Interview with New SPSP Blog Editor Mark Leary
In case you missed it, there have been some changes recently over at our blog Character & Context. Now entering its fifth year of publication, the blog has a new leadership team and a new focus to its editorial mission. Taking over the reins from founding editor Dave Nussbaum, editors Mark Leary, Shira Gabriel and Brett Pelham have already upped the frequency of posts and refined their categorizations. We wanted to know a bit more about their plans for the blog, and reached out to Mark for a brief Q&A, Mark has an established history with SPSP, having served at the helm of our journal Personality and Social Psychology Review and also as SPSP’s President in 2015. He is The Garonzik Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University, and has published 14 books, including the best-selling The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life. In addition, he has produced numerous scholarly articles and chapters, and has been a frequent contributor to the Psychology Today blog Toward a Less Egoic World.
Why is it important to have a platform like Character & Context as part of the psychology media landscape?
More than any other group of psychological scientists, social and personality psychologists study the psychology of everyday life. So, it’s not surprising that ordinary people often find what we study inherently interesting. And, aside from just being interesting, work in social and personality psychology provides knowledge that can help people better understand themselves and all the other people they deal with, as well as insights that can help them improve their personal lives and even society. Although most of us don’t do research to inform the public about behavior, we can provide an important public service by telling people about what we know.
Is there a niche or opening in the psychology media landscape that Character & Context might fill?
As it was initially conceived a few years ago, Character & Context focused on blogs about recent research in personality and social psychology that might be of general interest. Although those kinds of articles will continue to be a central part of Character & Context, we’ve greatly expanded the kinds of posts that we will publish.
In addition to articles that focus on a recently published article, we will also have general posts on specific topics in which an expert tells readers – in 800 words or less -- what they need to know about a particular topic. Other posts will focus directly on ways in which social and personality psychology are being applied to work settings, education, health care, communities, industry, the military, and other arenas.
I’m particularly enthused about a new feature that was suggested by Shira Gabriel, one of our two new Associate Editors. When unusually interesting or puzzling events occur, Shira will contact SPSP members with relevant expertise to weigh in, and write a summary of their explanations and insights.
Brett Pelham, the other new Associate Editor, will be handling another new feature that provides informative (as opposed to critical) book reviews. Brett pointed out that, although many books are published on psychological topics each year, lay readers have no easy way to sort through the mess. Brett will be handling reviews that tell readers what they will learn from particular books by social and personality psychologists, and such reviews can be educational in their own right.
In all cases, Character & Context is focused on providing information and insights to ordinary people, who may have little or no background in psychology or research. So, it’s an ongoing challenge to describe our work in ways that are interesting, engaging, and – most of all – understandable to lay readers.
Are there changes that a visitor to Character & Context might notice right away?
Two things have changed already. First, with three of us handling the editorial responsibilities, we have been able to dramatically increase the number of blogs that are posted monthly. Our current goal is to publish at least 20 new posts per month – that’s 240 a year! So, readers can return to the site regularly and find new content.
Second, as I mentioned, we’ve expanded the kinds of articles Character & Context posts to include not only descriptions of recently published studies but also general posts on topics in personality and social psychology, insights about current events, applications of social and personality psychology, book reviews, and even occasional opinion pieces.
What about the editorship role appealed to you most?
Throughout my career, I’ve spent relatively little time writing for the public. In fact, back when I started, some 40 years ago, getting involved with popular writing, or even talking to journalists, was often discouraged.
But if psychology isn’t helping ordinary people understand themselves and other people -- and isn’t offering insights that improve human life and society -- we’re falling way short of our potential. So, over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly interested in helping to “give psychology away.” So, I’m excited to be involved in SPSP’s efforts at public outreach.
Which aspects of your career have prepared you for this role?
Probably my experience as an editor. Although blog posts involve a very different kind of writing than journal manuscripts, I’ve had a great deal of experience helping authors improve their writing in ways that make it clearer and more engaging. Interestingly, I think I’m better at helping other people craft blogs for the general public than I am in writing blogs myself.
What are your goals for Character & Context?
The first is obviously to spread information from social and personality psychology to ordinary people, and to do it in a way that is interesting, engaging, and truly useful. And, of course, we SPSP members can use Character & Context to keep up with work we might not otherwise see. None of us has time to stay abreast of everything, and sometimes all we want is the basic take-home message. Character & Context can provide that service to members.
I also hope that increasing the number of posts increases the chances that journalists and media outlets who subscribe to Character & Context will find topics of interest. Then, they can contact the authors for more details.
I’m also hoping that college instructors will start using Character & Context in their classes as a way to let their students see a large smattering of new social/personality research in an efficient way. The blogs on Character & Context may also be a source of research ideas for class projects and students’ independent studies. Most of the articles provide a citation that will guide interested students to the full article.
We’re just getting started – our first blogs were posted only in mid-April. But Brett, Shira, and I are hopeful that Character & Context can serve an important outreach role, letting the world know more about what we do.