National Psychological Associations 539by 10 psychologists who met at University College, London
(Bunn, 2000). The French Psychological Society (SFP) was
also founded in 1901. Its initial mission was to promote sci-
entific research, but over the course of the twentieth century it
has developed a greater emphasis on the practice of psychol-
ogy. In Germany, psychologists G. E. Mueller, Oswald Kulpe,
and Herman Ebbinghaus formed the Society of Experimental
Psychology (SEP) in 1904; the name was later changed to
German Society for Psychology (DGPs). As in other psycho-
logical organizations formed in this period, the emphasis in
the SEP was on scientific research. Much was lost during the
Nazi period, with the result that organized psychology had to
be completely rebuilt after World War II. Two German states
were created in 1949: the German Democratic Republic
(East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (West
Germany). The DGPs continued as the primary national asso-
ciation of academic psychologists in the latter and had
approximately 1,800 members at the end of the twentieth cen-
tury. In 1946, the Professional Association of German Psy-
chologists was founded; its focus was (and is) the application
of psychology outside the universities. Its membership at the
beginning of the twenty-first century was approximately
21,000. In the German Democratic Republic, a new profes-
sional society was formed in 1962. The Society for Psychol-
ogy (GfP) was mainly concerned with scientific psychology
in adherence to Marxist-Leninist principles; it had approxi-
mately 2,500 members at the time of German reunification in
- The GfP dissolved at that time and its members were
able to choose to affiliate with either the DGPs or the Profes-
sional Association of German Psychologists (Dumont &
Louw, 2001; Trommsdorf & Sprung; 2000). The Italian Psy-
chological Society (SIPs) was formed in 1910 as a scientific
society. During the twentieth century, other smaller societies,
many devoted to professional practice or specialized research
areas, joined the SIPs. It had eight specialty divisions and
20 regional sections at the end of the twentieth century.
Growth in other parts of Europe came more slowly, and
only in Hungary (1928) and the Netherlands (1938) had
national organizations formed before World War II began.
The Swiss Psychological Society was formed during the
war (1943). After the war, growth was more rapid. Denmark
(1947), Poland (1948), Finland (1952), Spain (1952), Austria
(1953), Iceland (1954), and Sweden (1955) formed national
psychological societies in the first decade after the end of the
war.
Growth in the Soviet Union was slowed by governmental
opposition to behavioral science from 1936 until 1955.
Among the various republics of the Soviet Union, Georgia
was the first to allow psychologists to organize (1941), while
Russia did not allow an association until 1957.
Since 1955, national psychological organizations have been
formed in almost every nation of Europe, including Turkey
(1956), Czechoslovakia (1958), Greece (1963), Portugal
(1965), Romania (1965), Ireland (1970), Estonia (1988), and
Albania (1991).AsiaChina was the first Asian country where psychologists
formed a national society (Chinese Psychological Society,
1921), but because of the nation’s internal political conflicts,
the organization disbanded after a few years. The society was
briefly reorganized in 1937 but was dissolved again when
Japan invaded China. The Chinese Psychological Society re-
sumed operation in 1950, only to close in 1966 for 10 years
during the Cultural Revolution. In 1977, the organization was
able to resume its activities. At the end of the twentieth cen-
tury, the society had approximately 3,000 members.
The Indian Psychological Association was formed in- Psychology in Japan began with the visit of former
APA president G. T. Ladd in the late 1800s. One of his
Japanese students, M. Mastumoto, helped train the first gen-
eration of Japanese psychologists. It was not until 1927, how-
ever, that the Japanese Psychological Association was
founded. Its membership remained small until after World
War II; by the year 2000 its membership was approximately
5,000. Other more specialized psychological societies are
affiliated with the JPA, including the Japanese Association
of Educational Psychology (est. 1952) and the Association of
Japanese Clinical Psychology (est. 1982).
It was not until 1952 that psychologists in another Asian
nation, Indonesia, formed a national society. Since then,
national associations have formed in the Philippines, Hong
Kong, Bangladesh, Korea, Singapore, Mongolia, Vietnam,
and Pakistan.
The Near and Middle EastThe first psychological organization in the Arab world was
established in Egypt in 1948. The Israeli Psychological Asso-
ciation was formed a decade later (1958), with Tunisian
psychologists following in 1962. In the last decade of the
twentieth century, psychologists in Yemen (1990) and Jordan
(1996) formed national societies. Other countries in the re-
gion with national associations are Iran and Morocco.South and Central America and the CaribbeanExperimental psychology began in Latin America in 1898
with the establishment of a laboratory in Argentina. It was also