Today's society seems to associate psychology degrees with unemployment. Almost every time that I tell someone that I am a psych major, I can see their face stiffen and try to maintain a positive expression despite their doubts about my future. Some people (not psych majors) tend to think that psychology is "easy" and "common sense." Here are some of the myths and misconceptions about psych majors:
Psychology is just common sense.
Do you know why people think that psychology is just a study of logical thinking? It's probably because psychology is rooted in almost every aspect of a person's life. Most of the policies, teaching styles, parenting techniques, and motivations for decisions in a person's life are results of public awareness of psychological findings. Our "common knowledge" at some point was the finding of a psychological theory. Psych majors study "common sense" ideas in more detail, such as examining the processes going on behind the scenes.
Psychology is an easy major.
Yes, you may have taken an introduction to psych class and consider yourself an expert in the field of psychology. I am so sure that your two-hour lecture that covered developmental psychology through the life span told you everything that you would need to know about a person. The amount of memorization that is needed is overwhelming. I have taken numerous psychology classes where I was tested on the caption of a picture in the textbook.
All Psychology majors become therapists and you can do that with a Bachelor's degree.
There are many fields within psychology that lead to various occupations. For example, there are psychiatrists, counselors, human resources, industrial organizational psychology, forensic profiling, etc. Unfortunately, none of these jobs can be attained without a Master's degree and, in some cases, a doctoral degree.
Psychology isn't a real science.
Psychology is no longer based on phrenology. Lumps on your head no longer dictate things about you. Instead, psychology is heavily based on studies that utilize the scientific method and repetition.
We psychoanalyze everybody we meet.
It may happen every now and then, however, not every social interaction ends with us speculating about your childhood based on your conversation and behavior.
A lot of people do not take psychology majors seriously and they see it as more of a joke major. Please understand that there is actually a lot to it and a lot to learn.
