psychology

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noun psy·chol·o·gy \ -jē \

Definition of psychology

plural psychologies

1 :the science of mind and behavior

2 a :the mental or behavioral characteristics of an individual or group

b :the study of mind and behavior in relation to a particular field of knowledge or activity

3 :a theory or system of psychology

Freudian psychology

the psychology of Jung

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psychologist

play \-jist\ noun

See psychology defined for English-language learners

See psychology defined for kids

Examples of psychology in a Sentence

She studied psychology in college.
the psychology of an athlete
the psychology of crowd behavior
We need to understand the psychologies of the two people involved in the incident.

Recent Examples of psychology from the Web

There’s a bit of psychology involved, with some sociology on the side.

— paul daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Paul Daugherty: Let's be honest about the 'athlete-student'," 11 Aug. 2017
There's also a more pessimistic view, highlighted by Robert West, professor of health psychology at University College London.

— sarah rense, Esquire, "The FDA's Harsh New Cigarette Regulations Could Lead to More Vape Bros, Milky Clouds," 31 July 2017
Did it for you? pic.twitter.com/BKva3yUbTG — Ramla Bkchatldn ✨ (@Ramla_Ty) July 13, 2017 Ramla Tyrow, who graduated with a BSc in psychology and counseling, is seen in the video embracing her crying mother at her graduation ceremony.

— lisa ryan, The Cut, "Here’s the Sweet Video of a Somali Mom, Who Fled Civil War, Crying at Daughter’s College Graduation," 14 July 2017
To live restricted to casual speech rather than the artifice of writing creates a psychology ill equipped to score highly on the distinctly modern stunt known as the IQ test.

— john mcwhorter, National Review, "Stop Obsessing Over Race and IQ," 5 July 2017
Dominicis found that growing a business fed into her interest in psychology.

— jennifer lu, miamiherald, "For this family of immigrants, success lies in a uniform approach," 2 July 2017
Altonji expects psychology to play a bigger role in his ministry than computers.

— greg garrison, AL.com, "Vanderbilt computer science major ordained a Catholic priest," 29 June 2017
Altonji graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor's degree in computer science and psychology.

— greg garrison, AL.com, "Vanderbilt computer science major ordained a Catholic priest," 29 June 2017
Sarah Clewett, daughter of Thomas and Dawn Clewett, received the $400 Edwin H. Olson Award in Human Services, which recognizes the best senior psychology major.

— michelle mullins, Naperville Sun, "Naperville People in the News," 22 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'psychology.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The roots of psychology

The word psychology was formed by combining the Greek psychē (meaning “breath, principle of life, life, soul,”) with –logia (which comes from the Greek logos, meaning “speech, word, reason”). An early use appears in Nicholas Culpeper’s mid-17th century translation of Simeon Partliz’s A New Method of Physick, in which it is stated that “Psychologie is the knowledg of the Soul.” Today, psychology is concerned with the science or study of the mind and behavior. Many branches of psychology are differentiated by the specific field to which they belong, such as animal psychology, child psychology, and sports psychology.