Society for Occupational Health Psychology
Encyclopedia
The Society for Occupational Health Psychology (SOHP) is a learned society
Learned society
A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...
with as focal point the "generation, dissemination, and application of scientific knowledge in order to improve worker health and well-being." The goals of the society are threefold. First, SOHP promotes psychological research on important questions pertaining to occupational health. Second, SOHP encourages the application of research to improve the health and safety of people who work. Third, the society works to enhance undergraduate and graduate training in the field of occupational health psychology
Occupational health psychology
Occupational health psychology emerged out of two distinct applied disciplines within psychology, health psychology and industrial/organizational psychology, and occupational health. OHP is concerned with the psychosocial characteristics of workplaces that contribute to the development of...
.
SOHP, together with the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
(APA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is the United States’ federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention within the U.S...
(NIOSH), organizes every two years an international conference dedicated to research and practice in occupational health psychology. The organization also provides resources that are useful in research, teaching, and practice. SOHP and APA sponsor an online listserv to promote discussion and information sharing regarding occupational health psychology. SOHP also publishes a newsletter at least twice per year in order to keep members abreast of organizational developments. Through an arrangement SOHP has with APA, members of the Society receive a subscription to the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
The Journal of Occupational Health Psychology is a peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly by the American Psychological Association...
. Beginning with an agreement in 2008, the Society coordinates member benefits and international conferences with the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology
European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology
The European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology is a pan-European organization that was established in 1999. It is the first organization of its kind in the world that is devoted to occupational health psychology....
(EA-OHP).
History
SOHP is the first organization in the United States to be devoted to occupational health psychologyOccupational health psychology
Occupational health psychology emerged out of two distinct applied disciplines within psychology, health psychology and industrial/organizational psychology, and occupational health. OHP is concerned with the psychosocial characteristics of workplaces that contribute to the development of...
. The development of OHP as a discipline within psychology and the origins of the society are closely linked.
The term "occupational health psychology" first appeared in print when, in 1986, George Everly, Jr. used the expression in a book chapter in which he showed that it is possible to integrate psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and occupational health. The field of OHP advanced with the advent of its first journal, Work & Stress
Work & Stress
Work & Stress is a peer-reviewed academic journal published four times per year by the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology covering a broad range of research in occupational health psychology...
, in 1987.
The development of the society owed a great deal to APA and NIOSH. APA and NIOSH jointly organized an International Conference on Work, Stress, and Health in Washington, DC in 1990. At the conference, the individuals who would form the core of SOHP got to know each other. Beginning with the conference in 1990, APA and NIOSH arranged a series of Work, Stress, and Health conferences in two- to three-year cycles (now two-year cycles).
In 1996, with the help of some of the conference organizers, APA began publication of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
The Journal of Occupational Health Psychology is a peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly by the American Psychological Association...
, which added momentum to the advance of the field, particularly in North America. EA-OHP was established in 1999, which helped to further OHP in Europe. In the US, veteran occupational health psychologists arrived at the idea that the best way to train the next generation was to create graduate programs in OHP. Beginning in the mid-1990’s, APA and NIOSH began to furnish seed money to support graduate training in OHP. By 2001, there were OHP graduate programs at 11 US universities.
With momentum growing, the first organizational meeting devoted to the creation of a society was held at the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
in 2001. Over the next four years a series of organizational meetings took place that helped establish the society. In 2005, the Society for Occupational Health Psychology was formally founded, with Leslie Hammer of Portland State University
Portland State University
Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...
as president. In 2006, the society began to play a role, although a small one, in organizing the Work, Stress, and Health conference held that year. Two years later, the society became a full partner with APA and NIOSH in organizing the Work, Stress, and Health conferences. In 2008, the society began to coordinate activities, including conference scheduling, with its European counterpart, EA-OHP. More detailed descriptions of the historical development of the society have been published in 2007 and 2009.