psychology essay competition 2021 uk

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Essay writing competition 2023.

Download competition poster to display in your school/college here:

Download presentation to share information about the competition with your students here:

Teachers register your interest here: https://forms.gle/XQE2r9W3nXJoU1GR6 (if you are a student please ask your psychology teacher or tutor to do this for you).

Learn more about our award winning head judge Dr Linda Kaye here: https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/person/dr-linda-kaye/staff/

Learn more about the ATP here and become a member of this amazing community:

https://www.theatp.uk/

In 2021 I launched my first essay writing competition, judged by Professor Reicher, my personal tutor at the University of Exeter, where I was a student from 1994-1997. His lectures on the psychology of riots and carnivals captured our attention in a way that truly made “Psych Stick”, but Steve also made sure that when the chips were down we “Stuck” at it, and gave it our all. He is, therefore, somewhat responsible for PsychStix as if it wasn’t for his tutelage, I might not have ended up teaching this remarkable subject for over 25 years!

At PsychStix, we want to provide opportunities to cultivate great research and critical thinking skills, whilst allowing students the freedom to communicate with flair, passion and determination!  Finding your academic voice and having the confidence to speak up and contribute to the discourse is a critical step in creating a connected and inclusive world, where everyone’s experiences inform the big debates. Doing so with humility, yet the conviction that derives from thorough and robust research may also ensure that people take the time to listen! So, let me introduce the 2023 competition!

Essay title:  How should psychologists leverage advances in modern technology in their research and/or practice? You may refer to one of more examples in your answer, e.g. artificial intelligence, virtual reality. 

This year the competition will be judged in two age categories (Under and Over 16s) with 1st and 2nd prizes awarded in both categories.

– PsychStix certificates for all short-listed entrants;

– Second Prize: £25, plus PsychStix goody-bags – First prize: £50, plus PsychStix prize hamper

– The winners in each category will have their work published in ATP Today magazine and on the PsychStix website.

This year our competition will be judged by Dr Linda Kaye of Edge Hill University. Dr Kaye is an expert in cyber-psychology and her research focuses on how participation in the online/virtual world affects everyday experiences and behaviour, specifically how online settings promote social inclusion and well-being. 

Edge Hill is located in Lancashire, (North West UK) and was named as the Modern University of the Year in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022. This award recognises the university’s investment in their students including dedication to the highest quality of teaching and learning and fantastic facilities and accommodation (which has also been rated as number 1 by UniCompare 2023).

The competition has been kindly sponsored by the Association for the Teaching of Psychology.  The ATP is a highly respected national and international community of psychology teachers providing members with opportunities to network and collaborate. Please click here:  https://www.theatp.uk/to  find out how to join this amazing organisation that provides outstanding CPD in the form of an annual conference, one-day events and the fabulous ATP Today magazine, three times per year. Competition Rules

1. All essays must be submitted by Monday 4 December 2023 at 5.00 pm.

2. Essay should be no more than 1500 words and must be presented in 12 point text, double line spaced.

3. All essays must be submitted by a teacher or private tutor (in the case of home-schooled pupils/students), who must be a member of the PsychStix Facebook group or mailing list. Schools will be charged £24 for participation (up to 2 entries in each age category, 4 essays in total), to cover postage costs of certificates/prizes etc, marking of essays. This will be payable on submission of entries, it is free to register interest in the competition using this google form. All entrants will receive feedback on their submission.

4. This year the competition is open to students aged 14-19 and there will be two age categories with prizes in for winners in both categories, Under 16s (e.g. Year 10-11) and Over 16s (e.g. Year 12-13). The age restrictions have been increased to allow any students needing to repeat a sixth form year to be included. Furthermore, this year the competition will also be open to those below sixth form age, including those studying GCSE psychology. Entries are welcome from all pre-university, Psychology programmes, e.g. A Level, AP, IB, Pre-U, GCSE etc. including students enrolled in online schools.

5. Teachers who wish to submit entries must first complete a registration form so that we can generate student codes. We wish to keep the essays completely anonymous so that they are judged entirely on merit. When essays are submitted they should be sent as pdfs with a file name of “Essay Comp” followed by the unique codes that will have been given to you for each entrant.

6. No more than two entrants per school per age category, please. You may wish to open the competition to whole classes and choose the best two entries to submit. Please do send a personal email to [email protected] to let me know how many entrants there were from your school as a whole as I would like to ensure all competitors are recognised where possible!

7. The competition is open to international students but please be informed that physical prizes cannot be sent to students outside the UK due to restrictions around items that can be sent in the post, importation taxes, etc. Cash prizes can be sent by bank transfer to winners anywhere in the UK, Europe or the US and digital certificates can be sent to all entrants.

8. Essays will be judged according to the following criteria:

– Detailed knowledge of psychological research, including theories, studies and/or methods; – Mindful, logical, and informed reflection/analysis; – Clarity and coherence throughout the piece; – Compelling, imaginative, and engaging style; – Essays must include in-text citations and full APA referencing; academic honesty is imperative and essays will be checked for plagiarism and use of AI (all schools will be provided with detailed guidance regarding the appropriate use of AI)  – All essays must include a brief abstract of no more than 100 words and a reflective learning journal to include, if relevant, how and why AI was used in the creation of the essay – please download a copy of the reflective learning journal form here:  

Essays will be judged by a panel of experts; shortlisted essays will then be sent to Dr Linda Kaye to select the winners!

Teachers/tutors will receive an email from PsychStix with PIN codes to submit their essays, if for any reason you do not receive a message within 48 hours please do email me at [email protected]

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ULAB Undergraduate Essay Competition 2021

Andrew tobin, university of edinburgh, adam heron, university of glasgow, sylvia shi, university of cambridge, veatriki michailidi, northumbria university, eligibility, question 1: questioning grammaticality .

• What is grammaticality and is it reducible to anything else? 
• If grammaticality can be dialect-specific, why can it not be idiolect-specific, and does this make the concept itself redundant? 
• Will increased language use and contact trend towards all sentences being grammatical?

Recommended Reading

• Bybee, J. (2006). From Usage to Grammar: The Mind's Response to Repetition. Language , 82(4), 711-733.
• Bybee, J. (2010). Language, use, and cognition . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (see Chapters 1 and 7 specifically)
• Devitt, D. (2006) Ignorance of Language . Oxford: Oxford University Press. (see Chapters 2 and 7 specifically).
• Featherston, S. (2007) Data in Generative Grammar: the Stick and the Carrot. Theoretical Linguistics , 33(3), 269-318.
• Langacker, R. W. (2008). Cognitive Grammar: A Basic Introduction . Oxford: Oxford University Press. (see Chapter 8)
• Newmeyer, F. J. (2003). Grammar is Grammar and Usage is Usage. Language , 79 (4), 682-707.
• Newmeyer, F. J. (2007) Commentary on Sam Featherston, ‘Data in Generative Grammar: The Stick and the Carrot’. Theoretical Linguistics , 33(3), 395-399.
• Schütze, C. T. (2016) The empirical base of linguistics: Grammaticality judgments and linguistic methodology . Berlin: Language Science Press. (see Chapter 2 specifically).
• Zanuttini, R. (2007) Data and Grammar: Means and Individuals. Theoretical Linguistics , 33(3), 335-352.

Question 2: Linguistic Universals

Recommended reading .

• Culbertson, J., & Kirby, S. (2016). Simplicity and Specificity in Language: Domain-General Biases Have Domain-Specific Effects. Frontiers in Psychology , 6.
• Chomsky, N. (1995). The Minimalist Program. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
• Hawkins, J. (1990). A Parsing Theory of Word Order Universals. Linguistic Inquiry , 223-261.
• Griffiths, T. L., & Kalish, M. L. (2007). Language Evolution by Iterated Learning With Bayesian Agents. Cognitive Science , 31(3), 441–480. https://doi.org/10.1080/15326900701326576
• Culbertson, J., Franck, J., Braquet, G., Barrera Navarro, M., & Arnon, I. (2020). A learning bias for word order harmony: Evidence from speakers of nonharmonic languages. Cognition , 104392.
• Schouwstra, M., & de Swart, H. (2014). The semantic origins of word order. Cognition , 131(3), 431–436.
• Culbertson, J., Schouwstra, M., & Kirby, S. (2020). From the world to word order: deriving biases in noun phrase order from statistical properties of the world. Language (Baltimore) , 96(3), 696–717. 

Recommended Resource  

• The maps, which you can see in the ‘features’ section, are good for getting a rough idea of the geographical distribution of certain features in languages of the world. 
• For an example of a statistical word-order universal, see chapter 95 / map 95A.

Question 3: Critical Discourse Analysis in Society 

• Environment (ecolinguistics)
• Gender & sexuality (feminist & queer linguistics)
• Race, ethnicity & nationality
• Social class
• Bloor, M. & Bloor, T. (2013) The Practice of Critical Discourse Analysis: An Introduction. Abingdon: Routledge 
• Fairclough, N. (2001) Language and Power ( 2nd ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education
• Johnstone, B. (2018) Discourse Analysis (3rd ed.). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons
• Jones, P. E. (2007). Why there is no such thing as “critical discourse analysis”. Language & Communication , 27(4), 337-368.
• Mooney, A. & Evans, B. (2015) Language, Society and Power: An Introduction. Abingdon: Routledge
• Strauss, S. & Feiz, P. (2014) Discourse Analysis: Putting Our Worlds into Words . Abingdon: Routledge 
• Chen, S. (2016). Language and Ecology: A Content Analysis of Ecolinguistics as an Emerging Research Field. Ampersand , 3(1), 108-116.
• Farsiu, S. (2021). An ecolinguistic perspective on Assyrian-Iranian migrants’ portrayal of emotions toward their linguistic resources. Language Sciences , 83, 101331.
• Fill, A.F. and Penz, H. (Eds.). (2017). The Routledge Handbook of Ecolinguistics . Routledge.
• Stibbe, A. (2014) An Ecolinguustic Approach to Critical Discourse Studies. Critical Discourse Studies, 11(1), 117-128
• Angouri, J. and Baxter, J. (Eds.). (2021). The Routledge Handbook of Language, Gender, and Sexuality . Abingdon: Routledge.
• Baker, P. and Levon, E. (2015). Picking the right cherries? A comparison of corpus-based and qualitative analyses of news articles about masculinity. Discourse & Communication , 9(2), 221-236.
• Carter, C., Steiner, L., & Allan, S. (Eds.). (2019). Journalism, Gender and Power (1st ed.). Abingdon: Routledge.
• Heritage, F. & Baker, P. (2021) Crime or culture? Representations of Chemsex in the British Press and Magazines Aimed at GBTQ+ Men, Critical Discourse Studies , 1-19.
• Jones, L. (2019). Discourses of transnormativity in vloggers’ identity construction. International Journal of the Sociology of Language , 2019(256), 85-101.
• Litosseliti, L. (2006). Gender and Language: Theory and Practice. London: Hodder
• Mills, S. & Mullany, L. (2011) Language, Gender and Feminism: Theory, methodology and practice . Abingdon: Routledge
• Cavar, S. and Baril, A. (2021). Blogging to Counter Epistemic Injustice: Trans disabled digital micro-resistance. Disability Studies Quarterly , 41(2).
• Grue, J. (2011). Discourse analysis and disability: Some topics and issues. Discourse & Society, 22(5), 532-546.
• Shuttleworth, R., & Mona, L.R. (2020). The Routledge Handbook of Disability and Sexuality (1st ed.). Abingdon: Routledge.
• Sudajit-apa, M. (2017). A critical metaphor analysis of disability identity and ideology in the Thai undergraduates’ home for children with disabilities website project. Advances in Language and Literary Studies , 8(5), 79-88.
• Briscoe, F. M. & Khalifa, M. A. (2015) ‘That racism thing’: a critical race discourse analysis of a conflict over the proposed closure of a black high school, Race Ethnicity and Education , 18(6), 739-763,
• Khan, M. H., Qazalbash, F., Adnan, H. M., Yaqin, L. N. and Khuhro, R. A. (2021). Trump and Muslims: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Islamophobic Rhetoric in Donald Trump’s Selected Tweets. SAGE Open, 11(1).
• Williams, A. (2020). Black Memes Matter: #LivingWhileBlack With Becky and Karen. Social Media + Society , 6(4), 2056305120981047.
• Degani, P. & Ghanem, C. (2019). How Does the European Union Talk about Migrant Women and Religion? A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Agenda on Migration of the European Union and the Case Study of Nigerian Women. Religions , 10(1), 27.
• Khan, M. H., Qazalbash, F., Adnan, H. M., Yaqin, L.N. and Khuhro, R.A. (2021). Trump and Muslims: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Islamophobic Rhetoric in Donald Trump’s Selected Tweets. SAGE Open , 11(1).
• Pihlaja, S. (2018). Religious talk online: The evangelical discourse of Muslims, Christians, and Atheists . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Abalo, E. & Jacobsson, D. (2021). Class struggle in the era of post-politics: Representing the Swedish port conflict in the news media. Nordicom Review, 42.
• Block, D. (2013) Social Class in Applied Linguistics . Abingdon: Routledge
• Paterson, L. L., Coffey-Glover, L. & Peplow, D. (2016). Negotiating stance within discourses of class: Reactions to Benefits Street. Discourse & Society , 27(2), 195-214.

Winner is announced for the Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) Essay Competition 2021

The first annual Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) Essay Competition 2021 was organised by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) on behalf of the Suicide and Self-Harm Research North West (SSHaRe NoW) network.

The Suicide and Self-Harm Research North West (SSHaRe NoW) network is a collaboration between UCLan, Liverpool John Moores University, The University of Manchester, the Manchester Self-Harm Project, the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust and the NIHR Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs).

The Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) is a members-led charity campaign hosted by Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust dedicated to preventing suicide. They work in collaboration with NHS trusts, non-profit organisations, local authorities, businesses and individuals to raise awareness of suicide and its contributing factors. They also aim to break the stigma that surrounds suicide and enable leaders to drive meaningful action to help prevent suicide in the UK and beyond. Some of the ZSA’s activities involve developing suicide prevention training that teaches people how to identify, understand and help someone who may be experiencing suicidal thoughts; and working with organisations such as UCLan, providing support and guidance around the development of suicide prevention training packages. The ZSA training is accessible to all.

In relation to self-harm, this is one of the strongest predictors of suicide and therefore important to understand. The ZSA also aims to understand the factors that contribute to suicide, since improved understanding can guide suicide prevention strategies and programmes.

Essay Competition winner

Dr Kathryn Gardner said:

"We were extremely impressed with the entries we received for this competition, from a diverse range of people. Competition entries were judged by a panel of members from the Suicide and Self-Harm Research North-West (SSHaRe NoW) network and the Zero Suicide Alliance. Several essays were strong contenders, but the winning essay by Chloe Morris was unanimously selected by judges as the essay that best captured trends in self-harm and suicide during the pandemic, whilst showing a good understanding of the issues and constructing balanced arguments to articulate potential explanations for these trends."

Chloe Morris

Chloe attended the University of Lincoln for her Undergraduate degree and obtained a first class BSc (hons) in Psychology with Forensic Psychology. Chloe continued her studies in Psychology, by securing her place on UCLan’s MSc Applied Clinical Psychology course, for which she is currently studying.

In addition to her academic studies. Chloe has been volunteering for SHOUT, the mental health crisis texting service since March 2021 and has helped over 250 texters in that time, becoming a level 6 Crisis Volunteer. Chloe is also currently a Bank Mental Health Recovery Worker at Doncaster Crisis Accommodation.

Read Chloe's essay

Have rates of self-harm and suicide increased during the COVID-19 lockdowns and pandemic, in the UK and globally, and how might we explain these findings?

Suicide is a serious problem globally, with more than 700,000 deaths every year (WHO, 2021); and suicide is the second leading cause of death for individuals aged 15-24 years old (Drapeau & McIntosh, 2020). In 2019 it was reported that 11 in 100,000 people within the population of England and Wales died by suicide (Office for National Statistics, 2020a). Both self-harm and suicide are prominent issues in the UK (Iob et al., 2020), with self-harm often preceding suicide (Kapur et al., 2021). Self-harm, in the UK, refers to any act of self-poisoning or self-injury, regardless of motive (NICE, 2011), therefore all mention of self-harm discussed in this essay will be in line with the UK definition.

COVID-19 was officially announced as a pandemic on the 12 th of March 2020, with over 20,000 confirmed cases (WHO, 2020) and the first UK lockdown (i.e., the first wave) following this on March 16 th 2020. The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic on health and society were immense (Hawton et al., 2021c), with the extreme threat of COVID-19 potentially causing psychological responses such as fear, stress and worry (Foutoulakis et al., 2021). Considering this, and the steps taken to reduce the spread of COVID (e.g., social distancing), the potential for increased self-harm and suicide risk was high (Appleby, 2021; Reger et al., 2020; Robillard et al., 2021). This is evidenced by Hawton and colleagues (2021b) who found that 46.9% of those who had engaged in self-harm in their study were influenced by COVID-19 and the lockdown. This essay will highlight the relevant literature regarding the UK and global rates of self-harm and suicide in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Literature drawing on the Interpersonal Theory (IPTS; Van Orden et al., 2010), Three-Step-Theory (3ST; Klonsky & May, 2015), and Integrated Motivational-Volitional Model (IMV; O’Connor & Kirtley, 2018) will be discussed to address these findings.

Whilst it may be thought that the rates of suicide would increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the initial months of the pandemic does not reflect this, despite the complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide (Sinyor et al., 2021). Rates of suicide and self-harm decreased compared to past data according to the Office for National Statistics, (2020a; 2021), however some research has documented increased rates of self-harm (e.g., Iob et al., 2020; Teismann et al., 2020; Sáiz et al., 2020). In addition, in previous epidemics, such as the SARS outbreak in 2003, suicide rates among the elderly dramatically increased (Cheung et al., 2008; Yip et al., 2010). Taking into account the potential detrimental impact of COVID-19 on mental health outcomes (e.g., Feng et al., 2020; Fountoulakis et al., 2021; Nam et al., 2021), the same might be expected in the current pandemic. This is emphasised by the mental health of adults in the UK seemingly being affected by the first wave of COVID-19 (O’Connor et al., 2021).

Still, any claims that suicide rates have increased due to the pandemic are thought to be unsubstantiated (Moutier, 2021). Early observational data from April 2020 to October 2020 using real time surveillance methods showed no statistically significant difference in suicide rates for April-October in 2020 (637) compared to the same months in 2019 in England (633; Appleby et al., 2021), whilst research across twenty-one countries suggests a decrease in suicides since the beginning of the pandemic (Pirkis et al., 2021). For example, it was found that there was a five percent decrease in suicide rates during 2020 in Japan (Seposo et al., 2021). The multifactorial nature of suicide risk (e.g., mental health deterioration, financial loss, increased alcohol consumption) can help us understand why rates may not necessarily have risen during the pandemic. Moreover, variation in reported rates of suicide across studies may result from the many factors (e.g., ineffective data systems, stigma and systemic factors) which impact the accuracy of documenting suicide (Moutier, 2021).

While suicidal ideation and self-harm might be linked to COVID-19 (e.g., Ammerman et al., 2021; Bruffaerts et al., 2021; Caballero-Domíguez et al., 2020; Tasnim et al., 2020) it has not necessarily caused an increase in rates of self-harm or suicide. For example, there was a significant reduction in the number of self-harm presentations to hospital emergency departments, with a greater decrease among females than males (Hawton et al., 2021a; 2021b). Statistics from the Greater Manchester Care Record mirror this reduction, with 33,444 instances of self-harm by 13,148 individuals from 1 st January 2019 to 31 st May 2021; although a larger proportion of reductions in self-harm occurred among men and those living in deprived areas rather than in females (Steeg et al., 2021). Likewise, official statistics within England and Wales show a statistically significant decrease in suicide, particularly among men in the early months of COVID-19 (Office for National Statistics, 2021), a trend which continued later into the pandemic (Office for National Statistics, 2020a). Similarly, global suicide rates show a decrease across several countries (Pirkis et al., 2021). These statistics are likely to have a number of plausible explanations, however to sufficiently encompass the complexity of suicide it is necessary to first explore the factors already contributing to suicide and self-harm, alongside COVID-19 related factors. Thus, the following paragraphs will illustrate the risk factors associated with suicide and self-harm.

There is a vast amount of research that has identified common risk factors of both suicide and self-harm. Consistently, a history of a mental health disorder such as anxiety or depression poses a prominent risk for suicide and self-harm behaviour (Sáiz et al., 2020; WHO, 2021). In addition, factors such as being male, of low socioeconomic status (Sáiz et al., 2020), high stress and stressful life events (Macrynikola et al., 2018; WHO, 2021), low self-esteem (Eades et al., 2018), previous suicide attempt and self-harm (Hawton & Heeringen, 2009) and family conflict and abuse (Kapoor et al., 2018; Van Orden et al., 2010) have all been identified as increasing the risk of suicide and self-harm.

Additional factors related to COVID-19 have also been explored. COVID-19 related stress has been associated with self-harm (Robillard et al., 2021), a reduction of services for mental health treatment (Hawton et al., 2021a), isolation (Hawton et al., 2021b; Reger et al., 2020), disruption to routine, lack of contact, loneliness (Hawton et al., 2021b) and anxiety around safety (Feng et al., 2020). Moreover, although, the working environment within professional healthcare during the first wave COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium was not associated with suicidal ideation and death wish, lifetime and current mental health disorders were during this time (Bruffaerts et al., 2021). Additional factors including homelessness, unemployment, reduced income and financial debt that have been identified in previous literature as contributing to suicide (e.g., Stack, 2021) have been exacerbated by the pandemic (Elbogen et al., 2021; Ettman et al., 2020). This has resulted in an economic crisis requiring global cooperation (Susskind & Vines, 2020) which may affect individuals’ mental health further, making it a prominent issue to be addressed in interventions.

The interventions put into place to support those who have attempted suicide include social problem-solving (Walker et al., 2017). Research suggests difficulties surrounding problem solving in individuals who have attempted suicide (Brüden et al., 2015), highlighting the effectiveness social problem-solving interventions would have. What is more, resilience is a protective factor of suicide and self-harm (Xiao et al., 2020), in particular it is linked to adaptive coping strategies (Fuller & Huseth-Zosel, 2021). The implementation of effective coping strategies may increase resilience and address the emotion regulation difficulties often found in those who deliberately self-harm (Robillard et al., 2021) to promote more positive outcomes.

Suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and self-harm are typically high among specific subgroups in society, these include: gender non-conforming youths (Surace et al., 2021), ethnic minorities (Cervantes et al., 2014) and sexual minority youth (Fitzgerald & Curtis, 2017; Taliaferro & Muehlenkamp, 2016) . A typical commonality between these subgroups is that they are not accepted by others and are socially rejected, often facing discrimination (WHO, 2021). A major protective factor for suicide and self-harm is social connectedness (Van Orden et al., 2010) or in other words a sense of belonging (Levi-Belz & Feigelman, 2021). This falls in with several theoretical perspectives in regards to what causes suicide, namely IPTS (Van Orden et al., 2010), 3ST (Klonsky & May, 2015) and IMV (O’Connor & Kirtley, 2018). Therefore, as rejection – alongside defeat – is thought to play a major role in mental pain (Brüden et al., 2015), and a strong and reliable predictor of suicide being social isolation (Van Orden et al., 2010), individuals from these subgroups may not have the protective buffer social connectedness offers, leading to higher rates of suicide and self-harm.

The foundation of IPTS (Van Orden et al., 2010) is based on the assumption that people can and want to end their life. However, to get to this point, three constructs are necessary. The perceived hopelessness associated with two interpersonal concepts: thwarted belongingness (i.e., the idea that you do not belong) and perceived burdensomeness (i.e., that you are a burden to those around you) simultaneously leads to passive suicidal ideation. This, accompanied by the third construct of acquired capability (i.e., where individuals gain the capacity to end their life through the loss of fear associated with suicidal behaviour) serves a condition where an individual will move away from suicidal ideation to suicidal intent.

The IPTS highlights the importance of social support and connectedness in the prevention of suicide, including accounting for risk factors such as self-esteem, which was found to be negatively associated with suicidal ideation, thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness (Eades et al., 2018). Additionally, the IPTS accounts for practical factors such as a reduced access to means in order to carry out suicide due to lockdown restrictions, thereby decreasing the capability for suicide. However, mixed findings have been found regarding the efficacy of IPTS in explaining suicide. When IPTS was applied to veterans, who typically experience higher levels of suicide, support for the IPTS was not found (Compton et al., 2021). Yet, other studies have found empirical support for this theory, particularly in the context of adolescents (e.g., Calear et al., 2021; Hunt et al., 2021). These mixed findings signify a limitation in the explanatory power of the IPTS, and so this theory may be less useful in explaining the decrease in suicide rates within the pandemic. Therefore, alternative theories will be discussed below.

Building on IPTS, Klonsky and May (2015) developed the 3ST which posits that the combination of hopelessness and pain results in suicidal ideation and action. Pain, psychological or emotional, in combination with hopelessness causes suicidal ideation – which is the first step of this theory. The 3ST underscores the protective contribution of connectedness in reducing suicidal ideation, making the lack of social connectedness the next step leading to suicide. Finally, the third step is the capability for suicide, this comes from three distinct categories: dispositional (e.g., genetic factors such as reduced pain sensitivity), acquired (e.g., habituation to experiences involving death and pain) and practical (e.g., knowledge and access to means used for suicide). All three stages together result in suicidal action.

The clinical and empirical applications of both IPTS and 3ST are notable, support has been found for pain and hopelessness being strong predictors of suicidal ideation, with connectedness protecting against this (Tsai et al., 2021). This signifies the potential explanatory validity the 3ST has in explaining the reduced rates of suicide during the pandemic. The precise nature of the 3ST in explaining suicidal action is limited by poor measurement of suicide capability due to a lack of valid measures, alongside a lack of longitudinal data to support the concept, which challenges the theory (Klonsky et al., 2021). For example, ideal measures for suicide capability involve longitudinal assessments when an individual has a strong desire to attempt to end their life and strong capability to do this, resulting in suicide attempts during this time, but not at other times such as when capability is low (Klonsky et al., 2021). This means, that the 3ST’s utility in explaining suicide rates in the context of the pandemic is reduced.

The final theory discussed is a three-phase biopsychosocial framework referred to as the IMV (O’Connor & Kirtley, 2018). In the pre-motivational phase, meaning before suicidal ideation has occurred, there are several biopsychosocial vulnerability factors and events which lead to suicidal ideation. Feelings of defeat and entrapment, emerging from these background factors, drive suicidal ideation and volitional moderators (VMs) facilitate or impede the transition from ideation to action. VMs account for factors that both increase (e.g., fearlessness about death, impulsivity, past suicidal behaviour) and reduce the likelihood of suicide (e.g., social connectedness).

The IMV has particular application in understanding the rates of suicide among individuals in the pandemic and in general . Not only does the IMV encompass the social connectedness aspect of suicide prevention, which is predominant in literature, but it also incorporates additional factors mentioned previously. It accounts for the aspects of people’s lives that may have led to suicidal ideation before the pandemic and also has the potential to include novel facets relevant to this time period, in terms of background factors and VMs. However, this theory views each suicide attempt in the same way, as distinct events, without considering the cyclical nature of suicide (O’Connor & Kirtley, 2018). The complex nature of suicide may not be fully captured by the linearity of the IMV, for example, new suicidal behaviour may not present in the same way as previous suicide attempts (O’Connor & Kirtley, 2018). Still, the IMV has great efficacy in terms of prevention and treatment activities as these can be tailored to the individual by drawing on factors and VMs which apply to them depending on the phase they are in (O’Connor & Kirtley, 2018). The IMV considers individual differences and allows for a personalised formulation for each person.

Further, the moderation effect of the VMs effectively accounts for the novelty of COVID-19, as potential background components for ideation (e.g., lack of support for mental health difficulties) and VMs (e.g., social connectedness) unique to COVID-19 contexts can be incorporated, meaning it has added value in the current climate. For example, an individual may have vulnerabilities increasing their suicidal ideation but the increased social connectedness due to COVID-19 social support may impede suicidal behaviour. This means the IMV has particular utility as it can explain why some research suggests ideation and self-harm rates may have increased (Iob et al., 2020; Teismann et al., 2020; Sáiz et al., 2020), and why suicide rates appear to have decreased (Office for National Statistics, 2020; 2021).

A major protective factor, which can act as a VM, highlighted in literature is social connectedness, which has been implicated in preventing suicidal ideation becoming suicidal action. The high amount of social connectedness stemming from collectively being ‘in it together’ in COVID-19 prevents individuals from acting on their ideation. The promotion of a sense of connectedness to others due to a common threat it poses (Moutier, 2021; Wasserman et al., 2020), is in line with the pulling-together effect seen after a period of natural disaster where suicide rates are low, in which individuals who undergo a shared experience strengthens their social connectedness (Reger et al., 2020). In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst physical socialising was reduced, a sense of community and social cohesion was high (e.g., Moutier, 2021) thereby decreasing the chance of suicide action. Many areas of life could be contributing to social connectedness in the pandemic.

Parent connectedness has been established as a robust protective factor for self-harm, particularly in groups such as sexual minorities (Taliaferro & Muehlenkamp, 2016) where rates are higher. Due to stay-at-home orders during lockdown periods, the sense of parental connectedness could have increased as families were able to spend more time with each other, therefore buffering potential adverse mental health outcomes leading to self-harm behaviour. Not only does parental connectedness have a huge impact on mental health, but so does community connectedness. Community connectedness is associated with less social anxiety, in particular, family and school connectedness potentially protecting against the risk of suicide and self-harm in young people (Foster et al., 2017). Thus, the sense of connectedness that individuals found during the COVID lockdowns can account for statistics that show significant reduction in suicide for younger populations (e.g., ages 10-24; Office of National Statistics, 2021).

Nevertheless, while this may be the case for many, stay-at-home orders may have had the opposite and adverse effect due to increased time spent with families and this needs to be taken into consideration. Rates of domestic violence have increased during the pandemic, but it is expected that there are still numerous unreported incidences (Kofman & Garfin, 2020). Further, the extended periods of time family members have spent together may have caused negative outcomes with increased tension (e.g., Liu et al., 2021; Zeiler et al., 2021). This could have lowered the protective nature of social connectedness by creating adverse environments which raise familial conflict, this has been implicated in increasing the risk of suicide and self-harm (Adrian et al., 2019; Orlins et al., 2021). This could explain any potential increase in rates of self-harm seen during the pandemic that have been identified in some but not all studies (e.g., Iob et al., 2020; Teismann et al., 2020; Sáiz et al., 2020), however it reduces the ability of social connectedness in explaining why suicide did not take place as it would not be a protective factor here.

Additionally, the statistics regarding suicide and self-harm rates may not be entirely accurate. The collection of data regarding suicides can be challenging due to the extensive investigation needed, meaning caution regarding the decrease in suicide rates is warranted as the difference may not be as large as suggested (Kapur et al., 2021). The lack of face-to-face services may have hindered individuals from being identified as attempting suicide or self-harming, alongside reduced capacity to reach out for help due to limited opportunity, for example the closing of schools preventing the chance for safeguarding of children at risk of self-harm and suicide. Also, it was stated that the delays in death registrations because of the pandemic may account for the decrease in suicides (Office for National Statistics, 2020a). Thus, the data may not actually represent a decrease, instead it may be due to the delay in reporting of incidences. Equally, data regarding mental health in the pandemic is based on cross-sectional research (e.g., Feng et al., 2020 Robillard et al., 2021; Sáiz et al., 2021), therefore the scarcity of longitudinal data means the long-term impacts are still unknown (Kapur et al., 2021). The need for high quality surveillance surrounding self-harm has been stated, largely due to the limited predictive capacity for current findings on future levels of self-harm (Hawton et al., 2021c).

Moreover, as society starts to return to normal, with lockdowns and restriction easing, it is likely that the sense of social cohesion and connectedness that was reported throughout the pandemic will also reduce. Thus, it is essential that focus remains on observing the rates of suicide and self-harm. While it is necessary to consider that the protective factor of social connectedness may not have impeded suicidal activity in everyone and that data may not be entirely accurate, statistics do imply a reduction in suicide rates compared to previous years, meaning the protective factors brought about by COVID-19 are still noteworthy. Further, there could be a future increase in suicide rates once the protective factors brought about by COVID-19, such as social connectedness, are reduced as life returns to normal. As well as potential adverse economic impact of COVID-19 (Office for National Statistics, 2020b) which may impact mental health and suicide rates.

Overall, it is clear that the general consensus points towards a potential reduction, rather than an increase, in suicide and self-harm rates in the UK and globally, although the data are still being analysed and conclusions could potentially change. Research across the globe, such as in the U.S (Reger et al., 2020) and Colombia (Caballero-Domíguez et al., 2020), mirror the idea that while suicidal ideation may have indeed increased throughout the pandemic, this did not proceed to individuals acting on these thoughts. It was proposed that this is because of the increase in social connection in line with the pulling-together effect seen in similar situations of national and global distress (e.g., Reger et al., 2020). This is supported by the IMV which stipulates VMs either facilitate or impede the transition from ideation to enaction (O’Connor & Kirtley, 2018), with social connectedness protecting against suicide attempt (Macrynikola et al., 2018). However, as we start to come out of the pandemic, it is expected that the social connectedness seen will decrease, thus reducing its protective impact on suicide and self-harm. This means it is still vital to monitor the rates of suicide and self-harm, and to develop interventions, which mitigate the impact of the pandemic, and policies aimed at prevention and clinical practice in the context of COVID-19 (Zortea et al., 2020); including addressing factors such as job loss, homelessness and pandemic-related stress (Elbogen et al., 2021).

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Essay question

During the Covid-19 pandemic there has been much attention given to both the rates of suicide and self-harm , so what does the evidence tell us? It is this very question we invite you to answer in our first annual ZSA competition. The aim of this competition is to encourage quality research and writing on suicide and self-harm, to engage people in a creative way, and to share knowledge and expertise.

Question: Have the rates of self-harm and suicide increased during the covid-19 lockdowns and pandemic, in the UK and globally, and how might we explain these findings?

• Win a first prize of £500
• Prize winner’s presentation by the ZSA.
• This is an academic style of essay. Competition entries will be judged by a panel of members from the Suicide and Self-Harm Research North West (SSHaRe NoW) network and the Zero Suicide Alliance on the extent to which their essay shows good knowledge of the topic area and supporting empirical evidence, cogency of argument, originality and independence of thought, clarity of expression, and overall ability to articulate explanations for trends in the evidence.
• Essays should be no longer than 3,000 words and contain a reference list at the end of essay to support the ideas, claims, and concepts in the essay. The reference list is not included in the word count and can be formatted in any style, but must include all those references that appear within the text. In-text citations should include only the author surname and date.
• Essay published on the University of Central Lancashire, ZSA , and the SSHaRe NoW website which is hosted by the University of Manchester.
• We encourage entries from students, practitioners, experience-by-experience and members of the public with a shared interested in suicide and self-harm, from across the UK and internationally.

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Presentation of the award

The award was jointly presented by Elaine Darbyshire and Professor Andrew Ireland.

Elaine Darbyshire is Senior Responsible Officer at the Zero Suicide Alliance and Executive Director of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. Elaine’s role includes full responsibility for the running of the ZSA plus a Board lead at Mersey Care for the experience and involvement of the patients and families of one of the largest mental health and community trusts in the country.

Professor Andrew Ireland is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students and Teaching), providing strategic leadership across the organisation in the areas of student experience, teaching excellence, curriculum design, and student support services. Andrew also leads the University’s suicide prevention group.

Related information

Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) Essay Competition 2021

Applied Clinical Psychology, MSc

Immerse Education Essay Competition 2021: Is Psychology a Science?

Four highly motivated Grade 10 students spent a portion of their Christmas holiday writing submissions for the Immerse Education Essay Competition in the hope of winning a 100% scholarship to attend a summer course at Cambridge University in the UK.  The competition is a challenging one: entrants must pick one question from a list of eighteen controversial topics and have only 500 words to defend their answer.  Essays must be fully referenced with footnotes and bibliography.  While we all have our fingers crossed for their success, we are quite simply hugely proud of them for taking the initiative to enter this competition – well done!

Here is one of the entrants essays from LIS:

Is psychology a science.

Science has a long history, dating back to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. It found its roots in simple discoveries explaining the world around us; first theories were set up, some were proven correct, some dismissed. Whether a field qualifies as  a ‘science’, in particular the human sciences, has always caused heated discussions among experts. One of these is Psychology, the study of mind and behaviour. Science is defined as: “the careful study of the structure and behaviour of the physical world, especially by watching, measuring and doing experiments, and the development of theories to describe the results of these activities”. With the definition in mind, this essay will analyze if Psychology qualifies as science.

Many people accept the meson fields, such as Biology, Physics and Chemistry, as sciences, because they have existed for long, investigating theories which can be proven by experiments that reliably produce invariable results. Allocating Psychology as a scientific subject is complex, as it investigates behaviour, emotion and cognition of human beings, which is known to change and vary from person to person. Humans do not react as predictably as molecules do, yet respond to a stimulus, causing slightly different observations. In addition, Psychology is an interdisciplinary mélange of several fields – the natural sciences, the humanities and the social sciences, different for example to Mathematics with its very own core of knowledge. Therefore, many people confuse Psychology with bordering subjects that apply its principles, yet are not of as much scientific value as the subject itself, such as psychotherapy, psychiatry or psychoanalysis.

However, a subject does not reach its scientific status for what it studies, but for how it studies it. Contrary to public opinion and just like the above mentioned sciences, Psychology strictly uses the empirical method of observation by systematically observing, measuring and setting up hypotheses to match the data created. This method follows experimental procedures and allows researchers to accumulate knowledge. Experimental Psychology, which was established at the end of the 19. century through Wilhelm Wundt and Gustav Fechner in Leipzig/Germany as an academic discipline, therefore classifies as science, unlike strands of its applied knowledge – fields that do not work with only the empirical methods of research, but allow psychological practitioners to enhance the lives of others.

Psychological research occasionally depends on the time that the psychologists find themselves in. They need to take in consideration the Zeitgeist of generations, which are bound to change in perspective over time. Occurrences or important historical events might influence the way people’s minds are shaped, therefore influencing the information collected by researchers. In addition, Psychology is a relatively new field developing to grow further as people are recognizing its importance. In the past it was sometimes seen as forgery. However, this dependency on and person should not shatter the scientific value of Psychology, since it shows how the field is adaptable and will prevail in the future.

In summary, Psychology should be referred to as a science. Its philosophical roots, yet empirical and experimental approaches leave no room for discussion about its status. Differing from the meson fields of  science, Psychology shows development in the human horizon of knowledge, which can only be widened further through overall inclusion of different fields to the scientific world.

Laura F. Bibliography: Berezow, Alex B, “Why Psychology Isn’t Science”, Los Angeles Times , 2012 [accessed 27 December 2020] Brink, Tim Low, “Brink (1B): What Makes Psychology Scientific?: Introductory Psychology”, Learn.Canvas.Net [accessed 2 January 2021] Henriques, Gregg, “The “Is Psychology A Science?” Debate”, Psychology Today , 2016 [accessed 20 December 2020] Mcleod, Saul, “Is Psychology A Science?”, Simply psychology.Org , 2020 https://www.simplypsychology.org/science-psychology.html [accessed 2 January 2021] “Science”, Cambridge Dictionary (2014) https://dictionary.cambridge.org/de/worterbuch/englisch/science [accessed 1 January 2021] Stuart, Andrew, “Why Psychology Is A Science”, Medium , 2007 https://medium.com/predict/why-psychology-is-a-science-f34e0e3a83fb [accessed 30 December 2020]

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National psychology competition, site search.

The registrations for the Psychology Poster Day Competition 2024, which will take place on June 19th this year, are now open!

The competition

We run a national Psychology competition for schools, enabling Year 12 students to pit their psychology skills against pupils from across the UK.

To enter the competition, students answer the competition question with a two-minute video (submitted before the event) and a corresponding poster (to be presented at the on-campus event).

Students may want to look at findings from psychological studies, think about the implications of a psychological theory, or approach it completely differently. It’s an opportunity for you to showcase your understanding of Psychology.

The competition question

How can psychologists/psychology promote healthier working environments in schools?

Rules and regulations

Teachers: You can register one team of 2 to 5 students from your school or college

Submission deadlines, rules, and regulations for the competition.

Registration

The form to apply for the competition is HERE .

The registration form will remain open to you until the slots are taken, or until Friday 10th of May , whichever one is sooner.

Only one team from the same school will be able to get registered this year – this is to increase equity amongst schools and widen access to this opportunity. If you have issues selecting a team before the deadline, please do fill out the form anyway to register, and we’ll be happy to a spot until you’ve selected the team members.

Any questions, please do let us know (at mirta.stantic@ rhul.ac.uk or dee.birtles@ rhul.ac.uk ), and we look forward to meeting your students later this year! 

If you are an A-level teacher and would like receive updates about future event registration dates, please join our mailing list .

Winning team members/school will receive a share of £150 in gift vouchers, courtesy of the Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London.

Previous winners

Our 2022 competition theme was “How can psychology help solve societal and global problems?” Watch the video from the winning team from Peter Symonds College. https://vimeo.com/719007066

Our 2021 competition theme was “How can psychology help us to create a better future?”  Watch the video  from the winning team from Hazelwick School.

Our 2020 competition theme was “How can psychology help us to understand current events?”. Watch the video from the winning team from Lady Eleanor Holles School.

Our 2019 competition theme was: “How can psychology be used to promote equality and greater acceptance of diversity?”  Watch the video from the winning team from Dame Alice Owens School.

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MIND Graduate Essay Prize

Graduate essay prize winner 2021.

For the third time,  MIND  and Oxford University Press are pleased to announce the winner of the  MIND  Graduate Essay Prize.

The topic this time was ‘The Philosophy of Logic’. There was a total of forty entries. These were reviewed by the Editors and an external advisor.  The winner is the essay ‘ Neo-Logicism and Gödelian Incompleteness ’, by Fabian Pregel. His essay is published in the October 2022 issue of MIND .  He also receives a cash prize of £500 and £500 worth of OUP books.  His essay is followed in that issue by another entry, ‘ Logical Realism and the Riddle of Redundancy ’, by Óscar Antonio Monroy Pérez, which was also deemed worthy of publication.

Pregel’s essay considers the challenge posed by Gödel’s theorem to neo-logicism in the philosophy of mathematics.  He argues that the neo-logicist has no simple way of addressing this challenge.  He considers in particular Crispin Wright’s proposal for how to do so and argues that it is unsatisfactory.

Pérez’s essay considers a problem that afflicts logical realism, the thesis that some items of logical vocabulary are ‘élite’.  The problem concerns pairs of items of vocabulary that are interdefinable: if both qualify as élite, that involves an unacceptable redundancy; if only one qualifies, that involves an unacceptable arbitrariness. Pérez argues that the logical realist can solve this problem with a suitable choice of notation.

We were again impressed by the high standard of submissions. After three successful exercises, we plan another essay prize in due course.  Watch this space!

Graduate Essay Prize Winner 2019

The 2019  MIND  Graduate Essay Prize was on the topic of ‘The Phenomenological Tradition’. Read the winning article, ‘ What Would a Phenomenology of Logic Look Like ’, by James Kinkaid.

Graduate Essay Prize Winner 2017

The 2018 MIND Graduate Essay Prize was on the topic of 'Social and Political Philosophy'. Read the winning article, ' Illocutionary Frustration ' by Samia Hesni.

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The following pages contain information about our Essay Prizes run for Lower and Upper 6th Students internationally, including how to apply.

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Essay competition notice.

The final psychology AS-Level Essay Competition for sixth-form students took place in 2013. There are currently no plans to reinstate the competition. The Department uses other methods of outreach, such as open days (for information, please see the Cambridge Open Days page).

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SELECTION oF  PAST ESSAYS 

A government funds its own expenditure by taxing its population. suppose, instead, it relied solely on money newly created by the central bank what would be the advantages and/or disadvantages   , should we judge those from the past by the standards of today how will historians in the future judge us, kit young tham first prize, 2023, are beliefs voluntary, hannah kim third prize, 2023  , if you cannot persuade your intelligent, sympathetic friends to embrace your religious belief system, do you have enough reason to believe what you believe, should ‘innocent until proven guilty’ apply not only to courts of law, but also to public censure, should the law ever prevent people from freely making self-harming decisions if so, what should and shouldn’t be forbidden – and according to which principles, major shokar first prize, 2021  , shivrav sharma second prize, 2023, economics essay, history essay, psychology essay, theology essay, huaming li second prize, 2021  , joonyoung heo first prize, 2021, junior essay, philosophy essay.

Is tax theft?

Hosai kishida, shanghai american school grand prize, 2023, which characteristics distinguish successful movements for social change from unsuccessful ones, hannah fareed second prize, 2023.

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Essay Competitions – Natural Sciences and Psychology

An opportunity to share your ideas about Natural Sciences and Psychology from the University of Exeter.

The University of Exeter , want to hear your ideas about Natural Sciences and Psychology. This is the 2 nd of a series of essay competitions that the University of Exeter are running throughout the year. It is open to students from Year 11-13 studying any Level 2 or Level 3 course .  Students can either submit a 1,000 word essay or a 6-7 minute video .  There will be a prize of a £100 voucher and University of Exeter hoodie awarded to the winner of each category.

Natural Sciences

• Discuss whether there are every any areas of science that should be off limits to researchers for ethical reasons.
• What is the most important chemical reaction, and why?
• How important is it that decisions by governments are more informed by science?
• Explore the impact of early childhood experiences on adult mental health.
• Analyse the role of social media on shaping societal ideals of attractiveness and its impact on body image and self-esteem.
• Examine the role of leadership in influencing group processes and decision-making.

The deadline for entries is 15th December

Find out more

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The Essay Competition is now closed.

Northeastern University London is inviting competition entries from students who are currently in their penultimate year of secondary education (equivalent to Year 12 in the English education system, or Grade 11 in India).

Our selection of essay titles engage across a broad range of technology, social science and humanities topics and we look forward to receiving entries from talented and intellectually curious students who show passion in their subject area. We welcome entries from students located anywhere in the world.

If you have any further questions please see our  FAQ page before contacting us.

Choose your essay question

Applied Digital & Technology Solutions: Discuss the societal risks and rewards associated with generative AI (such as ChatGPT). 

Business: Is it possible to reconcile the cost-of-living crisis consumers are experiencing with the need for sustainable consumption?

Computer & Data Science: Describe a modern application of data science based on machine learning, generative AI or data analytics. Discuss its context in terms of topic, domain, and societal implications. 

Economics: Does the expanding gig economy contribute positively to sustainable economic growth? 

English: Is it fair to say that literature is another name for language which has no practical use? 

History: How have empires throughout history shaped the societies we live in today? 

Law: Ed Sheeran said “Defending copyright infringement lawsuits has become as much a part of the job description for top musicians as the performance of hits”. Discuss whether UK copyright laws are out of date and should be reviewed by Parliament. 

Philosophy: To what extent, and in what ways, can the past be a good guide to the future? 

Politics & IR: Is environmental degradation a greater threat to the international community than war? 

Psychology: Discuss to what extent mental factors impact ageing.

The following prizes will be awarded:

Overall winner across all essay subjects- £1000

Winner in a subject category- £500

Runner up in a subject category- £250

How to enter

1. Register for the competition – After registering you will be emailed detailed instructions on how to enter.

2. Choose one of the titles

3. Write your 1,500-word essay

4. Submit your essay via our online form (URL will be emailed to you after you register) by 1pm GMT Sunday 31st December 2023 .

If you have any further questions please see our FAQ page before contacting us.

Who can enter?

The Northeastern University London Essay Competition is open to students who are currently in their penultimate (second to last) year of secondary education (Year 12 in England or Grade 11 in India). This is a global competition, so we encourage entries from those studying anywhere in the world. Find full competition rules here .

Register here

We are no longer accepting registrations for the essay competition. If you have any questions please refer to our FAQ .

• 2024 Economics Essay Contest
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• Submission Guidelines

SoT Psychology Essay Contest

Topic   the al-psychology connection: exploring the lmpact of artificial lntelligence on mental health, therapy, and well-being.  , students are asked to write an essay (up to 1,500 words) to address the following five points:.

Discuss the Al-Psychology Connection: Exploring the lmpact of Artificial lntelligence on Mental Health, Therapy, and Well-being.

• Discuss how this problem impacts a specific group of people. Personal or more general examples are encouraged.
• Describe one way that the study of psychology can help you and others understand an aspect of individual cognition, behavior or development related to this problem. You must state, describe, and provide an example relating to at least one specific concept in psychology.
• Discuss one way in which the study of psychology can help you understand an aspect of social relations or influences related to this problem. You must state, describe, and provide an example relating to at least one specific concept in psychology.
• Discuss one way in which a concept in psychology can help inform a solution to this systemic problem. You must state, describe, and provide an example relating to at least one specific concept in psychology.

Submissions must:

• Address the essay prompts provided above
• The work must be written in English
• The work must be completed individually, not in teams or groups
• Include citations from credible, peer-reviewed sources
• Plagiarism is prohibited. The top essays will be submitted to Turnitin.com before awards are decided and essays with evidence of plagiarism will be eliminated from the competition

Submission format requirements:

• Times New Roman, 12-point type, double-spaced
• Include the title, author information on the cover page, and an abstract of no more than 250 words.
• In-text citation in APA format and a references list. For more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
• MS Word Format Only

Eligibility and Rules

oEntry Requirements

Entry is open to students from any country and any school. Candidates must be 18 years old, or younger, on the date of the submission deadline.

Key Dates​ ​

Submission deadline - 15th, August, 2023

Award Announcement - 1st, October, 2023

200 RMB. All income will be used for project operations and other non-profit activities.

Awards First Prize 500 RMB

Second Prize 300 RMB

Third Prize 200RMB

Honorable Mention

Scoring Rubric

Formatting and Language

An essay of no more than 1,500 words (Cover page, abstract, and reference page do not count toward word limit)

• A cover page specifying the title and author information.
• An abstract of 120-250 words.
• In-text citations in correct APA format.
• A reference page in correct APA format.
• Free of grammar mistakes

Accurately identify and describe the origin and current situation of a problem of public mental health

Provide Coherent and consistent line of reasoning

Use at least one specific concept in Psychology to support your point

Accurately and clearly discuss one way to inform a solution to this problem.

Academic Committee