Are you curious about the type of stuff that is learned in psychology? The following list of core psychology theories will help you out.

I’m going to be honest with you –I didn’t major in psychology when I was in college. However, I did take a few courses. I found psychology to be really interesting; just learning how the brain and mind works were intriguing. But at the same time, it required me to take too many science courses, so I decided to take sociology instead.

But in those three or four psyc courses that I did take, there were some theories that really stood out to me –theories that caught my interest. Mind you, these are all intro theories or concepts you would learn in the introductory psychology courses. So if you are someone who doesn’t know much (or anything) about psychology, this list of 5 core psychology theories will be perfect for you.

So let’s check them out:

Attachment Theory – John Bowlby

Attachment theory focuses on the relationships that people have. It looks at the bonds between people –the connection that a parent and child has or a connection between romantic partners.

John Bolwby was the first psychologist to research attachment. He found that newborns and infants required positive attachment to their caregivers because it has a tremendous impact on the child’s life. Additionally, he saw attachment as a result of evolution.

If you look back at history, when children were close to their parent (or caregiver), their survivability increased. They received more protection and comfort (and were fed) if they stayed close to their caregiver. So as time went by, attachment became a part of natural selection.

Social Learning Theory – Albert Bandura

Social learning theory is a concept developed by psychologist Albert Bandura. Bandura says that people learn through being social with one another. They learn how to behave by observing, imitating, and modelling other people.

Bandura, in his book Social Learning Theory, says that “most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action.”

This theory is also believed to be a bridge between cognitive and behaviourist learning theories. The reason being is that social learning theory incorporates attention, memory, and motivation.

Hierarchy of Needs – Abraham Maslow

According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, people are motivated by five categories of needs. These needs, physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization, are what pushes us to work. Additionally, once a lower-tiered need is satisfied, people will move up to satisfy the next need.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs has impacted many psychologists and contributed to the field of positive psychology, a science that studies what makes life worth living.

Self-fulfilling prophecy – Robert Merton

The self-fulfilling prophecy is a theory developed by sociologist Robert Merton. With this theory, Merton explains that an expectation (positive or negative) about a person will lead them to behave in accordance with that statement.

Imagine a teacher who treats certain kids in her class poorly, while treating the other students magnificently. She’ll constantly tell certain kids that they are bad students, while only praising the others. The students who are treated poorly will one day start believing that they are bad, even though they aren’t. They’ll start viewing themselves this way because they are constantly told that they are poor students by a person of authority.

In his book, Social Theory and Social Structure, Merton says that:

“The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the original false conception come ‘true’. This specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet will cite the actual course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning.”

Psychoanalysis – Sigmund Freud

Psychoanalysis is a type of therapy. It seeks to release pent-up or repressed emotions and memories. This is achieved by letting the client talk about the big questions in life; the things that are important to them. The main goal of psychoanalysis is to unveil what’s in the subconscious on the conscious level.

This concept was founded by psychologist Sigmund Freud.

Conclusion

So there you have it: five core psychology concepts that you need to know to get a sense for what it’s all about. Which concept did you find most interesting? Share it below in the comments.

Also, are you now interested in learning more about psychology (maybe taking a course)? Share your answer for that in the comments too.