Psychology.......it's not just Freud and couches.

When I say the word "psychology," what comes to mind? For most people, it is probably an image of a person lying on a couch telling a therapist their life story. Or maybe its a vision of Sigmund Freud saying that our desires and wishes can be revealed through dream analysis. Although these things are a part of psychology, they are a very,very small part. Psychology is so much more! Psychology is defined as the science of behavior and mental processes, so in other words why do people think or act the way they do.

Based on that definition, I would think anyone who's in marketing, advertising, or public relation would be interested in psychology. What factors will make my product/service attractive to the public? When speaking to a crowd, what makes me appear credible? Psychology fits hand in hand with marketing! Here is an example from Elliot Aronson's book The Social Animal, "Compared to opinions, attitudes are extremely difficult to change...In order to understand how to change attitudes, first it is essential to understand the complexities of human thinking as well as the motives that lead people to resist change." Read the book, you'll be surprised how informational and interesting it is.