ARP’s Mission

Personality consists of the stable patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that distinguish people from one another. The Association for Research in Personality (ARP) is a scientific organization devoted to the advancement of research that contributes to the understanding of personality. In service of this mission, ARP and its members pursue activities including (but not limited to):

• • • Promoting scientific research through publications, conventions, awards, and efforts to improve the quality and rigor of personality research;
    • Promoting training, e.g., through workshops, resources, and network-building;
    • Enhancing diversity through research support, fostering collaborations, and efforts to broaden the focus of personality research.

ARP affirms a set of key values, which are core to the society:

Scientific rigor. Scientific progress can only be built on strong foundations. For this reason, scientific rigor is an essential value in personality research. Rigor is pursued through research design and attention to measurement, generalizability, statistical power, and sensitivity. 

Transparency and openness. Scientific evidence is verifiable. ARP pursues transparency and openness by supporting efforts to improve access to scientific research and by promoting policies and practices that allow independent observers to verify scientific findings.

Diversity. Personality psychology is the study of individual differences, and research on individual differences is inherently incomplete if it does not capture the diversity of the world population. Diversity should be reflected in the populations studied, the researchers conducting those studies, and the methods used in those investigations.

Inclusivity. Essential to pursuing the core values listed above, inclusivity allows for the evaluation of scientific evidence from various perspectives, informs the meaning of openness, and enables researchers from diverse backgrounds to contribute meaningfully to personality science.