Why is psychology by far the most common social science/humanities major?
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Anonymous
Easiest major among them except for Sociology which is just as easy. |
Anonymous
| Shocking stats. We hear so much here about humanities majors who thrived in the business world, but nothing about Psych majors that did. I never heard a colleague in 30 years at a Fortune 10 company who admitted to being a Psych major. Pray tell about some famous Psych major captains of industry. |
Anonymous
Depends on how you study it. |
Anonymous
| Because it's easy and women like it, duh. |
Anonymous
| Psychology looks more prestigious than marketing, but serves a similar career function in a very important career for our economy. It's also relevant to parenting and relationships. It's liberal arts in a neat little package. |
Anonymous
psych and consumer behavior in marketing would be useful. I would do a BBA with a minor in psych, though. The other way is harder to find a job. |
Anonymous
Yes. I have a bachelor's in psych + MBA and work in market research. I love what I do, super interesting work and I make good money. Psychology is VERY relevant to my job and I'm very glad I have the background. That said, I did enter the workforce almost two decades ago. If I were picking a major in 2023, I would do business/marketing/economics as a primary major and then add psych as a double major or as a minor. Having an understanding of human behavior is good for SO many fields. Psychology is not the most ideal major by itself, but pairs nicely with tons of other things. |
Anonymous
| Because it's interesting and relevant to everyone. And not overly challenging. |
Anonymous
|
Most psych stuff at the undergraduate level is mechanical, obvious, boring and easy.
The humanities, like English, philosophy, and the arts, provide a much better way to understand humans and develop critical skills, like logic, critical reading, and well-supported arguments, conveyed both in presentations and in writing. Biology could be a nice STEM supplement. |
Anonymous
Psychology as a major has gotten harder over the years because of the biological aspects and it's more quantitative now (like most other social sciences). I wonder if it will stop being seen as an easy major and thus less popular. The intro classes are still relatively easy, but now you need stats beyond basic experimental stats, neuroscience etc. My DC's roommate is a psych major and says a lot of people drop out of the major after the first couple intro classes because it's not as easy as they thought. So it's sort of the opposite of an early weed-out course, the early courses are lures. |
Anonymous
You dont need to specialize in psychology and take a dozen courses to understand people. These students are not advised properly. |
Anonymous
40% of the courses even STEM students take are humanities. The idea that the only way to develop logic, critical reading, writing is by reading ancient history or psychology is nonsense. I am all for a good liberal arts education but colleges are already requiring even STEM students to take many of these classes. Do you need 120 credit hours studying humanities to understand humans and develop critical skills, like logic, critical reading, writing? |
Anonymous
| This is why we have student debt. Take humanities majors and hope the Government writes off the debt. |
Anonymous
Easy to get in and graduate major, can learn lot about mental and social issues, respectable profession? |
Anonymous
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Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience are where the challenges and careers lay.
BA Psych is for HR people or those with low aspirations. If you want to be taken seriously you definitely need post-grad after it. |