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8 great myths about students of Psychology

8 great myths about students of Psychology

February 29, 2024

Psychology is one of the most popular careers in a large number of countries. At the same time, what is done within the faculties dedicated to their study is confusing enough to have arisen a series of myths about the students of this race .

Myths about the interests of these people, absurd hypotheses about their abilities, stereotypes turned into caricatures ... ideas that, in short, have only served to involve psychology with an aura of obscurantism which offers a deeply distorted vision about the objectives and methods of this discipline.

Typical myths about psychologists and students of psychology

These are some of these myths and the reasons why they are not true.


1. They want to become your best friend

Nothing could be more unfortunate than thinking that one is intelligent or interesting enough to push all psychology students to be our friend, as if they felt the urge to enrich their lives by coming into contact with our fascinating, fascinating way to live life.

It is not like this, and possibly you will not fall very well if you insist a lot on initiating dialogues with them .

2. They are a kind of spiritual counselors

A very common idea is that psychologists and students of psychology are trained to tell people how to live their life in the best possible way. Could not be farther from the truth.


In the first place, it is impossible to create a series of very precise norms of behavior that are applicable to the whole world and that, at the same time, base their validity on the scientific method, which serves to study generalities. That's why his job is not to give a firm answer when, after being fifteen minutes talking to them about the course of our relationship, the monologue is ended with a: "So ... should I cut with it?" .

3. They end up becoming a bald man, with glasses and gray beard

A large number of graphic representations of how psychologists are characterized them as middle-aged men with round glasses, a beard (or mustache and goatee) and an old-fashioned wardrobe, as if upon graduating in psychology students metamorphosed into a clone version of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.

However, there is a fact that serves to completely refute this stereotype: Currently, psychology is a career carried out mostly by women .


4. The classic: they will read your mind

This is wrong in many ways.

The first one is that, Obviously, no one can read anyone's mind . Currently the scientific landscape sees as a revolution the creation of machines and software capable of transforming a pattern of electrical activity of the brain into a collage of images that look a bit like the situation that the person being observed is imagining, this is something that has required years of work and a lot of money. None of this would make sense if psychology students had the ability, or even remotely, to read what you think.

The second reason is that neither can the mind be read by analyzing non-verbal language. You can estimate the chances that you are nervous, relaxed or slightly upset from the observation of microexpressions, but little else. This does not allow to know in detail what is thought, nor the reason behind those emotional states.

The third of them has to do with what was said previously. Even if they could read your mind, it would require a minimum of effort, and most likely they did not have enough incentives to be interested in what you think with a certain frequency .

5. They are very interested in the problems of the people around them

Psychology students do not have to be especially self-sacrificing or caring , especially if we take into account that a good part of them does not even plan to engage in psychotherapy.

Moreover, some are interested in psychology to obtain an impersonal and scientific knowledge about the functioning of mental processes in human beings in general.

6. Study psychology to understand their mental disorders

It is possible that some do, but of course there is no cause-effect law that dictates that this has to be the case. Mental disorders are just one of the many things that are studied during the race.

Moreover, it is possible that a part of them have started to pursue this career simply to understand why there are people who study psychology, or why some people are left-handed and others are right-handed.

7. They would like to put electrodes on their heads "to see something"

Of course, the use of techniques to record the electrical activity patterns of the brain is one of the most interesting aspects of psychology, but that does not have to transform the students of this career in people whose eccentric interests end up scare away their friends. .

Further, psychology is a very broad field of studies , and not all psychologists end up being interested in research in laboratories or clinics where the nervous system is studied directly. Many students of psychology prefer to base their activity on the study of behavior, and not so much on the observation of the functioning of neurons.

8. They see phallic symbols everywhere

This is not valid even in the case of people who study psychoanalysis , which differs from what is now considered psychology.

Yes, it is possible that some will happen to them, but not because of what they study, but simply because post-adolescence is causing them havoc.


10 myths about psychology: debunked | Ben Ambridge (February 2024).


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