Psychology established itself as a distinct branch of science less than 150 years ago but has become a significant part of modern culture. Psychological theories are part of mainstream thought, and terms such as ‘inferiority complex’ and ‘OCD’ a part of our everyday language. In short, psychology influences all our lives, changing the way we think about ourselves and other people, and helping to shape our modern societies.
Applications for psychology are equally ubiquitous, since aspects of our behaviour and cognitive processes are involved in all our activities. But only a minority of trained psychologists take up research careers and come up with theories; most find posts where theory is put into practice, and psychologists can be employed in almost every walk of life. Unsurprisingly, many work in the closely related areas of mental health and education, but others also take on less obvious roles in business and industry, advertising and the media, sports and entertainment, the law and politics, and even economics.
