In 2022, the United States directed about $4.6 billion to psychological research (see Figure 1). This amount was 4.9% of that year’s total federal research budget of $93.8 billion. Psychological research, as a percentage of total federal research funding, grew 130% over 8 years, increasing from 3.1% in 2014 to 4.9% in 2022 (see Figure 2). Despite that increase, funding for psychological research remains considerably lower than funding for most other fields.
About 96% of psychological research funding came from the National Institutes of Health ($4.4 billion). Smaller amounts came from four agencies: Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, Federal Aviation Administration, and Department of Agriculture. Approximately equal funding was directed toward basic research in psychology ($2.3 billion) and applied research in psychology ($2.3 billion), Continued funding for psychological research depends on federal support.
