research topics personality psychology

Personality Psychology

Affiliations.

• 1 Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61820, USA; email: [email protected], [email protected].
• 2 Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen, 72072 Tübingen, Germany.
• PMID: 34516758
• DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-020821-114927

Personality psychology, which seeks to study individual differences in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that persist over time and place, has experienced a renaissance in the last few decades. It has also not been reviewed as a field in the Annual Review of Psychology since 2001. In this article, we seek to provide an update as well as a meta-organizational structure to the field. In particular, personality psychology has a prescribed set of four responsibilities that it implicitly or explicitly tackles as a field: ( a ) describing what personality is-i.e., what the units of analysis in the field are; ( b ) documenting how it develops; ( c ) explaining the processes of personality and why they affect functioning; and ( d ) providing a framework for understanding individuals and explaining their actions, feelings, and motivations. We review progress made over the last 20 years to address these four agendas and conclude by highlighting future directions and ongoing challenges to the field.

Keywords: motivation; narrative identity; personality; personality development; personality traits; skills.

Publication types

• Individuality
• Motivation*
• Personality*
• Social Behavior

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Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. It can also refer to how the patterns in different domains combine in each individual.

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Personality Psychology Explained: 7 Theories and Assessments

The search to understand human nature has been a journey lasting thousands of years, taking us from ancient Greece to modern gene labs.

During that time, there have been many theories of personality, yet they all attempt to answer the same questions.

What makes us who we are, and how do we differ from those around us?

This article introduces a brief history of personality theory before exploring the present, including models, fascinating findings, and how to perform assessments.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free . These science-based exercises explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology, including strengths, values, and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

What is personality psychology, a brief history of the field, 3 scientifically proven personality theories, 4 fascinating facts and research findings, assessing personality: 2 valid tests and questions, 3 books on the topic, positivepsychology.com’s related resources, a take-home message.

Our personality is the sum of the psychological qualities that impact our enduring thinking, behavior, and feelings. It is very much part of who we are and how others see us (Allen, Greenlees, & Jones, 2011).

Our personality traits not only define us, but identify how we differ from others (Larsen, Buss, Wismeijer, & Song, 2017). And despite their persistence, every trait and process of personality is not equally active all the time. While aggression may be appropriate when defending oneself from attack, it is not suitable for handing a book in at the library (Nabi et al., 2005).

Personality traits are not separate from who we are; they affect how we act, see ourselves, feel, and interact with others. Not only that, they shape how we view life and the goals we pursue (Larsen et al., 2017).

Therefore, a comprehensive personality theory has several challenges. It must explain how every human is, to some degree (Kluckhohn & Murray, 1948; Larsen et al., 2017):

• Like all others We all have the capacity to feel love and a need for companionship (known as universals or human nature ).
• Like some others We each vary in our need for belonging (known as particulars or individual differences ).
• Like no others We are unique in how we express our feelings (known as our individual uniqueness ).

As therapists working with clients, it can be useful to walk through the elements of personality theory with our clients. An understanding that they share much of who they are with other humans and, yet, remain unique and special may offer both comfort during difficult times and encouragement when attempting to grow.

After all, much of psychology’s current thinking owes a considerable debt to the long, complex, and interweaving trail of ideas, thinkers, and research into personality.

While we could begin much earlier, we will instead start in the early years of the 20th century.

Psychoanalysis and the early theories of personality

In 1921 German psychiatrist Ernst Kretschmer suggested that body shape was linked to personality. In his view, a slim, delicate person is much more likely to be introverted than someone strong and muscular. Despite a lack of empirical evidence, this idea was further developed in the 1930s by William Sheldon. He created a scoring system that linked body appearance to a set of personality traits (Holzman, 2020).

Around that time was also the rise of psychoanalysis , driven by the Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. He began by focusing on psychopathologies – such as hysteria and phobic conditions – before moving into psychoanalysis and personality development and functioning.

Freud believed that neurotic conditions were rooted in distressing episodes from the past – mostly real or imagined sexual fantasies – that were incompatible with the person’s current moral standards. Such conflicts between human drives (the id) and the primarily unconscious structures that control them (the ego) were thought to lead to lasting self-criticism (Freud, 1922; Holzman, 2020).

Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung arrived at a theory of personality development that was less driven by sexual desires, yet more abstract, and at times, even spiritual (Holzman, 2020).

Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler, a contemporary of Jung, also challenged the importance of sexual motives in defining who we are. Instead, he suggested that our behavior continually hangs in a balance; we exaggerate one behavior to compensate for a deficiency in another (McAdams, 1997).

Erik Erikson, an American psychoanalyst, proposed eight stages of psychosocial growth – or personality transformation. The next phase only emerges upon successful completion of the existing one.

But what does this mean for personality?

Psychoanalytic theory – borne out of psychoanalysts’ consulting rooms – was largely untestable but did provide a starting point for the subsequent development of frameworks for personality research and was the beginning of client-focused therapy.

Earlier personality theories tend to focus on the human nature level, providing a universal account for humans as a species. While such grand theories are historically interesting, they fail to explain what makes us unique (Larsen et al., 2017).

Trait theories of personality

From the 1940s onwards, several investigators including Gordon Allport, Henry Murray, and Raymond Cattell began exploring the personality traits’ stability and hierarchy. Rather than based on single key characteristics, they found personality to be a “unified and organized totality” (McAdams, 1997).

And yet, by 1971, Rae Carlson claimed that the field had lost its way, misplacing the person in personality research (McAdams, 1997).

By the 1980s, many researchers had accepted that personality was a function of both traits and situation – the interaction between person and environment. Over this time, personality psychologists were spending a great deal of time attempting to “reach a single systematic taxonomy for personality traits” (McAdams, 1997).

Perhaps the most celebrated trait psychologist, Hans Eysenck, produced a taxonomy of personality firmly rooted in biology (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975). Not only was it highly heritable, but it also helped to explain how individuals differed.

Eysenck organized personality into three main traits, psychoticism (P), extraversion–introversion (E), and neuroticism–emotional stability (N), memorable as the acronym PEN. For example, we might typically think of extroverts as liking parties and having many friends; neurotics as anxious, irritable worriers; and the psychotic as egocentric or aggressive.

However, despite the theory’s strengths, the model has since been considered limited in its number of traits. And while Raymond Cattell created an extended taxonomy of 16 personality factors, he could not replicate how he found them (Larsen et al., 2017).

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Contemporary personality research has a strong focus on individual and group differences (such as between men and women, and across cultures, etc.). It typically sets out to answer the following questions (Larsen et al., 2017):

• How many personality traits are there?
• How are they organized?
• What is their origin?
• What are their consequences?

By answering the questions, psychologists can explain how we differ, behave, and perform (Laajaj et al., 2019).

Several of the personality models receiving the most attention at present include:

Five-factor model

The five-factor model of personality, also known as the Big Five , is a suggested taxonomy of personality consisting of the following traits (McCrae & John, 1992):

• Conscientiousness
• Extraversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism

The creation of the model and agreement of its traits resulted from a statistical and linguistic analysis of natural language.

Crucially, the five-factor model has proven highly reliable at describing the basic personality dimensions and how we differ. Indeed, the model has been successfully proven over the last five decades across multiple languages (Larsen et al., 2017).

However, despite its replicability, there have been challenges to labeling some of the existing traits and the suggestion of a sixth factor known as Honesty–Humility (Hilbig & Zettler, 2015).

HEXACO model of personality

Canadian psychologists Michael Ashton and Kibeom Lee presented their six-factor model known as HEXACO in 1994 (Larsen et al., 2017). It consists of:

• Honesty-Humility – sincerity, fairness, modesty, etc.
• Emotionality – fearfulness, anxiety, dependence, etc.
• eXtraversion – social self-esteem, social boldness, liveliness, etc.
• Agreeableness – forgiveness, flexibility, gentleness, etc.
• Conscientiousness – organization, diligence, perfectionism, etc
• Openness to experience – creativity, curiosity, etc

While similar to the Big Five, there are several significant differences. For example, in the Big Five model, irritability and a quick temper fall under neuroticism; in HEXACO, they are found in agreeableness.

Although the Big Five model remains the dominant model, over 150 published studies use HEXACO, and the body of research continues to grow (Larsen et al., 2017).

Evolutionary theory

In 1848, Charles Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species. Its impact was phenomenal (Darwin, 1859). Not only was its effect on explaining the diversity of species profound, but more recently, it has had a significant impact on psychology in the form of evolutionary psychology .

Research into twins’ personalities has found that between 30% and 50% of people’s variation is genetic. However, this also means that between 50% and 70% of our personality is environmental . Such factors include (Workman & Reader, 2015):

• Treatment as a child
• Mother’s lifestyle during pregnancy
• Birth trauma, such as oxygen starvation
• Childhood diseases
• Good and bad experiences throughout life

For evolutionary theory to successfully explain personality, it will need to answer the following two questions:

• Why do particular personality traits pass down through the generations (30–50%)?
• Why is the remaining 50–70% of personality left to chance?

Evolutionary theory may ultimately offer psychology a grand unifying theory, but it isn’t there yet (Buss, 2016).

Research continues in this exciting and fruitful area and will undoubtedly lead to further understanding of the effect of both nature and nurture on who we are and how we behave.

While the above three theories (and others) continue to develop and be challenged, and as new ones arise, it is crucial to remember that a personality theory should be judged by its ability to:

• Explain the empirical data (observations of personality and behavior)
• Offer a guide to new and important discoveries
• Be precise enough to be testable
• Contain few assumptions and premises; it should be possible to explain findings based on the theory, rather than relying on a complex set of caveats
• Be consistent with well-established thinking inside and outside psychology

With many more personality theories abounding, it is interesting to investigate the research results which either prove, or disprove, such theories. We share a few interesting research results.

Sensation seekers

Research has shown that people who inherit a variation of the D4DR gene do not feel the effect of dopamine – involved in motivation and arousal – as much as others.

Studies suggest that such differences can lead to potentially dangerous, thrill-seeking behavior as individuals attempt to feel the dopamine pathways’ full effect (Eichhammer et al., 2005).

Shyness, anxiety, and eating disorders

Research has linked variations of another gene, 5-HTT, to shyness.

Several studies suggest that differences in the gene expression impact coping with anxiety and the prevalence of eating disorders (Monteleone, Tortorella, Castaldo, & Maj, 2005; Workman & Reader, 2015).

Personality research is WEIRD

Research into personalities of Americans and other WEIRD populations (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) may not be as representative as previously thought (Henrich, 2020).

According to Joseph Henrich, the evolutionary approach suggests that our dispositions are calibrated based on the social and economic environments with which we are confronted throughout our lives.

Our personality is influenced by where  we are brought up.

Therefore, we should be careful about how we ascribe the findings of personality research in restricted populations to those culturally very different from ourselves.

Personality impacts sports

Personality plays a crucial role in sporting success and can even impact the sports people play.

Athletes are typically more extroverted and less neurotic than non-athletes, and individual athletes are more conscientious than team players. However, team players tend to be more agreeable than lone sportspeople (Allen et al., 2011; Nia & Besharat, 2010).

Such findings are significant as they can influence coping and the choice of subsequent coaching interventions.

Measuring personality: crash course psychology #22

The following personality tests are widely used, and two have repeatedly passed scientific scrutiny. They also offer useful insights into clients’ personalities for purposes of coaching and therapy.

Big Five personality inventory

The popular Big Five personality inventory, based on the five-factor model, has been widely validated.

The test consists of 44 questions answered on a scale between 1 and 5 (1 – disagree strongly, 5 – agree strongly) (Kaiseler, Polman, & Nicholls, 2012; Sutton, 2019).

Questions include:

I am a person who is talkative. I am a person who finds fault in others. I am someone who is reserved.

HEXACO Personality Inventory

The HEXACO-PI-R is growing in popularity and is a scientifically validated assessment.

Each domain is scored on four different facets. For example, extraversion is measured based on social self-esteem, social boldness, sociability, and liveliness (Larsen et al., 2017).

Each person is typically scored on their response to 100 statements (though a 60-item test is also available) such as:

I wouldn’t pretend to like someone to get that person to do favors for me. I feel like crying when I see other people crying. On most days I feel cheerful and optimistic.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

This test is worth mentioning briefly as it is popular in business but has been challenged repeatedly by academic research.

Despite academic misgivings, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is often used to determine staff appropriateness for positions (Myers, McCaulley, Quenk, & Hammer, 1998).

Each person is scored on eight fundamental preferences:

• Introversion

Despite broad appeal and utility, the MBTI has been strongly criticized by researchers for its failure to meet rigorous theoretical criteria. It not only lacks testability, but also has internal contradictions (Stein & Swan, 2019).

According to Randy Larsen, the test may have some limited value in getting people to think about their personality but should not solely decide a person’s fit for a job (Larsen et al., 2017).

The following three books approach the exciting field of personality from very different (yet overlapping) angles to offer a more complete view of the subject matter.

1. Personality Psychology: Domains of Knowledge About Human Nature – R. Larsen, D. Buss, A Wismeijer, and J. Song

This first book is an incredibly well-put-together and comprehensive guide to personality, covering all key knowledge domains in the field.

Larsen and colleagues review the scientific basis for classical and contemporary theories and the latest developments in intelligence, genetics, and personality disorders.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous –  Joseph Henrich

Joseph Henrich’s engaging book is an interesting challenge to psychology and its community of researchers and academics.

How can we map our understanding of who we are on to other cultures when our research is often restricted to WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) cultures?

Henrich also provides a unique standpoint that helps us look at how WEIRD populations became so psychologically peculiar.

3. Evolutionary Psychology: An Introduction – Lance Workman and Will Reader

This comprehensive volume is the ideal introduction and companion to evolutionary psychology for students, practitioners, and the interested public.

The book is full of the latest research, and Lance Workman and Will Reader introduce the challenges, issues, and advances that have faced evolutionary psychology in recent years.

Try out some of the tools and worksheets below with your clients to help them understand how they emotionally react to situations and can know themselves better.

• Getting To Know Yourself is a great place to start. Clients can use the boxes to help them remind themselves of who they are.
• Signs of Emotional Discomfort can help them to spot the signals that suggest they are becoming more agitated and responding poorly to life events.
• Exploring Our Feelings helps your clients reflect on the frequency and content of their emotions.
• Emotional Awareness can increase emotional intelligence by encouraging clients to track their emotional states throughout the day.
• Mapping Emotions directs your clients’ attention to bodily experiences of emotion to reach a greater acceptance of feelings.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others enhance their wellbeing, this signature collection contains 17 validated positive psychology tools for practitioners. Use them to help others flourish and thrive.

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Ultimately, we all share a set of common needs, wishes, and desires with our fellow humans, including the desire to know who we are. Yet, we are all unique. We vary in our strengths and weaknesses and have individual differences in our personalities.

As individuals (and clients), we can each be encouraged to celebrate what we share with others – to gain empathy and understanding – while recognizing and valuing our uniqueness.

After all, this is what it means to be human and defines who we are as individuals.

A sense of our personality – knowing who we are – can help give us that understanding.

Genetics, the study of evolutionary psychology, and ongoing trait analysis will continue to offer more significant insights into our personality. And rather than limit our choices, improved understanding will open the door to showing us what we should accept and treasure in ourselves and where we may need support from professionals.

For the therapist, such knowledge of our client and their self-awareness can be empowering, leading to bigger, more appropriate, and long-lasting changes that are individual and specific, yet considerate of others.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free .

• Allen, M. S., Greenlees, I., & Jones, M. V. (2011) An investigation of the five-factor model of personality and coping behaviour in sport. Journal of Sports Sciences , 29 , 841–850.
• Buss, D. M. (2016). Evolutionary psychology: The new science of the mind . Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
• Carlson, R. (1971). Where is the person in personality research? Psychological Bulletin , 75 (3), 203–219.
• Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species . Murray.
• Eichhammer, P., Sand, P. G., Stoertebecker, P., Langguth, B., Zowe, M., & Hajak, G. (2005). Variation at the DRD4 promoter modulates extraversion in Caucasians. Molecular Psychiatry , 10 (6), 520–522.
• Eysenck, H. J. & Eysenk, M. W. (1975). Personality and individual differences: A natural science approach . Plenium Press.
• Freud, S. (1922). Beyond the pleasure principle . The International Psycho-Analytical Press.
• Henrich, J. P. (2020). The WEIRDest people in the world: How the West became psychologically peculiar and particularly prosperous . Penguin Books.
• Hilbig, B. E., & Zettler, I. (2015). When the cat’s away, some mice will play: A basic trait account of dishonest behavior. Journal of Research in Personality , 57 , 72–88.
• Holzman, P. (2020). Personality. Retrieved December 1, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/personality
• Kaiseler, M., Polman, R. C. J., & Nicholls, A. R. (2012). Effects of the Big Five personality dimensions on appraisal coping, and coping effectiveness in sport. European Journal of Sport Science ,  12 (1), 62–72.
• Kluckhohn, C., & Murray, H. A. (Eds.). (1948). Personality in nature, society and culture . Knopf.
• Laajaj, R., Macours, K., Pinzon Hernandez, D. A., Arias, O., Gosling, S. D., Potter, J., … Vakis, R. (2019). Challenges to capture the big five personality traits in non-WEIRD populations. Science Advances , 5 (7).
• Larsen, R., Buss, D., Wismeijer, A., & Song, J. (2017). Personality psychology: Domains of knowledge about human nature . McGraw-Hill Education.
• McAdams, D. P. (1997). A conceptual history of personality psychology. In R. Hogan, J. Johnson, & S. Briggs (Eds.), Handbook of personality psychology (pp. 3–39). Academic Press.
• McCrae, R. R., & John, O. P. (1992). An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. Journal of Personality , 60 , 175–215.
• Monteleone, P., Tortorella, A., Castaldo, E., & Maj, M. (2005). Association of a functional serotonin transporter gene polymorphism with binge eating disorder. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetic s, 141B (1), 7–9.
• Myers, I. B., McCaulley, M. H., Quenk, N. L., & Hammer, A. L. (1998). Manual: A guide to the development and use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator . Consulting Psychologists Press.
• Nabi, H., Consoli, S. M., Chiron, M., Lafont, S., Chastang, J. F., Zins, M., & Lagarde, E. (2005). Aggressive/hostile personality traits and injury accidents: An eight-year prospective study of a large cohort of French employees – the GAZEL cohort. Psychological Medicine , 36 (3), 365–373.
• Nia, M. E., & Besharat, M.A. (2010). Comparison of athletes’ personality characteristics in individual and team sports. Social and Behavioral Sciences , 5 , 808–812.
• Stein, R., & Swan, A. B. (2019). Evaluating the validity of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator theory: A teaching tool and window into intuitive psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass , 13 (3).
• Sutton, J. (2019). Psychological and physiological factors that affect success in ultra-marathoners (Doctoral thesis, Ulster University). Retrieved December 1, 2020, from https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/psychological-and-physiological-factors-that-affect-success-in-ul
• Workman, L., & Reader, W. (2015). Evolutionary psychology: An introduction . Cambridge University Press.

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Personality Research Topics

Personality definition.

Personality is an individual’s typical way of feeling, thinking, and acting. Given that personality is typical, it is fairly stable over time. Social behavior refers to a person’s feelings, thoughts, or actions as he or she relates to other people. These two definitions have a very close relationship. Knowing something about an individual’s personality should allow psychologists to predict his or her social behavior.

Similarly, knowing about a person’s social behavior should give clues to aspects of his or her personality. In other words, an individual’s personality and social behavior influence each other, and knowledge of one allows the inference of information about the other. Read more about  Personality .

Personality Research Topics:

• Achievement Motivation
• Agreeableness
• Attachment Styles
• Authoritarian Personality
• Babyfaceness
• Big Five Personality Traits
• Central Traits vs. Peripheral Traits
• Control Motivation
• Defensive Pessimism
• Extraversion
• Gender Differences
• Genetic Influences on Behavior
• Identity Status
• Individual Differences
• Introversion
• Masculinity and Femininity
• Narcissistic Entitlement
• Need for Affiliation
• Need for Closure
• Need for Cognition
• Need for Power
• Neuroticism
• Power Motive
• Rejection Sensitivity
• Sensation Seeking
• Sex (Gender) Roles
• Social Desirability Bias
• Thematic Apperception Test
• Type A and Type B Personality

Implications

It is more appropriate to use personality to predict how an individual will usually act in most situations, rather than how individuals will act in specific situations. This is because the situation itself often varies and will influence how the individual acts. Sometimes behavior can be predicted mostly from personality. Personality is likely to influence behavior more in situations when the person is exhibiting dominant personality characteristics, when that person does not care about fitting his or her behavior to the situational requirements, or when the situation is weak (no set social rules). On the other hand, the situation will play a bigger role in behavior if the situation is strong (clear social requirements) or if the person cares about keeping his or her behavior consistent with the situational requirements.

Return to Social Psychology Topics list.

Research Topics & Ideas: Psychology

100+ Psychology Topic Ideas To Fast-Track Your Research

If you’re starting out on the dissertation or thesis journey for your psychology degree, the very first challenge you’ll face is finding a solid research topic . In this post, we’ll help get the topic ideation process started by providing a meaty list of research ideas, spanning a range of psychology sub-disciplines. We’ll also look at some examples from actual theses and dissertations to give you an idea of what these look like in the real world.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps (which we’ll explain a little later). Therefore, it’s important to recognise that this post is only the first step in finding a high-quality psychology-centred research topic. To develop a research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , and a viable plan of action to fill that gap.

If this all sounds a bit intimidating, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course , which covers the process of writing a dissertation or thesis from A-Z. You can also sign up for our free webinar that explores how to find a high-quality research topic. Alternatively, if you’d like hands-on help, have a look at our 1-on-1 coaching service .

Overview: Psychology-Related Topics

• How to find a research topic (video)
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• Cognitive psychology
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• Educational psychology
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• Examples of actual dissertation topics
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How To Find A Research Topic

In the video below, we explain how to find suitable research ideas (in psychology or any field), and how to then refine those into well-articulated potential topics for your dissertation or thesis. We also discuss a few important evaluation criteria to help you make the right choice for your project.

Below you’ll find a list of research ideas to get your thinking started. Please note that these research topic ideas are intentionally broad and generic, so you will need to refine them a fair deal using the techniques we discussed in the video above.

We’ve grouped the topic ideas based on a few popular areas of psychology to make it a little easier for you to find something in your particular field of interest. That said, there is naturally some overlap between topics, so keep this in mind.

Research Ideas: Behavioural Psychology

• Cultural variation in behaviour and mental health of adolescents during a disaster: a case study
• The impact of parental drug use and risky behaviour on early child development
• The effects of video game violence on aggressive behaviour among teenage boys in school
• The relationship between adverse childhood experiences and adult risk-seeking behaviour
• The impact of physical exercise on anxiety and health-harming behaviour
• The relationship between personality traits and addiction behaviour
• The effects of reinforcement schedules on decision-making and associative learning
• The effects of daily mindfulness practice on stress and anxiety in middle-aged women
• The use of behavioural interventions in the treatment of eating disorders in poorer communities
• Understanding implicit cognitive processes involved in the over-consumption of fast food
• The use of cognitive behavioural therapy for alcohol addiction treatment
• The impact of extensive technology use in children on long-term attention and focus
• The impact of social media on self-destructive behaviour and poor mental health outcomes
• Exploring the role of sleep and sleep deprivation on healthy behaviours

Research Ideas: Clinical Psychology

• The use of mindfulness-based approaches in the treatment of anxiety disorders among college students
• The use of technology in the delivery of psychological services in war-torn countries
• The effectiveness of dialectical behaviour therapy for borderline personality disorder
• The use of virtual reality technology in the treatment of phobias and PTSD among war veterans
• The role of childhood adversity on adult mental health in immigrant populations in the USA
• The role of genetics and epigenetics in the development of bipolar disorder in Pakistani women: an integrative review
• The effectiveness of pharmacotherapy in the treatment of social anxiety among hikikomori in Japan
• The perception of healthcare workers and patients on the use of teletherapy for the delivery of psychological services
• The impact of social support on mental health outcomes among single parents.
• The effectiveness of integrative therapeutic approaches in the treatment of schizophrenia
• The effectiveness of trauma-focused therapies on post-traumatic growth in domestic abuse survivors
• The role and use of cognitive-behavioural therapy for depression among first-generation students
• The effectiveness of family therapy in addressing childhood trauma and depression
• The impact of cultural mistrust on the diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues in culturally-diverse populations
• The effectiveness of group therapy on post-traumatic stress symptoms among survivors of sexual assault

Research Ideas: Cognitive Psychology

• The impact of lifelong aerobic exercise on cognitive function in old age
• The effects of evening screen use on cognitive development in preschool children
• The impact of sleep deprivation on decision-making among graduate students
• The use of neuroimaging to understand the neural basis of memory retrieval
• The effect of conservative religious homes on social functioning in LGBT+ adolescents
• The role of positive emotions in working memory among high school learners
• The neural basis of decision-making and problem-solving during undergraduate statistic assessments
• The neural basis of language processing among adults learning English as a second language
• The role of technological tools in improving working memory in older adults
• The role of attention in emotional face processing among adult males
• The impact of depression on cognitive function during ageing The impact of daily meditation and mindfulness practice on cognitive function
• The relationship between increased protein intake and improved cognitive function
• The effects of stress on cognitive function among final-year learners

Research Ideas: Developmental Psychology

• The impact of maternal affection on cognitive, social, and emotional development
• The effects of parenting styles on children’s executive function
• The impact of late-night screen use on child development
• The role of digital play on child development outcomes
• Exploring the impact of poverty on early child development in Brazil
• The trauma-informed care as moderating the impact of trauma on child development
• Evaluating the relationship between peer relationship quality and child social development
• The impact of child-targeted media and advertising on child behavioural development
• The role of parental attachment in child resilience
• The moderating impact of culture on bullying and child social development
• The impact of single-parenting on child development in India
• The impact of early educational interventions on child socio-emotional development
• The impact of digital technology use on adolescent development and mental health
• The impact of socioeconomic status on child executive function
• The role of genetics and epigenetics on child neurodevelopmental outcomes linked to depression

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Research Ideas: Educational Psychology

• The relationship between self-regulated learning and academic performance in asynchronous versus synchronous learning environments
• Exploring effective parental involvement strategies and their impact on student achievement
• The role of intrinsic motivation in formative assessment in the classroom
• The impact of classroom management and practice on student learning and behaviour
• University students’ preference regarding online learning environments
• The effects of gentrification on student achievement in traditionally poor neighbourhoods
• The impact of teacher expectations and academic self-concept on K12 student mathematics performance
• The use and effectiveness of game-based learning in a high school biology classroom
• The impact of prejudice on the relationship between student motivation and academic performance among Black university students
• The impact of culture on second language English student learning preferences
• The effects of student self-efficacy and engagement on academic performance in secondary school mathematics
• The role of metacognition in learning musicality in hip hop
• The role of small group instruction on teacher efficacy and stress in early childhood education
• The perception and use of multimedia among high school biology teachers in France
• The use of augmented reality applications and its impact on student learning, motivation and attitude

Research Ideas: Forensic Psychology

• The impact of trauma on the psychological functioning of police officers and first responders
• Understanding cultural considerations during forensic psychological assessment and treatment of trauma
• Ethical considerations of the use of AI in forensic psychology in the legal system
• The psychological factors related to recidivism among white collar female offenders in the USA
• The psychological factors related to false confessions among juveniles
• Understanding the use of psychological assessment in the evaluation of eyewitness testimony in criminal courts in England
• The impact of trauma on the reflective functioning of adult female sexual assault victims
• The use and effectiveness of psychological interventions in reducing recidivism among non-violent criminals
• The impact of domestic violence on the mental health and forensic evaluation of men
• Exploring the ethical considerations and use of behavioural analysis in the study of criminal behaviour
• The use and limitations of neuropsychological assessment in forensic evaluations
• The use of social media forensics in evaluating criminal behaviour in violent crimes
• The racialised use of psychological assessment in the evaluation of competency to stand trial in Canada
• Exploring the use and availability of virtual reality technologies in forensic psychology in Spain
• The impact of motivational interviewing-based interventions among criminalized drug users

Research Ideas: Social Psychology

• The impact of prejudice and discrimination on social behaviour among African immigrants in South Africa
• The impact of social networks on behaviour and well-being among young adult females
• The effects of social identity on non-conformity in University students
• The effects of group dynamics on risk-seeking behaviour in adult men
• The impact of social media on the quality of interpersonal relationships among high school learners
• The impact of parental emotional intelligence on pro-social behaviour in children and adolescents
• The effects of conformity and deviance on social attitudes and behaviour during a global recession
• The effects of Tik Tok on social comparison and self-esteem among teenage girls
• Understanding gendered differences in social influence and algorithms on impulsive decision-making
• The effects of social support on mental health among healthcare workers in the UK
• The effects of gender roles on social behaviour among trans teens
• The impact of perceived power and social status on the behaviour of social media influencers
• The impact of social norms on prosocial behaviour among women
• The effects of community participation on aggression and violence in middle-aged men
• The impact of culture and gender on social behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic

Research Ideas: Sports Psychology

• The moderating role of cultural factors on the relationship between mental health and sports performance in team sports
• The role of mindfulness practice in addressing stress and anxiety in young national athletes
• The relationship between team cohesion and performance in cricket teams
• The effect of transformational leadership on female sports teams in Canada
• The effect of positive self-talk on athletic performance and motivation among Olympic athletes
• The use and perception of hypnosis in New Zealand team sports Understanding stress and burnout in University team athletes
• The efficacy of personalised nutrition and diet on athletic performance among sprinters
• Exploring mental preparation techniques and their effect on athletic motivation and resilience among team-sport athletes
• Exploring the perception and understanding of goal-setting characteristics on athletic performance among team coaches
• The effects of motivational feedback on the performance of female gymnasts
• The perception and use of visualization and imagery among coaches as a means to enhance sport performance
• The impact of sports injuries on mental health and recovery in high school athletes
• The moderating role of sleep on mental toughness and sports performance in Olympic athletes
• The use and perception of technology in sports training and performance in little league softball

Psychology-Related Dissertations & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a research topic in psychology, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together in practice.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various psychology degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• Effects of a Patient Question Prompt List on Outpatient Palliative Care Appointments (McDarby, 2022)
• The role of affect and exercise goals in physical activity engagement in younger and older adults (Stojanovic, 2022)
• Lay Theories about Whether Emotion Helps or Hinders Reasoning and Well-being (Karnaze, 2022)
• The effects of blast-induced traumatic brain injury on two transgenic models of Alzheimer’s Disease (Gann, 2020)
• Understanding the parental mind: Examining the stability of parental reflective functioning across the birth of a child and associations with maternal mind-mindedness (Pitzen, 2021)
• An investigation of ineffective ally behaviours (Collier, 2019)
• Response Inhibition-Related Beta Power: Distinguishing Cognitively Intact Elders by Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease (Evans, 2021)
• Recognition Memory of Extremely High-Frequency Words (Miller, 2019)
• The Relationship between Dementia Caregiver Burden and Caregiver Communications in a Memory Clinic Setting (Martin, 2021)
• Examination of Maternal Versus Paternal Ratings of Child Pre-Injury Functioning in Predicting Child Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms (Sayer, 2021)
• Electromyography As A Means of Predicting The Rubber Hand Illusion (Teaford, 2021)
• Linking Diversity Climate and Feedback Seeking Through Interpersonal Processes and Race Effects (Flores, 2021)

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are far more specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. This is an important thing to keep in mind as you develop your own research topic. That is to say, to create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

Fast-Track Your Topic Ideation

Still unsure about how to find the right topic for your research project? Check out our private coaching services , where we work with psychology students on a 1:1 basis to help them find the perfect topic.

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10 Comments

Great insight

A very interesting site that offers a variety of options regarding research topics.

You’re most welcome

A good platform to get information

Amazing and interesting options 👌

Very useful but had not any field of research in health psychology

I feel honored going through this lovely stuff put together. Thank you so much

I need counseling psychology research topics

very empowering and insightful presentations. Can I be assisted in crafting a school psychology-related research topic about African context

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80 fascinating psychology research questions for your next project

Last updated

15 February 2024

Reviewed by

Brittany Ferri, PhD, OTR/L

Psychology research is essential for furthering our understanding of human behavior and improving the diagnosis and treatment of psychological conditions.

When psychologists know more about how different social and cultural factors influence how humans act, think, and feel, they can recommend improvements to practices in areas such as education, sport, healthcare, and law enforcement.

Below, you will find 80 research question examples across 16 branches of psychology. First, though, let’s look at some tips to help you select a suitable research topic.

• How to choose a good psychology research topic

Psychology has many branches that break down further into topics. Choosing a topic for your psychology research paper can be daunting because there are so many to choose from. It’s an important choice, as the topic you select will open up a range of questions to explore.

The tips below can help you find a psychology research topic that suits your skills and interests.

Tip #1: Select a topic that interests you

Passion and interest should fuel every research project. A topic that fascinates you will most likely interest others as well. Think about the questions you and others might have and decide on the issues that matter most. Draw on your own interests, but also keep your research topical and relevant to others.

Don’t limit yourself to a topic that you already know about. Instead, choose one that will make you want to know more and dig deeper. This will keep you motivated and excited about your research.

Tip #2: Choose a topic with a manageable scope

If your topic is too broad, you can get overwhelmed by the amount of information available and have trouble maintaining focus. On the other hand, you may find it difficult to find enough information if you choose a topic that is too narrow.

To determine if the topic is too broad or too narrow, start researching as early as possible. If you find there’s an overwhelming amount of research material, you’ll probably need to narrow the topic down. For example, instead of researching the general population, it might be easier to focus on a specific age group. Ask yourself what area of the general topic interests you most and focus on that.

If your scope is too narrow, try to generalize or focus on a larger related topic. Expand your search criteria or select additional databases for information. Consider if the topic is too new to have much information published on it as well.

Tip #3: Select a topic that will produce useful and relevant insights

Doing some preliminary research will reveal any existing research on the topic. If there is existing research, will you be able to produce new insights? You might need to focus on a different area or see if the existing research has limitations that you can overcome.

Bear in mind that finding new information from which to draw fresh insights may be impossible if your topic has been over-researched.

You’ll also need to consider whether your topic is relevant to current trends and needs. For example, researching psychology topics related to social media use may be highly relevant today.

• 80 psychology research topics and questions

Psychology is a broad subject with many branches and potential areas of study. Here are some of them:

Developmental

Personality

Experimental

Organizational

Educational

Neuropsychology

Controversial topics

Below we offer some suggestions on research topics and questions that can get you started. Keep in mind that these are not all-inclusive but should be personalized to fit the theme of your paper.

Social psychology research topics and questions

Social psychology has roots as far back as the 18th century. In simple terms, it’s the study of how behavior is influenced by the presence and behavior of others. It is the science of finding out who we are, who we think we are, and how our perceptions affect ourselves and others. It looks at personalities, relationships, and group behavior.

Here are some potential research questions and paper titles for this topic:

How does social media use impact perceptions of body image in male adolescents?

2. Is childhood bullying a risk factor for social anxiety in adults?

Is homophobia in individuals caused by genetic or environmental factors?

What is the most important psychological predictor of a person’s willingness to donate to charity?

Does a person’s height impact how other people perceive them? If so, how?

Cognitive psychology research questions

Cognitive psychology is the branch that focuses on the interactions of thinking, emotion, creativity, and problem-solving. It also explores the reasons humans think the way they do.

This topic involves exploring how people think by measuring intelligence, thoughts, and cognition. 

Here are some research question ideas:

6. Is there a link between chronic stress and memory function?

7. Can certain kinds of music trigger memories in people with memory loss?

8. Do remote meetings impact the efficacy of team decision-making?

9. Do word games and puzzles slow cognitive decline in adults over the age of 80?

10. Does watching television impact a child’s reading ability?

Developmental psychology research questions

Developmental psychology is the study of how humans grow and change over their lifespan. It usually focuses on the social, emotional, and physical development of babies and children, though it can apply to people of all ages. Developmental psychology is important for understanding how we learn, mature, and adapt to changes.

Here are some questions that might inspire your research:

11. Does grief accelerate the aging process?

12. How do parent–child attachment patterns influence the development of emotion regulation in teenagers?

13. Does bilingualism affect cognitive decline in adults over the age of 70?

14. How does the transition to adulthood impact decision-making abilities

15. How does early exposure to music impact mental health and well-being in school-aged children?

Personality psychology research questions

Personality psychology studies personalities, how they develop, their structures, and the processes that define them. It looks at intelligence, disposition, moral beliefs, thoughts, and reactions.

The goal of this branch of psychology is to scientifically interpret the way personality patterns manifest into an individual’s behaviors. Here are some example research questions:

16. Nature vs. nurture: Which impacts personality development the most?

17. The role of genetics on personality: Does an adopted child take on their biological parents’ personality traits?

18. How do personality traits influence leadership styles and effectiveness in organizational settings?

19. Is there a relationship between an individual’s personality and mental health?

20. Can a chronic illness affect your personality?

Abnormal psychology research questions

As the name suggests, abnormal psychology is a branch that focuses on abnormal behavior and psychopathology (the scientific study of mental illness or disorders).

Abnormal behavior can be challenging to define. Who decides what is “normal”? As such, psychologists in this area focus on the level of distress that certain behaviors may cause, although this typically involves studying mental health conditions such as depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and phobias.

Here are some questions to consider:

21. How does technology impact the development of social anxiety disorder?

22. What are the factors behind the rising incidence of eating disorders in adolescents?

23. Are mindfulness-based interventions effective in the treatment of PTSD?

24. Is there a connection between depression and gambling addiction?

25. Can physical trauma cause psychopathy?

Clinical psychology research questions

Clinical psychology deals with assessing and treating mental illness or abnormal or psychiatric behaviors. It differs from abnormal psychology in that it focuses more on treatments and clinical aspects, while abnormal psychology is more behavioral focused.

This is a specialty area that provides care and treatment for complex mental health conditions. This can include treatment, not only for individuals but for couples, families, and other groups. Clinical psychology also supports communities, conducts research, and offers training to promote mental health. This category is very broad, so there are lots of topics to explore.

Below are some example research questions to consider:

26. Do criminals require more specific therapies or interventions?

27. How effective are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in treating mental health disorders?

28. Are there any disadvantages to humanistic therapy?

29. Can group therapy be more beneficial than one-on-one therapy sessions?

30. What are the factors to consider when selecting the right treatment plan for patients with anxiety?

Experimental psychology research questions

Experimental psychology deals with studies that can prove or disprove a hypothesis. Psychologists in this field use scientific methods to collect data on basic psychological processes such as memory, cognition, and learning. They use this data to test the whys and hows of behavior and how outside factors influence its creation.

Areas of interest in this branch relate to perception, memory, emotion, and sensation. The below are example questions that could inspire your own research:

31. Do male or female parents/carers have a more calming influence on children?

32. Will your preference for a genre of music increase the more you listen to it?

33. What are the psychological effects of posting on social media vs. not posting?

34. How is productivity affected by social connection?

35. Is cheating contagious?

Organizational psychology research questions

Organizational psychology studies human behavior in the workplace. It is most frequently used to evaluate an employee, group, or a company’s organizational dynamics. Researchers aim to isolate issues and identify solutions.

This area of study can be beneficial to both employees and employers since the goal is to improve the overall work environment and experience. Researchers apply psychological principles and findings to recommend improvements in performance, communication, job satisfaction, and safety. 

Some potential research questions include the following:

36. How do different leadership styles affect employee morale?

37. Do longer lunch breaks boost employee productivity?

38. Is gender an antecedent to workplace stress?

39. What is the most effective way to promote work–life balance among employees?

40. How do different organizational structures impact the effectiveness of communication, decision-making, and productivity?

Forensic psychology research questions

Some questions to consider exploring in this branch of psychology are:

41. How does incarceration affect mental health?

42. Is childhood trauma a driver for criminal behavior during adulthood?

43. Are people with mental health conditions more likely to be victims of crimes?

44. What are the drivers of false memories, and how do they impact the justice system?

45. Is the media responsible for copycat crimes?

Educational psychology research questions

Educational psychology studies children in an educational setting. It covers topics like teaching methods, aptitude assessment, self-motivation, technology, and parental involvement.

Research in this field of psychology is vital for understanding and optimizing learning processes. It informs educators about cognitive development, learning styles, and effective teaching strategies.

Here are some example research questions:

46. Are different teaching styles more beneficial for children at different times of the day?

47. Can listening to classical music regularly increase a student’s test scores?

48. Is there a connection between sugar consumption and knowledge retention in students?

49. Does sleep duration and quality impact academic performance?

50. Does daily meditation at school influence students’ academic performance and mental health?

Sports psychology research question examples

Sport psychology aims to optimize physical performance and well-being in athletes by using cognitive and behavioral practices and interventions. Some methods include counseling, training, and clinical interventions.

Research in this area is important because it can improve team and individual performance, resilience, motivation, confidence, and overall well-being

Here are some research question ideas for you to consider:

51. How can a famous coach affect a team’s performance?

52. How can athletes control negative emotions in violent or high-contact sports?

53. How does using social media impact an athlete’s performance and well-being?

54. Can psychological interventions help with injury rehabilitation?

55. How can mindfulness practices boost sports performance?

Cultural psychology research question examples

The premise of this branch of psychology is that mind and culture are inseparable. In other words, people are shaped by their cultures, and their cultures are shaped by them. This can be a complex interaction.

Cultural psychology is vital as it explores how cultural context shapes individuals’ thoughts, behaviors, and perceptions. It provides insights into diverse perspectives, promoting cross-cultural understanding and reducing biases.

Here are some ideas that you might consider researching:

56. Are there cultural differences in how people perceive and deal with pain?

57. Are different cultures at increased risk of developing mental health conditions?

58. Are there cultural differences in coping strategies for stress?

59. Do our different cultures shape our personalities?

60. How does multi-generational culture influence family values and structure?

Health psychology research question examples

Health psychology is a crucial field of study. Understanding how psychological factors influence health behaviors, adherence to medical treatments, and overall wellness enables health experts to develop effective interventions and preventive measures, ultimately improving health outcomes.

Health psychology also aids in managing stress, promoting healthy behaviors, and optimizing mental health, fostering a holistic approach to well-being.

Here are five ideas to inspire research in this field:

61. How can health psychology interventions improve lifestyle behaviors to prevent cardiovascular diseases?

62. What role do social norms play in vaping among adolescents?

63. What role do personality traits play in the development and management of chronic pain conditions?

64. How do cultural beliefs and attitudes influence health-seeking behaviors in diverse populations?

65. What are the psychological factors influencing the adherence to preventive health behaviors, such as vaccination and regular screenings?

Neuropsychology research paper question examples

Neuropsychology research explores how a person’s cognition and behavior are related to their brain and nervous system. Researchers aim to advance the diagnosis and treatment of behavioral and cognitive effects of neurological disorders.

Researchers may work with children facing learning or developmental challenges, or with adults with declining cognitive abilities. They may also focus on injuries or illnesses of the brain, such as traumatic brain injuries, to determine the effect on cognitive and behavioral functions.

Neuropsychology informs diagnosis and treatment strategies for conditions such as dementia, traumatic brain injuries, and psychiatric disorders. Understanding the neural basis of behavior enhances our ability to optimize cognitive functioning, rehabilitate people with brain injuries, and improve patient care.

Here are some example research questions to consider:

66. How do neurotransmitter imbalances in specific brain regions contribute to mood disorders such as depression?

67. How can a traumatic brain injury affect memory?

68. What neural processes underlie attention deficits in people with ADHD?

69. Do medications affect the brain differently after a traumatic brain injury?

70. What are the behavioral effects of prolonged brain swelling?

Psychology of religion research question examples

The psychology of religion is a field that studies the interplay between belief systems, spirituality, and mental well-being. It explores the application of the psychological methods and interpretive frameworks of religious traditions and how they relate to both religious and non-religious people.

Psychology of religion research contributes to a holistic understanding of human experiences. It fosters cultural competence and guides therapeutic approaches that respect diverse spiritual beliefs.

Here are some example research questions in this field:

71. What impact does a religious upbringing have on a child’s self-esteem?

72. How do religious beliefs shape decision-making and perceptions of morality?

73. What is the impact of religious indoctrination?

74. Is there correlation between religious and mindfulness practices?

75. How does religious affiliation impact attitudes towards mental health treatment and help-seeking behaviors?

Controversial topics in psychology research question examples

Some psychology topics don’t fit into any of the subcategories above, but they may still be worthwhile topics to consider. These topics are the ones that spark interest, conversation, debate, and disagreement. They are often inspired by current issues and assess the validity of older research.

Consider some of these research question examples:

76. How does the rise in on-screen violence impact behavior in adolescents.

77. Should access to social media platforms be restricted in children under the age of 12 to improve mental health?

78. Are prescription mental health medications over-prescribed in older adults? If so, what are the effects of this?

79. Cognitive biases in AI: what are the implications for decision-making?

80. What are the psychological and ethical implications of using virtual reality in exposure therapy for treating trauma-related conditions?

• Inspiration for your next psychology research project

You can choose from a diverse range of research questions that intersect and overlap across various specialties.

From cognitive psychology to clinical studies, each inquiry contributes to a deeper understanding of the human mind and behavior. Importantly, the relevance of these questions transcends individual disciplines, as many findings offer insights applicable across multiple areas of study.

As health trends evolve and societal needs shift, new topics emerge, fueling continual exploration and discovery. Diving into this ever-changing and expanding area of study enables you to navigate the complexities of the human experience and pave the way for innovative solutions to the challenges of tomorrow.

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88 Personality Psychology Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best personality psychology topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 simple & easy personality psychology essay titles, 🔍 good research topics about personality psychology, ❓ personality psychology research questions.

• Personality Tests in the Field of Psychology In addition to that, the test’s questions touch on various aspects of a person’s life thus analyzing their personality from different angles.
• The Psychology of Personality: Maya Angelou’s Case In this regard, the study of the life of Maya Angelou brings into sight different factors that contributed to her character and personality.
• The Psychology of Personality: Counselling Process Therefore, in the session, I did ask her to state goals that she sought to achieve at the end of the counselling.
• Psychology of Personality: Theories This paper will explore the similarities and differences of pairs of these theories as well as my views on them. View of personality development These theories are important in establishing the forces that drive individuals.
• Personality Psychology: Theory, Techniques and Assessment The MBTI instrument is a tool, which is based on Jung’s theory and with the help of a series of questions can make a conclusion about a personality type the respondent has.
• Psychology of Personality: Role Models I must admit that the CEO’s style of leadership, combined with the way he interacts with employees at a personal level, is what inspired me to change my personal behavior.
• Social Psychology and Personality: Lessons Learnt Conformity can help one understand why it is expected in society not to be different and align one’s interests with those of the public.
• Psychology and Personality: The Main Theories Freud proposed that the consciousness is divided into three elements known as the id, ego, and superego and that the relations and conflicts among these components created personality.
• Personality Psychology Overview In light of this theory, the love and nurture which Potter received from his parents enabled him to develop a secure attachment and trust.
• Personality and Psychology of the Motivation The fourth principle states that the degree to which rules on the procedure can be accessed and used to coordinate trust and dedication between partners is often dynamic so as to be compatible with the […]
• The Concept of Personality in Psychology This could be because the topic of personality is complex, and more time was necessary for explanation by the lecturer. From my perspective, this is both the product and the producer of a weak personality.
• The Theory of Personality Psychology During Depression The study concerns personality pathology, and the results of the treatment given to patients who are under depression, and how personalities may have adverse effects on the consequences of the cure.
• Psychology: Leadership and Personality A leader has to be visionary and be able to articulate the wishes of the majority. A leader also has to transcend the individual barriers to decision-making and be able to articulate a vision that […]
• Personality Psychology in the Workplace Human actions and behavior can well be understood if we are aware of the fact that the prism of the mind orders the experience of the situation.
• Introduction to Psychology: Personality of an Architect Individuals with a high score in this dimension tend to be attentive to details and frequently engage in planning and scheduling activities.
• Psychology of Personality, Work and Organizations One of the biggest distinctions between intelligence and personality is that the former is a cognitive process while the latter is non-cognitive.
• Psychology of Work & Organisation and Personality In this paper, employee behaviors and performance at work will be discussed through the prism of the existing theories of intelligence and personality and other important aspects of organizational psychology.
• Psychology: Birth Order and Personality For instance, Bleske-Rechek and Kelley used Big Five personality data to assess the effect of birth order on personality in the within-family and between-family contexts.
• Psychology: Retrospective Personality Analysis Human behavior and the development of personality traits has always puzzled psychology researchers and scholars: “The development of individual differences has always been a primary focus of psychological research, and it continues to be an […]
• Personality Psychology: A Guide to Rational Living At the same time, this chapter supports the idea that extraversion is appropriate for the leadership of a group of people within the social set-up.
• Pieces of the Personality Puzzle: Individual Psychology Theory It is essential to make sure that we understand the reasons of Toshimi and Martin’s actions. Being able to think strategically, both Martin and Toshimi understood that in the future they were to be successful.
• Analyzing the Personality Psychology Phenomenon
• Character: Personality Psychology and School
• Communication: Personality Psychology and Person
• Convict: Personality Psychology and Valerie Coats Winston
• Defensive Personality Study Through Personality Psychology Trait Theories
• Definition and Related Theories of Personality Psychology
• The Analysis of Developmental Psychology and Personality Psychology
• The Importance of Personality Psychology
• Psychological Factors Affecting Personality Development
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Considering Humans in Human-Centred Research

Self-empathy helps you navigate complex and sensitive interviews..

Posted May 23, 2024 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

• The Importance of Empathy
• Find a therapist near me
• Human-centred design guides innovative solutions to complex and sensitive issues.
• Researching sensitive topics may surface strong emotions and reactions in both researchers and participants.
• Self-empathy as a skill guides a researcher to navigate triggers and tricky moments in interviews.

As the demand for innovative solutions to complex and sensitive issues continues to grow, design thinking and human-centred design are becoming increasingly vital. Design methodologies focus on identifying deeper needs to craft effective solutions. This begins with initial research aimed at gathering insights to guide the design process. Unfortunately, deeper needs don’t come neatly packaged and easily accessible. Understanding these deeper needs requires more than just data collection—it demands empathy. And effectively empathising requires researchers to be equipped.

Depending on the issues, a researcher may need to research delicate situations. Investigating sensitive topics or working with individuals who have had challenging and sometimes traumatic experiences takes advanced empathy skills.

On the one hand, researchers must create a trusting environment where participants feel safe sharing their experiences. On the other hand, when the participant does confide, researchers may need to listen to and respectfully hold content that can be unsettling to themselves.

This post explores the challenges of empathic research in sensitive contexts and offers strategies for researchers to navigate these challenges effectively.

Challenges in Sensitive Research

The inherent nature of sensitive topics is that they are difficult to talk about. They surface strong emotions and potential reactions in both researcher and participant. For example, a health-related project in Africa highlighted the stark contrast between the resources and living conditions of interviewers and interviewees. Interviewers often felt guilt over their privileges, while interviewees viewed them as potential "saviours" able to rescue them from their dire circumstances. In another project, researchers found descriptions of trauma and abuse to be heartbreaking, devastating, and too hard to accept.

These examples highlight that triggers can arise in both the interviewer and the interviewee, posing stagnating challenges. When this happens, researchers need to make decisions to ensure the interview progresses productively while safeguarding the well-being of all involved.

What Can Researchers Do?

If you want to know where to draw the line as a researcher between what you can handle with interviewees and when you need to call in external help, you need to know your own mind and triggers first. Self-empathy is therefore crucial. By understanding your own triggers, setting ethical boundaries , and setting guidelines for when to seek external help, you can enter your interviews with greater confidence and composure, irrespective of the trauma that might come up. It’s essential to reflect on ethical responsibilities and develop a set of guidelines with the design team to navigate these challenges effectively (perhaps some "rules" on which type of situation needs to be referred to professionals/NGOs/counselors, etc. immediately).

At the same time, listening to numerous traumatic stories can also impact you personally, potentially leading to emotional numbness and affecting your interpretation of research results. Having self-empathy as a skillset can help slow down that process and might even prevent it from happening at all.

Empathy Starts With Self-Empathy

All empathy starts with self-empathy. To genuinely care for, and understand, your participants, you need to be empathic. But if you don’t have self-empathy, practising empathy with others is often a very messy mix of emotions and impressions. To deliver the care you want to deliver and gather insightful data, it helps to make sense of that mix.

Here are questions to help you prepare for sensitive research:

Identifying Triggers and Challenges

• What specific challenging situations do you encounter in your research?
• What does that trigger or challenge in you?
• How can you recognize when you or your participant are experiencing a trigger?
• How do these triggers affect your ability to conduct research?

Handling Your Triggers

• What do you do to manage your triggers during research?
• How effective are these strategies, and how can they be improved?

Deciding When to Retreat

• What signs indicate that you need to take a step back from the research?
• What actions should you take when you decide to retreat?

Seeking Specialised Help for Participants

• How do you determine when a participant needs specialised help?
• What are the steps for referring a participant to external support?

Establishing Common Guidelines

• What common "rules" do you have in place for helping participants?
• How can you ensure these guidelines are followed consistently?

Handling Traumatic Stories

• What methods do you use to listen to and process traumatic stories?
• How do you take care of your emotional well-being after hearing such stories?

By considering these questions, researchers can better prepare themselves for the emotional challenges of empathic research on sensitive topics, ensuring both their well-being as well as the well-being of their participants and the integrity of their work.

Lidewij Niezink, Ph.D., and Katherine Train, Ph.D., are the co-founders of Empathic Intervision.

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Biological Psychology

The UC Davis Department of Psychology contains five major "areas": Developmental, Perception-Cognition, Biological Psychology, Quantitative and Social-Personality. Biological psychology covers a broad spectrum of topics including evolutionary, neurobiological and molecular mechanisms of behavior. Boundaries between the areas are fluid, and students are encouraged to take seminars in all five.

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The 9 Major Research Areas in Social Psychology

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Mitchell Funk / Getty Images

Social Cognition

Violence and aggression, prosocial behavior, prejudice and discrimination.

• Social Identity

Group Behavior

Social influence, interpersonal relationships.

Social psychology is a branch of psychology that studies a wide range of subjects related to social behavior. This includes studying how people interact, factors that affect social perceptions, the formation of attitudes, and how groups influence individuals.

Research in social psychology is often focused on subjects that fall within three broad areas:

• Social influence : Social influence refers to the ways in which our opinions and behavior are affected by the presence of others. This includes studies on topics such as conformity, obedience, and social pressure.
• Social perception : Social perception refers to the ways in which we form impressions of other people. This includes research on topics including first impressions, stereotyping, and prejudice.
• Social interaction : Social interaction refers to the ways in which we interact with other people. This includes research on topics such as communication, aggression, and altruism.

This article discusses some of the major areas of research in social psychology. It also explores some examples of the types of research that social psychologists might conduct within these subject areas.

Social cognition is concerned with the processing, storage, and application of social information. For example, research in this area of social psychology may focus on the development and use of social schemas. 

Schemas are our general ideas about the world, how things are, and how things work. In the case of social schemas, these ideas relate to how we expect people to behave in different situations.

These mental categories allow us to function without constantly stopping to interpret everything around us. We also develop associations between related schemas, which play an important role in the thought process and social behavior.

One area of social cognition research concerns person perception , which is how people form impressions of others. 

First impressions are the judgments we form about someone based on limited information. Studies have shown that first impressions happen within mere milliseconds and are based on several cues, such as facial expressions, body language, voice, and the beliefs held by the observer.  

Understanding how people acquire and process social information allows researchers to better explain how it can affect social interactions and individual behavior.

Attitudes and Attitude Change

Another major research area in social psychology involves the study of attitudes . Social psychologists are interested in the components of attitudes, how attitudes develop, and how attitudes change.

Attitudes are evaluations of people, objects, or issues. They can be positive (e.g., "I like chocolate") or negative (e.g., "I dislike taxes"). Various factors contribute to the development of attitudes, including upbringing and experiences, although genetics also appears to play a role in shaping them.

Researchers have identified three core components of attitude: an affective component, a behavioral component, and a cognitive component. Often referred to as the "ABCs of attitude," these elements describe how we feel, behave, and understand.

Some other characteristics of attitudes that researchers may be interested in include:

• How they are best measured : Some attitudes can be measured through self-report questionnaires, but others might be better measured using tools like facial expression or arousal levels.
• Factors that affect their strength : Attitudes can vary considerably in terms of their intensity. The strength of these attitudes directly impacts the degree to which they will guide their actions. Direct experiences and frequent exposure to the attitude can impact its strength.
• How attitudes affect behavior : Researchers are also interested in understanding how and when these attitudes influence people's actions. For example, social psychologists might explore how attitudes develop through exposure to social media sources and how those attitudes relate to real-world actions.

Attitudes are an important research topic in social psychology because they impact how people view and interact with others.

What causes violence and aggression ? While many different factors play a role, social psychologists are interested in understanding the social influences that shape violent behavior.

Research in this area looks at numerous social factors that may cause aggression, including:

• Situational variables that might contribute to aggression
• Non-physical types of aggression such as name-calling or gossiping
• How aggression is learned via modeling, such as witnessing adults or children engage in aggressive or violent behaviors
• How violence in the media affects behavior in the real world
• Strategies that can be effective in the reduction of aggression and violence
• The role social learning plays in producing aggressive behaviors and actions
• How public policy can be used to curb violent behavior

Research into the epidemic of gun violence is an example of how social psychologists are trying to understand the variables that contribute to a problem, and then utilize that knowledge to come up with actionable solutions.

Prosocial behavior is another major research area in social psychology. Prosocial behaviors are those that involve helping and cooperating.

Researchers often look at why people help others, as well as why they sometimes refuse to help or cooperate. The bystander effect is an example of a social phenomenon in the subject area of prosocial behavior.

Much of the research in the area of bystander effect was prompted by the murder of a young woman named Kitty Genovese. This case captured national attention when reports suggested that neighbors had witnessed her attack and murder but failed to call the police for help.

Later reviews of the case indicate that few (if any) of the neighbors had a clear view of the scene and were unaware of what was happening. Nevertheless, the case became mythologized in psychology textbooks and prompted a surge of interest in prosocial behaviors.

Research inspired by the Genovese case produced a great deal of information on prosocial behavior and how and why people choose—or sometimes refuse—to help others.

Prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes exist in any social group. Social psychologists are interested in the origins, causes, and effects of these attitudes and social categorizations.

Some questions that social psychologists explore include:

• How does prejudice develop?
• Why are stereotypes maintained in the face of contrary evidence?
• How can prejudice be measured?
• What factors contribute to the formation of prejudice and discrimination?
• Are there effective ways to reduce prejudice and discrimination?

For example, researchers have found that several factors contribute to the development of prejudice, including stereotypes, social categorization, and social influences. Another factor that plays a part is the outgroup homogeneity bias, or the tendency to view people outside of our social group as being more homogenous than members of our own group.

By learning more about the psychology of prejudice and discrimination, researchers can look for solutions to help help prevent it from happening.

Self and Social Identity

Our perceptions of social identities and ourselves are another important research area in social psychology. Some of the questions that researchers explore include:

• How do people come to know and understand themselves?
• How do these self-perceptions affect our social interactions?
• How does belonging to different social groups shape individual identity?
• How do intersecting group members influence self-perception and self-identity?

Social psychologists are interested in learning more about how this inner life influences our outer lives and social world. Self-awareness, self-esteem, self-concept , and self-expression are only a few factors that influence our social experience.

For example, social comparison is a process that can impact how people view themselves. Upward social comparison involves comparing the self to others who are perceived as higher in status and ability, while downward social comparison focuses on making comparisons to those who are lower in status or ability.

Upward comparisons can leave people feeling like they don't measure up, damaging self-esteem. Downward comparisons, on the other hand, can help enhance self-esteem.

By learning more about how social identities and self-perceptions interact, social psychologists are better able to understand how social factors can influence how individuals feel about themselves and their identities.

Group behavior is defined as the actions, feelings, or thoughts of a collective of people. Such groups involve two or more people who share something in common such as identity, purpose, and belief.

The behavior of groups is one of the largest research areas in social psychology. Most people realize that groups tend to behave differently than individuals. These group behaviors are sometimes beneficial but can also be detrimental.

Social psychologists often look at topics such as:

• Group dynamics
• Group decision making
• Cooperation
• Group influence

Norms are an example of an aspect of group behavior that can guide how group members think, behave, or act. Norms are standards that emerge and guide how another member judge one another.

Social psychologists are also interested in the role of social influence on behavior and decision-making. Topics such as the psychology of persuasion , peer pressure, conformity , and obedience are only a few of those studied in this area of social psychology.

One example of research in this area of social psychology was Milgram's obedience studies conducted during the 1960s. The experiments found that when ordered by an authority figure, participants were willing to deliver what they believed were dangerous and painful electrical shocks to another person. While the shocks were staged, the research suggested that many people were willing to go to great lengths to obey authority.

Research has helped reveal the power of social influence and has uncovered ways to help people resist influence.

Social relationships play a major role in shaping behavior, attitudes, feelings, and thoughts. Social psychologists study how these interpersonal relationships affect people by looking at attachment , liking , love , and attraction.

Some research questions that social psychologists might explore include:

• How important are interpersonal relationships to individual well-being?
• What factors play a role in attraction?
• How do interpersonal relationships influence helping behaviors in groups?
• How do close relationships affect individuals?

Close relationships are relationships in which we feel a strong sense of connection and intimacy with another person. Studies on close relationships have shown that they are associated with many benefits, such as increased happiness and satisfaction with life.

A Word From Verywell

Social psychology is a rich subject that explores how social perception, social interaction, and social influence affect both groups and individuals. Researchers in this field are interested in various topics, including attitudes, attraction, close relationships, and helping behavior. By learning more about these subjects, social psychologists can add to our understanding of social behavior and its effect on individual well-being.

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Kassin SM. The killing of Kitty Genovese: What else does this case tell us?   Perspect Psychol Sci . 2017;12(3):374–381. doi:10.1177/1745691616679465

Rhodes M, Mandalaywala TM. The development and developmental consequences of social essentialism .  Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci . 2017;8(4):10.1002/wcs.1437. doi:10.1002/wcs.1437

Hjerm M, Eger M, Danell R.  Peer attitudes and the development of prejudice in adolescence .  Socius Sociolog Res Dynamic World . 2018;4:1-11. doi:10.1177/2378023118763187

American Psychological Association.  Outgroup homogeneity bias .

Drury J, Carter H, Cocking C, Ntontis E, Tekin Guven S, Amlôt R. Facilitating collective psychosocial resilience in the public in emergencies: Twelve recommendations based on the social identity approach [published correction appears in Front Public Health . 2019 Jun 27;7:181].  Front Public Health . 2019;7:141. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2019.00141

Rahman T. Extreme Overvalued Beliefs: How Violent Extremist Beliefs Become "Normalized" .  Behav Sci (Basel) . 2018;8(1):10. doi:10.3390/bs8010010

Russell NJC.  Milgram's obedience to authority experiments: Origins and early evolution .  Br J Soc Psychol . 2011;50:140-162. doi:10.1348/014466610X492205

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."