As psychology majors, many of us are often the subject to the same questions and stereotypes, as one can imagine. Shockingly enough, some are true, but some are a tad bit extreme. A lot of us find ourselves analyzing people during daily conversations. An extreme assumption is that psychology majors are "mind readers," which would be pretty cool, but is unfortunately not possible. However, a lot of us are pretty perceptive and might succumb to your stereotypes!
1. "Are you analyzing me right now?"
Most likely. You are pretty much screwed, especially if we are dating or are close friends. You never know, I could be using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to assess if you've reached self-actualization yet!
2. "Do you plan on working with crazy people?"
No, people with mental illnesses are not crazy, and not every psychology major ends up working with people who have mental illnesses!
3. "Do you want to be a therapist?"
No, not everyone who majors in psychology ends up being a therapist or a counselor. There are an endless amount of possible careers that psychology majors can choose to do, whether it is related to business, criminal justice, education, and so on!
4. "Are you going to be in school forever?"
Actually, I will be done with school in five years. Thank you for your concern.
5. "Can you tell me why my dating life sucks?"
Let me ask Sigmund Freud, he will probably have a good answer for your relationship issues. Maybe it is due to your childhood? Or, the Oedipus/Electra Complex?
6. "Can you read my mind?"
A lot of us are pretty perceptive, but unfortunately, we cannot read minds. That would be pretty beneficial though, especially with professors. In all seriousness, it is pretty easy for a lot of us to read other people's body language to tell how they are feeling.
7. "Isn't that a pretty easy major?"
I mean, I guess so. If you think conducting research studies, learning statistics, trying to memorize the DSM-V, and writing ten to twenty-page papers is easy, then sure!
8. "Do you ever try to diagnose yourself?"
There are in fact times where we see similarities between ourselves and certain mental illnesses, but usually, it does not mean that we have them.
8. "Can you diagnose me, at the end of the semester? LOL!"
Probably not. You're just stressed out and need more coffee. Yes, coffee is the answer to everything.
9. "Is your major kind of like AP Psychology?"
The two are not quite the same, but try again!
10. "Do you want to teach psychology?"
No, no, and no. Psychology is my major. Education is my concentration. I want to study psychology to help better understand my students.
