working investigating crimes (criminologist psychologists)
- Working with people with psychoneurological disorders (neuropsychologists)
- Working in hospitals (clinical psychologists with PIR )
- Working with sportsmen (sports psychologists)
- Working in centers for the elderly (gerontologists)
- Working in consultations (clinical psychologists)
- Work for community development (NGOs, town halls, foundations...)
Surely I miss some, although the idea is that you have many options to choose from.
2-Improve your quality of life and personal development (PRO)
If you do not have previous psychological problems, studying psychology should Improve your quality of life .
In psychology you study the psychological and environmental factors that make a person healthy, so you can use that for your own life.
Even if you go to the company or the research, all the knowledge about mental health you have acquired will serve you for the rest of your life.
They say that in the career of Psychology are many"crazy"and may be some other...
But in what race are not there? I do not think it's something unique about the Psychology career.
On the other hand, if you are really interested in the subject, studying Psychology will help you in your personal development or to achieve your goals.
Actually, much of the success in life is psychological; If you do not have the right attitude and way of thinking, you will not have it.
3-You can study abroad (PRO)
The Psychology degree can be studied in almost all countries and in many cities.
The fact that it has been implanted in so many places means that you have many places to study it, whether in your country or not.
You do not even need to know English, because you can study in Spain if you are from Latin America or vice versa.
In my opinion, the great advantage of the university is to be able to opt for scholarships and study abroad, however only a minority does.
What is the reason? I think it's because of the fear of Leave the comfort zone , The human being tends to stay in the safe.
If you are encouraged, learn as much about the scholarships that are given inside your university as those that are given out.
Universia Is a good portal for information, even if you do not stay there, also investigate the scholarship section of your university and many others.
You can even make a scholarship alert With google alerts .
For example, I studied in Sevilla University And they were given:
- Scholarships that depended on the University of Seville
- Scholarships that depend on external organizations such as banks and foundations
Enter it all!
4-Opportunity to investigate (PRO)
About a year ago I had a short conversation with a girl. It was something like this (I invented the name):
-Yo: Hello, you're Julia, right?
-Julia: Yes, are you Alberto? And what do you do?
-Yo: I am a psychologist, although I dedicate myself to...
-Julia: Well, I do not believe in psychologists.
Error! Psychology works and thanks to research has brought great knowledge to mankind.
For example, thanks to Great psychologists Great psychological phenomena have been discovered as:
- Submission to the authority
- The stimulus-response conditioning
- The theory of social identity
- The effect of false consensus
- The halo effect
- The effect of conformity
Moreover, psychotherapy works (meeting certain conditions), as do many other techniques and strategies Such as cognitive therapy .
In addition to all these phenomena discovered, much remains to be investigated and you can be one of those researchers.
5-Salary (PRO if you have motivation, VS if you are lazy)
The salary is variable: you can go from 1000 euros if you are a"middle psychologist"to more than 5000 if you are very good (also in marketing).
The type of work also varies, of course.
- For Clinical Psychologist do the calculations:
If you get three patients a day and you charge 50 euros the hour is 150 euros a day. A month is 3000 euros invoiced.
- If you are a Human Resources psychologist and you work for a company, you can charge from 700 euros per month to more than 5000 if you are a manager.
- In community psychology salaries vary from 700 to 2000.
- In sports psychology, wages are also very variable. If you manage to work for a good team you can charge more than 3000 euros per month
In short, as in other professions salaries vary depending on your ability, training and experience.
In my opinion, if you really like your field, you can go very far. If you do not like it so much, and you have less passion, you will not have so much energy to persevere.
6-Opportunities to find work (CONTRA)
In 2003 one could study Psychology in Spain in 31 Universities. In 2014 it is possible to study in 45 universities, between private, public and remote.
The number of graduates in 2009 was 5265, while in 2013 it was 8206. These are high numbers and it means that there is a lot of competition. In fact, more Psychology professionals come out than can be placed.
Graduates in the 2009-2011 academic year in Psychology affiliated to Social Security in March 2014 were 61%.
Graduates in the 2009-2011 academic year in Psychology affiliated to Social Security in March 2014 were 61%.
This is average employability compared to other professions. In any case, according to my experience, the one who is"savvy"and competent usually finds work shortly after finishing the race.
It will depend much more on you than on the labor market or other factors. On the other hand, in my opinion in Psychology there are many options to innovate.
7-Improve your personal relationships (PRO)
Personal relationships are one of the most important areas of life, perhaps the most important.
If you study psychology with interest, you will realize that knowledge allows you to improve your personal relationships.
It also matters the other person, although you can teach or at least understand what a healthy relationship requires.
And you have doubts when it comes to studying Psychology? Commit me to add them to the post. Thanks!