We advance the university's work as a model 21st-century institution.
Ohio State espouses 10 core shared values: Excellence and Impact, Diversity and Innovation, Inclusion and Equity, Care and Compassion, and Integrity and Respect. These values are intrinsic to the Department of Psychology's research, teaching and programming.
Excellence and Impact
Excellence and impact define what we do. In the latest Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, our department ranked 15th out of hundreds of psychology departments worldwide, and fourth out of public university psychology departments. Along with our nationally recognized graduate program, our robust undergraduate program – one of the largest in the Ohio State College of Arts and Sciences – helps train the next generation of outstanding psychological scientists and clinicians.
Department faculty are also consistently recognized as leaders in the field. In addition to holding influential editorial roles, our research faculty receive more than $5 million annually in research grant funding from organizations including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Defense, among others. Our teaching faculty have received some of the highest pedagogical awards at the university. Media outlets regularly highlight faculty work, which has helped shape the public understanding of psychology and influence decision-makers at the local and national levels.
Diversity and Innovation
We view diversity as an essential part of innovation. Our department offers a supportive, welcoming environment where faculty, students and staff of all backgrounds can flourish and pursue groundbreaking research. Our academic programs, labs and affiliated centers – such as the Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging, the Center Cognitive and Brain Sciences, the Collaborative on the Science of Polarization and Misinformation, and the Decision Sciences Collaborative – are highly interdisciplinary and frequently integrate perspectives and expertise from across different specialties. Additionally, student-initiated events facilitate discussion and learning around diversity, helping advance new opportunities in the field.
Decision Sciences Collaborative
One of the department's many interdisciplinary initiatives, the DSC convenes experts in psychology, agricultural and environmental sciences, political science, marketing and other diverse fields for programs, education and research about the science of decision making.
Psychology Graduate Student DEI Committee
Members of this student organization hold a regular diversity, equity and inclusion-themed book club, assist with Ohio State's Graduate and Professional Student Recruitment Initiative and host an annual conference, where students present DEI-related psychology research.
Decision Sciences Collaborative
One of the department's many interdisciplinary initiatives, the DSC convenes experts in psychology, agricultural and environmental sciences, political science, marketing and other diverse fields for programs, education and research about the science of decision making.
Psychology Graduate Student DEI Committee
Members of this student organization hold a regular diversity, equity and inclusion-themed book club, assist with Ohio State's Graduate and Professional Student Recruitment Initiative and host an annual conference, where students present DEI-related psychology research.
Inclusion and Equity
We work to understand each other's experiences and to facilitate the professional development of all students and faculty. In addition to establishing mentoring programs for this purpose, we offer numerous courses – such as Psychology of Gender, Attitudes: Structure, Function, and Consequences, and Cross-Cultural Psychology – that provide a uniquely psychological perspective on inclusion and equity.
Our faculty and students also regularly conduct research on the science behind group differences in mental and physical health, intergroup relations and psychological belonging:
- In Psychoneuroendocrinology: Everyday perceptions of safety and racial disparities in hair cortisol concentration
- In Social Science & Medicine: One-size fits all? Evaluating group differences in an integrated social cognition model to understand COVID-19 vaccine intention and uptake
- In Nature Human Behavior: Supernatural explanations across 114 societies are more common for natural than social phenomena
- In Journals of Gerontology: Depression, Vascular Burden, and Dementia Prevalence in Late Middle-Aged and Older Black Adults
Explore more articles in our comprehensive database of recent faculty publications.
Care and Compassion
The clinical training and community resources that our department offers demonstrate care and compassion. Since 1981, our Psychological Services Center has provided free outpatient treatment for central Ohio adults living with a variety of mental health conditions. Using evidence-based interventions, our therapists help hundreds of clients per year overcome problems and lead fuller lives.
Departmental research likewise reflects our commitment to this shared value. For example, our clinical psychology and cognitive neuroscience faculty work to develop effective treatments for anxiety and depression, as well as cognitive decline in aging. Developmental psychology faculty address issues related to parenting and family relationships. Additionally, our social psychology faculty examine moral perceptions of harm, personal and group identity, and prosocial behaviors, or acts that benefit others. Explore some of this recent work.
Integrity and Respect
We undertake our work as a department with deep integrity and respect: for one another, for our students and for the communities in which we live and conduct research.
This value also connects our other shared values. The department demonstrates respect for differing ideas and approaches (Diversity and Innovation), for individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences (Inclusion and Equity), and for those who are vulnerable and in need (Care and Compassion). We imbue all of what we do with the highest level of integrity and hold ourselves to strict ethical standards, advancing our impact in the field (Excellence and Impact).