Abstract | This cross-sectional study investigated the patterns of use and attitudes towards statistics in the everyday work of licensed psychologists in Croatia and gathered their suggestions for improving statistics education in the field. This study aimed to examine if components of attitudes towards statistics predicted the use of statistics in psychologists’ work, as well as their suggestions for the improvement of statistical education within psychology programs. It hypothesized that practicing psychologists’ use of statistics will be predicted by their attitudes towards statistics and that they will suggest that practical application and user-friendly software would be beneficial for today's psychology students. An online survey was carried out from January to March of 2024. Participants were eligible if they had graduated in psychology, were members of the Croatian Psychological Chamber, and were working in any field of psychology. Invitations were sent using purposive and snowball sampling methods, targeting publicly available email addresses of psychological societies and associations, as well as social media groups that gather psychologists. Additionally, we went through the directory of all licensed psychologists in Croatia (N=3733), collected the publicly available email addresses, and sent the survey invitation to increase the response rate. We collected a wide range of data, and the variables collected could be divided into four categories: demographics, use and knowledge of statistics, recommendations and study experience, and attitudes toward statistics. To analyze the data obtained, we used descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression. We managed to collect a sample of 602 participants, out of which 17 were excluded and 406 completed the whole survey. Psychologists reported using statistics in 10% of their working time, mainly for research papers and data processing while 20% did not use statistics at all. The principal suggested improvements were implementing practical applications and user-friendly software. Additionally, our findings show that a greater perceived value of statistics, and more negative feelings towards statistics were associated with a greater percentage of working time dedicated to statistics use. Despite extensive training, psychologists in Croatia rarely use statistics in their professional work, highlighting the importance of incorporating statistical educational practices that are more linked with the actual work of psychologists. This study, the first to explore the views of Croatian graduated psychologists on the use of statistics in everyday work, provides insights that can inform the design of educational interventions in psychology programs, potentially leading to better alignment between education and professional practice in the psychological field. |