Glossary of a Student in the Social Sciences

20 Social Sciences (psychology) terms

Hello everyone! Let me introduce to you. My name is Isabelle Lambert and I live in Laval. I am actually a student in Social Science at Montmorency College. I am in this program because I want to become a psychologist later. I like helping people. This is my second session in Social Science. To do this job you need many qualities such as listening, patience, respect, empathy and a good analytical and synthesis. This glossary will allow all people, even those who are not studying in this field, to learn more about it, and they will even be able to discover new words related to this field of study. Online source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/

antidepressant
A drug used to reduce feelings of sadness and worry.
anxiety
An uncomfortable feeling of nervousness or worry about something that is happening or might happen in the future.
behaviourism
Theory that human or animal behaviour is based on conditioning (mental training and the influence of habit), rather than being explained by thoughts and feelings.
depression
A mental illness in which a person is very unhappy and anxious (= worried and nervous) for long periods and cannot have a normal life during these periods.
emotion
A strong feeling such as love or anger, or strong feelings in general.
empathy
The ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person's situation.
gestalt
Something such as a structure or experience that, when considered a whole, has qualities that are more than the total of all its parts.
humanism
A belief system based on the principle that people's spiritual and emotional needs can be satisfied without following a god or religion.
neurosis
A mental illness resulting in high levels of anxiety, unreasonable fears and behaviour and, often, a need to repeat actions for no reason.
psyche
The mind, or the deepest thoughts, feelings, or beliefs of a person or group.
psychoanalysis
Theories of the human personality that attempt to examine a person's unconscious mind to discover the hidden causes of their mental problems.
psychopathology
The study of mental diseases.
psychosis
Any of a number of the more severe mental diseases that make someone believe things that are not real.
psychotherapy
Treatment of mental illness by discussing someone's problems with them, instead of using drugs or operations.
relation
The way in which two people or groups of people feel and behave towards each other.
resilience
The ability to be happy, successful, etc. again after something difficult or bad has happened.
subconscious
The part of your mind that notices and remembers informations when you are not actively trying to do so, and influences your behaviour even though you do not realize it.
sublimation
The act of expressing strong emotions or using energy by doing an activity or creating something, or the activity or work itself.
trauma
Severe emotional shock and pain caused by an extremely upsetting experience.
unconscious
The part of your mind that contains feelings and thoughts that you do not know about, and that influences the way you behave.