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Future Students> General Information> Why study Psychology?

Why study Psychology?

Whatever career you are intending to pursue, a background in psychology can be very useful and enhance your employability.

studying psychology can...

Help you understand yourself and other people
Psychology courses provide information about a wide range of aspects of human behaviour that will help you in your daily life, e.g., in your interactions with others, in your learning and memory performance, your ability to cope with pressure, and your understanding of the causes of psychological disorders.

Complement your other courses
Most courses in the Arts and Social Science degrees, as well as those in Economics, Industrial Relations, and Law, benefit from an understanding of aspects of human behaviour, whether it is social interaction, language and communication, human motivation and emotion, or decision-making processes. The knowledge provided by Psychology about the functioning of the brain and the behavioural outcomes of this functioning is also of considerable benefit to students studying other Science degrees.

Develop sound analytic skills
Psychology is a part of science. You might think that science involves bubbling test-tubes or electron microscopes, but it can also be applied to behaviour. The defining feature of any science is the objective approach that is taken to advance our knowledge. In Psychology, behaviour and mental life are the objects of study. We all have opinions and beliefs about human behaviour but unless these are supported by facts, they remain subjective and open to biases. To understand human behaviour, we must use appropriate research methods and objective analyses. Psychology courses provide the tools that allow us to do that.