Incoming Editorial

For many of us, applying psychology to ‘make a difference’ in the world is a major motivator. Application in turn is enabled by good policy. As President Lori Foster notes in the Sixth P for this issue, IAAP’s 2024–2027 Strategic Plan highlights a role in improving policies, particularly those linked to the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). These, like IAAP’s Plan, include the process goal of Partnerships (SDG 17). This issue of APAW focuses on connecting with policy, through cross-divisional - and wider - Partnership.

Affirmation like this is a reminder that I stand here on the shoulders of giants. They belong to APAW’s founding and outgoing Editor, Prof. Dr. Christine Roland-Lévy, and IAAP Past-President (2022-2026). Christine, your shoes will be difficult to fill! On the upside however, you have left us a tremendous model to follow; and try to emulate.

A core element in that model is accessibility. APAW is open-access, and its contributions are written in an accessible style. APAW will continue this tradition as it seeks to share news and reports about applied psychology, through theme-based articles. Research articles can go to IAAP’s journals, Applied Psychology: An International Review, and Applied Psychology: Health and Well Being. For this issue of APAW, we asked for contributions of just 1,000 words or less, in the belief that when it comes to connectivity, with policymakers, ‘less is more.’ That brevity specification will continue for individual contributions to subsequent theme-based issues. Normally, they should not exceed 1000 words.

Coming up in the next couple of years, we are planning theme-based issues on early careers in applied psychology, on bridging health with climate action, and transportation with sustainability, on nurturing breakthrough ideas, an ICAP 2026 Prelude, on Applied Psychology in Small Island States, an ICAP 2026 Review, on countermanding unfree work, and…. [If you have an idea, please submit to s.c.carr@massey.ac.nz.]
And keep watching this space for more!

Before we get into the all-important contributions, like Lori, I just wanted to share a couple of policy connections, from personal experience. They are mostly - I think - few and far between, but also career-defining in terms of rendering meaning, and a sense of purpose to our work.

The first happened over a decade ago, when I was a small part of a diverse international, and interdisciplinary partnership, which had researched dual salaries, or differential rates of pay for expatriate versus host country national professionals, often in lower-wage countries. This research spoke truth to economic power through a journal special issue. Moreover, the issue was then serendipitously found by an international NGO, when meeting to consider a change to its own dual salary pay system. Our findings resonated, supporting reform. The NGO wrote to let us know the study had made a difference to their impactful decision to change.

The next experience was during the pandemic, when our partnership-based research on living wages became part of a brief to a city-council, in NZ, that was considering introducing a living wage, over-and-above the legal Minimum, to help workers and households of employees and municipal contractors meet rising costs of living. This time we stood in the meeting room; and advocated the evidence. Less was left to chance and more to connecting through partnership.

As you read the following inspiring contributions, I’m sure you’ll recognise more of the same…