First given in 2007, the Carol and Ed Diener Award in Social Psychology is designed to recognize a mid-career scholar (approximately 15-25 years from their first tenure-track appointment) whose work has added substantially to the body of knowledge to the social psychology field and/or brings together personality psychology and social psychology.
Recipients of this award receive up to $1000 ($1500 International) in travel expenses, up to three room nights at the convention hotel, a plaque with acknowledgment at the annual Awards Ceremony held at the SPSP Annual Convention, and a complimentary convention registration. This award was endowed by Carol and Ed Diener through the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology.
From Ed Diener
My wife, Carol, and I are honored to be among the first major donors to the SPSP Foundation. We are excited by the opportunities the foundation will afford, and how it will enhance social and personality psychology. This is why we decided to make a substantial donation to the foundation in its earliest days.
The Society of Personality and Social Psychology is one of a handful of elite societies in the behavioral sciences. It continues to do wonderful work to promote our field, and has been successful beyond our wildest dreams. The foundation will help extend these activities even further by making funds available for new initiatives.
The mid-career awards in both personality and social psychology that our gift will help fund will benefit the field by giving recognition to our outstanding scientists. The gifts will help promote the careers of those selected for the awards, but will also help promote our field by drawing attention to the most important research being conducted in our field. One of the reasons we decided to donate money at this time is to encourage others to also make donations—both large and small. We are all committed to furthering the field of psychology, and personality and social psychology in particular. Indeed, for most of us, who are members of SPSP, the field is a major part of our identity, and has our loyalty. Thus, I encourage each of you to seriously consider making a substantial gift to the foundation now. If you are unable to make a substantial gift at this time, a modest yearly gift will, over time, become substantial. For SPSP to continue to be at the forefront of personality and social psychology each of us must not only excel as scientists but also provide financial support. Please make your donations now.
We are so happy to be able to support this important cause!