As students at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, we got to talk to four different professors about what they do and how their fields relate to each other. Here’s who all we talked to:

Dr. Marie Waung is an industrial-organizational psychologist. Her current research involves developing the capability of autonomous shuttles to interpret human behavior and the psychological effects of the employer-employee relationship in business.

Dr. Robert Hymes is a social personality psychologist. He studies the cognitive processes behind stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination on the individual level. 

Dr. Caleb Siefert is a clinical psychologist. His research focuses on personality traits and how they influence emotion, cognition, & functioning.

Dr. Paul Draus is a sociologist! He conducts his research in communities in and around Detroit to study power imbalances between social groups and seek social justice.

Also, Dr. Draus mentioned a fascinating study of racial discrimination in hiring practices. You can find the full article here.

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We talked to Dr. Robin Edelstein of the University of Michigan. She researches how personality influences peoples’ interpersonal relationships. She’s also a member of division 8 of the APA, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. We also talked about personality tests, attachment styles, and other related topics. 

If you want to learn more about personality psychology, this YouTube playlist covers the basics of personality theory.

The silly personality tests we took and many others can be found here, on BuzzFeed.

Here is a link to the Big Five, the most highly regarded personality inventory available today. Here’s the real MBTI, which costs $50. We used 16 Personalities, but the Open Extended Jungian Type Scales is 100% free and even more accurate. 

Open Psychometrics has lots of other fun, free, and well-researched personality inventories, like the Dark Triad and the Fisher Temperament Inventory. Check them out with a friend! It’s loads of fun.

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We spoke with Dr. Marie Waung, an industrial-organizational psychologist and professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, about the field of psychology in general and the skills one can acquire by studying psychology. Maddy & Zenon also talked about the history of psychology, research on career anxiety, and some basic terms & concepts to prepare listeners for the interview.

Some of the skills Dr. Waung discussed include:

• Critical thinking & analytical skills
• Evaluation of information
• Writing & speaking skills
• Research methods and statistics
• Computer skills, especially with statistical software
• Interpersonal skills; working with others, integrating diverse perspectives

Dr. Waung mentioned the Occupational Outlook Handbook, a resource published by the federal government that looks at outcomes and predictions for many different careers.

We’d also like to recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about different careers in which knowledge of psychology can be useful!

Send us an email at hosts@pre-occupied.com!
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Credits
Music: Aaron Mealey
Graphics: Colin Mealey