Barriers to Converting Applied Social Psychology to Bettering the Human Condition

Abstract

There is a problem with applied social psychology research—what might be considered the proverbial elephant-in-the-room—that it is the rare applied social psychology article, or set of articles, that is eventually implemented into intervention or policy to better the human condition (Bhave et al., 2016; Bickman & Rog, 2008; Dasgupta & Stout, 2012; Dir et al., 2021; Kantilal et al., 2020). The aim of this editorial is to consider the barriers that arise when going from applied social psychology research to applications of the findings to an actual policy utilized in a company setting (e.g. reducing discrimination in the work place) (e.g. Cesario, 2021), an educational sector (e.g. increasing reading ability of children) (e.g. Preece & Levy, 2020), a gym (e.g. surmounting social anxiety of those that are reluctant to enter a gym) (e.g. Horenstein et al, 2021), or a lunchtime canteen (e.g. increasing the consumption of healthier meal options) (e.g. Lassen et al, 2014). Each of these can be seen as practical efforts to better the human condition.