Our research is an effort at understanding professional psychologists in various subfields.  We would like to know how similar or different professional psychologists are from each other based on the area of psychology they have chosen.  What is different about an individual who chooses to be a counseling psychologist versus someone who chooses to be a clinical, developmental, or experimental psychologist?  We hope to learn how we differ as academicians or clinicians, as scientists or practitioners or scientist-practitioners.  Are the interests of a professor at a top-tier research institute different from the interests of a professor at other universities?

Although most psychologists are researchers, very little research has focused on the psychologists themselves.  Are psychologists generally satisfied with their lives?  Are psychologists more or less satisfied with their careers over time?  Are psychologists who engage in a psychological specialty that fits their interests more satisfied with their careers than those whose interests merely fit the broader vocation, as Meir and Yaari (1988) suggest?  We want to understand more about the experiences of psychologists whose interests are not a close fit with others in their specialty.  Are they as happy with their careers and their lives as their colleagues? These are some of the questions we are hoping to answer as we learn about the professions of psychology.

Preliminary results on our current project, which were presented at the 2008 APA Convention

Members

• Douglas C. Strohmer, Ph.D.
• Steven J. Leierer, Ph.D.
• Teresa Reeves, M.S.
• Ashley B. Hampton, Ed.S.