The UPSC offers psychology as among the elective subject for the main civil service examination. The comprehensive research of the human mind and its processes, particularly those that influence behaviour in a particular situation, is known as psychology. The challenging aspect of psychology is that it is seen as a social science, natural science, and a subject in the living sciences. This makes studying and drafting UPSC exam responses a bit risky. But as many past top performers have demonstrated, this optional may be aced with concentrated study and the right instruction.
The optional psychology course comprises two papers. There are 250 marks for each paper. The principles of psychology are covered in Paper 1. Paper 1’s chapters centre around psychological theories and concepts. Intelligence, emotions, memory, motivation, attitudes, character, and other dimensions are among them. The branches of Developmental psychology, Social psychology, Cognitive psychology, etc. will all use these constructs.
The same psychological concept is viewed from different angles by several schools of psychology, including structuralists, gestaltists, functionalists, behaviourists, humanists and cognitivists. These opinions will be examined in light of the theories advanced by the relevant school’s psychologists and researchers. The second paper is entirely application-based. Prior to beginning Paper 2, Paper 1 must be completed entirely. The fields in which psychological ideas and research are applied are fairly varied, including education, sports, rehabilitation, health, military, and organisational settings.