2025 year in review: Nine developments shaping psychological science

The year 2025 tested and transformed psychological science. From unprecedented challenges to groundbreaking discoveries, psychological scientists adapted to change, advanced knowledge, and advocated for research-informed solutions.

The nine developments below, including AI's expanding role in research and the mobilization of scientists in defense of evidence-based policy, helped to shape the field in 2025. Looking ahead to 2026, new resources, training opportunities, and advocacy efforts will continue to support your work and amplify its impact. Share your hopes for the field.

1. Artificial intelligence accelerated discovery while raising profound ethical and methodological questions. As AI became a more integral tool for streamlining literature reviews, scientific writing, and various routine tasks for psychologists, its rapid development also raised urgent questions for psychological scientists. APA’s health advisories on AI use and adolescent well-being and AI chatbots and wellness apps underscored the role of researchers in investigating the progression of the user–AI relationship, working with developers to ensure AI systems prioritize human safety, and auditing privacy and safety practices. Research and testimony affirmed that AI’s psychological impact, such as shaping identity, influencing decision-making, and prompting fears of job insecurity, demands proactive safeguards. And opportunities grew for psychological scientists to apply their expertise through expanding career paths. Much more about AI and machine learning.
2. Psychological scientists mobilized to defend evidence-based policy and research funding. The APA/APASI Response Center became a hub for tracking relevant federal policy shifts and mobilizing psychologists with action alerts, expert testimony, and opportunities to share real-world impacts directly with policymakers. With the United Science Alliance, APA coordinated statements from dozens of leading science organizations to support researchers and protect the existing gold standard for science. APA members and staff led some 250 meetings with congressional offices to advocate for sustained support of workforce and behavioral‑health programs. APA Services joined coalitions urging full funding for key federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health, partnered with the scientific community to safeguard federal grantmaking and essential research costs, underscored the need for robust investment in population‑level mental and behavioral health research, and opposed proposed changes to visas for international scholars and students.  Stay informed through the Washington Update
3. Psychological scientists navigated unprecedented career challenges amid funding cuts and research limitations. Entire research projects were paused or canceled, forcing researchers to adapt to continue important work aimed at improving outcomes across diverse populations, examining how information spreads through communities, and uncovering environmental factors influencing behavior. Academic positions grew scarcer, prompting faculty to help psychology students at all levels gain real-world work experience and prepare for careers in applied fields. Sudden funding cuts hit education research hard, prompting a shift toward long-term partnerships. Reductions in federal support prompted U.S.-based psychology researchers and students to look to opportunities abroad, while students and early-career psychologists confronted the dual challenge of securing resources and building networks in a volatile environment. Access more resources through the Career Transitions center.
4. New generations of psychological scientists built upon and challenged foundational research. APA’s Breakthrough Research series demonstrated both continuity and innovation in the field, ensuring cultural relevance, theoretical rigor, and practical impact in today’s evolving scientific landscape. For example, researchers refined and expanded Deci and Ryan’s framework for self-determination theory, testing its applications in education, health, and workplace settings. They built on Albert Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy with new work quantifying self-efficacy's impact on health behaviors and refining its methodological measurement, and on Markus and Kitayama’s 1991 framework showing how nuanced cultural systems shape emotion, cognition, and motivation across diverse global populations. And Terrie Moffitt’s dual taxonomy of antisocial behavior continued to guide policy-relevant studies. See more from the Breakthrough Research Series.
5. Escalating stress in and out of the workplace highlighted the essential role of applied psychologists. APA’s Work in America survey revealed that nearly half of U.S. workers reported chronic stress, with tensions fueled by economic uncertainty, political polarization, and organizational instability. Federal employees faced unique challenges, navigating shifting priorities and job insecurity while striving to maintain performance under pressure. The Stress in America report echoed these findings, showing that financial strain and global crises continue to erode mental health across demographics. Applied psychologists proved critical in this environment: designing interventions, informing workplace policies, and helping organizations build resilience.
6. International partnerships expanded, creating new pathways for equity and discovery worldwide. Globally dispersed teams of researchers increasingly partnered across borders to ensure larger, more representative samples in tackling shared problems such as mental health disparities and climate-related stress, always ensuring that solutions were culturally grounded and locally relevant. Adversarial collaborations gained traction as a way to resolve theoretical disputes and strengthen scientific rigor, demonstrating that constructive disagreement can advance knowledge. Amid worsening humanitarian crises and deep cuts in U.S. funding for global health, international collaborations built inexpensive, scalable, and culturally appropriate mental health programs. To further advance the science globally, APA’s Office of International Affairs partnered with psychological organizations worldwide.
7. Research on climate resilience and environmental sustainability gained momentum and influence. Psychological scientists advanced critical work on the human dimensions of climate and the natural environment, helping to shape policies and behaviors that promote adaptation and sustainability. Research highlighted rising climate anxiety among youth and the need for actionable coping strategies. Scholars explored how behavioral science can drive climate action, from nudging sustainable choices to designing interventions that overcome psychological barriers to change. Other studies examined the restorative power of nature on resilience and brain health, reinforcing the importance of environmental access for well-being. Psychologists also stepped up their own learning around climate science and how they can use psychology to make a difference.
8. Demand surged for training in emerging methodologies, applied science, and interdisciplinary approaches. Seeking new skills to keep pace with rapidly evolving research demands and a changing workplace, thousands of psychological scientists took advantage of 12 free trainings and discussions covering topics including leveraging research skills in business settings, preparing doctoral students for new career paths, experience sampling, metascience, and generative AI. Attendees of the APA 2025 convention, in turn, engaged in critical Science Summits covering the science of diversity, the youth mental health crisis, and technology and the workplace. Access recordings and transcripts for all Science Training Sessions and Essential Science Conversations.
9. Research published in psychological science journals drove discovery and captured public attention. Across APA’s 89 journals, nearly 5,190 articles advanced understanding of behavior, health, and social dynamics in 2025. Manuscript submissions surged 16%, signaling growing evidence-based research in psychology, with growth even stronger in educational, industrial-organizational, and social psychology journals. Public interest in psychological science soared as well: Findings from APA journals were cited nearly 11,000 times in the media, a 43% increase from 2024, reflecting psychology’s influence on urgent issues including misinformation, resilience, and implicit bias. Scientists also engaged deeply with research transparency and rigor, as demonstrated by a widely attended webinar on APA Style JARS, and they invested in the future, with 69 early career professionals participating in the editorial fellows program. Learn much more at the APA Journals™ Publishing Resource Center.

Looking ahead, we invite researchers to share your hopes for the field in 2026. Please weigh in with your priorities, hopes, and challenges—your perspective can help shape the conversations ahead.