The Psychologically Literate Citizen

Psychological literacy is the major outcome of a major in psychology. It involves acquisition of specialized knowledge, grounding in scientific thinking, capacity to think critically, acting ethically, competency in using and evaluating information, effective communication, respect for diversity and being reflective about one’s own and others’ behaviour. The psychologically literate citizen is able to draw upon this knowledge of psychology and apply it to a broad range of situations. The time for the psychologically literate citizen is overdue. As indicated by U.S. President Barack Obama at Arizona State University in May 2009.