Psychology of Individual Differences

Overview

The University of Edinburgh is uniquely positioned to offer this programme because of its long history of world-class individual differences research and teaching. Staff involved in teaching and supervision include internationally recognised researchers from our Individual Differences Research Group

Our staff expertise covers various topics, including the measurement, causes and consequences of personality traits and intelligence, positive psychology, primate behaviour, paranormal beliefs and psychopathology.

Individual differences research group

You will take courses on the theoretical and methodological aspects of individual differences research and conduct an original research dissertation. You will also receive thorough training in advanced academic skills and research methods within psychology, including comprehensive coverage of statistical modelling and research design using the R statistical language. All MSc students are encouraged to take part in weekly journal clubs that feature presentations from staff, postgraduate students and external speakers, and discussions of important new articles.

Career opportunities

The Psychology of Individual Differences  programme at The University of Edinburgh is designed for students who aspire to pursue a research-oriented career in psychology or related fields, such as health psychology, genetics, epidemiology, social psychology, developmental psychology, psychopathology or educational psychology. The programme can also prepare students for a career in organisational psychology / human resources. More broadly, the course also teaches a broad range of transferable skills applicable to a wide range of modern jobs, such as research design, data management and processing, statistical modelling and interpretation, as well as the synthesis and communication of complex literature.