Leaders of American psychology, 1879–1967: Career development, creative output, and professional achievement.

Abstract

Building on previous work in the metasciences, this article examines 69 eminent psychologists who helped make the United States a center of disciplinary activity. After measuring professional eminence (occupying the American Psychological Association presidency and posthumous reputation), creative output (using both citation indicators and a content analysis of titles), and career development (aspects of graduate training and institutional affiliations), along with essential control variables, the analyses (a) provide a sketch of the typical eminent American psychologist, (b) trace the historical trends in the general profile across 8 decades, and (c) identify some cognitive and behavioral factors underlying differential distinction. When the American Psychological Association (APA) was founded in 1892, psychology in the United States was mostly a provincial offshoot of European academic disciplines. Many of the most distinguished American psychologists, such as James McKeen Cattell, had studied abroad, and those who were more homegrown products, such as William James, looked largely to Europe for guidance and inspiration. \fet as we come to celebrate the centennial of APA, this modest image has dramatically transformed: American psychology may now represent the core tradition, with the top psychologists in the United States providing the exemplars for investigators throughout the world. This is not to make the ethnocentric claim that other psychological traditions are defunct or that all first-rate psychologists today are American, but only to point out that in the past 100 years American psychology has become such an independent force that all psychologists throughout the world have no Editor's Note. Dean Keith Simonton's article was an invited contribution to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology to help recognize and celebrate the American Psychological Association's centennial anniversary. We are delighted to have such a fine piece mark the occasion. Over the course of the year we hope to have two or three more.—AT