Psychology and Sociology

Psychology and sociology are disciplines that share a concern with human behaviour and social life, approaching it from complementary angles. Psychology examines how individuals think, feel, perceive and act, drawing on cognitive science, neuroscience and experimental methods to understand the workings of the mind and behaviour. Sociology examines how people organise their lives collectively, how social structures, institutions and inequalities shape individual experience, and how society changes over time.

Studying both together gives you a fuller understanding of the human world than either discipline provides alone.

At the University of Brighton, this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year and a work placement, connecting your academic learning to professional contexts and developing the practical skills and commercial awareness that employers value. You will develop your understanding of both psychological mechanisms and social structures, examining real-world issues including mental health, discrimination, social mobility, group dynamics and the relationship between individual experience and collective life.

You will study social psychology, developmental psychology, research methods, cognitive psychology, abnormal psychology, sociology of health, social inequality, research design and statistics. Both quantitative and qualitative research skills are developed, equipping you to work with different kinds of evidence and to conduct and evaluate research in human and social science contexts.

Graduates go into careers in health and social care, mental health support, human resources, education, community development, social research, policy, charities, criminal justice and communications. The combination of psychological insight and sociological analysis is valued across many fields where understanding of people and society is important. Some go on to postgraduate study in psychology, sociology, social work, counselling or public health, including routes that lead to professional registration in psychology or social work.