Psychology Research Topics for High School Students: 30 Ideas, Sorted by How Hard They Are to Get Approved

Last updated: October 30, 2026

The best psychology research topics for high school students are narrow questions you can answer with data you are allowed to collect. That second part matters more in psychology than in any other field, because most psychology studies involve people, and research with people needs approval before it starts. Below are 30 topics sorted into three groups: studies that use public data, AI models or public observation and usually need no prior ethics review; experiments with volunteers; and survey studies. Each is written as a question you can test. We also explain the approval rules that apply if you plan to enter a science fair.

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What makes a good psychology research topic

A good topic for a high school project has four qualities:

It is a question, not a subject. "Social media and teens" is a subject. "Does a 10-minute phone-free break improve scores on an attention task?" is a question.
It can be measured. Psychology measures behavior: reaction times, recall scores, choices, ratings and survey answers. Decide what number you will collect before you start.
It fits your access. A study that needs 500 participants is not realistic for most students. A study that uses a public dataset of thousands of people may be.
It can be approved. If your study needs people, check the approval rules first (see below). Topics that could cause stress or harm, or that ask about sensitive subjects, are much harder to approve.

If you are still choosing between fields, our guide to how to choose a research topic in high school walks through the process.

The approval rules you need to know first

Many science fairs follow the International Rules for Pre-college Science Research from Society for Science, the organization that runs Regeneron ISEF. Even if you are not entering a fair, these rules are a good standard for ethical research.

Under the 2026–2027 rules:

Studies with people need IRB approval before you start. This includes surveys, questionnaires, tests and any study where you interact with participants. An Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews the plan. It must have at least three members, including an educator, a school administrator and a medical or mental health professional.
Participants must agree to take part. Researchers must get informed consent (or assent from minors), and minors also need permission from a parent or guardian. Attach your survey or test to the consent form so everyone knows what they are agreeing to.
You may not diagnose. Students may not diagnose any condition, give medication or perform medical procedures. A study can use a questionnaire about stress or sleep, but it cannot tell a participant they have a disorder.
Some studies are exempt from prior IRB review. These include studies of publicly available datasets and observations of people in unrestricted public settings, as long as the student does not interact with anyone, does not change the environment and does not record any identifying information.

That last rule is why the first group of topics below is so useful: you can often start this week.

Topics that usually need no prior ethics review

These use public data, AI models or public observation. Confirm with your teacher or fair that your design qualifies before you start.

Public survey data. The General Social Survey, run by NORC at the University of Chicago, has measured the attitudes and behaviors of the American public since 1972. Its data is free to download, and its online Data Explorer lets you analyze it without coding.

Has the share of Americans who say most people can be trusted changed since the 1970s, and does the trend differ by age group?
Are people who work more hours per week more or less likely to say they are very happy?
Is confidence in the scientific community related to education level, and has that relationship changed over time?

Observation in public places. Record only counts and behaviors, never names, photos or anything that could identify a person.

At a crosswalk, are pedestrians more likely to wait for the walk signal when other people are already waiting?
In a public library, do people choose a seat that leaves an empty seat between them and a stranger?
Do pedestrians who are looking at a phone cross the street more slowly than those who are not?

Content analysis. Here the "participants" are texts, songs or images, so no one needs to give consent.

Has the emotional tone of the most popular song lyrics become more negative over the past five decades?
How has the way children's picture books show scientists, by gender, changed over time?
Do news headlines use more negative words than positive words, and has the ratio changed in the last 20 years?

Studies of AI models. Large language models are trained on human writing, so a fair question is whether they show human-like biases. These studies do not involve human participants.

Do AI chatbots show the framing effect, choosing differently when the same option is described as "90 percent survive" versus "10 percent die"?
Are AI chatbot estimates pulled toward an irrelevant number in the prompt (the anchoring effect)?
Does an AI chatbot give different advice to the same question when the user says they are 15 versus 45?

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Experiments with volunteers (IRB approval needed)

These are classic, low-risk designs. Each needs approval, consent and parental permission for minors before you collect data.

Memory and learning

Does background music with lyrics reduce reading comprehension compared with instrumental music or silence?
Do students remember more from a short lecture when they take notes by hand rather than by typing?
Does testing yourself on vocabulary (retrieval practice) lead to better recall a week later than rereading the list?
Does grouping digits into chunks help people remember longer number strings?

Attention and perception

Does a 10-minute phone-free break improve scores on a simple attention task?
Is the Stroop effect (slower naming of ink colors when the word names a different color) weaker when the words are in a participant's second language?

Judgment and decision-making

Does an irrelevant number shown first change teenagers' estimates of an unknown quantity (anchoring)?
Do people rate a statement as more likely to be true if they have seen it before, even when it is false (the illusory truth effect)?
Does describing a medical treatment by its survival rate instead of its death rate change which treatment people choose?
When an option is pre-selected as the default, are people more likely to keep it?
Does adding a clearly worse third option (a decoy) change which of two plans people prefer?
Can people tell short stories written by AI from stories written by people, and does confidence predict accuracy?

Survey and correlational studies (IRB approval needed)

Survey studies show whether two things are related, not whether one causes the other. Say so in your paper. Use established, published questionnaires where you can, rather than writing your own questions.

Is the number of hours students slept the night before related to their reaction time the next morning?
Is screen use in the hour before bed related to self-reported sleep quality among teenagers?
Do students who believe intelligence can grow respond differently to a disappointing grade?
Does a message that says "most students at this school recycle" increase students' stated intention to recycle?
Is the amount of homework students report related to their self-reported stress?
How do teenagers define a good friend, and does the definition change between 9th and 12th grade?

Topics about mental health, such as anxiety or depression, are important but harder to approve. The review board may ask for extra safeguards, and you must not diagnose anyone. A strong alternative is to analyze a public dataset that already includes these measures.

Not sure which question fits you? Admitted students narrow it down with a PhD mentor by week four. See if you qualify for the STEM Research Program →

How to turn a topic into a study

Read first. Find three to five published studies on your question. Note how they measured each variable and how many participants they used.
Write the hypothesis. State what you expect and why, based on what you read.
Choose the design. An experiment (you change one thing and compare groups) can show cause. A survey or observation shows only a relationship.
Write the research plan. Fairs that follow the International Rules require a research plan before any experimentation. If your study needs people, this plan is what the review board approves.
Collect data the same way every time. Use a script for instructions, the same materials and the same setting.
Analyze honestly. Report the results you got, including the ones that did not support your hypothesis.
Write it up. Our guide to how to write a research paper in high school covers the structure, and journals for high school students lists places to submit it.

Psychology at science fairs

At Regeneron ISEF, psychology projects compete in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category. Society for Science says literature reviews and "library" research are not appropriate for ISEF, so a fair project needs data you collected or analyzed yourself. The rules also allow AI tools only with limits: you must cite any use, and you may not use AI to write your research plan, abstract or poster. Our guide to how to qualify for ISEF explains the path from a local fair.

If you want other fields too, see our full list of research topics for high school students.

Ready to start your own psychology research? Every application is reviewed individually. Start your application to the STEM Research Program →

Frequently asked questions

What are good psychology topics for high school students? Good topics are narrow, measurable questions you can get approved. Examples include whether music with lyrics reduces reading comprehension, whether self-testing beats rereading for memory, and whether trust in other people has changed over time in the General Social Survey.

What are good ideas for a psychology research project for high school students? Projects that use public data, public observation or AI models are the easiest to start, because they usually do not need prior ethics review. Experiments with volunteers, such as memory or decision-making tests, are classic choices but need IRB approval first.

Do I need IRB approval for a high school psychology project? Under the International Rules used by many science fairs, any study with surveys, tests or interaction with people needs IRB approval before you begin. Studies of public datasets and some observations in public places are exempt from prior review.

Can a high school student do psychology research without participants? Yes. You can analyze public datasets such as the General Social Survey, study texts or media through content analysis, or test whether AI models show human-like biases.

What category is psychology in at ISEF? Psychology projects compete in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category at Regeneron ISEF.

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