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Subfield · Psychology

Social Psychology research

Social Psychology is a subfield of Psychology. Science Explorer counts 858k research works in it since 1950. 21.5% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: scientific study of social effects on people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Research works
858k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
184k
per year above
Top-10% rate
21.5%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
52
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+34%
the tick is no change

What is Social Psychology research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Mental Health, Well-being, Resilience, Stigma, Emotion, Trust. Gaining share since 2009–13: Cultural Heritage, Mental Health, Resilience, Intersectionality, LGBTQ+. Losing share: Embodiment, User Satisfaction, Social Behavior, Emotion.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Mental Health40k▲ 1.82×6 topics
  2. Well-being30k▲ 1.46×6 topics
  3. Resilience22k▲ 1.82×3 topics
  4. Stigma21k▲ 1.28×2 topics
  5. Emotion15k▼ 0.68×3 topics
  6. Trust15k▼ 0.79×2 topics
  7. Positive Psychology14k▲ 1.58×2 topics
  8. Attachment14k▼ 0.74×2 topics
  9. Depression14k◆ 0.99×2 topics
  10. Education13k▲ 1.32×4 topics
  11. Workplace13k◆ 1.05×3 topics
  12. Anxiety13k▼ 0.82×2 topics
  13. Health13k◆ 1.11×3 topics
  14. Leadership12k◆ 1.00×3 topics
  15. Happiness12k▲ 1.67×1 topic
  16. Positive Emotions12k▲ 1.67×1 topic
  17. Emotion Regulation12k▼ 0.84×3 topics
  18. Social Behavior12k▼ 0.67×2 topics
  19. Global Burden11k◆ 1.04×1 topic
  20. Mental Disorders11k◆ 1.04×1 topic
  21. Emotional Intelligence11k◆ 1.10×3 topics
  22. Coping Strategies11k▲ 1.51×4 topics
  23. Social Interaction11k◆ 1.11×2 topics
  24. Psychological Well-being11k▲ 1.61×3 topics
  25. Relationships10k◆ 0.94×2 topics
  26. Adolescent Development9,765▲ 1.36×2 topics
  27. Intersectionality9,562▲ 1.79×1 topic
  28. LGBTQ+9,562▲ 1.79×1 topic
  29. Empathy9,472▼ 0.68×2 topics
  30. Stress9,444◆ 1.15×2 topics
  31. Cultural Psychology9,101▼ 0.75×2 topics
  32. Globalization9,101▼ 0.75×2 topics
  33. User Satisfaction8,988▼ 0.66×2 topics
  34. Embodiment8,946▼ 0.57×2 topics
  35. Intrinsic Motivation8,598▲ 1.26×1 topic
  36. Self-Determination Theory8,598▲ 1.26×1 topic
  37. Attitude8,111◆ 1.04×1 topic
  38. Performance8,111◆ 1.04×1 topic
  39. Cultural Heritage8,051▲ 3.7×2 topics
  40. Automation7,727◆ 1.03×1 topic

Which countries lead Social Psychology research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Social Psychology. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (38k and 16k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 20.5% top 10% · 38k works
  2. 2 China · #4 all time 28.7% top 10% · 16k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 25.4% top 10% · 9.4k works
  4. 4 Germany · #3 all time 21.2% top 10% · 9.1k works
  5. 5 Australia · #6 all time 30.8% top 10% · 4.8k works
  6. 6 Canada · #5 all time 22.9% top 10% · 5.3k works
  7. 7 Italy · #8 all time 27.6% top 10% · 4k works
  8. 8 India · #13 all time 12.6% top 10% · 7.8k works
  9. 9 Netherlands · #7 all time 31.9% top 10% · 2.6k works
  10. 10 Spain · #9 all time 20.9% top 10% · 5.1k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 76 countries ranked in Social Psychology. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Social Psychology

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 38k works
  2. 2 China 16k works
  3. 3 Türkiye 11k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 9.4k works
  5. 5 Germany 9.1k works
  6. 6 India 7.8k works
  7. 7 Canada 5.3k works
  8. 8 Indonesia 5.3k works
  9. 9 Spain 5.1k works
  10. 10 Australia 4.8k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 33.9%China: 14.4%Türkiye: 9.9%United Kingdom: 8.4%6 others listed: 33.5%34%largest
United States38k · 33.9%China16k · 14.4%Türkiye11k · 9.9%United Kingdom9,351 · 8.4%6 others listed37k · 33.5%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Social Psychology research?

University College London (United Kingdom) ranks first in Social Psychology on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Harvard University and The University of Melbourne.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University College London United Kingdom · London · #5 all time 31.6% top 10% · 372 works
  2. 2 Harvard University United States · Cambridge · #3 all time 36.6% top 10% · 287 works
  3. 3 The University of Melbourne Australia · Melbourne · #42 all time 31.8% top 10% · 327 works
  4. 4 University of Toronto Canada · Toronto · #13 all time 26.7% top 10% · 443 works
  5. 5 Stanford University United States · Stanford · #2 all time 35.5% top 10% · 220 works
  6. 6 Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong · Hong Kong · #60 all time 39.5% top 10% · 291 works
  7. 7 King's College London United Kingdom · London · #40 all time 33.0% top 10% · 234 works
  8. 8 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #9 all time 33.8% top 10% · 268 works
  9. 9 UNSW Sydney Australia · Sydney · #53 all time 33.7% top 10% · 243 works
  10. 10 University of Michigan United States · Ann Arbor · #1 all time 29.4% top 10% · 375 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 664 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Social Psychology.

Top 100 Social Psychology institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Sapienza University of Rome Italy 552 works
  2. 2 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States 533 works
  3. 3 University of Toronto Canada 443 works
  4. 4 University of Michigan United States 375 works
  5. 5 University College London United Kingdom 372 works
  6. 6 Aalborg University Denmark 356 works
  7. 7 Pennsylvania State University United States 342 works
  8. 8 University of Richmond United States 339 works
  9. 9 Aarhus University Denmark 328 works
  10. 10 The University of Melbourne Australia 327 works

Who are the leading researchers in Social Psychology?

Among the most productive authors in Social Psychology, Ronald C. Kessler, Norman K. Denzin and Steven Long rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Ronald C. Kessler United States · #14 worldwide 9.8k citations · 232 works
  2. 2 Norman K. Denzin United States · #16 worldwide 8.6k citations · 169 works
  3. 3 Steven Long United States · #20 worldwide 4.9k citations · 181 works
  4. 4 Sigmund Freud United States · #25 worldwide 2.7k citations · 174 works
  5. 5 Niklas Luhmann Germany · #53 worldwide 2.3k citations · 277 works
  6. 6 Josep María Haro Spain · #63 worldwide 6.4k citations · 180 works
  7. 7 Louisa Degenhardt Australia · #80 worldwide 5.7k citations · 164 works
  8. 8 John J. McGrath Australia · #105 worldwide 5.3k citations · 193 works
  9. 9 James G. Scott Australia · #112 worldwide 4.3k citations · 219 works
  10. 10 Wilmar B. Schaufeli Netherlands · #130 worldwide 5.3k citations · 157 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,401 highest-output authors in Social Psychology. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Social Psychology researchers

Where is Social Psychology research done?

The largest centres of Social Psychology research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), London (United Kingdom), Istanbul (Türkiye) and New York (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Steinkjer.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 2.9k works
  2. 2 London United Kingdom 2.2k works
  3. 3 Istanbul Türkiye 1.8k works
  4. 4 New York United States 1.7k works
  5. 5 Ankara Türkiye 1.7k works
  6. 6 Tokyo Japan 1.6k works
  7. 7 Shanghai China 1.4k works
  8. 8 Seoul South Korea 1.2k works
  9. 9 Melbourne Australia 1.1k works
  10. 10 Madrid Spain 1k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. SteinkjerNO · 20.8 works14×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Social Psychology than the world average.

See Social Psychology on the map

Social Psychology research by country

The best places for Social Psychology research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Social Psychology?

Among universities, judged by research, Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and University of Macau score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 35.63%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Education University of Hong Kong: 138, 43.7%Hong Kong Polytechnic University: 291, 39.5%University of Macau: 113, 37.7%The University of Melbourne: 327, 31.8%University College London: 372, 31.6%Chinese University of Hong Kong: 192, 37.1%Harvard University: 287, 36.6%Nanyang Technological University: 194, 37.9%UNSW Sydney: 243, 33.7%University of Toronto: 443, 26.7%Education University…Hong Kong Polytechni…University of MacauThe University of Me…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Education University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 64.343.7%5.2×138 +121.5%
2Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong 57.339.5%1.8×291 +12.8%
3University of Macau Macau 52.437.7%1.9×113 +112.8%
4The University of Melbourne Australia 51.931.8%1.9×327 +60.6%
5University College London United Kingdom 51.231.6%1.5×372 +22.4%
6Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 51.237.1%1.5×192 +40.0%
7Harvard University United States 50.236.6%1.3×287 +21.8%
8Nanyang Technological University Singapore 49.837.9%1.3×194 +20.4%
9UNSW Sydney Australia 49.633.7%1.6×243 +50.6%
10University of Toronto Canada 48.826.7%1.7×443 +20.1%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Social Psychology research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 34% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Families in Therapy and Culture, Education, Healthcare and Sociology Research and LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Families in Therapy and Culture+592%
  2. Education, Healthcare and Sociology Research+256%
  3. LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy+246%
  4. Stress and Burnout Research+238%
  5. Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction+231%
  6. Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports+196%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Social Psychology include?

Neuroendocrine regulatio…52kNeuroendocrine regulation and behavior: 52k fractional worksMental Health Treatment …45kMental Health Treatment and Access: 45k fractional worksColor perception and design: 38k fractional worksPsychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction: 35k fractional worksAttachment and Relationship Dynamics: 33k fractional worksHuman-Automation Interac…32kHuman-Automation Interaction and Safety: 32k fractional worksCultural Differences and Values: 29k fractional worksEmotional Intelligence and Performance: 29k fractional worksMotivation and Self-Conc…29kMotivation and Self-Concept in Sports: 29k fractional worksLGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy: 29k fractional worksPrimate Behavior and Ecology: 29k fractional worksErgonomics and Musculosk…28kErgonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders: 28k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.