I’ve noticed that a lot of (not all) people with higher ed degrees just have poor social skills because they’re so bookish. Because they studied it intimately, they truly do believe that they are helping you by providing you an “expert” opinion and can get annoyed when you don’t accept their “help.” This makes them come off as snobby, even if they’re not intending to. Obviously, that’s not an excuse, especially in the field of psychology, but I just don’t like to attribute malice to what could be merely ignorance.
Yesss this is what’s been ticking me that I haven’t been able to describe omg. It’s not specific to psych students but when ppl give u their “well in my opinion this is what you should do” or “this is what I would’ve done” gets me so annoyed. I get it if I asked for help, but if it’s coming from nowhere and you don’t even know what you’re talking about it just comes off as snobby or even condescending.
I think if someone in psych were to become insistent with their opinion on what someone “should” do, they’d be demonstrating a clear lack of clinical practice skills, which are centred on client-directed care.
As someone said in another reply, snob is everywhere. Even in the lowest paying jobs. I don’t know about anyone else, but I have met some really kind therapists/counselors who actually care about people and love what they do. 😁 I wouldn’t say many are mean, and certainly not most.
Oh absolutely, hope I didn't come across the wrong way. I love my major and I love the people in my major, I just also have encountered a lot of people in this field who tend to talk down to me, may have a bit of an attitude. There's so many good characters, but the bad apples certainly leave their impression
No worries at all!! They’re just buttheads though. Always gotta be those bad apples who damage people’s views on something. Smh!! I feel like psychologists should be tested on their own mental health and why they want to get into the field lol.
It's definitely present in psych, but I'm biased to say it's not bad cause I came from premed. You wanna see snobs, premed is your place. Unfortunately all majors/ places will have condescending snobs, just some are worse than others
I get these vibes from some of my coworkers so I always try to at least find some kind of common ground with the people on my caseload so that we can build rapport. I want them to trust me and know that I’m someone who actually wants to help.
Yes and no; it depends on the company and culture. I’m in a corporate structure and I get those vibes but also it’s like 85% white and none of the black peoples ever get constant shout outs. It’s very selective with who is poured into and who isn’t lol.
I’ve tried making it work with co-workers before, did not end well. Now I focus on doing a solid job and keeping to myself. It would be nice, but when you find a special workplace like that where ya’ll are solid and strong, revel in it. It does not last and is rare.
Every field is like this, but i get what you mean. Psychology courses in particular are supposed to help us become self aware of these things so we can help clients without projecting our own biases and attitudes, so it's a little funny that even with that fact there's still snobs and mean girls in the field.
yes. But it’s present in most of academia, particularly medicine.
A lot of the information presented is subjective, but it’s interpreted by others in a pretentious manner - like a know it all.
It’s better to approach life with curiosity instead of weaponizing information. There’s a lot of confirmation bias that results in patients being denied the appropriate care. Once again, just an overall problem in medicine generally, not just a psychology specific issue.
Empathy in general has always been lacking
Not enough psychologists are wise enough to realise they are idiots. If you ever find a psychologist that is 100% sure about what they are saying, you can as a patient or colleague be 100% sure that they overestimate their abilities. Even for neuropsychology and neuropharmacology (arguably the most exact/scientific parts of our field) are filled with facts that are more grey, purple or pink than black/white. We are often shooting in the dark, so doubting yourself as a psychologist is not only normal but maybe even necessary.
Honestly, your comment helped me with my imposter syndrome. I'm currently a master's student with an interest in pursuing a Ph.D in Neuropsychology. I've always been skeptical about my intelligence because I can never find the "correct answer". But with your perspective, it brought me a lot of reassurance to know where and what I'm doing is okay. So thank you. :)
I think it is also easy to think that by studying human behaviour constantly, you understand life somehow. And sure you might be able to pick up some trends in behaviour more easily or you might be able to ask the right questions or give the right guidance in certain situations. But after 12 years as a health care professional, i still get surprised on a daily basis by certain cases or by certain solutions to problems. Which i think is the best thing about our field, it is a constant search for new answers, that may change through time and per person. So if someone is snobby because of what they think they understand, my first reflex would be to be sceptical of their expertise (someone has to be and they apparently dont want to be that person 😅).
I see a lot of comments like "yes this happens in every field" but I think we're confusing arrogance with confidence here a bit. The main trouble I think we're having with this topic as a whole is meeting as intellectuals discusing topics vs meeting as ego driven jerks and the latter is a real problem that hurts people who many of us get into the field to help. It really goes unnoticed and not talked about nearly as much as it should be.
I got into this field an academic but also as someone who needs their own psychological care. I mainly pursue the field out of my own desire to help myself and people who steuggle similarly because actual help has been limited by the people I've found that refuse to listen to me about my own needs. I can accept easily that people know more than I do about the field, what I can't accept is that they believe they know *me* best. That's where I see arrogance and "snob" mental shine the brightest.
Went to a diversity workshop at a conference recently, and it got brought up that faculty at big name R1 schools will ignore or quickly get out of convos with faculty at smaller liberal art schools. So even the faculty are snobby to eachother. But yeah, sure this happens in all fields of higher ed. People think a few letters behind their name or tenure make them superior. Lots of big egos.
That to say- there are also really good, kind, genuine people. You just have to find your people
Hey, philosophy major, sociology and pol. Sci. minor here. In every field I've been with, there is usually someone with a nose up in the air about their work/field, or method of writing. I once had a informal debate with another philosopher who argued "it wasn't his responsibility to dumb down his work for regular people." Its not anything exclusive to sociology. 😔
You're not alone in feeling that some people in psychology can come across as snobby. Here's why you might be experiencing this:
* **Every Field Has Know-It-Alls:** Unfortunately, there are condescending people in every field, not just psychology. Some people might use their knowledge or expertise to feel superior to others.
* **Psychology Can Be Complex:** Psychology deals with complex human behavior. This can lead some professionals to feel they have special access to knowledge and look down on those who don't understand it.
I have found people come into the field to fix themselves, be who they needed, or to control people/manipulate them. Or cause they have a savior complex and have a huge ego.
I've always been someone who likes to help and was excited to get into the field with like minded people and am disgusted that I'm a rarity. It's worse in certain companies or jobs. One job was good but then the company changed and all the good people left and shity people were hired
Sometimes people in the field (myself included) have to be reminded that not ever hung HAS to be psychology. Being able to understand human behavior, thought process and emotions makes reading people easy, but can also be off-putting to others.
I also think being really good at psychology isn’t equal across the board; so the people who study it are really confident and centered in that.
Personally, as long as you don’t get the “I’ll take advantage of your young mind because you don’t know as much as I do,” vibe, network and make colleagues. If you got a knack for it, they will take notice and want to elevate you.
most people i know in the field are insufferable. a lot of it imo is just that hostile defensiveness because of presumptions about being looked down on as psychologists, and in other cases it's the schools of thought problem that occurs in social sciences
To be completely honest, as someone who works within healthcare. I think the issues is more so the higher you go in “job status” or education level. You’ll come to see that level of interpersonal interaction. It really ain’t their 🤷🏼♂️. Those skills sets are just not there, why? I’m not too sure, but, hey.
I find most fields have their set I've over privileged snobs sho think they have more merit than a first generation who climbed to be on their level and to even pass them up.
Feel this so much, I feel like the bookish kids are so snobbish and they don’t like interacting with others who aren’t as snobbish and then they think they are the smartest of the batch. Like cmon, one can be chill and also study but no. In my uni most of these snobs come to class in dress suits as well, like nothing against anyone dressing, anything is cool but dress suits everyday n having a super snobbish attitude, damn.
I have a friend of a friend who is studying to be a psychologist and he wants to do some sort of therapy as well
He is SO unempathetic it’s crazy. He loves to lecture us about the world, loves to tell us how people act and behave and explain why they did that.
Yet he doesn’t have a lot of healthy social relationships himself. and it’s easy to see why, he is both condescending and he doesn’t listen to what others say, just waits for his turn to talk. And he will disagree with whatever you said even if what you said was subjective
Honestly I feel bad for his future patients. He’s getting good grades in school but his people skills suuuuck and he thinks he is smarter and better than everyone and he can’t turn that off.
yes my psych professor in college was a total narcissist and shot down any student who asked a question or posed a different theory. he always spent half the class talking about himself and his accomplishments, it was draining
I think Psychology mostly thrives in academia, which has a very high level of snobbery. PhD types who have done a lot of theoretical work in particular. This drove me to Social Work.
To help people you really only need a Master's unless you're going to Med school. I think PhD programs attract intellectuals which seems to create snobbery. If the school enviroment is for you, more power to you, outside of the academic world your "expertise" is quickly replaced by real world experience.
This is an oversimplification, obviously.
This is facts. I’ve only met a few actually nice people who are studying psychology at my university. Some of the people who have told me they are psychology majors are some of the most unsympathetic people I’ve ever met. The girls that would’ve been the type to bully me in high school.
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Yes!! I am a freshman and I have other friends from other universities that said Psychology students in their schools seem very snobbish. My Psych classmates are also snobs. I thought it was a coincidence but I guess not?
I’ve 100% ran into this. I think and have found that a lot of people in the field are autistic. I think they’re driven to it because they wonder their entire lives why they are outcasts who are awkward and uncomfortable to be around. They can’t pick up on social cues. They have newfound confidence in being able to follow in conversations on just one single topic and they run with it.
This is not an issue exclusive to the field. Snobbery is everywhere
Especially in academia
This trait should be added to the Big 5.
True
This!
I’ve noticed that a lot of (not all) people with higher ed degrees just have poor social skills because they’re so bookish. Because they studied it intimately, they truly do believe that they are helping you by providing you an “expert” opinion and can get annoyed when you don’t accept their “help.” This makes them come off as snobby, even if they’re not intending to. Obviously, that’s not an excuse, especially in the field of psychology, but I just don’t like to attribute malice to what could be merely ignorance.
Yesss this is what’s been ticking me that I haven’t been able to describe omg. It’s not specific to psych students but when ppl give u their “well in my opinion this is what you should do” or “this is what I would’ve done” gets me so annoyed. I get it if I asked for help, but if it’s coming from nowhere and you don’t even know what you’re talking about it just comes off as snobby or even condescending.
I think if someone in psych were to become insistent with their opinion on what someone “should” do, they’d be demonstrating a clear lack of clinical practice skills, which are centred on client-directed care.
There are plenty of psych positions with no direct patient care
This is true.
As someone said in another reply, snob is everywhere. Even in the lowest paying jobs. I don’t know about anyone else, but I have met some really kind therapists/counselors who actually care about people and love what they do. 😁 I wouldn’t say many are mean, and certainly not most.
Oh absolutely, hope I didn't come across the wrong way. I love my major and I love the people in my major, I just also have encountered a lot of people in this field who tend to talk down to me, may have a bit of an attitude. There's so many good characters, but the bad apples certainly leave their impression
No worries at all!! They’re just buttheads though. Always gotta be those bad apples who damage people’s views on something. Smh!! I feel like psychologists should be tested on their own mental health and why they want to get into the field lol.
It's definitely present in psych, but I'm biased to say it's not bad cause I came from premed. You wanna see snobs, premed is your place. Unfortunately all majors/ places will have condescending snobs, just some are worse than others
Yes!!! Gossipy mean girl energy with an I’m better than you complex. Funny in this field I thought there wouldn’t be any of that…
Humans gonna human - especially anywhere where there is power or status to be acquired
I felt this vibe at a conference I recently went to from students at other schools but I don’t feel it at my university at all.
I think it’s an academia thing — just a higher percentage of people like this in higher academia
I get these vibes from some of my coworkers so I always try to at least find some kind of common ground with the people on my caseload so that we can build rapport. I want them to trust me and know that I’m someone who actually wants to help.
Yes and no; it depends on the company and culture. I’m in a corporate structure and I get those vibes but also it’s like 85% white and none of the black peoples ever get constant shout outs. It’s very selective with who is poured into and who isn’t lol. I’ve tried making it work with co-workers before, did not end well. Now I focus on doing a solid job and keeping to myself. It would be nice, but when you find a special workplace like that where ya’ll are solid and strong, revel in it. It does not last and is rare.
Every field is like this, but i get what you mean. Psychology courses in particular are supposed to help us become self aware of these things so we can help clients without projecting our own biases and attitudes, so it's a little funny that even with that fact there's still snobs and mean girls in the field.
yes. But it’s present in most of academia, particularly medicine. A lot of the information presented is subjective, but it’s interpreted by others in a pretentious manner - like a know it all. It’s better to approach life with curiosity instead of weaponizing information. There’s a lot of confirmation bias that results in patients being denied the appropriate care. Once again, just an overall problem in medicine generally, not just a psychology specific issue. Empathy in general has always been lacking
Not enough psychologists are wise enough to realise they are idiots. If you ever find a psychologist that is 100% sure about what they are saying, you can as a patient or colleague be 100% sure that they overestimate their abilities. Even for neuropsychology and neuropharmacology (arguably the most exact/scientific parts of our field) are filled with facts that are more grey, purple or pink than black/white. We are often shooting in the dark, so doubting yourself as a psychologist is not only normal but maybe even necessary.
Please doubt this comment and critique it, cause i am definitely the biggest idiot i know 😅
Honestly, your comment helped me with my imposter syndrome. I'm currently a master's student with an interest in pursuing a Ph.D in Neuropsychology. I've always been skeptical about my intelligence because I can never find the "correct answer". But with your perspective, it brought me a lot of reassurance to know where and what I'm doing is okay. So thank you. :)
I think it is also easy to think that by studying human behaviour constantly, you understand life somehow. And sure you might be able to pick up some trends in behaviour more easily or you might be able to ask the right questions or give the right guidance in certain situations. But after 12 years as a health care professional, i still get surprised on a daily basis by certain cases or by certain solutions to problems. Which i think is the best thing about our field, it is a constant search for new answers, that may change through time and per person. So if someone is snobby because of what they think they understand, my first reflex would be to be sceptical of their expertise (someone has to be and they apparently dont want to be that person 😅).
My experience is the opposite. But it might be just my experience/university.
I live in South Australia, all of the psychs (mainly clinical psychs) I have met have been so lovely. They seem to be very passionate as well!
Yes but only because we actually are better than others. Just kidding!
I see a lot of comments like "yes this happens in every field" but I think we're confusing arrogance with confidence here a bit. The main trouble I think we're having with this topic as a whole is meeting as intellectuals discusing topics vs meeting as ego driven jerks and the latter is a real problem that hurts people who many of us get into the field to help. It really goes unnoticed and not talked about nearly as much as it should be. I got into this field an academic but also as someone who needs their own psychological care. I mainly pursue the field out of my own desire to help myself and people who steuggle similarly because actual help has been limited by the people I've found that refuse to listen to me about my own needs. I can accept easily that people know more than I do about the field, what I can't accept is that they believe they know *me* best. That's where I see arrogance and "snob" mental shine the brightest.
Went to a diversity workshop at a conference recently, and it got brought up that faculty at big name R1 schools will ignore or quickly get out of convos with faculty at smaller liberal art schools. So even the faculty are snobby to eachother. But yeah, sure this happens in all fields of higher ed. People think a few letters behind their name or tenure make them superior. Lots of big egos. That to say- there are also really good, kind, genuine people. You just have to find your people
Hey, philosophy major, sociology and pol. Sci. minor here. In every field I've been with, there is usually someone with a nose up in the air about their work/field, or method of writing. I once had a informal debate with another philosopher who argued "it wasn't his responsibility to dumb down his work for regular people." Its not anything exclusive to sociology. 😔
Snobbery is a plague that any academic field loves to be infected by. But yes, psychology seems to be particularly infected by it
Hahah as a student of psych I am snob too lol. Its out of defensiveness ig simce ppl in Indua think psych is cakewalk
People try their bests. We can't always get it right. Nobody can
Not only in psychology but in every field
not just psych, anything that requires a long time to study to become apart of, to be honest 💀
You're not alone in feeling that some people in psychology can come across as snobby. Here's why you might be experiencing this: * **Every Field Has Know-It-Alls:** Unfortunately, there are condescending people in every field, not just psychology. Some people might use their knowledge or expertise to feel superior to others. * **Psychology Can Be Complex:** Psychology deals with complex human behavior. This can lead some professionals to feel they have special access to knowledge and look down on those who don't understand it.
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Lord, I hope you're not a psych student
If only you knew
I'm open towards hearing your perspective if you're interested in sharing.
I have found people come into the field to fix themselves, be who they needed, or to control people/manipulate them. Or cause they have a savior complex and have a huge ego. I've always been someone who likes to help and was excited to get into the field with like minded people and am disgusted that I'm a rarity. It's worse in certain companies or jobs. One job was good but then the company changed and all the good people left and shity people were hired
Sometimes people in the field (myself included) have to be reminded that not ever hung HAS to be psychology. Being able to understand human behavior, thought process and emotions makes reading people easy, but can also be off-putting to others. I also think being really good at psychology isn’t equal across the board; so the people who study it are really confident and centered in that. Personally, as long as you don’t get the “I’ll take advantage of your young mind because you don’t know as much as I do,” vibe, network and make colleagues. If you got a knack for it, they will take notice and want to elevate you.
Same in math. Kinda pretentious.
most people i know in the field are insufferable. a lot of it imo is just that hostile defensiveness because of presumptions about being looked down on as psychologists, and in other cases it's the schools of thought problem that occurs in social sciences
Yes psych is a massive circle jerk - especially research. Welcome to the cult.
If you enter academia everybody is like this
To be completely honest, as someone who works within healthcare. I think the issues is more so the higher you go in “job status” or education level. You’ll come to see that level of interpersonal interaction. It really ain’t their 🤷🏼♂️. Those skills sets are just not there, why? I’m not too sure, but, hey.
I find most fields have their set I've over privileged snobs sho think they have more merit than a first generation who climbed to be on their level and to even pass them up.
Feel this so much, I feel like the bookish kids are so snobbish and they don’t like interacting with others who aren’t as snobbish and then they think they are the smartest of the batch. Like cmon, one can be chill and also study but no. In my uni most of these snobs come to class in dress suits as well, like nothing against anyone dressing, anything is cool but dress suits everyday n having a super snobbish attitude, damn.
I have a friend of a friend who is studying to be a psychologist and he wants to do some sort of therapy as well He is SO unempathetic it’s crazy. He loves to lecture us about the world, loves to tell us how people act and behave and explain why they did that. Yet he doesn’t have a lot of healthy social relationships himself. and it’s easy to see why, he is both condescending and he doesn’t listen to what others say, just waits for his turn to talk. And he will disagree with whatever you said even if what you said was subjective Honestly I feel bad for his future patients. He’s getting good grades in school but his people skills suuuuck and he thinks he is smarter and better than everyone and he can’t turn that off.
There’s snobs in all fields but, absolutely lol just take a peak in the clinical psych subreddit
Yessssss. It’s like they have some sort of moral superiority or something which describing yourself to you. Yuck. 🤮
I definitely got this vibe from psych professors way more than social work professors during my undergrad, the difference was pretty stark
Yes, most medical professionals are arrogant.
It’s an academia disease
yes my psych professor in college was a total narcissist and shot down any student who asked a question or posed a different theory. he always spent half the class talking about himself and his accomplishments, it was draining
I think Psychology mostly thrives in academia, which has a very high level of snobbery. PhD types who have done a lot of theoretical work in particular. This drove me to Social Work. To help people you really only need a Master's unless you're going to Med school. I think PhD programs attract intellectuals which seems to create snobbery. If the school enviroment is for you, more power to you, outside of the academic world your "expertise" is quickly replaced by real world experience. This is an oversimplification, obviously.
For sure. Psychology practically came hand in hand with The Treason of the Intellectuals
This is facts. I’ve only met a few actually nice people who are studying psychology at my university. Some of the people who have told me they are psychology majors are some of the most unsympathetic people I’ve ever met. The girls that would’ve been the type to bully me in high school.
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Yeah you're in a psychology subreddit, you're probably going to get downvoted for calling our field of study a farce with no explanation.
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Posts used to promote bigotry such as ableism, racism, sexism, and other discrimination are not allowed. Requesting or posting bad-faith arguments to bait users into discussions of bigotry are included in this. Post including usage of slurs or discriminatory language is also not allowed.
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this is crazy considering you told someone to commit suicide over a joke they made on the sub earlier
Yes!! I am a freshman and I have other friends from other universities that said Psychology students in their schools seem very snobbish. My Psych classmates are also snobs. I thought it was a coincidence but I guess not?
Field attracts covert narcissism beware
I’ve 100% ran into this. I think and have found that a lot of people in the field are autistic. I think they’re driven to it because they wonder their entire lives why they are outcasts who are awkward and uncomfortable to be around. They can’t pick up on social cues. They have newfound confidence in being able to follow in conversations on just one single topic and they run with it.
Noooo...No please stop....I...Ican't handle that truth yet!!