Careers in Social Psychology
What is social psychology?
Social psychology examines the different ways people think, feel and behave in social settings, groups, and close relationships.
Because social psychology combines an understanding of human behaviour with training in advanced research methods, students who complete our programme have diverse employment opportunities.
While many social psychology graduates teach and conduct research in universities, others are employed in the private sector as consultants, researchers, marketing directors, managers, political strategists/analysts, journalists, technology designers, and more.
Social psychology graduates also work in government and non-profit organisations, design and evaluate policies and programs in educational settings, develop conflict resolution strategies, work towards environmental protection, and the like.
Career pathways in social psychology
Example roles
- Teacher
- University lecturer
- Consultant
- Communications and marketing director
- Social media manager
- Human resources specialist
- Political strategist
- Political analyst
- Journalist
- Technology designer
- Senior data analyst
- Political consultant
- Research fellow
- Research coordinator / administrator
Example workplaces
- Ministry for the Environment
- Ministry of Social Development
- Amnesty International
- Primary, secondary and tertiary education
- Consultancies
- Statistics NZ
- Fisher & Paykel
- Fonterra
- Netsafe
- Women’s refuge