Live Life Team
The term ‘psychology’ is derived from two Latin words ‘psyche’ and ‘ology’, which mean soul or mind and study, respectively. The two terms give obvious meaning to psychology, which is ‘the study of mind or soul’. However, today, psychology is defined as applied and academic science that studies the human mind processes and behaviours by using scientific methods. It is also defined as the study of cognitive characteristics of a person, a group, and even activity and circumstances. Psychology aims to understand, predict and explain emotions, behaviour, and thoughts.
There are two major areas in psychology – applied psychology and academic psychology. Applied psychology refers to the application of various psychological theories and principles to overcome real-life problems in education, mental health, sports and management of business, for example. Applied psychology is used for practical benefit and for immediate solutions to everyday problems. Furthermore, it is used to find solutions to cure illnesses. On the other hand, academic psychology only focuses on pure science and theory which aims to expand psychological understanding. Academic psychology deals with the study of other fields of psychology, such as personality psychology, developmental psychology and social psychology.
Psychology is applied in many areas of life. Those who conduct and carry out psychological research and applications are called psychologists. They are the ones who investigate the different aspects of human behaviour. There are several psychologists who work in helping people to overcome behavioural or emotional problems and mental disorders. Psychology is widely used in different areas and fields, and the study of psychology is not limited to humans alone.
