Society for Personality Assessment (SPA) is the largest psychological society focused on

personality assessment A personality test is a method of assessing human personality construct (psychology), constructs. Most personality assessment instruments (despite being loosely referred to as "personality tests") are in fact introspective (i.e., subjective) self ...

. It was founded in 1937 by

Bruno Klopfer Bruno Klopfer (1st October, 1900 – 23 October, 1971), was a German psychologist, born in Bavaria. He had a profound impact on the development of psychological personality testing, and was an important pioneer and innovator in the development, sco ...

as the Rorschach Institute, renamed as The Society for Projective Tests and the Rorschach Institute in 1948, shortened to The Society for Projective Techniques in 1960, and given its current name in 1971. It publishes the ''

Journal of Personality Assessment The ''Journal of Personality Assessment'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on measurement issues in the fields of personality and clinical psychology that was established in 1936. It is published by Taylor and Fran ...

'' and manages several awards, including the

Bruno Klopfer Award The Bruno Klopfer Award is an award for lifetime achievement in personality psychology managed by the Society for Personality Assessment. It is the Society's most prestigious award and is named after the Society's founder Bruno Klopfer. It was fi ...

History

The Rorschach Institute arose casually in either 1936 or 1937 as a term for the group surrounding the popular workshops and meetings at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

held by Bruno Klopfer about the

Rorschach test The Rorschach test is a projective psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a pe ...

. In May 1938 the group was incorporated over concerns that others might take the name. The bylaws were formalized in March 1939 and the first officers were: Bruno Klopfer, director,

Morris Krugman Morris Krugman (1899–1993) was an American psychologist.Bruce Lambert"Dr. Morris Krugman, A Psychologist, 94, In New York Schools".''New York Times'', 2/24/1993. He was born in Białystok and came to New York City as a young child. He received h ...

, president, Douglas M. Kelley, vice-president, Ruth Wolfson, secretary, and Gladys Tallman, treasurer.O'Roark, Ann M., and John E. Exner (1989). ''History and Directory: Society for Personality Assessment, Fiftieth Anniversary''. Hillsdale, NJ:

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa plc, a United Kin ...

. . .

References

Psychology organizations based in the United States Psychology-related professional associations {{Org-stub