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Research in psychology? Not being a people person.

What psychology jobs involve research? Can you major in Psychology even though you're not a people person?

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Noah’s Answer

You can absolutely major in psychology even if you're not a people person. There are many career-paths that don't involve things like counseling, interpersonal skills or generally dealing with people.

If you're interested in research, I suggest you consider getting a PhD rather than the PsyD. PsyDs are more focused on the clinical end of work while PhDs involve more research and scholarly work. If you don't think a PhD is right for you then there are a couple Industrial/Organizational (IO) Psychology programs out there too. Here, you are essentially helping businesses and organizations solve their problems with your psychological expertise. This is great if you have interests in business, finance or HR.

Hope this helps :)
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Camila’s Answer

Hey there! Almost all therapists I’ve met in my career are introverts and several aren’t necessarily fond of “people” (generally speaking); although that doesn’t usually apply to clients. Depending on what you mean by not being a people person, a one-to-one therapy setting can be fairly comfortable, as well as research, writing, or even performing compliance roles for behavioral health facilities (e.g., documentation auditing, reviewing Quality of Care/ Adverse events/Critical Incidents). Psychology is a broad and growing field, and can be useful even if you end up in a seemingly unrelated profession. It’s important to think about what you’d like to gain through studying Psychology because it is a substantial investment, but it likely won’t be a waste of time.

Hope this helps!
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Alexander’s Answer

You don't have to be a people person, but having good people skills is really important for working with fellow researchers. Also, don't limit yourself to research in Academia. There are good jobs working in pharmaceutical services. You can make $150k-$200k a year and you enjoy knowing that your work is helping individuals suffering from epilepsy, liver disease, COVID, etc. Like Noah said, having a PhD is a must if you are doing research.
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