The decision of what career to pursue is one of the largest you will ever take. The value of information here is very high, and I recommend putting a very large amount of work and thought into it—much more than most people do. In particular there is a great deal of valuable stuff on 80000hours.org—it’s worth reading it all!
When assessing societal benefit, consider: are you likely to increase the total number of research psychologists, or just increase the size of the pool from which they are drawn? See Just what is ‘making a difference’? - Counterfactuals and career choice on 80000hours.org.
The decision of what career to pursue is one of the largest you will ever take. The value of information here is very high, and I recommend putting a very large amount of work and thought into it—much more than most people do. In particular there is a great deal of valuable stuff on 80000hours.org—it’s worth reading it all!