Psychology Personal Statement Example 76

My aspiration to study psychology has developed from my curiosity of how our mental processing and genetic makeup affects not only our actions and decisions made in everyday life, but also our personalities.

The way our minds work has always been something that fascinates me. Why do people behave in a certain way? What makes one person so uniquely different to another?

My Psychology A level has given me an insight into these areas and I’m excited about exploring them further. I am also extremely interested in the development of children and the impact of “nature and nurture” during development.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcom Gladwell explores the connection between cutting-edge psychological and neurological research and human intuition.

Blink shows how someone’s inner self or subconscious affects their decisions. Blink explores why some people are brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept. For example, some people can easily make decisions whilst others spend much longer deliberating and are indecisive.

I spent three months at a global Investment bank working in two departments; Finance and HR. Whilst working in finance I was required to analyse and interpret large amounts of data which enabled me to use my numerical skills.

Spending time in the HR department demonstrated the importance of communication skills. I was also able to observe the relationships between people in the workplace and it was evident to me how important psychology is in the workplace.

In addition, I completed work experience at a privately owned recruitment agency, where I was required to perform secretarial duties. This environment was busy and fast paced and helped me develop my organisational skills as I was required to multi task under pressure.

Whilst working at these companies, I found that the skills learnt at AS level in both Business Studies and Psychology proved invaluable as I was able to put to good use the analytical skills learnt in both subjects.

These organisations had different cultures and behaviours, which reflected their size and ownership, so I found it interesting to observe the difference in working practices.

At school, I was part of an “events” team in my final year, responsible for organising a variety of charity events. We regularly supported a local charity which supports families and cares for children and young people with life-limiting/threatening conditions.

Whether I was organising an event, or participating in one, I was required to work as part of a team which taught me to listen to others, contemplate and consider suggestions and present ideas to ensure we achieved the desired outcome.

It also taught me that I needed to be well organised and manage my time efficiently; skills that will be invaluable whilst studying for my degree. I have also had the opportunity to develop leadership skills as a prefect in the Business Studies and IT departments at school as the role required me to listen to issues, weigh up the information and find solutions.

I studied Religious Studies at AS level which involved different theological arguments about G-d and the Holocaust.

There are a lot of different opinions about how such a tragedy could happen if the G-d many religious people know and love existed in the world. This debate within psychology is concerned with the extent to which particular aspects of behaviour are a product of either inherited (ie genetic) or acquired (ie learned) characteristics.

This was evident to me whilst studying the different explanations dealing with the existence of G-d during the Holocaust because for some people it is hard to accept that someone could have had Hitler's intentions if everyone has a certain predisposition. – I don’t understand this?

Psychology as the study of the human mind and human behaviour offers the chance to explore unanswered questions about the brain, such as how it functions under stress, how it learns language, and how it remembers facts of how mental illness can affect the way it works.

All of these topics I find fascinating and know I will get the best out of myself studying something I enjoy and that is why I am applying to study psychology at university.