Studying psychology has so many benefits! Considering that you can actually make a career out of it, we’d say that’s pretty beneficial. However, did you know that there are more benefits to studying psychology than just a career path? Doing a course in Psychology can actually benefit your life in several other ways, too.
In this article, we’ll deal with how psychology can improve your life and why you should consider doing it.
What is psychology?
Psychology offers a broad study of the human brain and behaviour. The reason we say broad is because humans are complex, and there are so many facets to how and why we do different things. Thus, psychology studies can differ because some delve deeper into specific fields while others offer a broader look at the subject; for instance, a graduate certificate in psychology would usually provide a broader look at the subject. Some examples of psychology fields are:
- Clinical Psychology
- Counselling Psychology
- School Psychology
- Forensic Psychology
- Health Psychology
- Industrial-Organizational Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuropsychology
- Social Psychology
- Experimental Psychology
- Sports Psychology
- Educational Psychology
How Psychology Can Improve Your Life
Now, psychology might be the easiest subject to do, especially if you specialise in a certain field. That said, because you’re studying how people tick, you’ll learn a ton of nifty skills that’ll help you deal with others and even work through things yourself. Here’s how studying psychology can improve your life;
Leadership
Think about different leadership styles, like the servant leader, democratic leader, or coaching leadership. These were discovered through research done in the field of psychology. That’s why studying psychology is the best place to learn them.
Some people are just natural leaders. People look to them and follow them easily, that’s just how they are. Studying psychology will show you why this is and will give tips on how to develop yourself as a leader. Whether you’re in a social group or at work, leadership skills can be developed and nurtured.
Motivation
We all know the saying, “I’m only human” right? Well, it’s because we are. This saying illustrates our imperfections and fallibility. We get hurt, we get discouraged and demotivated. It happens.
Studying psychology is a great way of learning why. Why do certain things demotivate you and how can you overcome them? Whether you’re trying to lose weight, learn a new skill, or you’re going through a terrible time, psychology can give you the keys to doing introspection so you can find the root of what you’re feeling and change it to motivate yourself.
Emotional Intelligence
Dealing with emotions is a tricky one. When dealing with your own emotions, it’s important to know why you’re feeling them and how to resolve them properly. We call this emotional intelligence. It’s knowing how to perceive, use, understand, and manage emotions in a mature way.
Consider a teenager who struggles to express themselves when they’re angry or feeling shame. They might lash out in irritation or express their emotions in other unhelpful ways. This is a sign of immaturity. Which is expected; they are teenagers, after all. Adults usually have more emotional intelligence because of life experience. Either way, studying psychology is a great way of giving you the skills to develop emotional intelligence.
Communication
Communication is basically at the centre of everything humans do. We communicate for work, for fun, when we’re sad, and when we’re excited. There are multiple methods of communication even. For instance, their verbal and non-verbal communication, written, visual, and even listening communication. Psychology can teach these communication styles and how to implement them in your life to better your communication skills.
Decision-Making
A big part of psychological studies is studying why people behave the way they do. This means taking a look at what decisions they make and what led them to make those decisions. By studying this, you’d be able to learn how to effectively make wise decisions, especially when you’re faced with life-changing decisions to make.
Money Management
Psychological studies have also revolutionised the ways in which people deal with their money. For example, Daniel Kahneman conducted a study where they looked at how people make financial decisions and as a result of the study, they presented methods in which people can almost triple their savings by not procrastinating, paying a consistent amount into savings, and avoiding situations that often lead to you spending money unnecessarily.
Academic Success
Have you ever wondered why schools put you through vigorous testing every year? Yes, it’s to see how well you’ve maintained the knowledge you’ve learnt, but it’s also a great way of helping you memorise this knowledge and help you understand it better. Psychological studies have actually shown that conducting tests allows students to recall at least 61% of the material they covered. So, psychological studies can help you perform better in your academic endeavours.
Productivity
Studying psychology can actually help you be more productive. There are so many resources out there that promote multi-tasking as a means of being more productive during the day, and while some might be able to do this, psychology actually says otherwise. In fact, research shows that our brains function faster and more efficiently when they can focus on one task at a time. So, by studying psychology, you can learn how to operate in the most productive way possible.
Final Thoughts
Whether you pursue psychology in the business industry or for children, there’s no denying that it’ll give you a completely different outlook on life and how to deal with people. Studying psychology can help you manage people with more understanding and even posture yourself better for success in life!
This post includes collaborative content.
