I appreciate very much your interest in knowing more about my views and the goals that I want to achieve if I am elected. Thanks a lot.

In the next sections you will find relevant information about what I want to achieve if I am elected president and about my CV.

 

 

ENHANCING IMPACT AND VISIBILITY OF IAAP: EXPERIENCES FROM DIVISION 1.
José M. Peiró. President of IAAP Division 1.

 

My vision of IAAP

Rialto Bridge, Italy.

Our Association may serve the societies in our global world. This is possible if we are aware of IAAP’s strengths and contribute to it. How this can be done, is nicely described in a story that I would like to share with all of you.

It comes from Italo Calvino is masterpiece work “Invisible Cities”. The author describes a passage where Marco Polo converses with the emperor Kublai Kahn:

“Marco Polo describes a bridge stone by stone. ‘But which is the stone that supports the bridge?’ Kublai Kahn asks. ‘The bridge is not supported by one stone or another’ Marco answers, ‘but by the line of the arch that they form’. Kublai Kahn remains silent reflecting. Then he adds: ‘Why do you speak to me of the stones? It is only the arch that matters to me’. Polo answers: ‘Without stones there is no arch’ ”.

This is a clear metaphor that can apply to show the strengths of IAAP. The great diversity of its membership offers an excellent curvature in which the richness of views, potential contributions and the approaches to relevant issues for our science and profession are now of more value than ever. Not one stone, not one view, not one perspective, not one group (even if it is an important and powerful one) can produce the curvature can produce the curvature. Without a diversity of stones and a proper alignment which respects the different forms of the stones there will not exist a proper curvature and the bridge will not be strong and reliable, nor significant services to the societies in a global world.

 

What I want to achieve as President-Elect and President of IAPP

• The context

Since its creation in 1920, IAAP has made significant contributions to Applied Psychology (AP) and has developed a strong reputation. We must now extend this legacy for the benefit of society and psychology. Currently, IAAP has significant human capital, with over 1500 members from over 80 countries and scores of volunteers. These are our greatest assets¡. Important changes are taking place such as globalization, climate change, and changes in demographics and intercultural relations. Calls to improve human dignity, education, health, and quality of life are increasing.

Applied psychology can address these issues; it has a long tradition of doing so, and IAAP plays a key role in promoting international cooperation among psychologists and making their contributions visible. IAAP’s 17 Divisions, operating in an array of contexts, make IAAP the international psychological association with the most experience and potential to address these concerns. I have working since more than one decade to promote this in the Division 1. Now, I am aiming to serve IAAP in all its facets and areas, paying attention to all the contributions it can do in every area of Applied Psychology.

 

• The goals to further realize the mission

To advance IAAP’s mission in the coming years, we must aim for the following GOALS.

 1. Promote stronger international cooperation in AP. IAAP can play an important role in facilitating cooperation and exchange among psychologists worldwide. Joint international research can be stimulated through initiatives such as cross-cultural and diversity research incubators. I also aim to enhance cooperation in the international education of psychologists. Cooperation among practitioners is important especially when their practices go beyond national boundaries. Learning from good practices in other cultures and examining the generalizability of research and practice from one culture to another, as well as the richness of the diversity of cultures are vital in a globalized economy.

2. Promote value and impact of AP. IAAP’s activities create value though the delivery of services to its members and other psychologists through journals, bulletins, web sites, congresses, and divisions.But we must go beyond providing services. We must also enhance the international identity of AP and its visibility; IAAP can provide a voice in international organizations to influence their policies and programs, just as we do in the UN as a recognized NGO. I will extend IAAP’s voice in other international organizations such as WHO, UNESCO, ILO, ICOH, etc. I will support the contributions of Psychology in the humanitarian work domain and in the reduction of poverty.

3. Increase the visibility, image and reputation of IAAP.Many associations and faculties of Psychology are including international cooperation in their agendas. IAAP has a central role to play in this arena and can help these organizations to achieve this goal. Our national members may serve as links for it. In this way IAAP would increase visibility.

 

• Enhancing resources

ENHANCING RESOURCES to achieve these goals. If I am elected, I will give special attention to the following issues:

1. Membership. The most important asset of IAAP is its membership. I will work to increase members’ participation. I will aim to extend IAAP membership, persuading psychologists to join IAAP because of IAAP’s services and because of the opportunity to contribute to AP’s impact and visibility worldwide. I will pay special attention to students, the future of IAAP and I will also ask IAAP fellows, who are prestigious scholars, to contribute to IAAP through advising and support.

2. IAAP’s Divisions document the broad array of areas in which IAAP contributes to society. Internally, Divisions are important spaces for member participation. I will strive to increase support for the Divisions’ work. I will stimulate participation of new members in the divisions, especially newcomers who register at ICAP.

3. Standing committees, task forces and other groups. I want to enhance their potential, facilitate their work, and disseminate their results in a timely manner. I will create a task force to prepare for the Centennial of IAAP, not only to celebrate past achievements but to strengthen our identity and inspire the future of the association.

4. Communication is a strategic issue for IAAP. The dispersion of our membership around the world is an important strength of our association. We must further develop our website, develop an intranet with services for members, and incorporate additional virtual communications such as blogs and social networks.  We must continue to improve the IAAP Bulletin and stimulate Divisions’ electronic newsletters to keep members informed and make members’ activities visible.

5. Congresses and Journals. I will support both ICAP and regional congresses and increase division activities within them. Applied Psychology: An International Review has done an excellent job for decades, and we’ve now launched Applied Psychology: Health and Well Being. I will support the editorial teams to increase the quality and prestige of our journals.

6. Alliance Network and relationships with other associations. Recently, IAAP has built an alliance network with other Psychology associations (ICP; APsyA and IPPA). I will work to increase the number of these alliances and cooperation within the network. The IAAP “alliance members” will be kept informed about IAAP news and activities. Moreover, Division 1 has launched an Alliance for Organizational Psychology with EAWOP and SIOP. It may be a useful model for other Divisions wishing to develop similar initiatives in their fields. Finally, IAAP has well established relationships with a large number of associations and organizations, especially with IUPsyS. We must extend this cooperation to national associations with the aim of exchanging information and stimulating cooperation with the active participation of our members.

 

Why I do ask for your vote

This is my vision for what I want to achieve as president of IAAP, if you elect me. I am ready to put my energy, will, and capacities towards the realization of these aims, but I am aware that they will only be achieved if they are shared and collectively undertaken. If you vote for me I will work during my time as president-elect with the President, Ray Fowler, and the BOO, to achieve our goals and to enrich them with these ideas. During my presidency I will strive to create the climate, conditions, and leadership to collectively achieve the goals I propose to you. To do it, I need your support. It has to be a collective task! That is why I ask for your vote.

Brief CV

• Let me introduce myself

I was born in the early fifties, in Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. My family was dedicated to the orange agriculture, in a small town, in the middle of the plain, and I have married a now very distinguished researcher and Professor in Psychobiology, prof. Dr. Alicia Salvador, colleague of mine at the university. We have two daughters, now studying in the university. I am Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at the University of Valencia since 1984. Currently, I am Director of the Research Institute on Personnel Psychology, OD, and Quality of Work Life (IDOCAL). I formerly served as Head of the Department of General and Social Psychology (1983-93), Dean of the Faculty of Psychology (1993-99), and Director of the Observatory on Graduates’ Career Development (2003-09).

 

• Participation in international associations

As most of you know, I am currently president of IAAP Division 1, after having served on the Ex. Committee of the Division since 1991, starting with my participation in the Program Committee of the Madrid ICAP Congress (1994). For more than two decades I have been active in several International Scientific and Professional Psychology Associations: European Network of Work and Organizational Psychology Professors (ENOP) (since 1985, serving several times on its Coordinating Committee); European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP) (as founder and member of Ex. Com. 1991-95 and as President, 1995-97). I have represented the Spanish Colegio of Psychologists at the Assembly of the European Federation of Professional Psychology Associations (EFPA). I am a Member of the European Awarding Committee of the Europsy Certificate.  Finally, I am a Fellow of SIOP, the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology, and several national Scientific and Professional Associations (Spain, Ukraine, Perú) and am a member of British Psychological Society and American Psychological Association

 

• Scientific research

During three decades of research, I have published more than 120 articles in scientific peer reviewed journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology; Applied Psychology: An International Review; and European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. I also published about 100 book chapters and more than 20 books and monographs. The main research topics I examine are work stress, occupational health and well-being, professionals’ well-being in service encounters and quality climate, organizational climate, work entry experiences of youngsters, flexibility at work, and psychological contract. I have supervised more than 40 PhD theses of students from several countries, and many of them currently hold academic or research positions. I have participated in or led several international projects such as Work Socialization of Youth, WOSY (Spanish Scientific Foundation, 7 countries); New Technologies at Work (EU Cost 11ter Program, 6 countries); First Organizational Climate and Culture Unified Survey (FOCUS) (Spanish Scient. Found., 15 countries); Anticipatory Need Analysis of Competences in SMEs (EU Leonardo Program, 7 countries); and Psychological Contract Across Employment Situation, PSYCONES (EU V Framework Program, 7 countries). I also lead the Spanish Observatory of Youth Labour Market Entry (with a large national survey every three years since 1996) in the Research Institute of Economy, IVIE.

 

• Contributions to education
  

In this area, I have been active in promoting internationalization of the education of psychologists. I was a member of the task force that developed the Reference Model and European Standards for the Education of Work and Organizational Psychology (1987-94). Afterwards, I participated in the research group that studied the different education systems in Europe and developed common standards for Psychology Education (EuropsyT; 1999-02). This project was extended to design the model of professional competences and the European Certificate of Psychology (Europsy; 2002-05). It was piloted by EFPA in six countries, including Spain (2006-09), and was launched in 2010. I currently serve as member of the European Awarding Committee of this certificate. Between 2006 and 2009, I chaired the task force installed by EAWOP to develop the European Specialized Certificate of Work and Organizational Psychologists and also have participated in the SIOP subcommittee for the internationalization of I/O Psychology education. Currently I chair the task force that develops the Tuning program for Psychology education in Europe. 

Moreover, I have cooperated in international education programs. First, I participated in the four editions of the ENOP summer School. Afterwards, since 2005, I coordinate the consortium of five Universities to teach the Erasmus Mundus Master Course in Work and Organizational Psychology sponsored by the European Union as a program of excellence that has provided grants for about 70 international students and supported about 15 scholars from all over the world. I also participated in two Tempus programs, one to develop a Research Center on Stress in the University of Krakow (Poland) (1993-95) and the other to develop and implement a Masters program on Work and Organizational Psychology at six universities in Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria, in cooperation with the Universities of Grenoble, Verona, and Cluj, and the Free Univ. of Brussels (2010). I also developed, in cooperation with San Jose State University, a Virtual Abroad Program for graduate students and, with Portland State University, a mobility program.
Recently I have been awarded an Honorary Professorship at the National University of San Marcos (Lima, Perú).

 

Complementary information. Article published in the last IAAP Bulletin (April 2010)

ENHANCING IMPACT AND VISIBILITY OF IAAP: EXPERIENCES FROM DIVISION 1.
José M. Peiró. President of IAAP Division 1.

 

Awareness of globalization is increasing not only in the field of economy but in many other phenomena of our societies. This reality extends to health and well-being, work, labour markets and organizations, education, international cooperation, migrations, etc. This is a strong emerging phenomenon that psychology should not ignore.

In front of this new context, IAAP is an association with an important social capital. Its membership is really international and comes from more than 80 countries. Moreover, its seventeen Divisions, operating in a very broad array of areas and disciplines make IAAP the international psychology association with the broadest potential contributions in topics really relevant for people and societies: Work and Organizations, Psychological Assessment in many different areas, National Development, Environment, Education, Instruction and Schools, Communities, Gerontology, Health, Law, Politics, Sports, Traffic and Transportation, counseling, etc. In order to fulfill it more and more, it is important that members in our association and divisions increase their interaction and exchanges and disseminate their information and activities in their national contexts with all the other members. In Division 1, during the last year we have stimulated number of leading people from different countries to inform all of us about Work and Organizational Psychology in their countries, presenting their professional associations, informing about W&O Psychology in their Universities, research centers, journals and publications and main achievements of the profession. So, we published a number of reports about W&O Psychology in Brazil, Turkey, Uruguay, Australia, United Kingdom, South Africa, USA, Colombia, Uruguay, Hong Kong, Spain, Italy, Latvia and more, in our newsletter (see http://www.iaapsy.org/division1) Moreover, it is important to be represented and have a voice in different international associations. In this direction, the IAAP representatives in the UNO and NGO are doing an excellent work that we have disseminated also in our newsletters. We take advantage from this experience to extend our presence and voice in other international organizations, such as ILO, WHO, UNESCO, ICOH… In order to do this we need to join forces and effort. IAAP has been active during the last decade in establishing cooperation and Alliances with a number of International Associations and this has increased its visibility, membership and impact thanks to the cooperation and synergies created in several fields. Division 1 has also been active in this area and we have significantly contributed to the establishment of the Alliance for Organizational Psychology, together with SIOP and EAWOP. This is a far reaching and ambitious project with a mission “to support and advance the science and practice of organizational Psychology, and to expand its scope of application and contribution to society to improve the quality of working life”. The interim committee of the Alliance is developing a number of activities and initiatives where the three Associations cooperate: white papers in relevant societal issues (the first is about work and age), cross-cultural research and practice incubators that will be organized at the congresses of the three associations; dedicated task forces (e.g. promoting international education of W&O Psychology students), development of a web page, etc. Moreover, we have been especially interested in promoting international cooperation in the education of Work and Organizational Psychologists. This is really important if our future professionals, researchers and academics are to achieve the competences required to provide services and value in the global world. If you go through the different issues of the newsletters we have edited during the last years you will find information about several symposia on W&O Psychology held at different international conferences; workshop on publishing in international scientific journals for PhD students and Post-Docs; information about several international winter and summer schools of Work and Organizational Psychology; presentation of experiences of two Universities involved in a “Virtual Abroad Program”. Finally, last but not least, our Division has been supportive of initiatives that aim to promote contributions of W&O Psychology in the humanitarian work domain and in the reduction of poverty in the world. We have disseminated the activities of the Network for Humanitarian Work Psychology and stimulated the participation of our membership in it. All this shows in how many different ways our Association and their Divisions are serving, and may serve even more, to the societies in our global world. This is possible if we are aware of IAAP’s strengths and contribute to it. How this can be done is nicely described in a story that I shared with the members of Division 1 in one of our newsletter and I would also like to share it with all of you. It comes from Italo Calvino masterpiece work “Invisible Cities”. The author describes a passage where Marco Polo converses with the emperor Kublai Kahn: “Marco Polo describes a bridge stone by stone. ‘But which is the stone that supports the bridge?’ Kublai Kahn asks. ‘The bridge is not supported by one stone or another’ Marco answers, ‘but by the line of the arch that they form’. Kublai Kahn remains silent reflecting. Then he adds: ‘Why do you speak to me of the stones? It is only the arch that matters to me’. Polo answers: ‘Without stones there is no arch’ ”. This is a clear metaphor that can be applied to show the strengths of IAAP. The great diversity of its membership offers an excellent curvature in which the richness of views, potential contributions and the approaches to relevant issues for our science and profession are now of more value than ever. Not one stone, not one view, not one perspective, not one group (even if it is an important and powerful one) can produce the curvature. Without a diversity of stones and a proper alignment which respects the different forms of the stones there will be no proper curvature and there will be no strong reliable bridge, or significant services to the societies in a global world.