Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Problem, Perspective, Prospect

Abstract

To understand the traumatic events of 1977, I explore the role of JPSP in the process of scientific communication in personality and social psychology and argue that the journal's visibility and reputation derive from its position as the mass medium of its field. I trace the history and describe the governance of the journal and show how it has been difficult to apply policies designed to cope with the problems of other "large" APA journals to JPSP. I report the events leading up to JPSP's precipitous decline in size and present reasons why the page reduction was such a problem. Finally, I review the prospects facing JPSP.