9 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF STUDYING PSYCHOLOGY - ARTE - 2025

Not sure whether to study psychology or not? In this article I will explain the advantages and disadvantages of studying psychology. You may be wondering if this career is worth pursuing or that you have several options and do not know which one to choose.

I will solve these doubts and others so that you can make a decision. In no case do I want to convince or discourage you, the decision is yours. Not sure how to study psychology?

Advantages and disadvantages of studying psychology

-Advantage

Various outputs and options

In addition to having several paradigms -humanism, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, cognitivism-, it has several areas to which you can dedicate yourself:

• Social psychology
• Health Psychology
• Human Resources
• Clinical psychology
• Psychobiology
• Sports psychology
• Community psychology

Therefore, the psychologist is not only the typical one seen in the movies attending to patients in a consultation, that is, the clinical psychologist.

There are other types that are dedicated to:

• Research
• Work in companies (Human Resources)
• Working with children (Educational Psychology)
• Work with elders
• Work in justice (judicial psychologists)
• Work investigating crimes (criminologist psychologists)
• Working with people with psychoneurological disorders (neuropsychologists)
• Work in hospitals (clinical psychologists with PIR)
• Working with athletes (sports psychologists)
• Work in centers for the elderly (gerontologists)
• Work in consultations (clinical psychologists)
• Work for community development (NGOs, municipalities, foundations…)

Surely I miss some, although the idea is that you have many options to choose from.

Improve your quality of life and your personal development

If you don't have previous psychological problems, studying psychology should improve your quality of life.

In psychology, the psychological and environmental factors that make a person healthy are studied, therefore you can use it for your own life.

Even if you later dedicate yourself to business or research, all the mental health knowledge you have acquired will serve you for your whole life.

They usually say that in the career of Psychology there are many "crazy" and there may be some other…

But in what career are there not? I do not think it is something unique to the career of Psychology.

On the other hand, if you are really interested in the subject, studying Psychology will help you in your personal development or achieve your goals.

In reality, much of success in life is psychological; if you don't have the right attitude and mindset, you won't.

You can study abroad

The career of Psychology can be studied in almost all countries and in many cities.

The fact that it has been implemented in so many places means that you have many places to study it, whether in your country or not.

It is not even necessary that you know English, because you can study in Spain if you are from Latin America or vice versa.

In my opinion, the great advantage of the university is being able to opt for scholarships and study abroad, however only a minority do.

What is the reason? I think it is because of the fear of leaving the comfort zone, the human being tends to remain safe.

If you dare, find out both the scholarships that are given within your university and those that are given outside.

Universia is a good portal to find out, even if you don't stay there, also do research in the scholarships section of your university and many others.

You can even make a scholarship alert with google alerts.

For example, I studied at the University of Seville and they were:

• Scholarships that depended on the University of Seville
• Scholarships that depend on external organizations such as banks and foundations

Find out about all of them!

Opportunity to investigate

About a year ago I had a short conversation with a girl. It went something like this (I've made up the name):

-Yo: Hi, you're Julia, aren't you?

-Julia: Yes, are you Alberto? And what do you do?

-Yo: well I am a psychologist, although I dedicate myself to…

-Julia: Well, I don't believe in psychologists.

Error! Psychology does work and thanks to research it has provided great knowledge to humanity.

For example, thanks to great psychologists, great psychological phenomena have been discovered such as:

• Submission to authority
• Stimulus-response conditioning
• The theory of social identity
• The effect of false consensus
• The halo effect
• The effect of conformity

What's more, psychotherapy works (by meeting certain conditions), as do many other techniques and strategies such as cognitive therapy.

In addition to all those discovered phenomena, there is much to investigate and you can be one of those researchers.

Salary (advantage if you are motivated, disadvantage if you are lazy)

The salary is variable: it can range from 1000 euros if you are an "average psychologist" to more than 5000 if you are very good (also in marketing).

The type of work also varies, of course.

• For clinical psychologist do the math:

If you get three patients a day and you charge 50 euros an hour, it is 150 euros a day. 3,000 euros are billed per month.

• If you are a Human Resources psychologist and you work for a company, you can earn from 700 euros per month to more than 5000 if you are a manager.
• In community psychology salaries range from 700 to 2000.
• In sports psychology, salaries are also highly variable. If you manage to work for a good team, you can earn more than 3,000 euros per month

In short, as in other professions, salaries vary depending on your ability, training and experience.

In my opinion, if you really like your field, you can go a long way. If you don't like it that much, and have less passion, you won't have as much energy to persevere.

Improve your personal relationships

Personal relationships are one of the most important areas in life, perhaps the most important.

If you study psychology with interest, you will realize that knowledge allows you to improve your personal relationships.

The other person also matters, although you can teach or at least understand what a healthy relationship requires.

-Disadvantages

Opportunities to find work

In 2003 it was possible to study Psychology in Spain in 31 Universities. In 2014 you can study in 45 universities, private, public and distance.

The number of graduates in 2009 was 5265, while in 2013 it was 8206. These are high numbers and it means that there is a lot of competition. In fact, more psychology professionals come out than can be placed.

Graduates in the 2009-2011 academic year in Psychology affiliated with Social Security in March 2014 were 61%.

Graduates in the 2009-2011 academic year in Psychology affiliated with Social Security in March 2014 were 61%.

This is an average employability compared to other professions. In any case, in my experience, someone who is "savvy" and competent usually finds a job shortly after graduation.

It will depend much more on you than on the job market or other factors. On the other hand, in my opinion in Psychology there are many options to innovate.

You are going to be the «psychologist»

When you say that you have studied psychology, there will be people who believe that because you are a psychologist you have special abilities or you cannot make mistakes.

They will say things like 'you can read minds', 'I don't like psychologists' or 'how can you do that if you are a psychologist'. There will be others who will tell you about their problems for the simple fact that you are a psychologist.

Although this can be taken as psychology and should not be an impediment if you like the race, it is worth mentioning because it is a real fact and that anyone who has studied psychology will recognize it.

There may be more sadness in your life

There are many types of psychologists and only clinical psychologists deal with the mentally ill or with serious psychological disorders. A therapist who receives many depressed people each day can be affected by this and it can influence their mood.

That is why it is so important to be clear about this. Being a clinical psychologist requires a vocation. If receiving people with misfortunes in their lives daily is going to affect you, it is better that you do not study for a clinical psychologist.

In other areas such as human resources, educational psychology or community psychology, this fact does not exist.

And what doubts do you have when studying Psychology? Tell me to add them to the post. Thank you!