The Hungarian Psychological Association was founded in 1928, and is one of Hungary’s oldest scientific associations.

Mission

The Association aims at organizing and developing scientific life, education, research and application of psychology. Also, its mission is to inform its members about ongoing discussions, events and trends of their profession. The Association plays an active part in psychologist postgraduate education, in diffusion of psychological knowledge among laymen, as well as in developing and maintaining international relationships.

Membership

Membership can be acquired by any Hungarian citizen working on a psychological or related field, possessing an adequate qualification or pursuing such studies, accepting the basic regulation of the Association, and paying the annual dues. Two active members’ recommendation is needed for joining.

Regulation and operation

The Hungarian Psychological Association is a public benefit organisation, operating under the basic regulation accepted by the general assembly in 2008. Board members of the Association are the following: the President, the Chief secretary, the Deputy General secretary, the Secretaries (Scientific, Communicational, Legal and Lobby, International and Financial), Section and Division leaders. Further invited members to the Board, with a counselling role, are leaders of the permanent Committees.

Life within the Association

Members receive monthly newsletters, which inform them about current events, vacancies, new literature, tenders, and postgraduate educational opportunities. The Association releases its own scientific journal under the name of ‘Hungarian Psychological Glossary’ (Magyar Pszichológiai Szemle). The journal is released by the Akadémiai Kiadó (Academical Publishing House), and is cited by the international abstracts volume. The Association organises biannual conferences for its members, in order to create a forum for presenting scientific results and professional experience, as well as for exchanging opinions and best practices. The Association is proud to acknowledge personal achievement via the Ranschburg Honour Medal and the Association’s Honour Medal. The Association currently has 1850 active members. Beside psychologists, there are also several professionals working on neighbouring fields (such as psychiatry, sociology, pedagogy), and psychology major students.

Appendix: Sections, Divisions and Committees

Sections:

• Section of General and Personality Psychology
• Section of Development Psychology
• Section of Educational Psychology
• Section of Social Psychology
• Section of Clinical Psychology
• Section of Clinical Child Psychology
• Section of Special Education Psychology
• Section of Organizational and Work Psychology
• Section of Neuropsychology
• Section of Traffic and Driving Psychology
• Section of Sports Psychology
• Section of Criminal Psychology
• Section of Counselling Psychology
• Section of Parenting Psychology
• Section of Psychology of Religion
• Section of Environmental Psychology
• Section of Health Psychology

Divisions:

• Southern Hungary Division
• Eastern Hungary Division
• Junior Division
• Defence and Law Enforcement Division

Committees:

• Editorial Board of ‘Hungarian Psychological Glossary’ (Magyar Pszichológiai Szemle)
• Ethics Committee
• Financial auditing Committee
• Test Committee
• Postgraduate education Committee
• EU accreditation Committee
• Psychologist Trust (right and interest protection)
• Communicational and Fundraising Committee