Who, what, how, and where the typical psychologist is … the profession of psychology scale - Statistical Data Included

Journal of Instructional Psychology, Dec, 2001 by Gary T. Rosenthal, Richard R. McKnight, A.W. Price

This study reports on the development of a scale to assess public perceptions of the profession of psychology. Administration of a preliminary form of the scale to introductory psychology students suggests that several misperceptions about the profession are common. Respondents significantly overestimated minority representation in the field as well as the percentage of psychologists who were health care providers. Further, the vast majority of respondents did not recognize that the doctorate was the standard level of training for psychologists. Results indicate a need to provide the public with a more faithful representation of the profession of psychology.

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The longer one teaches, the more likely one is to encounter student misconception concerning psychology. In 1960, McKeachie reported that commonly held beliefs about psychology were in direct conflict with research results (the science of psychology). These "scientific misconceptions" are untruths or half-truths about research findings accepted by students as facts.

Gallucci (1997) noted a different type of misconceptions when he evaluated why students chose psychology as a major. Gallucci noted several misconceptions among psychology students concerning their future career. For example, they overestimated salaries and job opportunities. He advised professors to correct psychology majors' misunderstandings about: "forms of professional practice that are largely unattainable at this time" (p.879). Nauta (2000) also reported "professional" misconceptions about salaries among psychology majors, as well as misunderstandings concerning graduate admissions and training.

In teaching and advising, we frequently encounter misconceptions about what psychologists do, or who they are ("the profession of psychology"). These misconceptions concern psychologists' demographics, their training, or occupations. Accurate information concerning the profession is fairly esoteric, even psychology majors are prone to erroneous beliefs (Nauta, 2000). These beliefs can result in inappropriate career choices for our majors (Nauta, 2000), as well as confusion about the nature of the profession in the lay public and fallacious attacks on the value of psychology by the uninformed (Wood, Jones & Benjamin, 1986). Based upon the potential for such misunderstandings, the current study explores undergraduates' "profession misconceptions" concerning psychology.

Few studies directly examine student's misperceptions of the profession, those that do (Friedrick, 1996; or Nauta, 2000), do so piecemeal. The bulk of the literature focuses on misperceptions concerning scientific information (e.g. DeBell & Harless, 1992; Gardner & Hund, 1983; Gutman, 1979; Lamal, 1979; Vaughn, 1977), providing a few oblique references to what psychologists do and their training.

Wood, Jones and Benjamin, (1986) went so far as to suggest a starting point for remedying what the current study labels "profession misconceptions." They suggest that authors systematically explore "psychology's public image." The current study is such an effort, it reports on the development of a scale to assess peoples' perceptions concerning the profession. The Profession of Psychology Scale explores the public's perception of "who psychologists are", "what they do", "how they are trained", and "where they work."

Method

Participants

Sixty-three undergraduate students at a small rural southern university completed the scale. All participants were volunteers and registered for a general (introductory) psychology class. The mean age of the sample was 20.3 (SD = 4.8), the mean G.P.A. was 2.64 (SD = .59). Thirty-three students (52%) were second semester freshmen. The most common major, Nursing, had nine students, (14% of respondents). Only one respondent (2%) was a psychology major.

The mean age of the 25 males was 20.4 (SD = 4.1), their mean G.P.A. was 2.46 (SD = .57). The males self-reported knowledge concerning psychology was M = 3.44 on a scale ranging from 1 (know very little) to 10 (know a great deal). The mean age of the thirty-eight female students was 20.2 (SD = 5.3), and their average G.P.A. was 2.76 (SD =. 58). The females self-reported knowledge was M = 3.39. A series of Oneway ANOVAs indicated that neither age, nor G.P.A., nor estimated knowledge, differed significantly between sexes (p > .05).

Materials, Procedure, and Analyses

The Profession of Psychology Scale. The Profession of Psychology Scale (PPS) consists of two parts. Part 1 begins with a demographic section followed by two open-ended questions "What is a psychologist, what do they do" and "What background, qualifications are necessary"? Students answered the open-ended questions on a lined sheet of paper; after completing these questions students returned Part 1 of the scale before receiving Part 2.

Part 2 of the PPS consisted of questions such as "What percentage of psychologists are male/female" and "What percentage are White/Minorities." Finally, respondents were asked to list (from most to least common) the places "Where psychologists work" and the percentage of psychologists in various sub-specialties.

Procedure. The PPS was administered in class on the first day of the semester, before students heard a lecture or read the text. To avoid contaminating the open-ended items in Part 1, it was distributed, completed and collected before Part 2 was administered. Students were encouraged to take as much time as necessary and to be truthful. They were assured that their responses would be anonymous and not effect their grades. No extra-credit was offered for participation.