Why Psychology Sucks Sometimes

Don’t get me wrong, I love my major, but sometimes it can be downright depressing. I finally have a life again after my three midterms, all of them psychology based, and my head is still swimming with notions of the self-serving bias and the availability heuristic. Seemingly vague terms I know. But why does psychology really get at me sometimes?

The official term is medical school syndrome, and while I don’t have that, I think psychology can sometimes seem a bit self-diagnosing. Medical school syndrome applies more to abnormal psychological conditions—when after learning about all the psychological disorders you think that, heck, maybe I’ve got OCD, bipolar disorder, and paranoia, too. And while I still feel like my happy self, there’s one particular bias in social psychology that irks me to no end…

The uniqueness bias. Oh wait, and the self-serving bias, too. Basically, it tells us that people think they’re more special than they actually are and that they think they’re better than average when they’re actually quite plain-Jane. Disheartening, right? My confidence was shot for a little while after learning this news, but the way I see it—ignorance is bliss in this situation. Because while we may think more highly of ourselves than we should, it works to our benefit. We strive for more goals, bounce back quicker, and feel happier in general. So go think you’re special, you special you.

I think you’re unique and better than average—even if the math doesn’t quite fit. I hope you go on today holding your head high knowing that there is only one you and you know that you best.

Keep shining,

The Sunny Girl, Lauren Cook