Psychological scientists are unique in that we can understand and improve every behavior, thought, and feeling of every human during every hour of every day. This is a distinguishing feature of our discipline, and it’s time for our work to have the impact it deserves. That’s one reason I launched the Science Spotlight newsletter shortly after I became APA’s new chief science officer in 2021. I hope you’ll subscribe today, if you haven’t already.
But there’s so much more to APA’s ambitious plan to advance psychological science. We are committed to changing what I—and so many other psychological scientists—know to be true: that psychological science is underutilized, underappreciated, and underfunded. As the largest professional association of psychologists in the world, and the leading source for scientific knowledge, APA is uniquely well-suited to improve, promote, and apply psychological science in ways that will prepare our discipline to fulfill its potential.
Doing so requires that we attend to five priorities:
- twenty-first century psychological science. Our discipline has a unique opportunity to capitalize on new methodological approaches, new avenues for transdisciplinary work, and new opportunities for funding team science approaches that should be informed and led by psychological scientists. Join me in positioning our discipline to be at the forefront of science.
- celebrating diversity and equity. We must confront and address the practices and traditions that have maintained inequities, injustices, and biases in psychological science. Doing so now with concrete and meaningful actions may offer an opportunity for psychology to emerge as an exemplar for other scientific disciplines to follow.
- realizing psychology as a hub science. Outside our field, we are seen as one discipline that has been relatively insular. If our sub-disciplines can synthesize our collective knowledge and work with increasing collaboration, we can better demonstrate how psychological science has great potential to advance an understanding of virtually all human behavior, and that we are essential partners for many other natural and social sciences.
- psychological science guiding policy decisions. Our colleagues outside of scientific circles, including policymakers, business leaders, and educational and health professionals, for example, must realize that it will not be possible to achieve their aims without the expertise that our science can offer. Good decisions are based on good psychological science.
- public understanding of psychological science. It is maddening that Psych 101 and undergraduate psychology curricula are wildly popular, yet when students leave college they find remarkably little discussion of our incredibly relevant science in popular discourse. Addressing this issue may require some courageous conversations among scientists about the ways we encourage or teach public dissemination, and with potential audiences who may not know what they are missing.
Your involvement can greatly strengthen APA’s ability to make meaningful change towards these priorities. In short, scientists must engage in new APA initiatives and give me feedback on how APA can be most useful to you and your work. I encourage you to contact me often with feedback, comments, and ideas to help us use the full muscle of APA for psychological science.
Also, be sure to subscribe to Science Spotlight to stay informed of all activities that will help us elevate psychological science and provide you with the resources you need to keep you doing terrific work for our field.
