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Kala J. Melchiori
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From Our Editor
Kala J. Melchiori, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, James Madison University
In the Spring issue of the Forward, we highlight scholarship published in SPSSI journals and the researchers, questions, and collaborations that shape this work. Contributors to Voices from Our SPSSI Journals reflect on the research process, including what inspired their questions, what surprised them, and why a SPSSI journal was the right outlet for their work. We also share updates from SPSSI leadership, committee chairs, and journal editors.
SPSSI President Kimberly Barsamian Kahn reflects on what it means to be a "SPSSI person" - a socially engaged, policy-oriented scholar who refuses to stay in the lab when communities need them. Director of Policy and Communications Sam Abbott reports on his and colleagues' efforts to advocate for basic research funding and the National Science Foundation. SPSSI Secretary-Treasurer Alaina Brenick and Raffa Investment Adviser Matt O'Lone offer a transparent look at how SPSSI manages its financial reserves in alignment with our values. Harold Takooshian and Dinesh Sharma report on another active season of SPSSI New York programming, with an eye toward Manhattan's 400th anniversary this spring. And speaking of anniversaries, Harmony A. Reppond and Yara Mekawi share details of a record-breaking 90th anniversary SPSSI conference to be held later this month in New Orleans.
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Kimberly Barsamian Kahn
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Being a "SPSSI Person"
Kimberly Barsamian Kahn, Ph.D., SPSSI President, Professor, Department of Psychology, PI of the Gender, Race, and Sexual Prejudice (GRASP) Lab, Portland State University
As I reflect on my academic journey, I think about my identity, not just as a social psychological researcher, but as a "SPSSI person." What does it mean to be a "SPSSI person?"
I was a new graduate student in social psychology at UCLA when I was first told that I was a "SPSSI person." I had been researching racial stereotyping on police decision-making using shooter bias simulations in the lab for my thesis. It was evident with how I talked about the research that I wanted to take it "out of the lab" and into police departments and the community that led my advisors to instantly recognize these "SPSSI" traits in me. Twenty years ago, I presented at my first SPSSI conference in Long Beach. It was there that I first understood what being a "SPSSI person" meant: a socially engaged, rigorous, policy-oriented, social justice-focused scholar.
Being a "SPSSI person" means sharing a common value of making a socially just and equitable world through psychological research. It means giving voice to underrepresented and marginalized populations and topics through data, policy, and advocacy. It means being in tune with, and responsive to, pressing social issues of the time. It’s being close to the phenomena we study.
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Sam Abbott
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Policymakers Still Misunderstand Social Science
Sam Abbott, Director of Policy and Communications, SPSSI
Over the past few weeks, I, along with representatives of SPSSI’s peer societies, began meeting with Democratic and Republican offices on Capitol Hill to advocate for basic research funding and support for the National Science Foundation. Our conversations revealed several areas where social scientists still need to do a better job communicating their value to the public as well as their role in the U.S. scientific apparatus.
These meetings spawned from the President’s proposed FY 2027 budget, which cuts funding for the National Science Foundation by 55 percent while eliminating the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate, the primary source of basic social research funding in the United States. Because of these cuts, as well as the surprise firing of the entire National Science Board, SPSSI and its partner societies are requesting a formal confirmation hearing for James O’Neil, the President’s nominee to lead the agency, so he can answer questions about the National Science Foundation’s future on the record.
Continue reading this article here
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Spring 2026
Publication Date:
June 11th, 2026
In This Edition
Leadership & Committee Reports:
Voices from Our SPSSI Journals:
Kala Melchiori
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