International Bridge-Building Award

SPSP seeks personality and social psychologists from around the world to participate in its activities, striving to reflect the full range of human experiences and global diversity. The goal of this award is to serve as an incubator for testing creative ideas that would help build connections and communication across the world.
 
Specifically, we invite creative proposals for ideas on how to increase internationalization within SPSP, with specific goals to promote communication, exchanges, and partnerships with scholars from countries currently underrepresented in SPSP and in mainstream personality and social psychology. Award selection criteria will focus on enhancing international diversity and global representation of the Society and more broadly of the field, as well as the proposal’s potential to build lasting exchanges and partnerships with scholars from underrepresented world regions. We encourage proposals that break boundaries and offer out-of-the-box solutions to foster SPSP’s mission to increase its global presence and reflect social and personality psychologists worldwide.

Awardees will receive up to $1,500 USD to support the proposed activities (e.g., technology, marketing, membership fees for key collaborators from Low and Middle Income countries, if needed). For proposals that involve an in-person event (whether at the annual SPSP convention or self-organized in other locations), an additional $1,500 will be provided to cover travel expenses of one or more primary organizers. One event organizer will additionally receive complimentary SPSP membership.       

Recipients of this award will work with members of the SPSP International Committee to ensure the project’s feasibility and maximize the impact of proposed activities. At the end of the grant year, the individual or team awarded is expected to prepare a summary of the activity and any information that would be helpful to those planning similar events in the future.

The types of activities this award would fund are flexible and they can be diverse and creative as long as they meet the award’s objectives. These activities can take place as part of the SPSP Annual Convention or fall outside of the scope of the convention.

Any SPSP member (or non-member) is eligible to apply for the International Bridge-Building Award. (A one-year membership will be granted for one organizer per award.) Priority will be given to applications that are spearheaded by and focus on scholars from underrepresented areas including most countries in Asia; the Pacific Islands; Oceania; Southern and Eastern Europe; Africa and the Middle East; and Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Our emphasis will be on those who are either based in those contexts or who can provide evidence of being in a good position to build bridges to them.

If you are not a member of SPSP and do not have an account with us, create an account here. Questions? Contact [email protected].

Before the June 1, 2023 deadline, applicants will provide their current CVs and a 500-word pre-proposal outlining their ideas about the proposed activities (including a brief plan for use of the $1500 activities budget and (if applicable) $1500 travel budget), how they would contribute to the internationalization of SPSP and more broadly of the field of social and personality psychology, and promote communication and build connections/partnerships with scholars from underrepresented world regions.  By August 15 the International Committee will notify the finalists, who will then submit, before September 15, a 1000-word document providing:

• Information to support the feasibility of the proposed activities,
• Timeline of activities in preparation for the proposed event, and
• A budget (up to US $1,500) to support virtual/remote activities; and for proposals involving in-person events, an additional budget (up to US $1,500) for travel expenses to support one or more primary organizers. SPSP does not provide an honorarium for organizers.

Selection Process

• Members of the SPSP International Committee will review the applications.
• The main selection criteria will be the proposed program’s ability to increase international communication, collaboration, and partnership with scholars from underrepresented countries.

Submissions will be accepted from February 20 – June 1, 2023, 11:59 PM ET.

Applications closed

2022

Expanding open science initiatives to contexts that are not Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD)

Organizer: Felipe Vilanova (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul)

1. Promote help guides of the Center for Open Science (COS) that were translated by me and other colleagues to languages other than English (available at https://help.osf.io/article/419-translated-help-guides)
2. Actively recruit volunteers from non-WEIRD contexts to translate the help guides to their local languages;
3. Jointly write a document about how open science is related to their contexts. In particular, explore what are the cultural norms around open science practices in their contexts and how open science practices may need to be adapted to other cultural contexts.

2021

Building Bridges over WEIRD Science

Organizer: Monk Prayogshala

Monk Prayogshala, a non-profit research organization in Mumbai, India. Prayogshala discussed the phenomena specific to South East Asia (with a focus on India) that may not have theories in western/canonical social psychological and personality science. For instance, thus far, most theories of intergroup behaviors focus on race. It is largely unclear what happens when countries are largely monolith with respect to race, but have other facets of intergroup violence? Do theories of intergroup behaviors translate to other groups, such as different languages, religions, or caste? Prayogshala also discussed diverse topics of interest in Southeast Asia and the Global South.

Creating Cutting-Edge Open Science Syllabi for African Research Methods Courses

Organizers: Adeyemi Adetula (Université Grenoble Alpes),  Hans IJzerman (Université Grenoble Alpes, France & Institut of Universitaire de France), Dana Basnight-Brown (United States International University, Nairobi, Kenya), Patrick Forscher (Université Grenoble Alpes, France), Jordan Wagge (Avila University, United States)

Social psychology is a global enterprise. However, we lack freely-available resources adapted to indigenous languages and circumstances. How can cutting-edge syllabi on open science be created to address this problem on the African continent? Two areas of focus are how to integrate CREP, a model focused on using team science replications to teach open science, into research methods classes; and what are the barriers and solutions to adapting and teaching the CREP model in African institutions.
 

Personality and Social Psychology in the Arab Middle East: Emic Perspectives on Psychological Research

Organizer: Angela Maitner (American University of Sharjah, UAE)

Speakers: Othman Alkhadher, Professor of Organizational Psychology (Kuwait University); Marwan Taher Al-Zoubi, Professor of Career, Personality, and Organizational Psychology, Department of Psychology (University of Jordan); Dorra Ben Alaya, Lecturer in Social Psychology (Tunis El Manar University, Tunisia); Lameese Eldesouky, Assistant Professor of Personality and Social Psychology (American University of Cairo, Egypt); Charles Harb, Professor of Social, Political, and Cultural Psychology (American University of Beirut, Lebanon); Tabassum Rashid, Associate Professor of Personality and Social Psychology (Effat University, Saudi Arabia). 

This topic introduces ongoing research and research opportunities in the Arab Middle East. Highlighting faculty who work in the region and emic perspectives regarding psychological processes and future research goals. Elements discussed introduced local faculty and research environments and highlighted opportunities and challenges associated with conducting research throughout the region. Also, important context-sensitive concerns associated with psychological processes and research methods.

You may contact the International Committee Co-Chairs Emma E. Buchtel, [email protected] and Angela T. Maitner, [email protected], or [email protected] for more information.