Special Issue Call for Submissions: “From Lab to Life: Psychological Science in the Real World”

Editors: Roni Porat and Vishnu Sreekumar

Psychological Science invites submissions presenting innovative research that brings psychological science “into the wild,” whether to strengthen its ecological validity or to translate theories of change into real-world impact. For psychological science to explain and improve the world, our theories must be tested beyond controlled laboratory settings. Taking research into the field serves two crucial purposes. First, it allows us to examine whether psychological theories and effects generalize to complex real-world environments, where competing influences and institutional constraints may challenge findings established under controlled laboratory conditions. Second, for researchers developing interventions, field studies provide an essential test of whether theoretically informed strategies can produce meaningful and sustained change in people’s lives, communities, and institutions. 

We welcome full manuscripts that:

• Test psychological theories, processes, or effects in naturalistic, organizational, community, institutional, or policy settings;
• Examine whether laboratory findings generalize – or fail to generalize – to consequential real-world contexts;
• Evaluate the effectiveness, implementation, scalability, or durability of psychologically informed interventions outside the laboratory;
• Integrate laboratory and field evidence to refine psychological theory; 
• Use a broad range of field methods, including field experiments, natural experiments, and econometric approaches to causal inference; and/or
• Identify methodological or conceptual challenges involved in conducting rigorous real-world psychological research.

Authors should submit full manuscripts by 15 January 2027, and indicate in the “Comments to Editor” box during submission that the manuscript is intended for the “From Lab to Life” special issue. Preliminary proposals are not required. Registered Reports will not be considered for this special issue.