Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Program

Educational Psychology MA

First Advisor

Elvin Gabriel

Abstract

Problem. Both pastors and biologists frequently interact with individuals. These contacts often involve conversations that deal with an individual’s feelings, behaviors, and the relationship between mind and body. Thus, how seminarians and biologists perceive psychology will greatly affect such interactions. Therefore it is important to know how both professionals perceive psychology. This is not all that different from the research biologists perform as they learn about the brain. Because of the interrelatedness between these two professions, what are the perceptions of psychology among seminary and biology students at Andrews University? -- Method. The data gathered from the responses of biology and seminary students at Andrews University to the Perceptions of Psychology Questionnaire were analyzed through the SPSS statistical procedures. Descriptive statistics tables are provided to show measures of central tendency and variability of perceptions of psychology. -- Results. The results showed that the participants’ educational background and demographics played a role in their perceptions of psychology. Seminary students were older, and had a much higher exposure to the writings of Ellen G. White and church teachings on psychology. Biology students, as a group, were much younger, and lacked the background in these areas. Answers given reflected these differences. -- Conclusions. The results showed that there are significant differences among those two groups in their: positive beliefs about psychology, positive affect about psychology, exposure to the writings of Ellen G. White on psychology, knowledge about the writings of Ellen G. White on psychology, knowledge about the writings of Adventist writers on psychology, and in how comfortable they felt seeking psychological services. Respondents in both groups also tended to have similar answers to the questions relating to: understanding the mind using psychology, using psychology to help understand mankind, and explaining human behavior using theories of psychology.

Subject Area

Andrews University--Students--Attitudes., Mind and body., Psychology.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/theses/18/

Download

Share

COinS