What is it about?
In this study, psychology majors/minors and non-majors/-minors reported their frequency of hearing beliefs and stereotypes about the discipline and major of psychology. Participants reported how often they heard these beliefs and stereotypes from friends/fellow students or family members and the extent that they agreed with those items. Students who were not majoring or minoring in psychology were more likely than majors/minors to agree with beliefs and stereotypes such as psychology being ‘‘a dead end field,’’ ‘‘psychology is mostly an easy major,’’ and that ‘‘working with crazy people will make you go crazy.’’ Students also reported being more likely to hear the beliefs and stereotypes from friends/fellow students than from their family members.
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Why is it important?
Research on disciplinary beliefs and stereotypes such as this study can shed light on the major sources of information about college students' chosen major or minor and the influence of those information sources on agreement with a variety of beliefs and stereotypes. Researchers can also examine how learning about career options and educational requirements for different jobs in their field can affect students' disciplinary belief and stereotype agreement.
Perspectives
Very little research has determined from where students hear information about disciplinary beliefs and stereotypes pertinent to their career options. It is also likely that the presence or pervasiveness of such beliefs and stereotypes might affect students’ willingness to major or minor in psychology (or other fields). We wanted to examine these questions because they have implications for career decision-making and advising, as well as how psychologists present their field to students and the lay public.
Dr. Thomas M Brinthaupt
Middle Tennessee State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Psychology Degree Beliefs and Stereotypes: Differences in the Perceptions of Majors and Non-Majors, Psychology Learning & Teaching, March 2016, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1475725716642116.
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