This week we have a guest post from Lisa Munoz, the Public Information Officer at Society for Personality and Social Psychology. She spoke at the recent SPSP conference in New Orleans on how researchers can get their message across in the media – today she tells us why she thinks that’s a worthwhile thing to do. 

A Love Letter for Public Outreach

As I write this post, it is Valentine’s Day week, one of the busiest weeks for psychology in the news. Relationships, gift-giving, sex, cultural norms, group dynamics – all provide fertile ground for popular press stories at this time of year. This media draw toward psychology may make some scientists wary as they wonder, for example, if the press will misrepresent their work just to get out a cute Valentine’s story. While the chance always exists that a reporter will distort or water down your research to “sell” a sexier or cuter story, to deny yourself the opportunity to reach a broader audience would be a huge disservice.

I can list at least a dozen good reasons to talk with the press and the public about scientific work: among them, publicizing your research to potential funding agencies and future collaborators; attracting people to your specific field of study; and raising the profile of the science. A sometimes overlooked reason for talking with the press is simply to share the excitement and joy of your research with others who have similar interests.

You study social psychology to explore questions about human behavior that have piqued your curiosity throughout your life. Undoubtedly, most of us have or will have asked ourselves some of the same questions at some point in time. It is rare to be in a profession that shares so much in common with so many people, thus putting you in the rare position to constantly teach and share.

Just this past Sunday, Eli Finkel, a social psychologist at Northwestern University, wrote an Op-ed in the New York Times about his relationship research – yes, taking advantage of Valentine’s Day. His work found that married couples who spent just 7 minutes at a time, 3 times a year writing about their fights from a neutral point of view were happier in their marriages. The title of the Op-Ed, “Dear Valentine, I Hate It When You …”, is cute yes but the message is far from trivial: For all couples, this research hits home, offering insight into how we can more constructively tackle relationship problems.

Reaching out to the media to share your research is an enriching experience that I hope you all will undertake throughout your careers.

Lisa M.P. Munoz, Public Information Officer, SPSP

spsp.publicaffairs@gmail.com | @SPSPnews