Gender, Empathy, and the Choice of the Psychology Major

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen C. Harton ◽  
Patrick C. Lyons
Keyword(s):  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Counseling Psychology ◽  
Career Goals ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Psychology Majors ◽  
Psychology Major ◽  
Clinical And Counseling Psychology

We compared male and female psychology majors to psychology minors and nonmajors to understand the trends in a growing major in which women outnumber men. A total of 451 psychology majors, minors, and nonmajors from 4 institutions completed a questionnaire measuring empathy, career goals, and perceptions of the importance of empathy for therapy. Perspective taking and a desire to enter a helping profession mediated the relation between gender and major, suggesting that personality contributes to the choice of a psychology major. Highly empathic students may choose psychology because they believe that empathy is important for success in clinical and counseling psychology.

Affordances and Alignments

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Eric Landrum
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Career Goals ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Psychology Majors ◽  
Psychology Major ◽  
Career Options ◽  
Available Information

Challenges abound in providing accurate and useful information to prospective and declared psychology majors about their career options and how to make decisions that will lead to satisfying and rewarding postgraduate lives. One component of this challenge is that by majoring in psychology, career affordances (i.e., the opportunities and limitations inherent to psychology) lead to generalized opportunities that are available to many different disciplinary majors. Another component of this challenge is the alignment between students’ self-reflection and understanding about career goals being aligned with accurate and available information about the desired careers. Understanding how affordances and alignments affect psychology major advising may provide a fruitful framework in moving forward to provide the best professional development resources possible.

scholarly journals Factors That Motivate and Challenge Psychology Majors’ Pursuit of Academic Good Work

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-46
Author(s):  
Mary Katherine Duncan ◽  
Jennifer Adrienne Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Academic Work ◽  
Peer Influences ◽  
Good Work ◽  
Short Term ◽  
American Psychological ◽  
Psychology Majors ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Psychology Major

Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi, and Damon defined good work as excellent, ethical, and engaged. In two studies, we explored factors that motivate and challenge undergraduate psychology majors’ pursuit of academic good work ( N = 100; Mage = 21.7; mostly female, Caucasian, and seniors). We found that excellent academic work was motivated by short- and long-term goals but challenged by personal habits, demanding/uninteresting coursework, and competing obligations. Ethical academic work was motivated by short-term goals and internal principles but challenged by not knowing the rules, willingness to cut corners, and negative peer influences. Engaged academic work was motivated by short-term goals, dedicated faculty, and thought-provoking courses but challenged by demanding/uninteresting coursework. We discuss how our findings align with American Psychological Association’s guidelines for the undergraduate psychology major and suggest high-impact practices and discipline-specific resources aimed at cultivating good workers.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document