European Assocation of Personality Psychology (EAPP) President's Report
Filip De Fruyt
Dear friends and colleagues,
Let me first say how much I enjoyed the ARP Conference in St-Louis, Missouri, past June. It was a great occasion to see many of you and enjoy a glass of Chardonnay around the swimming pool at the opening reception and participate in the different symposia and discussions. I not only acquired new knowledge in the field of personality, but also much enjoyed the concept of the conference, with its breakfasts, joined meal during the ARP membership meeting and the farewell/conference party. Congratulations to the organizing team and the ARP Board: the conference was in many ways inspiring, both content-wise but also organizational. We were very proud to have the invited EAPP symposium, that was well attended, with a mix of American and European colleagues presenting their latest research in the area of developmental personality psychopathology. Many thanks again to contributors, attendees and organizers.
Despite some concerns regarding psychological research that were raised in the recent past, let me say that I am rather optimistic and proud about our field. Overall, our journals (JPSP, Journal of Personality, Journal of Research in Personality, European Journal of Personality, Personality and Individual Differences) are doing well, with stable or increasing impact scores, and also attracting publications from colleagues working in related fields. Secondly, the personality field is increasingly using more complex designs and more advanced data-analytic techniques to study the questions at stake, and there is currently increasing effort to go beyond description, trying to elucidate mechanisms and processes behind observed phenomena. A third indicator of the field's attraction and maturation is that there are many young people working in personality research, also serving as reviewers and revitalizing the editorial boards of our journals.
On top of these promising developments, I think that we can do additional efforts to further secure and advance our field. I am highlighting a few that deserve our attention to my opinion, just to start a debate on a more strategic approach to advance and promote our discipline. I hope that the Association of Research in Personality (ARP), the European Association of Personality Psychology (EAPP), the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (ISSID), the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) and the World Association of Personality Psychology (WAPP) can work jointly to achieve these objectives.
One major way to further strengthen our discipline is to develop excellent master programs on personality and individual differences in Europe, North-America, but also at universities in other continents. Recently, Tilburg University in the Netherlandsi started with a research-oriented master program on individual differences, with a special focus on personality and assessment. One could think of similar programs, for example on personality, development and culture, or programs on personality and its biological/genetic basis. Our associations could help these initiatives by endorsing the programs and helping to bring these programs to the international attention of students. We might also help to create connections between these programs, e.g. by stimulating transatlantic staff and student exchange.
A second line of consideration should be the representation of our field in review panels of funding agencies, both nationally and internationally. Our associations should explore the opportunities to delegate experts with a background in individual differences and personality to review boards, but we should be also represented in panels or consortia that organize longitudinal and nationwide research programs. Needless to say, this is much easier if our field is united and our organizations work closely together. This can be done by coordinating lobby activities, sharing experiences, and speaking with one voice. Ultimately, we must become more successful in instilling the view in policy makers at all levels that personality psychology has something unique to offer that social psychology, developmental psychology, or neuroscience cannot offer - if we are allowed to claim this role, everyone stands to gain. The new ARP president, Dan McAdams (congratulations!), seems the perfect person to make such a passionate case.
Third, we should continue with the organization of expert workshops under the auspices of ARP and EAPP bringing together established and incoming researchers on key themes in our field. This may give young researchers a shortcut to an experienced international network of scholars early on in their careers. EAPP is welcoming proposals in this respect and reserved financial means to support the organization of such events.
So, here you have a number of issues to think about, packed in few paragraphs. I am happy to discuss and work together with you on realizing all this in the future.
See you all in Timisoara in July 2016 at the next EAPP conference! The organizer of the conference, Prof. Dr. Florin Sava, provides more information on this event elsewhere in the current issue of the P newsletter (click here).
Best wishes,
Filip de Fruyt
EAPP President
______________________https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/education/masters-programmes/individual-differences-and-assessment/