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Study Psychology in the UNED: 10 reasons that can motivate you

Study Psychology in the UNED: 10 reasons that can motivate you

March 29, 2024

In recent years, There has been an increase in the number of students enrolled in distance education universities .

To illustrate the example, the UNED (National University of Distance Education) has gone from 126,500 students enrolled in grades in the academic year 2012/2013, to 150,000 in the academic year 2016/2017, with the Degree in Psychology being the most attended course. However, the drop-out rate is very high: only 2 out of 10 enrolled will get the precious title.

Among the multiple reasons that can lead to desist, two stand out:

  • Impulsivity when choosing the number of subjects, avoiding the time that should be devoted to them : The result is obvious: the suspense rate is high and demotivation makes an appearance undermining the possibilities of continuing.
  • Satisfying the desire to know : There is a percentage of students who enroll for the pleasure of studying certain subjects. However, they do not have the final goal of graduating.

Is it a good idea to study Psychology at the UNED?

At this point, it is worth asking: what motivates the remaining 20% ​​so that, in the end, it will rise with the university scholarship and degree? In this article we have proposed to offer you ten keys that can help you decide to study Psychology online (... or not).


1. Passion for the field of Psychology

Feeling passion for knowing about an area of ​​knowledge is in itself a very powerful source of motivation . Psychology would classify this passion within intrinsic motivation since the mere fact of studying that area produces an activation of our behavior that leads us to seek learning without the need for external stimuli. Simply: the pleasure of knowing.

2. Eagerness to excel

Who intends to obtain a distance career establishes a clear goal, whose achievement can face challenges, difficulties and fears, and that will have its best and worst moments. But not only challenges are overcome, but we also carry out an improvement on a personal level . In this way, they flourish and develop skills, competences and attitudes that direct you to the marked objective that, in addition, are strengthened by the knowledge about motivation, learning, behavior ... that the study of Psychology confers.


3. Personal satisfaction

We can define it as well-being, a sense of pleasure when getting something that is wanted or needed . Throughout the study of a career such as Psychology or any other, we must not forget that not only does it produce a satisfying satisfaction to finish it completely, but, by achieving short and medium term goals, you approach that final goal .

Do good work, pass exams, see another academic year finished, or, be able to apply and explain content of Psychology in your day to day, involve overcoming small challenges that generate satisfaction in themselves.

4. Building resilience

Resilience is defined as the ability of the human being to adapt positively to adverse situations , being able to overcome them. Studying at a distance presents benefits, but also some difficult moments such as not passing exams, being obliged to adapt the usual form of study to that of a distance learning or having miscalculated the study time of a subject that is more difficult for you than expected


Living those situations can cause some discomfort, but, in turn, promotes reflection and putting into action strategies to avoid or overcome them in the future. While studying Psychology, studying Albert Bandura's "Theory of Self-efficacy" helps you to become much more aware of it.

5. Personal, social and professional assessment

Taking the step of studying this (or another) distance / online career, why not say it, is quite a challenge . You know it, your friends and family know it, and who will hire you in the future will take it into account. Overcoming the day to day, year after year academic, reports sense of self-efficacy, which, in your environment, is also perceived.

On the other hand, at a professional level, the fact of obtaining regulated training through this modality is valued by reflecting perseverance, perseverance and responsibility, among many others, highly prized skills in the workplace. On the other hand, the study habit acquired by the students of the distance modality is an essential tool for those who consider presenting themselves to oppositions.

6. Contact with classmates and teachers

The contact is lower than in a classroom teaching university, however, since Psychology is one of the most studied careers in distance learning, There is a great collaboration of other students through official and unofficial forums , blogs and social networks to share content, notes, ideas, study methods, opinions ... perceiving a very enriching climate of mutual help and understanding between classmates and teachers.

On the other hand, in the event that some face-to-face or online streaming hours are given, they are very motivating and allow you to meet other people with whom to share the experience and support yourself during the study.

7. Development of a critical sense

To work in an individualized way the contents propitiate the reflection about them and, why not, the debate with forum partners and autonomous research, leading us to draw conclusions that may not appear in the content to be studied.

On the other hand, through what is known as Continuous Assessment (modality of the Degree in Piscology of the UNED), students perform work, which promotes reflection, allows the application of tests and / or knowledge and the verification of results in real or fictitious situations , promoting the practice and experience in first person of the studied.

8. Development of organizational capacity and time management

Let's use an assumption: "September. You have enrolled in four subjects for the first semester, which are each composed of between 10 and 16 subjects. For each subject you can submit a practical work proposed by the teachers (of different modalities according to the subject, such as the analysis of a book or a small investigation with 20 participants) whose delivery dates are different (usually for Christmas) and the exams are fixed for the last week of January and the second of February. "

The first year it is common not to have the awareness that nobody but oneself can structure such planning , but, finally, calendar in hand, the distance student learns to organize his time taking into account factors such as the difficulty of the subject or the time dedicated to work.

9. Commitment and perseverance

Like any long-term project, commitment and perseverance are essential values ​​to maintain in time the action that leads us to rise with the title. They influence, thus, the motivation to study daily, attend classes, maintain attention to deliveries and finally arrive at the final evaluations. with the duties done.

The Degree in Psychology is structured in four academic years, time that can be extended depending on personal needs. In this case, and specifically in the UNED, there is no time limit to finish the Degree, which is an advantage to be highlighted.

10. Increased curiosity

Psychology is a science that studies and analyzes the behavior and mental processes of individuals and groups in different situations, and at the same time provides an explanation of a wide variety of facts, there are also many others that have not yet been explained, such as intuition or leave them vu.

This fact, linked to the passion for the field of study, autonomous work, critical sense and the ability to debate with colleagues and teachers, highlights the tenth of the motivations for studying a Degree in Psychology: the development of a hungry mind to know, willing to give explanation to the multiple phenomena that surround us.

And you, Would you encourage yourself to take Psychology remotely or online?


What is Psychology? - All Fundamentals of Psychology (March 2024).


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