Psychology
Knowledge · O*NET work requirement
Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
In the O*NET occupational database, Psychology is an area of knowledge that work requires. O*NET rates how important it is (1–5) and what level of it a job needs (0–7) for every U.S. occupation. It is rated as important (3 or higher) in 190 of 894 occupations.
Breadth here means how widely O*NET rates this area of knowledge as important across occupations — not that it is rare, high-paying, or currently in employer demand.
Occupations that rely most on Psychology
Ranked by O*NET importance to the occupation (1–5). Bars are sized against the 1–5 scale; the level column is what depth of the area of knowledge the job needs (0–7).
Showing the top 40 of 190 occupations where this is important.
How AI is used by roles that need Psychology
This area of knowledge is not itself "being automated" — but we can look at the roles for which O*NET rates it important and ask how those people actually use AI. This rolls the Anthropic Economic Index per-role signal up across those roles (importance-weighted). 64.2% of the 190 roles where this is important carry observed AI-usage data (122 roles).
Across those roles, 55.3% of AI conversations are people working with AI and 27.9% hand a task to AI , with an average autonomy of 3.70 / 5.
| Collaboration pattern | Share | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| learning | 27.6% | you ask AI to explain or teach |
| directive | 25.7% | AI does it; you give the instruction |
| task iteration | 24.0% | you and AI go back and forth |
| validation | 3.7% | you do it; AI checks your work |
| feedback loop | 2.2% | AI does it, then adjusts from your feedback |
Roles behind this signal
The roles where this area of knowledge is most important and that also have the most AEI data. "Works with AI" is the role's share of conversations that augment rather than automate.
| Occupation | Importance | Works with AI | Autonomy |
|---|---|---|---|
| English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.3 | 63.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary | 5.0 | 66.2% | 4.0/5 |
| Social Work Teachers, Postsecondary | 4.1 | 67.2% | 3.5/5 |
| Education Teachers, Postsecondary | 4.2 | 65.3% | 3.5/5 |
| Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.6 | 66.2% | 3.3/5 |
| Communications Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.9 | 65.7% | 3.0/5 |
| Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.8 | 66.2% | 3.5/5 |
| Educational, Guidance, School, and Vocational Counselors | 3.1 | 70.6% | 4.0/5 |
| Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.8 | 66.2% | 3.5/5 |
| Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary | 3.6 | 65.7% | 3.3/5 |
| Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary | 4.5 | 65.8% | 3.8/5 |
| Instructional Coordinators | 3.1 | 53.1% | 4.0/5 |
Source: Anthropic Economic Index (2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2) over a sample of Claude.ai Free and Pro conversations — not all AI tools and not the whole workforce. Shares are of observed conversations, weighted by how important this area of knowledge is to each role; some conversations are left unclassified by Anthropic's taxonomy, so shares need not sum to 100.
Industries that concentrate this
Where Psychology matters most across the economy. Employment reach is the share of an industry's workers in occupations that significantly rely on Psychology (O*NET importance ≥ 3 of 5). Concentration compares that reach to the national average industry, so a value above 1× means the requirement is more pervasive here than across the economy as a whole.
Nationally, about 15.7% of workers are in occupations that significantly rely on Psychology (measured across 65 industries).
Sectors with the most such workers
| Sector | Workers | Employment reach |
|---|---|---|
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 9,404,870 | 40.7% |
| Educational Services | 6,702,790 | 49.1% |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 1,316,860 | 14.6% |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 1,047,750 | 9.7% |
| Finance and Insurance | 640,760 | 10.3% |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | 549,750 | 12.4% |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation | 519,030 | 19.6% |
| Retail Trade | 448,940 | 2.9% |
| Transportation and Warehousing | 426,790 | 5.8% |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 341,330 | 12.2% |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing | 286,120 | 12.1% |
| Accommodation and Food Services | 231,340 | 1.6% |
Industries where it is most concentrated
| Industry | Level | Concentration | Employment reach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists | National industry | 4.38× | 68.7% |
| Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) | National industry | 3.2× | 50.2% |
| Educational Services | Sector | 3.13× | 49.1% |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers | National industry | 2.93× | 46.0% |
| Residential Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities | National industry | 2.9× | 45.5% |
| Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers | National industry | 2.82× | 44.3% |
| Offices of Optometrists | National industry | 2.64× | 41.5% |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | Sector | 2.59× | 40.7% |
| Offices of Chiropractors | National industry | 2.32× | 36.4% |
| Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers | National industry | 1.38× | 21.6% |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation | Sector | 1.25× | 19.6% |
| Pharmacies and Drug Retailers | National industry | 1.25× | 19.6% |
Reach is a measure of how widespread a requirement is across an industry's workforce, not how intensively any individual uses it. Sector worker counts come from BLS OEWS employment; the significance threshold and tool use come from O*NET. Industries shown by concentration are filtered to a real worker base so a tiny specialty cannot top the list on rounding.
Related knowledge, skills & abilities
Capabilities required by many of the same occupations — a measure of which skills, knowledge and abilities tend to travel together, not a judgment of similarity.
| Capability | Type | Shared occupations |
|---|---|---|
| Therapy and Counseling | Knowledge | 85 |
| Instructing | Cross-functional skill | 162 |
| Sociology and Anthropology | Knowledge | 78 |
| Education and Training | Knowledge | 171 |
| Service Orientation | Cross-functional skill | 181 |
| Persuasion | Cross-functional skill | 141 |
| Learning Strategies | Basic skill | 146 |
| Medicine and Dentistry | Knowledge | 77 |
| Negotiation | Cross-functional skill | 113 |
| Social Perceptiveness | Cross-functional skill | 190 |
| Fluency of Ideas | Ability | 157 |
| Originality | Ability | 139 |
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Census NAICS 2022 U.S. Census Bureau
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Psychology." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/knowledge/psychology
Singulariki. (2026). Psychology. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/knowledge/psychology
@misc{singulariki-psychology,
title = {Psychology},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Census NAICS 2022; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27). Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/knowledge/psychology}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.