Statement Against Racism and Racial Injustice
The members of the executive board of the Association for Research in Personality profess a commitment to address racism and racial injustice. The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and too many others provide a tragic reminder of the long and continued history of racism in the United States, especially against Black people. We cannot accept indifference or silence in response to these inequities. The executive board acknowledges that we need to do more to support Black faculty and students and others who hold identities that are underrepresented in academia. We pledge to do more to promote racial justice. In the short-term, these efforts will focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion; though we also recognize the need for more explicit anti-racism efforts.
First, ARP is committed to making diversity, equity, and inclusion a more central focus of our organization. The executive board voted to update our mission statement with a clearer focus on these issues. Promoting diversity is now a central goal that will be incorporated into all of our activities. The executive board has also proposed an update to our by-laws (to be voted on by the members of ARP) that makes explicit that efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion are among the primary purposes of the organization.
Of course, for these changes to be anything more than symbolic, ARP must have concrete plans to maintain and continually improve efforts increase diversity. To that end, we will be instituting three specific policies that can help keep the organization accountable. First, to make clear that addressing issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion is not the job of just a single committee or a subset of members but a core component of our mission, all ARP standing committees will be asked to consider and report on the implications of their efforts for these values each time the full board meets. Second, to keep members informed about our progress on these issues, and as a way of promoting new efforts to members, we will dedicate part of our yearly P Newsletter to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. And finally, although it is clear that the membership of ARP currently lacks diversity on many dimensions, we currently have no mechanism to assess whether our efforts to address this problem are successful. Moving forward, ARP will collect more demographic and identity information so we can begin to evaluate the success of these efforts.
We also recognize that systemic racism creates many barriers to participation in activities that ARP sponsors, and the executive board is committed to reducing these barriers. ARP currently offers a Diversity Student Travel Award that supports the participation of graduate students from historically marginalized communities. The executive board has committed to increase funding for these awards and to expand eligibility to undergraduate students. Of course, financial barriers are not the only obstacles to participation, and the executive board is exploring additional programs to foster inclusivity and create a sense of community among members who are persons of color. For instance, we are exploring opportunities for retreats for students and faculty of color either at ARP meetings or in partnership with other societies such as the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
To recognize and reward the efforts of those who have already made substantial contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the awards committee will be asked to develop an award for contributions in this area.
As our new mission statement acknowledges, personality psychology is the study of individual differences, and our understanding of individual differences is inherently incomplete if it does not incorporate considerations of a diverse population. Thus, the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are not only aligned with, but are central to our scientific mission. At the same time, as we struggle to create accountability and remediation for the many ways that oppression and systemic racism have historically harmed and continue to harm people of color, it is important to have transparent and sometimes uncomfortable discussions about these issues. We must acknowledge the many examples from the history of individual differences research that ran counter to these ideals. Indeed, some of this research is explicitly racist. The consequences of this work can only be addressed if the research is openly acknowledged. To that end, a group of ARP members is working on a paper that addresses the racism in past research and provides an outline for how to move in a more positive direction.
Finally, fighting racism and fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion is not something that can be accomplished through organizational policies alone; we know that ARP members are looking for ways to help faculty and students who are affected by racism and other forms of discrimination in society and in our universities. The executive board and our diversity committee will post resources, including an action list to provide support for these colleagues and a list of publications that highlights work authored by personality psychologists from underrepresented groups.
We know that these efforts reflect small steps in the broader fight against racism and racial injustice. There is much more to do, and ARP is committed to making these efforts a core part of our organizational mission. If you have additional ideas for steps that we can take, please contact me or any member of the executive board.
Richard E. Lucas
ARP President, on behalf of the ARP Executive Board