The best moment in college is when you finally figure out what you want to do with your life. After going through the process of applying to Purdue, switching majors, and creating your first schedule as Psychological Sciences major, you’re overcome with feelings of excitement and eagerness for the upcoming semester. Of course, even something as great as figuring out your passion has its downfalls. As a psychology major, I’ve compiled a list of things that every psychology major at Purdue experiences.
1.People always assume you’re going into clinical psychology
There is no doubt that clinical psychology is the most known branch of psychology. Although the field of clinical psychology started to flourish after World War II, other branches of psychology didn’t really exist until later. Therefore, many of these other branches, like cognitive or I-O psychology, aren’t as widely known by the general population. However, that doesn’t mean these branches of psychology are any less important than clinical psychology.
2. Everyone always thinks you can read minds
Picture this: You’re going on vacation for spring break and you’ve finally boarded your flight. After placing your bags in the overhead bin and getting comfortable in your seat, the person next to you introduces themselves and asks what your major is. When you tell them you’re a psychology major, they say “So… tell me what I’m thinking.” Rolling your eyes, you explain to your seatmate that psychology is the study of brain behavior and that you cannot read their mind. Psychology majors experience these types of interactions all the time. I cannot count how many times I’ve had relatives or family friends ask me this question. It’s insulting, and it implies that our major is formed on the basis of magic. It’s not.
3. People ask you to “diagnose” them
Firstly, I’m an undergraduate student. I’m unqualified to “diagnose” you. This is the equivalent of coming to someone who isn’t a heart doctor and telling them to diagnose your heart problems. If you ever catch me trying to diagnose someone, sue me because it’s illegal. Secondly, asking a psychology major to diagnose you implies that they are going into the field of clinical psychology. While they may or may not be doing so, every field of psychology is a different. Most fields don’t involve the practice of clinical diagnosis.
4.People LOVE to downplay your major
Yes, a psychology degree is applicable. Yes, I will get a job. Just because the brain is more difficult to study, doesn’t mean psychology isn’t a science. Many jobs in the world use the findings of psychology, such as advertisements, clinical diagnosis, or employment recruiting and training. Moreover, psychologists use statistics and experiments to apply their findings to all parts of the world.
5.People use psychological findings in everyday conversation to show off
Name dropping Freud and Maslow doesn’t make you sound smarter. Do you even know what they did or anything about their contributions to the psychological field? Probably not. If you can’t back up your “impressive psychological Carl Jung lines” with contributing information, just stay away from the topic all together.
Don’t let those psych-haters let you down! Psychological findings are extremely important to the advancement of our society, just like any other medical findings are. Keep up the good work, boilers!