Forensic psychologists rate their happiness above average.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, forensic psychologists rate their career happiness 3.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 36% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy forensic psychologists are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Special agent | 3.6 | $84k |
| Detective | 3.6 | $84k |
| Psychologist | 3.5 | $56k |
| Hearing officer | 3.5 | $103k |
| Forensic science technician | 3.4 | $62k |
| Clinical psychologist | 3.3 | $80k |
| Scientist | 3.3 | $87k |
| School psychologist | 3.0 | $80k |
| Probation officer | 2.9 | $60k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are forensic psychologists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do forensic psychologists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as forensic psychologists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are forensic psychologist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are forensic psychologists making the best use of their abilities?
Are forensic psychologists happy with their salary?
Forensic psychologists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most forensic psychologists having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked forensic psychologists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
19 forensic psychologists
16% of forensic psychologists rated their compensation 5 stars
32% of forensic psychologists rated their compensation 4 stars
11% of forensic psychologists rated their compensation 3 stars
11% of forensic psychologists rated their compensation 2 stars
32% of forensic psychologists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do forensic psychologists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, forensic psychologists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.4/5. Unlike many careers, forensic psychologists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become forensic psychologists.
We asked forensic psychologists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
20 forensic psychologists
30% of forensic psychologists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
25% of forensic psychologists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
15% of forensic psychologists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
10% of forensic psychologists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
20% of forensic psychologists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as forensic psychologists?
Forensic psychologists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.5/5. The majority of forensic psychologists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked forensic psychologists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
23 forensic psychologists
26% of forensic psychologists rated their career fit 5 stars
39% of forensic psychologists rated their career fit 4 stars
9% of forensic psychologists rated their career fit 3 stars
9% of forensic psychologists rated their career fit 2 stars
17% of forensic psychologists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a forensic psychologist’s work environment?
As a whole, forensic psychologists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of forensic psychologists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a forensic psychologist.
We asked forensic psychologists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
21 forensic psychologists
33% of forensic psychologists rated their work environment 5 stars
29% of forensic psychologists rated their work environment 4 stars
19% of forensic psychologists rated their work environment 3 stars
19% of forensic psychologists rated their work environment 2 stars
Are forensic psychologists making the best use of their abilities?
Former forensic psychologists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.0/5. Forensic psychologists tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked forensic psychologists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
22 forensic psychologists
27% of forensic psychologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
14% of forensic psychologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
27% of forensic psychologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
32% of forensic psychologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars