Interest patterns of Australian psychologists

Abstract

The specialised interests of Australian psychologists were identified from entries in the 1987 membership directory of the Australian Psychological Society (APS). Consistent with the pattern found for members of the American Psychological Association (APA), the majority of APS members nominated professionally-oriented fields of interest, such as clinical, counselling, educational, and industrial/organisational psychology. Differences between men and women were similar for Australian and American psychologists. The primary interests of APS members differed with level of academic qualification and with membership of Boards within the Division of Professional affairs. Results from the analyses are discussed with reference to qualifications for APS membership, training models for psychologists, and organisational structures through which APS can cater for psychologists with different specialised interests. It is concluded that APS should conduct regular Human Resource Surveys comparable to those undertaken by APA.