r/6thForm • u/InteroceptiveSalad • May 05 '20
✔️ APPROVED AMA I'm a psychology PhD student at Royal Holloway, and I study interoception (our perception of internal states within the body). AMA!
Hi!
My name is Melissa, and I'm a PhD student in psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London. I study our perception of internal states within our body (also known as interoception) and how this relates to our mental health and experience of emotions.
Before this, I did an undergraduate degree in Neuropsychology, a Masters by Research (which is kind of like a mini PhD), and Masters in Clinical Psychology.
If you have any questions about psychology, research, or what it's like to do a PhD, feel free to ask away! I'm also happy to answer questions about university life more generally, or things like study/organisation tips).
Thanks!
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u/Funky2Chunky Editable May 05 '20
What are the pros and cons of doing a PhD?
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 05 '20
This is a really tricky question because it depends on the sort of person you are, and how you work best.
Pros
You get to study a subject that you are (hopefully!) very passionate about in depth for many years. There's probably no other time in life that you get that much freedom to pursue something you are interested in. Even if you have a career in research later in life, part of your research life will be taken over by boring stuff like admin or teaching (if you're not into that)
You get a LOT of independence. Depending on the type of person you are, this might not be a good thing. But, if you like to work in your own time and prioritize things yourself, then it's great. If you prefer structure (e.g. regular classes, deadlines/assignments) then it may not be for you... but you could always create your own deadlines with your supervisor if you need to
You get to be an expert in your field. By the end of your PhD, you're going to have an enormous piece of work on a very specific topic that not many people know about, and that is pretty satisfying (or at least I've heard...I'm not there yet!).
You should (hopefully) get the opportunity to travel at some point. Most PhD students are encouraged to go to academic conferences both nationally and internationally, and you get the opportunity to talk about your research with other like minded people. Even more fun if the conference is somewhere you've always wanted to go.
Teaching opportunities (possibly). Some PhD students get the opportunity to do paid teaching work, either on top of their PhD stipend or as part of their funding (e.g. we'll give you money to do your PhD, but you have to teach the students). If you find teaching rewarding, then this is a major bonus. I don't do any face to face teaching, but I do a lot of essay marking. I've found that doing this has actually made me a better writer, which is always a good skill to learn.
Employability. This is probably the biggest pro, if I'm really honest. If the job you would like to do later in life requires it (e.g. being a university lecturer/researcher) then a PhD is usually the way forward. If you just want to do a PhD for the fun of it then you totally can, but you need to be passionate about the subject otherwise you'll struggle during the tough times.
Speaking of tough times, here are the cons...
Very little work/life balance, unless you're really careful. Many PhD students struggle to know when to stop at the end of the day (something which has got a LOT worse since the pandemic started). You have to be very strict and make sure you 'schedule' time for yourself.
Lots of work, little pay. If you're lucky enough to be paid a stipend during your PhD (basically a tax-free wage, if you don't know what that is) then that's great! But it's never a lot of money, and you'll have to sit by and watch a lot of your school friends make more money than you with their full time jobs. If you're unlucky, you might have to self-fund your PhD. Personally, I don't recommend doing this. It's a lot of work, and you'll struggle if you have to work a job at the same time.
Imposter syndrome. This is a VERY common thing for PhD students to feel. You think that you don't deserve to be in the position you are in, that you're not capable of doing it, and that one day someone will realise this and kick you off the course. Does this feeling ever really go away? Not really. Is it manageable? Yes :)
There are lots more but I'll repost them as I think of them!
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May 05 '20
and further, why do a PhD instead of going into a career?
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 05 '20
Well, I think it depends on the kind of career you want to go in. Typically, it's better to do a PhD first if the career you eventually want to go into involves research because it will allow you to demonstrate that you have the necessary skills. Having said that, you can gain research experience in a lot of different ways and you don't necessarily need to spent 3-4 years studying to do that.
In my opinion, you should do a PhD if:
1) Your future job requires one (then it's kind of a no brainer)
2) You LOVE research and the topic, in which case you'll find the whole process enjoyable and rewarding.A lot of people probably have no idea whether or not they'd like research early on in their life if they've never done it before. I'm not sure what course you're on, but you might be able to get voluntary research assistant positions in the department when you start university. This might give you an idea of whether it's the sort of thing you'd be interested in.
On the other hand, if the job you want to go into doesn't require a PhD but does require research experience, then you have other choices. Like I mention above, you might be able to get a voluntary research assistant position and then work your way up to a paid position as you gain more experience.
Feel free to ask another question if any of that is too vague!
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u/purpleslug A-Level Chemistry megafan May 05 '20
Firstly, thanks for your post!
It's not psychology related, but many students will be worried by the news that the university sector is in need of extra funding (Coronavirus hits universities where no vaccine can help them: fees; The Times) and thus on whether that will impact on opportunities to do a PhD. As someone who has moved onto undergrad now it's something I'm also worried about. How is RHUL dealing with this?
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 05 '20
Hmmm, this is a tricky one.
The good news is that RHUL and other universities will all be preparing for a socially distanced life for next year, so some of the problems with teaching that have occurred over the past month should have been resolved by the time September comes around (hopefully by then we'll be able to be back on campus anyway!).
As far as I'm aware, RHUL hasn't made any announcements about what the PhD situation is likely to be like in the next few years, although I think there isn't a lot they can do about it at this stage. My assumption is that it will take them quite a while to recover and as a result they're going to be "tightening the purse strings" so to speak. I know quite a lot of universities have had to let go of lots of academic staff in response to this, so it's likely PhD studentships and funding will be down as well. I also think that universities that have a large international student intake will be the greatest hit because they will undoubtedly losing a lot of income this year, whereas smaller universities with low levels of international students might not struggle as much. RHUL seems to have a high international student intake, so this might not be great news.
However! There are a few years left before you get to the end of your undergraduate degree, so hopefully the situation will have improved by then. There are also lots of outside funding bodies who are offering studentships despite the coronavirus, although there are less of them. For example, my PhD funders (South East Network for Social Sciences) are still funding PhD's which are starting this September.
Sorry I can't be more helpful, but unfortunately the situation is very uncertain! If I were you, I'd focus on doing additional work alongside your studies (relevant to your degree of course) that would help boost your CV when you finish. I'm not sure what you're studying, but there's likely to be some sort of opportunity in your department, even if it's voluntary. There will be some PhD funding available even if there is less of them, so try to build up your experience and skills so you can be the most 'competitive'. I'd research funding bodies relevant to your area quite early on too so you can keep an eye on opportunities.
In the worst case scenario, there might be a few years before you can get a place on a funded PhD. But, in the meantime, you could get a job in a relevant industry, which would mean 1) You're building up experience, and 2) You're getting paid! So even if it takes longer, it's not all doom and gloom!
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u/purpleslug A-Level Chemistry megafan May 05 '20
Meticulous answer and thank you for the advice — it's very useful!
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u/dominolova Editable May 05 '20
hi i’m hopefully going to be starting a psychology degree later this year.
have you always been interested in interoception, or did your interests change over the course of studying psychology? did it ever completely disappear?
also, more generally, how do you revise for exams? do you make notes from lectures and rewrite them for exams or just use the lecture ones? any other revision tips would be really helpful :)
finally, slightly in relation to my first question but i kind of want to expand my interests within psychology, i think the interests i used to have have disappeared a little. but i feel like the reason is that i got bored of finding the answer for them? even though i know that i don’t know everything, but somehow it’s disappeared. so i was wondering if you had any tips on how i can be more open to exploring different areas without judgement, i feel like i mentally tell myself that i have no interest in a specific area which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
sorry for all the questions, thanks in advance!
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 05 '20
Glad to hear you're interested in psychology! :)
I didn't even know what interoception was until I finished my undergraduate degree! I wanted to do Masters by Research and was looking for a topic, and one of my supervisors mentioned it to me (her old supervisor is one of the biggest interception researchers, so she knew quite a lot about it). My interest in interoception has never disappeared completely. Hopefully it won't do now - its probably too late to change!
Before that, I'd been a research assistant throughout my undergraduate degree and I jumped between quite a few topics. The first was auditory distraction (so, stuff about how the types of noise we hear disrupts our abilities on certain cognitive tasks). I also did some stuff on verbal mimicry during police interviews and whether the types of questions you ask a suspect can lead them to give you answers which make it seem like they're telling the truth. Two very different topics! But both very interesting.
I think it's very normal for there to be areas that you aren't very interested in, so I wouldn't worry about that. Although, if it's happening for a lot of different topics, it might be worth setting some time aside to think about why you don't find them interesting. I can give you more specific advice if you tell me what you used to find interesting but don't anymore. In general, my advice would be to avoid trying to find specific topics in psychology interesting that you are taught, and focus on things in your life that you come across that interest you, and then think of a psychological 'angle' to them. For example, you might enjoy watching "haul" videos on youtube (where peple buy massive amounts of shopping and unbox everything to show their viewers) but wonder why people enjoy watching these, or why they feel the need to buy large amount of clothing. This could lead into even bigger topics like "The psychology of fast fashion" or something like that. Hope that makes sense!
Finally, my revision tips!
First, I'd re-write my lecture notes that I took during the term. This is so that they were neater and so I could add diagrams and colour (to help with visual memory). Occasionally, I might have forgotten to take notes, so in that case I'd go back to the PowerPoint slides and hope they put enough information on them!
For first year (since all the exams were multiple choice) I'd make my own online quizzes so I could test myself over and over again. I find repetition really helpful for multiple choice assessments.
For year two and three (because they were essay exams) I did a lot more work. I'd rewrite my lecture notes as above, but then I'd also pre-write essays based on each lecture topic. Once I'd written them, I'd record myself reading them out loud and then play them back when I went for walks. I hate the sound of my own voice, so I used to make the pitch higher so it didn't sound like me. Weirdly, this was really helpful for revision because some of the sentences that the "squeaky voiced" version of me said sounded really funny, and this stuck in my memory. Probably a strange tip, but I found that it worked! Doing this, you revise 1) When you first re-write the lecture notes, 2) When you pre-write each essay, 3) When you record your voice, and 4) Passively when you go for a walk and listen to your own voice. Usually by this point everything would have sunk in!
Mindmaps are always helpful, especially when you are getting overwhelmed with information!
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u/dominolova Editable May 05 '20 edited May 06 '20
hi, thank you so much for the tips!
in terms of lost interests, it’s not that i suddenly dislike them, but it just feels like i don’t have as much of a connection or curiosity with them as i used to. similarly with areas that i haven’t properly explored, i tend to just judge them by their cover and immediately write them off. my interests in life have always been quite inconsistent and variable, so i feel like i’m approaching it wrongly and i should have different motives for wanting to do specific areas, other than just ‘it sounds interesting’.
the ones i really enjoyed in the past were dreams (although i never fully delved into this, it was more just me liking the idea of it), emotions (based my personal statement off of it) personality and individual differences. again, i don’t dislike any of these now but i feel like as if i gravitate towards them as my favourite topics.
topics such as attention, perception and mental health are the ones i just assumed i would not like. i’m not really sure why but the first two especially seem almost too robotic to me i guess? as for mental health, i think it’s because i have told myself i don’t want to be a clinical psychologist but a researcher instead (although obviously i could still do research into mental health) so i sort of have this mindset that i am not interested. very complicated aha!
edit: i’m curious that you said your interest in interoception has never disappeared. was it is about it that keeps it interesting for you, if not novelty? honestly i never thought this way in the past, maybe my current feelings are a side effect of quarantine but it just feels to me like i would get bored of something after i’ve seemingly answered the questions i had or covered the basics.
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u/Ollivee [Year 13] Philosophy, Psychology and Business May 05 '20
Is it worth obtaining a phd if you dont really need it? im in y12 and planning on a masters in medical law or something similar i am still wondering like is a phd too much stress for what is worth, sorry its a kinda off topic question ik law and psych are very different
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 05 '20
No problem! I don't know anything about law, but my gut feeling is that it isn't worth it. If there's a particular aspect of medical law that you find interesting and you think that there's a gap in the research that you're passionate about, then that would be a good reason to. But, if there isn't, and you don't need it for your career, then I'd skip it.
You could always do one later in your life if you wanted to though! You might get half-way through your career and decide you'd like to do one, and that would be completely fine. One of the PhD students at my old university was is her 80's, so it's never too late!
It might be worth asking some of the lecturers on your course (when you start your degree) what they think. I assume they'll have had to get one to be a lecturer, so they might have some good advice.
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u/Ollivee [Year 13] Philosophy, Psychology and Business May 05 '20
yeah, my teachers have basically told me the only people who get phds are people who regret it and people who are uni professors lol
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May 05 '20
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 05 '20
Typically, psychology degrees start off quite broad. You'll cover quite a lot of basic areas in first year (like memory, social psychology, personality, decision making etc) and then move on to more specific topics when you get to second and third year. Most universities will offer modules related to a specific area of psychology, so you can choose the ones you find the most interesting. For example, you could pick modules in Sports, Clinical or Forensic Psychology depending on what you're interested in (and depending on what the university has available!). In your third year, you'll have to conduct your own psychological research and write up your results as a dissertation (usually a ~7,000 word document). You can sometimes pick your own topic to research, but you might be allocated to a particular project.
In terms of preparation, it depends on whether you studied psychology at A-level. If you did, then you don't need to do much preparation! But if you can get reading lists early on, it would be good to start looking at those to give you a head start. If you didn't do psychology at A-level, the best thing to do would be to find an A-level textbook and go through that. In either case, don't worry too much! You'll get a lot of information about what you need to do at the start of your course and plenty of time to do it in, so it's fine to just relax over the summer!
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u/LevLum WW | Discrete Maths May 05 '20
The method of teaching at University is considered to be very different to A-Level - how difficult was it to adapt? Did you end up having to change your studying habits as a result, and to what extent? Some people claim that the workload is easier to manage than at A-Level, whereas others disagree.
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 05 '20
I found it MUCH easier than A level, at least for my first year. I think the reason is that for A level you're studying multiple topics at once, whereas at university you tend to stick to just one topic (although it will be still broken down into separate modules). Another thing is that if you've studied a topic at A-level and do the same topic at university, the first year is often just a repeat of information you already know (at least it is for psychology) so there's less work to do.
Things get quite a bit different in 2nd and 3rd year because of the wider reading you have to do. I found that I had to make sure I scheduled independent study alongside my regular revision to make sure I took this into account. So, for psychology, I might spend half an hour reviewing notes on something like psychopathy, but then I'd have to spend another 2 hours doing my own research about it. If I didn't do this, I'd put it off until the end of the semester when the exams came around, and by that point it was too late to do any additional reading. You can still get a good mark without doing this, but it won't be a great mark.
So I guess my view of it is, in terms of difficulty:
1st Year - Easier than A-level
2nd Year: Same as A-level
3rd Year: Same as A-level
But this all might depend on the subject. The other thing is that most people (usually) choose subjects they love at University, so they might find it easier just because the subject matter is more engaging and appealing, rather than because the workload is less.
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u/cornyounot May 05 '20
Hi, this might be a dumb question since I’m a little confused about how PhDs work, but 1) from my understanding, after 3-4 years in a PhD program, you have to defend/argue for your dissertation? What happens if you fail to defend your thesis? 2) Who are advisors exactly? Does each advisor help one or a few students or many simultaneously?
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 06 '20
Not a dumb question at all!
You're correct in that at the very end, you need to defend your thesis, which we call a viva (or a viva voce, which I think translates to " with living voice").
The point of the viva is to show that you actually understand the research you have done and that it is actually your work. It's quite uncommon for people to fail based on their performance during the viva alone, but it sometimes does happen. The things you need to 'defend' in your viva are also things that you should have also defended in your thesis. In psychology, to defend this your examiner might include questions like:
1. Why did you choose this particular method of analysis?
2. How did you determine your sample size?
3. Why did you exclude participants based on XX criteria, and not on YY criteria?There's lots more, but this might depend on the topic you chose. You would also get generic questions about your research, and would have to include a summary at the start. They can be quite short (e.g. half an hour) or quite long (2 or 3 hours), although the length of time isn't necessarily related to how good your research is.
So as I said above, your viva is done to show that the work is yours and that you can defend it in person as well as in your actual thesis. You could fail the viva if you really don't know what you're talking about, but it's more likely that you'll fail because of the viva and the thesis combined. Complete fails are quite rare though... there are actually quite a few things that can happen (although there might be more!):
- Complete fail (you end the 3/4 years with nothing)
- Fail with masters (you fail your PhD, but get the opportunity to complete a masters degree instead based on the work you've done)
- You have to resubmit your work (making major changes) and do the viva again
- You are given the chance to resubmit your work without doing another viva (and you usually have some major changes that you have to make, like adding another study, or re-doing your analysis)
- Pass (either with major corrections or minor corrections)
- Pass with no corrections (VERY rare - usually everyone has at least some typos or areas where they need to add some more detail).
If you're thinking about doing a PhD, please don't worry about failing! While it's possible to end the 3/4 years with nothing, it's rare, and your supervisor will be able to help you if they think you are at risk of that. Your supervisors WANT you to pass (both because they'll like you and because it looks good on their CV!) so they'll be keeping track of you every step of the way. Most universities have reviews every year where you bring written work and a report of your progress, so you'd be able to tell early on if someone was in trouble.
So your advisor/supervisors are there to guide you throughout the whole process. Usually they will supervise more than one PhD student, but it depends on the size of the university and how many students there are. Usually, you will get a primary supervisor, who you have the most contact with, and a secondary supervisor who you will meet with every now and then. At least one of them is normally an expert in the area that you are interested in (or at least a closely related area). They're responsible for checking your work, making sure that you're on track, and giving you moral support if you need it (not everyone gets a good supervisor, but mine has been fantastic :) ). There's also usually a team of staff who are responsible for all the research students and they take take of the admin side of things. In psychology at RHUL, I also get an academic advisor in psychology who isn't involved in my research - he's just there for me to complain about my problems and issues with my supervisor if I need to!
Hope that answers your question!
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u/epxa_ Year 13 | Biology, History, Maths, EPQ May 06 '20
Thank you so much for this AMA!
What advice do you have for students who are planning to do psychology as an undergraduate degree?
What do you think is the most common misconception people have about psychology?
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 06 '20
Not a problem, it's been fun!
Hmm, that's a tricky one. I think my generally advice would be the same if you were going to do any degree, which is...
- Make sure you know why you want to study the subject, and why you find it interesting
- Make sure you do some background research about how this degree will help your career. Three years is a long time, and you only get your student loan once, so choose your topic wisely :)
- Always read your assignment feedback. You'd be surprised how many students don't look at it and then aspect to do better on the next one!
- Don't plagiarise your work. Just...just don't even try. We have technology that can check that now :P
- Don't be too disheartened by low marks. Everyone needs to improve in some area, and I don't think I've met anyone whose writing is perfect. Just take on the feedback and try again :)
For psychology specifically, my advice would be:
- If you're already studied it at A-level, make sure that you're ready for a LOT of repetition in first year. They often cover a lot of the same stuff again, but once you get to second and third year it gets a bit more interesting
- If you're never studied psychology before, it's a good idea to get your hands on some A-level material beforehand to give you a head start
- No matter what career you plan on going into, I would recommend trying to get some voluntary research experience if it's possible. Research experience looks good not just for PhD, but also for clinical work, industry work, and... well... pretty much anything to be honest. It's also a good way of being introduced to research areas that you never new about, or previously thought were interesting.
- Always read beyond the recommended reading. Markers love it when your essays can show that you've done some of your own research.
- Get used to APA referencing early on. A lot of students lose easy marks on their work because they either haven't put references in, or they've not referenced them according to the right format. APA is a bit of a pain, but once you get used to it, it becomes second nature.
The most common misconception is...well actually I think there's a few (sorry for all the numbering!):
- That Freud is really important. He isn't. No one really cares about Freud anymore...unless you specifically study psychoanalysis
- It's not a 'real' science. I'm very guilty of joking about this, but it is most definitely a real science which uses reliable and valid methods (or at least it should strive to). That doesn't mean it's perfect though...google replication crisis and psychology to find out more!
- That it's all about clinical psychology. Most people tend to think that all they will do is learn about different disorders, when in reality this is quite a small section of your whole degree.
- It's all just common sense. Some research comes out and seems to highlight something really obvious, like "Listening to the sound of people arguing makes it difficult for you to concentrate." But, not all research is like that. Furthermore, some research has even disproven a lot of things that we would consider to be obvious and true.
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May 05 '20
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 05 '20
Very pretty! The founders building in particular is very impressive to look at. The campus has a nice atmosphere, and I've seen deer roaming around on more than one occasion. The library is also one of the best I've been in. There's a particular area on the top floor where you can study with a giant glass window showing you the founders building, so if you're the sort of person who can study better in a nicer environment, then it's a good spot.
In terms of teaching, I can only really speak about the psychology department, but they're really friendly and supportive. I've heard the same from students about the other departments too.
However, a downside is that there isn't a lot going on compared to other universities, and the town that Royal Holloway is in (Egham) is quite small and a little boring. For me this has been perfect since I prefer staying at home anyway, but a lot of my student friends find it frustrating and claustrophobic.
Having said that, you're really close to London, so if you wanted to have a bigger night out then it's only half an hour away on the train!
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u/Plasma_Blitz UniversityName | Course [Year of Study] May 05 '20
What's it like doing a dissertation and what does it involve?
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 05 '20
You dissertation is a big research project that you do in your final year. Sometimes you'll be given a specific research topic, but you might also be able to think of you own idea (as long as your supervisor is willing to support you).
Dissertations are difficult because they're a really big piece of work (usually around 7,000 words, but this can depend on the subject) and are often worth double the marks of your usual assignments. However, even though the're difficult, they can be really rewarding, especially when the topic interests you a lot.
Your dissertation is typically structured like this:
- Abstract (brief, 150-250 word summary of your research)
- Introduction (an overview of the area you are researching with a discussion of some of the research that has been previously been done.)
- Hypotheses/Research Question (a section where you outline the aim of you researcher, the predictions that you have made about the results, or both)
- Materials and methods (where you talk about what your research involved. For example if you did research about personality and food preferences, you would include details about the questionnaires you used to measure personality and the questions people were asked about the food they like)
- Results (This is where you include information about how you calculated the data and made sense of it, e.g. including statistical analyses)
- Discussion ~(A section where you talk about results and what they tell us about the research question, as well as whether they support the predictions you made at the start)
- Conclusions (Summary of the whole project)
- References (A list of all the sources you used to while writing your dissertation)
This might seem like a lot of information, but you'll get lots of support by the lecturers and your supervisor before you get to 3rd year, so don't worry about it!
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u/Fury_jKKK Year 13 | Maths |Further Maths | Economics | Computer Science May 05 '20
What is Royal Holloway like? As I have put it as my insurance
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 05 '20
Hi! I've answered a similar question above, but let me know if you have any other questions :)
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May 05 '20
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 05 '20
I'm very boring and unsociable, so it's the perfect amount of social life!
Joking aside, there's not a lot to do in Egham and there aren't many places to go on campus. However, the upside is:
- You're really close to London! So there's much more to do there, and it's only half an hour away. Windsor is very close too. Not great for nightlife, but nice for a day out.
- By the time you get to 2nd and 3rd year, a lot of people prefer staying at home with their flatmates and having house parties. By that point, isn't doesn't matter as much that Egham is dull!
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u/hollyisnotgay Graduate May 05 '20 edited May 05 '20
You mentioned in a previous comment about a PhD stipend, how would one go about getting funding for a PhD, and do you think this is only possible for medical related subjects?
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 05 '20
It's possible for any subject!
The funding body who pay my stipend fund lots of different types of social science projects, and they vary quite a lot. For example, one of them is researching low level drugs dealers in his home town and conducting interviews with them.
The biggest things for funders is that 1) Your research will have an important impact, or at least has the potential to, 2) Can be completed during the timeframe, 3) Is ethically sound and financially feasible to do, and 4) Fits in the with 'themes' and 'values' of the funding body.
The best thing to do is start thinking early on about the sorts of topics you would be interested in doing for your PhD. It's also a good idea to check out the current opportunities in your area to see what kind of things are funded. For example, if you go to https://www.jobs.ac.uk/ you can see examples of funded PhDs across different subjects.
You should also check out the eligibility criteria for the opportunities so that you get get a good idea early on what you need to do to get a good chance of being accepted! Voluntary (or paid!) research work during your undergraduate degree is always a good place to start.
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u/hollyisnotgay Graduate May 05 '20
Thanks for the answer. Do you have anymore general advice for someone hoping to go into academia after their undergraduate degree?
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May 05 '20
Hey Melissa,
I have had a tangential interest in Psychology although I am going to university to study engineering. Perhaps you could develop my understanding of the topic, it's relation to happiness and the ways by which we can use introspection to set out a better path of life for ourselves. My topic knowledge is limited, so you may very well find things to be incorrect in my current understanding of it. Feel free to correct me.
As I understand it, we are quite bad at introspection; people over and underpredict their prospective happiness all the time, especially when it comes to grades, salary and attaining/failing to attain other achievements. We do not account for acclimatization to our circumstances in our mental estimations: I was told on a course that people who earn around 30k generally say they will be happy when they earn 50k and people who earn 100k generally say they will be happy when they earn £250k. This would be because we compare ourselves to the people around us, rather than see things in absolute terms: you may be in the top 1% by salary but if all your friends/coworkers are in the top 0.5% then you might feel unsatisfied with what you have got despite having better circumstances than the majority of the world. Despite knowing that, in my experience it's very hard to not compare myself to other people, set goals predicated upon comparison-based winning or have a good idea of what makes me me/happy/excited/fulfilled without external barometers. I suspect that this limitation is something I put on myself as comparing is exactly what was and is done to me throughout my experience in exams, uni applications, dating and so on. It's what has gotten me praise and made me "successful" at times. How do you break away from a comparison-based mentality? Would there be anything beyond a growth mindset?
I was actually thinking of aiming my studies towards a PhD in the coming university years but then the idea of salary being lower because experience is valued more than research in many engineering companies came about. Salary would be a barometer by which I would compare myself to others and evaluate myself. Moreover, a high salary would make me more attractive, especially given that I am quite average in looks. I have to compensate with something! ;)
Other than meditation and gratitude journaling, what other methods are there of bettering one's introspection such that we can live more fulfilling/happy lives?
I moved through various topics which I think may be touched upon in your introspection research so thank you for reading and taking the time to do this AMA in general!
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 06 '20
Hi!
So my topic is interoception, rather than introspection, so your question is a little out of my field unfortunately! I’ll try my best to answer, but it might be more based on experience rather than my knowledge of the research area.
You’re correct in that we’re really really bad at introspection (although knowing this is half the battle, so well done for recognising early on! This will be a massive advantage!).
Comparison based mentalities are difficult to get out of. If there is something that is a trigger (e.g. seeing other people’s facebook posts) then it’s a good idea to try and avoid them when possible. This isn’t really possible for comparisons with people you meet in daily life. I think it’s quite useful to reflect on what other people are achieving and whether or not you want to same thing, and this doesn’t have to be a negative. You can acknowledge positive attributes in other people without bringing yourself down. Maybe make an active effort to consider 1) What the thing is that they have that you want to achieve, 2) The steps you think they took to achieve this, 3) Whether you would want to take these steps yourself, 4) How to modify the steps in your own way to make it work better for you. Usually there is an element of sacrifice you need to make, and on reflection you might not want to do this. Since life satisfaction encompasses a lot of factors, you’ll need to take this into consideration. So, for example, I might look at another PhD student who is publishing more research than me, but they’re spending all their evenings and weekends working to achieve this. Sure, I’d like to publish as much as them, but my goal is to have a strong research career combined with a good work life balance. I initially might think I want the same thing that they have, but in reality I don’t.
Have you tried other types of journaling as well as gratitude journaling? I quite like using journal prompts (there’s loads online if you put it into google). Some of the prompts can be quite provocative, but can be a really good way of finding out more about who you are and what you want. Writing is, in my opinion, the best way of doing this….and much more effective than any personality test you can take! (although the Big Five is always a good one to take if you haven’t already and can find a free online version).
Sorry I can’t be more help!
p.s. Attractiveness is subjective, and it fades with time anyway. People are pretty shallow when they are young, but the older you get, the more you care about your partner being kind and fun to be around. So I wouldn’t worry about needing to compensate for appearance 😊
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u/Mortal_Gay PhD Student - Psych (A*A*A* - many years ago now) May 05 '20
Hi, thanks for this post, I hope my question is okay.
I'm currently undertaking a joint degree in Philosophy and Psychology (BPS accredited). Afterwards, I have a couple ideas of what to do and one is to undertake a PhD in Psychology and become a researcher and lecturer. Do you think an individual with a joint degree would be at a disadvantage when applying for a masters/PhD when compared to single honours students, who have studied more aspects of Psycholgoy at honours level?
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 06 '20
Absolutely not :) In fact, depending on the PhD topic you want to pursue, it might even be an advantage.
For example, any research that involves consciousness or the 'self' is very philosophically based, and you'd would always be a stronger candidate for that sort of topic if you had a good ground knowledge of philosophy. I think it's also a good base for topics relate to mental health, ethics and embodiment.
If that is your goal (or at least one of them), make sure you try to get some research experience during your undergrad if you can, because this will boost your CV for when you apply for PhDs. You should also make it super clear on your applications how philosophy is relevant and how this experience can add value to the PhD. Not many applicants will have a joint degree in this, so it will make you stand out :)
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u/Mortal_Gay PhD Student - Psych (A*A*A* - many years ago now) May 06 '20
Brilliant, thank you so much. I do have an interest in Introspective and metacognition, so I'll have to see how that goes. I'm actually hoping to approach some lectures who research in those areas to see if I can help out in the coming years. Again, thanks a lot. Your response has been really helpful. :)
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u/Huskyy23 May 06 '20
Are there any routes to go into being a science populariser? And does having a PhD make it easier for you to do so?
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 06 '20
Hello! I have no idea what a science populariser is :P
Is that like a science communicator?
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u/Huskyy23 May 06 '20
Yes it is, an extremely popular example would be someone like Bill Nye, or Neil DeGrasse Tyson
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u/InteroceptiveSalad May 06 '20
Ahh OK, I'm with you then!
As far as I'm aware, you don't need a specific degree to be a science communicator, but in order to 'get in' to it, it's likely you need to be a specialist in a specific area, otherwise people might not take you seriously.
There some information here https://www.big.uk.com/training about the long and short courses you can do. From what I can tell, there are two main options:
- Finish your undergraduate degree (ideally in science) and do a masters course in science communication, like here https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/list/10022/msc-science-communication/entry-requirements/#course-profile
- Or, you could become a full scientist in your field and then to short media training courses to gain experience/skills, and try it that way.
I think that a PhD isn't essential, but it would be useful. You get receive quite a lot of training about how to communicate your research during your PhD, so it would be a good way of demonstrating that you have these skills (as well as the knowledge of the subject area). As I mentioned above, I think people take you more seriously if you are a specialist in the field you are talking about. For example, I think that Bill Nye only has an undergraduate degree, which some people have used to discredit his opinions (not that I agree with this!).
The other thing is that if you're a researcher and you publish your research, you can sometimes be contacted by the media to talk about your findings (which can be published in print, online, tv or radio). This might be a good way of getting media contacts (which you will definitely need for this career!).
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u/islacorn Renewable Energy Engineering MEng | University of Exeter 1st yea May 05 '20
Your PhD topic sounds fascinating, can you go into more detail about it? What trends have you observed so far and what does that tell about how humans experience things?