The Representation of Applied Psychology Areas in Introductory Psychology Textbooks

Abstract

Many psychology majors indicate helping others as a reason for majoring in psychology, yet many enter positions not closely related to the field. This discrepancy may be due to a lack of student knowledge of the applied areas of psychology. The purpose of this study was to investigate the coverage of clinical, counseling, industrial/organizational, and school psychology in a sample of current, full-length introductory psychology textbooks. This study explores the extent and accuracy of coverage of applied areas in 32 full-length textbooks published between 2001 and 2006. Industrial/organizational psychology had the most extensive coverage, followed by clinical, counseling, and school psychology. Counseling psychology had the lowest rate of accuracy in coverage.

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