Industrial-organizational science that matters: Social impact and policy implications in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 111(10), Oct 2026, 1225-1239; doi:10.1037/apl0001425
This introductory article to the special issue “Social Impact Research” examines the extent to which research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology has addressed pressing social issues related to work and employment. Using BERTopic modeling on 5,865 empirical articles published from the journal’s inception in 1917 through June 2024, we identified 99 topics organized into 25 higher order themes, five of which directly reflect social impact: workplace stress, health, and well-being; workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion; organizational justice, ethics, and legal issues; work and employment transitions across the lifespan; and social justice and labor opinions. Trend analyses from 1980 to 2024 revealed growth in health and well-being research, relatively stable publication of diversity, equity, and inclusion scholarship, an inverted-U trajectory for justice and legal topics, and the disappearance of labor-related research. We then introduce the 19 special issue articles (appearing in the October and November 2026 issues) which address employment barriers facing marginalized and economically disadvantaged workers, medical benefits and leave policies, gender and women’s employment, and macrolevel societal disruptions, each offering actionable implications related to work that can benefit the greater good. We conclude by proposing a future social impact research agenda that suggests industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists conduct research that addresses key issues such as economic insecurity, immigrant and refugee workers, generative artificial intelligence, climate change, and political instability. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)