Regulations governing psychologists: An international survey.

Abstract

This study aimed to examine legal regulations on psychologists worldwide, such as those related to professional status and training models. An online survey was conducted by the Global Psychology Alliance and Asia Pacific Psychology Alliance members. The survey included information on the legal status of psychologists in 55 countries. Representatives of 28 countries provided their responses, whereas the information for 27 European countries’ legal status was obtained from research data reported by the European Commission in 2016. We found that 82% of the 55 countries included in this study regulated professions in the field of psychology by law. Regarding the title of the profession, 55% of included countries regulated the general “psychologist” profession. Results pertaining to educational requirements indicated that a master’s degree or higher was required in terms of education and training methods for general psychologists, amounting to an average period of 5.6 years. The professions regulated varied by continent-and country-specific circumstances and needs. Given the general overview of the worldwide legal statuses and training models investigated in this study, most countries in North America and Europe already have governmental regulation of the practice and title of psychologists, whereas other regions of the world are in the process of developing their own standards for education and training and may not have achieved legal regulation of psychologists yet.