Psychology as an A-level subject in senior high school (12th to 13th grade) has increased in popularity in recent years. The purpose of this study was to investigate why students choose psychology as a subject, and their satisfaction with this choice. A total of 624 Norwegian students responded to a survey. A factor analysis supported a three-factor solution in relation to reasons for choosing to study psychology in terms of “interest,” “therapy,” and “rigor.” The results showed that interest in the subject was the most common reason, thus supporting the “sexy subject hypothesis.” However, a substantial minority of the students also reported personal reasons for choosing psychology, hence there was some support for the “therapy hypothesis.” The least pertinent reason for choosing this subject was a perception of psychology as an easy subject. Hence, the “rigor hypothesis” was not supported. The findings also showed general satisfaction with their choice of psychology as a subject, and realistic expectations of expected academic performance (grades) in psychology. Practical consequences were discussed.

中文翻译：

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为什么选择心理学？对挪威高中生的调查

近年来，心理学作为高中（12 至 13 年级）的 A-level 科目越来越受欢迎。本研究的目的是调查学生为什么选择心理学作为一门学科，以及他们对这一选择的满意度。共有 624 名挪威学生回答了一项调查。一项因素分析支持与选择从“兴趣”、“治疗”和“严谨”方面研究心理学的原因相关的三因素解决方案。结果表明，对主题的兴趣是最常见的原因，从而支持“性感主题假设”。然而，相当多的学生也报告了选择心理学的个人原因，因此“治疗假设”得到了一些支持。选择这门学科的最不相关的原因是认为心理学是一门简单的学科。因此，不支持“严格假设”。调查结果还表明，他们对心理学作为一门学科的选择普遍感到满意，并对心理学的预期学习成绩（成绩）有现实的期望。讨论了实际后果。