An aspect of the early history of the society for the psychological study of social issues: Psychologists and labor

This article traces briefly the roots of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social issues in the movement to combat unemployment among psychologists during the mid‐1930s. The principal topic is one aspect of the Society's history: the manner in which the Society responded tothe issue of labor. There were two attempts to deal with this issue in the context of the Depression: the Society's Committee on Trade Union Affiliation and its Yearbook Committee on Industrial Conflict. These committees are described in the context of prolabor sympathies among academics during the period, and in the context of industrial conflict occurring at that time. The continuing conflict within the Society over its role as an “activist” organization versus its role as a research‐supporting organization is shown to have its roots in the very earliest efforts to organize the Society.