best research papers on psychology

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Psychology articles from across Nature Portfolio

Psychology is a scientific discipline that focuses on understanding mental functions and the behaviour of individuals and groups.

Local government actions can curb air pollution in India and Pakistan

Burning crop waste causes devastating pollution in South Asia. When local administrators have appropriate incentives to control burning, incidents go down — a finding that could guide future efforts to manage air pollution.

• Satchit Balsari
• Manoj Mohanan

Electric cars could save billions in health-care costs

Improving air quality by discontinuing combustion-engine vehicles would slash health-care costs in the United States, but the projected savings in rural areas depend on how the replacements are powered.

• Abigail Klopper

Honesty oaths for rule-following

Honesty oaths are commonly used to promote ethical behaviour, but their effectiveness is not well understood. A mega-study involving thousands of people shows that taking an oath to be honest can reduce tax evasion in an online economic game.

• Shaul Shalvi

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• Human behaviour

Latest Research and Reviews

Political polarization and health

Political polarization is an understudied determinant of health. This Review describes the types of political polarization and how they impact the health of populations and individuals, including potential mitigation strategies and research priorities.

• Jay J Van Bavel
• Shana Kushner Gadarian
• Kai Ruggeri

Shifts in task absorption during decision-making episodes

• Jesus Juyumaya
• Juan Pablo Torres
• Pedro Maldonado

First-person thought is associated with body awareness in daily life

• Alexandra MacVittie
• Ewa Kochanowska
• Jolie B. Wormwood

Different risk and protective factors predict change of planning ability in middle versus older age

• Josef M. Unterrainer
• Julia Petersen
• Philipp S. Wild

Investigating the prevalence and associated factors of depression, anxiety, and loneliness among people with type-2 diabetes in Bangladesh: a community-based study

• Shahina Pardhan
• Abu Bakkar Siddique
• Md. Saiful Islam

Trusting robots: a relational trust definition based on human intentionality

• Arndt Schäfer
• Reinhold Esterbauer
• Bettina Kubicek

News and Comment

Multidisciplinary chrono-approaches in psychology.

• Charlotte Gupta

Is the stereoisomer R-MDMA a safer version of MDMA?

• Gillinder Bedi

NPP Editorial: tides of progress

• Lisa M. Monteggia
• Tony P. George

The case for human–AI interaction as system 0 thinking

• Massimo Chiriatti
• Marianna Ganapini
• Giuseppe Riva

Risks and protective measures for synthetic relationships

As artificial intelligence tools become more sophisticated, humans build synthetic relationships with them. Synthetic relationships differ fundamentally from traditional human–machine interactions and present new risks, such as privacy breaches, psychological manipulation and the erosion of human autonomy. This necessitates proactive, human-centred policies.

• Christopher Starke
• Alfio Ventura

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61 intriguing psychology research topics to explore

Last updated

11 January 2024

Reviewed by

Brittany Ferri, PhD, OTR/L

Short on time? Get an AI generated summary of this article instead

Psychology is an incredibly diverse, critical, and ever-changing area of study in the medical and health industries. Because of this, it’s a common area of study for students and healthcare professionals.

We’re walking you through picking the perfect topic for your upcoming paper or study. Keep reading for plenty of example topics to pique your interest and curiosity.

• How to choose a psychology research topic

Exploring a psychology-based topic for your research project? You need to pick a specific area of interest to collect compelling data. 

Use these tips to help you narrow down which psychology topics to research:

Focus on a particular area of psychology

The most effective psychological research focuses on a smaller, niche concept or disorder within the scope of a study. 

Psychology is a broad and fascinating area of science, including everything from diagnosed mental health disorders to sports performance mindset assessments. 

This gives you plenty of different avenues to explore. Having a hard time choosing? Check out our list of 61 ideas further down in this article to get started.

Read the latest clinical studies

Once you’ve picked a more niche topic to explore, you need to do your due diligence and explore other research projects on the same topic. 

This practice will help you learn more about your chosen topic, ask more specific questions, and avoid covering existing projects. 

For the best results, we recommend creating a research folder of associated published papers to reference throughout your project. This makes it much easier to cite direct references and find inspiration down the line.

Find a topic you enjoy and ask questions

Once you’ve spent time researching and collecting references for your study, you finally get to explore. 

Whether this research project is for work, school, or just for fun, having a passion for your research will make the project much more enjoyable. (Trust us, there will be times when that is the only thing that keeps you going.) 

Now you’ve decided on the topic, ask more nuanced questions you might want to explore. 

If you can, pick the direction that interests you the most to make the research process much more enjoyable.

• 61 psychology topics to research in 2024

Need some extra help starting your psychology research project on the right foot? Explore our list of 61 cutting-edge, in-demand psychology research topics to use as a starting point for your research journey.

• Psychology research topics for university students

As a university student, it can be hard to pick a research topic that fits the scope of your classes and is still compelling and unique. 

Here are a few exciting topics we recommend exploring for your next assigned research project:

Mental health in post-secondary students

Seeking post-secondary education is a stressful and overwhelming experience for most students, making this topic a great choice to explore for your in-class research paper. 

Examples of post-secondary mental health research topics include:

Student mental health status during exam season

Mental health disorder prevalence based on study major

The impact of chronic school stress on overall quality of life

The impacts of cyberbullying

Cyberbullying can occur at all ages, starting as early as elementary school and carrying through into professional workplaces. 

Examples of cyberbullying-based research topics you can study include:

The impact of cyberbullying on self-esteem

Common reasons people engage in cyberbullying 

Cyberbullying themes and commonly used terms

Cyberbullying habits in children vs. adults

The long-term effects of cyberbullying

• Clinical psychology research topics

If you’re looking to take a more clinical approach to your next project, here are a few topics that involve direct patient assessment for you to consider:

Chronic pain and mental health

Living with chronic pain dramatically impacts every aspect of a person’s life, including their mental and emotional health. 

Here are a few examples of in-demand pain-related psychology research topics:

The connection between diabetic neuropathy and depression

Neurological pain and its connection to mental health disorders

Efficacy of meditation and mindfulness for pain management

The long-term effects of insomnia

Insomnia is where you have difficulty falling or staying asleep. It’s a common health concern that impacts millions of people worldwide. 

This is an excellent topic because insomnia can have a variety of causes, offering many research possibilities. 

Here are a few compelling psychology research topics about insomnia you could investigate:

The prevalence of insomnia based on age, gender, and ethnicity

Insomnia and its impact on workplace productivity

The connection between insomnia and mental health disorders

Efficacy and use of melatonin supplements for insomnia

The risks and benefits of prescription insomnia medications

Lifestyle options for managing insomnia symptoms

The efficacy of mental health treatment options

Management and treatment of mental health conditions is an ever-changing area of study. If you can witness or participate in mental health therapies, this can make a great research project. 

Examples of mental health treatment-related psychology research topics include:

The efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for patients with severe anxiety

The benefits and drawbacks of group vs. individual therapy sessions

Music therapy for mental health disorders

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for patients with depression 

• Controversial psychology research paper topics

If you are looking to explore a more cutting-edge or modern psychology topic, you can delve into a variety of controversial and topical options:

The impact of social media and digital platforms

Ever since access to internet forums and video games became more commonplace, there’s been growing concern about the impact these digital platforms have on mental health. 

Examples of social media and video game-related psychology research topics include:

The effect of edited images on self-confidence

How social media platforms impact social behavior

Video games and their impact on teenage anger and violence

Digital communication and the rapid spread of misinformation

The development of digital friendships

Psychotropic medications for mental health

In recent years, the interest in using psychoactive medications to treat and manage health conditions has increased despite their inherently controversial nature. 

Examples of psychotropic medication-related research topics include:

The risks and benefits of using psilocybin mushrooms for managing anxiety

The impact of marijuana on early-onset psychosis

Childhood marijuana use and related prevalence of mental health conditions

Ketamine and its use for complex PTSD (C-PTSD) symptom management

The effect of long-term psychedelic use and mental health conditions

• Mental health disorder research topics

As one of the most popular subsections of psychology, studying mental health disorders and how they impact quality of life is an essential and impactful area of research. 

While studies in these areas are common, there’s always room for additional exploration, including the following hot-button topics:

Anxiety and depression disorders

Anxiety and depression are well-known and heavily researched mental health disorders. 

Despite this, we still don’t know many things about these conditions, making them great candidates for psychology research projects:

Social anxiety and its connection to chronic loneliness

C-PTSD symptoms and causes

The development of phobias

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) behaviors and symptoms

Depression triggers and causes

Self-care tools and resources for depression

The prevalence of anxiety and depression in particular age groups or geographic areas

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is a complex and multi-faceted area of psychology research. 

Use your research skills to learn more about this condition and its impact by choosing any of the following topics:

Early signs of bipolar disorder

The incidence of bipolar disorder in young adults

The efficacy of existing bipolar treatment options

Bipolar medication side effects

Cognitive behavioral therapy for people with bipolar 

Schizoaffective disorder

Schizoaffective disorder is often stigmatized, and less common mental health disorders are a hotbed for new and exciting research. 

Here are a few examples of interesting research topics related to this mental health disorder:

The prevalence of schizoaffective disorder by certain age groups or geographic locations

Risk factors for developing schizoaffective disorder

The prevalence and content of auditory and visual hallucinations

Alternative therapies for schizoaffective disorder

• Societal and systematic psychology research topics

Modern society’s impact is deeply enmeshed in our mental and emotional health on a personal and community level. 

Here are a few examples of societal and systemic psychology research topics to explore in more detail:

Access to mental health services

While mental health awareness has risen over the past few decades, access to quality mental health treatment and resources is still not equitable. 

This can significantly impact the severity of a person’s mental health symptoms, which can result in worse health outcomes if left untreated. 

Explore this crucial issue and provide information about the need for improved mental health resource access by studying any of the following topics:

Rural vs. urban access to mental health resources

Access to crisis lines by location

Wait times for emergency mental health services

Inequities in mental health access based on income and location

Insurance coverage for mental health services

Systemic racism and mental health

Societal systems and the prevalence of systemic racism heavily impact every aspect of a person’s overall health.

Researching these topics draws attention to existing problems and contributes valuable insights into ways to improve access to care moving forward.

Examples of systemic racism-related psychology research topics include: 

Access to mental health resources based on race

The prevalence of BIPOC mental health therapists in a chosen area

The impact of systemic racism on mental health and self-worth

Racism training for mental health workers

The prevalence of mental health disorders in discriminated groups

LGBTQIA+ mental health concerns

Research about LGBTQIA+ people and their mental health needs is a unique area of study to explore for your next research project. It’s a commonly overlooked and underserved community.

Examples of LGBTQIA+ psychology research topics to consider include:

Mental health supports for queer teens and children

The impact of queer safe spaces on mental health

The prevalence of mental health disorders in the LGBTQIA+ community

The benefits of queer mentorship and found family

Substance misuse in LQBTQIA+ youth and adults

• Collect data and identify trends with Dovetail

Psychology research is an exciting and competitive study area, making it the perfect choice for projects or papers.

Take the headache out of analyzing your data and instantly access the insights you need to complete your next psychology research project by teaming up with Dovetail today.

Should you be using a customer insights hub?

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Do you share your research findings with others?

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Produced by Behavioral Measurement Database Services, this bibliographic database is abstracted from hundreds of leading journals in the health and social sciences. HaPI provides comprehensive information about behavioral measurement tools, including those related to medicine and nursing, as well as clinical, personality, social, and developmental psychology.

Produced by the Buros Center for Testing at the University of Nebraska, this database provides a comprehensive guide to contemporary testing instruments. Designed for an audience ranging from novice test consumers to experienced professionals, the series contains information for evaluating test products in psychology, education, business and leadership.

Produced by the Buros Center for Testing at the University of Nebraska, this resource is essential for evaluating contemporary testing instruments. Designed for novices and professionals alike, it contains full-text reviews for test products in psychology, education, business and leadership. In addition, it provides a bibliography to all known commercially available English-language tests currently in print.

Produced by the Buros Center for Testing at the University of Nebraska, this resource is essential for evaluating contemporary testing instruments. Designed for novices and professionals alike, it contains full-text reviews for test products in psychology, education, business and leadership. In addition, it provides a bibliography to English and Spanish-language tests.

PEP Archive (Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing) is the largest digital collection of psychoanalytic journals and books, bringing together key works in the history of psychoanalysis and groundbreaking research from contemporary clinicians and academics.

Delve into the science of psychology and behavior with APA PsycArticles, the database of full-text peer-reviewed articles published by the American Psychological Association and affiliated journals.

Significant in scope and depth, this database offers the most current and only comprehensive collection of full-text scholarly and professional books published by the American Psychological Association (APA). Providing a pathway through the evolution of psychological thought, it gives students, researchers and educators access to high-quality publications in psychology and related fields.

This high-quality database produced by the American Psychological Association allows behavioral science researchers to go beyond traditional peer-reviewed materials. It combines bibliographic records with unique full-text materials, offering conference presentations, newsletters, reports, fact sheets, magazines, monographs and more.

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This database offers unscripted streaming demonstration videos for teaching and learning psychotherapy techniques. Produced by the American Psychological Association, APA PsycTherapy covers authentic therapy sessions and is geared toward graduates and post-graduates.

This database is an authoritative source of structured information about tests of interest to a variety of fields. Produced by the American Psychological Association, it provides access to thousands of actual test instruments, most of which are available for immediate download and use in teaching and research.

Produced by the Leibniz Institute for Psychology, this database provides comprehensive bibliographic references from research and applied fields in psychology from the German-speaking countries. 

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The Six Most Interesting Psychology Papers of 2015

Every year, psychologists publish a staggering amount of research—it’s impossible to read it all. Still, I gave it a shot—and here are the six papers I found most fascinating.

“ Estimating the Reproducibility of Psychological Science ,” from Science

This paper isn’t really a study; it’s the outcome of an important movement in the field of psychology. In an effort called the Reproducibility Project, researchers at dozens of universities collaborated to replicate a hundred psychology studies that were initially conducted in 2008. They ended up replicating between a third and half of the studies.

Is that result bad or good? It’s inevitable that studies won’t always be replicable—if every study could be replicated, then every researcher would be right the first time; even legitimate findings can prove fragile when you try to repeat them. All the same, the paper concludes that there is “room for improvement” in psychology, especially when it comes to “cultural practices in scientific communication.” Specifically, the authors propose that “low-power research designs combined with publication bias favoring positive results together produce a literature with upwardly biased effect sizes.”

In other words, the desire for novelty drives researchers to overestimate the conclusiveness of their own work. It’s a fascinating and valuable effort to make sure that psychology moves forward in the best way possible.

“ What Works in Inpatient Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation? ,” from Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Finally, traumatic brain injury, or T.B.I., is becoming a topic of conversation. It’s a huge problem: in 2010, an estimated two and a half million people in the United States sustained such an injury, and between 3.1 and 5.3 million were living with long-term, or even permanent, disability due to its effects. Still, until recently, T.B.I. has been understudied. This issue of Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is entirely devoted to the topic, carefully examining the existing evidence regarding the effects of traumatic brain injury and possible future treatments.

Some of the findings are surprising: if you’re female or Asian, you’re less likely to be given a psychotropic drug, regardless of evidence for its applicability. Some are dispiriting: it turns out that we really don’t have a good sense of what works to treat these injuries, and a kitchen-sink-like approach remains the norm. At this stage, the best predictor of your eventual outcome seems to be the severity of the injury, rather than any particular treatment you might receive. But some evidence is promising. Rehabilitation therapy, especially therapy that requires demanding physical or mental activity, does seem to help patients regain function.

“ Best Friends and Better Coping: Facilitating Psychological Resilience Through Boys’ and Girls’ Closest Friendships ,” from British Journal of Psychology

This study shows that even a single close friendship is valuable in protecting children—even the most vulnerable—against multiple psychological risk factors. It’s not a new idea, but the research is an important empirical step forward.

“ Nonpharmacological Treatments of Insomnia for Long-Term Painful Conditions ,” from Sleep

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia! As I’ve written before , it’s hard to break the cycle of sleeplessness. This study offers evidence for one therapeutic possibility. It involves elements of a traditional therapeutic approach, including “psychoeducation, sleep hygiene, stimulus control, sleep restriction, cognitive therapy, and relaxation.” Some interventions consisted of only a series of three phone calls, between sixty and ninety minutes long, in the course of sixty days, while others were as intensive as weekly two-hour sessions for seven weeks. The methods seem initially promising for both sleep quality and fatigue—but only if administered face to face, not over the phone or the Internet. The effect isn’t huge, but insomnia is an increasing problem, and any possible cure is important to note.

“ A Mechanistic Link Between Olfaction and Autism Spectrum Disorder ,” in Current Biology

Autism is difficult to study, diagnose, and pin down. This study offers a new possibility: a way to use smell as a more objective marker of potential disorder. The connection also offers insights into some of the underlying mechanisms of autism.

“ Fibroblast Growth Factor 9 Is a Novel Modulator of Negative Affect ,” from PNAS

Depression is notoriously tough to handle pharmaceutically. We still don’t know how S.S.R.I.s work, for instance—or even if they work at all. This paper offers a previously untried target for treatment: FGF9, a neurotrophin (a type of protein) that appears to play a key role in regulating embryonic development and cell differentiation and seems also to be important in regulating our emotional state. In people with severe depression, it appears to be upregulated, or expressed at too high a concentration. In animals that experience chronic stress from social defeat, FGF9 expression in the hippocampus (the part of our brain involved in memory formation, which also seems to be closely connected to depression) increases—while a related growth factor, FGF2, which is tied to lower levels of depression, decreases. It could prove a dead end, of course, but at least it offers new hope in an otherwise difficult landscape.

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