What Is the American Psychological Association (APA)?

Psychologist talking to a group of women

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At a Glance

The American Psychological Association is the largest organization for psychologists in the United States. It is responsible for tasks like regulating professional titles and producing the APA style guide for publications.

The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest professional and scientific organization of psychologists in the United States. The APA is based in Washington, DC. As of 2023, the APA has over 146,000 members.

This article will briefly cover what the APA is, the history of the organization, what the APA does, and who can join the APA

What Does the APA Do?

The APA serves as a source of guidance for professionals and contributes to the field of psychology in several ways.

Advancing and Promoting Psychology

One of the key roles of the APA is to further psychology as a science. The organization’s mission statement provides some insight into its goals.

The American Psychological Association

The mission of APA is to advance the creation, communication, and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people’s lives.

— The American Psychological Association

Regulating Official Titles

The APA regulates the use of the word "psychologist" as a professional title. To be called a psychologist by the APA's definition, a person must have a doctoral degree from an "organized, sequential program in a regionally accredited university or professional school."

Publishing the Official Style Manual

The organization also established APA Style, a set of rules designed for communicating information in the social sciences. APA style is used in psychology and other sciences, including sociology and education.

The writing rules can be found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, which details how to organize professional journal articles, cite sources, and list references.

APA Membership

The APA offers membership to professionals at different career levels, from students to affiliates in other fields, such as education. Members enjoy benefits like access to expert guidance, resources, subscriptions, training, continuing education credits, and discounts.

History of APA

The APA was established in July 1892 at Clark University. The APA had 31 members in its first year, and G. Stanley Hall was the organization's first president. Today, the APA has 54 distinct divisions that each focus on a sub-discipline or topic within psychology, such as educational psychology (division 15) and behavior analysis (division 25).

Some of the past presidents of APA include some of psychology's most famous thinkers, such as:

What is the Difference Between the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association?

The American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association share the acronym APA but are separate organizations.

The American Psychiatric Association is a professional membership organization for psychiatrists. It is the publisher of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

The APA Today

Thema S. Bryant, PhD, is the 2023 president of the APA. Bryant is a tenured professor of psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University and directs the Culture and Trauma Research Laboratory there.

The APA is currently executing the objectives of its three- to five-year strategic plan. The APA collaborated with people in the psychological community, both APA members and non-members, as well as the public, to create the plan.

The two focuses of the APA's strategic plan are to prepare for the future of psychology and to strengthen the APA's voice as a trusted source.

According to the APA, preparing for the future includes diversifying the field of psychology, using new technologies, and making psychology interdisciplinary and collaborative.

Strengthening the APA's voice means serving as an authority on psychology and being the go-to resource for psychology education and careers. In its strategic plan, the APA notes that it will use its voice to advocate for social welfare.

Apology for Racial Injustice and Commitment to Advocacy

In 2021, the APA issued a public apology for not doing its part to combat systemic racism and hurting communities of color. The statement included a list of resolutions to advocate for social equality across many areas, including education, criminal justice, and research.

To address racial inequality in the U.S. education system, the APA resolved to:

  • Reaffirm that race is a social construct with no biological basis.
  • Foster more positive learning environments for people of color.
  • Emphasize the importance of teaching the history of racism in schools.
  • Promote teacher training to diminish racial biases.
  • Call on educational institutions to adopt anti-racist policies.

Regarding racial inequalities in the criminal justice system, the APA resolved to:

  • Address the harms that the criminal justice system has inflicted on people of color.
  • Help criminal and juvenile justice systems partner up with psychologists.
  • Assist criminal and juvenile justice systems in incorporating anti-racist policies.

To foster racial equality in research, APA resolved to:

  • Develop programs to address the consequences of racism.
  • Have scholars take research samples that are more representative of communities of color and that do not assume White as the default.
  • Urge psychologists to practice in a way that is culturally sensitive.
  • Advocate for increased federal spending on training psychologists from underrepresented groups.

COVID-19 Response

During COVID-19, the APA created resources to facilitate the transition to virtual sessions, including an "office and technology checklist" to help clinicians determine whether a patient would benefit from videoconferencing.

The APA called on MedicareMedicaid, and private payers to provide more comprehensive coverage to ensure that patients could access telehealth services.

The APA also allowed free access to its COVID-related psychological research, as well as educational resources for high school psychology teachers.

Summary

The American Psychological Association has played an important role in the history of psychology and will continue to have an important influence on the direction of psychological research in the future.

15 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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  2. American Psychological Association. By the numbers: APA at its 125th anniversary.

  3. APA. About APA.

  4. American Psychological Association. About APA. Chapter IX. Educational affairs.

  5. American Psychological Association. About APA style.

  6. APA. Join APA.

  7. American Psychological Association. APA divisions.

  8. American Psychological Association. About APA. Former APA presidents.

  9. American Psychiatric Association. APA’s vision, mission, values, and goals.  

  10. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental health disorders.

  11. APA. About APA: President.

  12. American Psychological Association. Impact.

  13. American Psychological Association. Role of psychology and APA in dismantling systemic racism against people of color in the U.S.

  14. American Psychological Association. Advancing APA's strategic priorities within a COVID-19 reality.

  15. American Psychological Association Services. APA calls for comprehensive telehealth coverage.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd
Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."