Psychological literacy: proceed with caution, construction ahead

Abstract

Psychological literacy is the ethical application of psychological skills and knowledge. This could benefit individuals in their personal, occupational, and civic lives and subsequently benefit society as a whole. We know that psychology has a wide-ranging impact on society. The potential benefits of a psychologically literate citizenry in improved parenting, better business practices, enlightened legislation, and many other areas make this a desirable goal. It has been proposed that this should become the primary goal of an undergraduate psychology education to benefit the majority who do not go on to graduate school and even those who only take a few psychology courses. This idea has significant merit and warrants further investigation and development. However, there are major concerns that need to be addressed. First, what are uniquely psychological skills and knowledge? Many of the skills psychology undergraduates acquire are generic to university and not specific to psychology. Second, psychology can be as harmful when misapplied as it can be beneficial when ethically applied. Third, psychology departments will need to address pragmatic as well as ethical issues, including issues of competency, boundaries, accountability, and confidentiality. Fourth, the available empirical evidence to direct such efforts is primarily at the anecdotal, case example, and pilot study stages. Significant improvements are needed in measuring psychological literacy, choice of outcome measures, and research methodologies before these advantages can be realized in an empirically supported manner. Currently, best practices in the undergraduate curriculum are the mindful and purposeful design of courses and experiential opportunities. It is proposed that psychological literacy is best conceptualized as a meta-literacy and that it should become a goal of psychology undergraduate education but not necessarily the goal.

Charting the psychological literacy landscape: Systematic review highlighting psychology education

“…These authors also argue that "psychologically literate citizens use their psychological literacy to solve problems in an ethical and socially responsible manner in a way that directly benefits their communities" (p.10). Murdoch (2016) defines PL in a general way as the "ethical application of psychology knowledge and skills" (p.189), but he also defines PL as a 'meta-literacy' whereby there are a group of psychology-specific graduate capabilities ("Specific psychological knowledge in the core areas of psychology; Psychology-specific knowledge and skill in the generic literacies (e.g., appropriate search terms in information literacy, and double-blind methodologies); The ability to apply this knowledge and skill to personal, occupational and societal issues using the connected literacies and skills"; p.191), as well as a number of generic capabilities (e.g., multicultural literacy, scientific literacy, critical thinking). He views McGovern et al's concept of PLC favorably, but in need of further development, particularly in terms of including non-Western perspectives.…”

“…In summary, the "group" conceptualizations are closely tied to consideration of what psychology major students should acquire during their program, including the generic capabilities (although as argued by Murdoch, 2016; there are psychologyspecific aspects of these). Cranney et al (2022a,b) have recently proposed, for international discussion, a number of "core" PL capabilities (knowledge, including skills; research methods; application to personal, professional, and community domains) and generic (but informed by psychological science) capabilities such as communication and cultural responsivity.…”

Psychological Literacy and Learning for Life

“…A broader definition that neatly captures this was proposed by Cranney and colleagues (e.g., Cranney & Dunn, 2011;Cranney & Morris, in press), who suggested that psychological literacy is the capacity to intentionally and adaptively use psychology to achieve personal, professional, and societal goals. Similarly, Murdoch (2016) discusses psychological literacy in terms of the "ethical application of psychological skills and behaviour" (p. 189), which is comprised of: the psychology-specific aspects of a set of "generic literacies" (e.g., critical thinking, statistical literacy, multicultural literacy); psychology-specific skills and knowledge; and the ability to apply all of these skills and knowledge to personal, occupational, and societal issues.…”

“…The challenge here, then, is that our current perspectives on psychological literacy may imply: "a relatively well-integrated and functional set of schemas that across individuals may show some variability in expression, but in terms of central tendency, can be recognized and assessed as 'psychological literacy'" (Cranney & Dunn, 2011, p. 8). The reality, from a student and educator perspective, may be that some aspects of psychological literacy are aspirational (Murdoch, 2016), and some students may never acquire the full set of associated attributes. Indeed, perhaps the most important element of psychological literacy might be the development of reflective skills and self-awareness, enabling the student themselves to be aware of their own strengths and weaknesses.…”

The measurement of psychological literacy and employable skills self-efficacy in undergraduate psychology students.

“…While it is the ability to articulate and apply psychology knowledge and skills that is the focus of psychological workforce literacy, it does not specify which knowledge and which skills are required. Murdoch (2016) proposed that psychological literacy is a higher order construct that incorporates several other "literacies," making psychological literacy a metaliteracy. Given this, there needs to be some agreed definition of psychological literacy that can then be incorporated into psychology education programs to allow for the overall assessment of the value of a psychology education.…”