Psychologists rate their happiness above average.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, psychologists rate their career happiness 3.5 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 32% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy psychologists are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Psychiatrist | 3.8 | N/A |
| Counseling psychologist | 3.6 | $80k |
| Counselor | 3.5 | $20k |
| Psychologist | 3.5 | $56k |
| Recreational therapist | 3.4 | $46k |
| Clinical psychologist | 3.3 | $80k |
| Drug and alcohol counselor | 3.3 | $32k |
| Marriage and family therapist | 3.2 | $59k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are psychologists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do psychologists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as psychologists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are psychologist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are psychologists making the best use of their abilities?
Are psychologists happy with their salary?
Psychologists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most psychologists having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked psychologists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
994 psychologists
17% of psychologists rated their compensation 5 stars
24% of psychologists rated their compensation 4 stars
27% of psychologists rated their compensation 3 stars
18% of psychologists rated their compensation 2 stars
14% of psychologists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do psychologists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, psychologists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.6/5. Unlike many careers, psychologists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become psychologists.
We asked psychologists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
1044 psychologists
29% of psychologists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
30% of psychologists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
22% of psychologists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
12% of psychologists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
7% of psychologists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as psychologists?
Psychologists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.9/5. The majority of psychologists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked psychologists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
1166 psychologists
32% of psychologists rated their career fit 5 stars
39% of psychologists rated their career fit 4 stars
20% of psychologists rated their career fit 3 stars
6% of psychologists rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of psychologists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a psychologist’s work environment?
As a whole, psychologists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of psychologists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a psychologist.
We asked psychologists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
1123 psychologists
23% of psychologists rated their work environment 5 stars
35% of psychologists rated their work environment 4 stars
28% of psychologists rated their work environment 3 stars
9% of psychologists rated their work environment 2 stars
4% of psychologists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are psychologists making the best use of their abilities?
Former psychologists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.5/5. Most psychologists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a psychologist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked psychologists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
1130 psychologists
24% of psychologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
30% of psychologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
26% of psychologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
14% of psychologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
6% of psychologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars