What is Psi Chi?

Psi Chi is the National Honor Society in Psychology, founded in 1929 for the purpose of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship and advancing the science of psychology. Membership is open to graduate and undergraduate men and women who are making the study of psychology one of their major interests and who meet the minimum qualifications. Psi Chi is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS), and is an affiliate of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Psychological Society (APS).

What are the Goals of Psi Chi?

Psi Chi serves two major goals - one immediate and visably rewarding to the individual member, the other slower and more difficult to accomplish, but offering greater rewards in the long run.

• The first of these is the Society's obligation to provide academic recognition to its inductees by the mere fact of membership.
  
• The second goal is the obligation of each of the Society's local chapters to nurture the spark of that accomplishment by offering a climate congenial to its creative development. For example, the chapters make active attempts to nourish and stimulate professional growth through programs designed to augment and enhance the regular curriculum and to provide practical experience and fellowship through affiliation with the chapter.

What are the Benefits of Membership?

The intrinsic value of membership is rewarding to the achiever in that recognition of excellence leads to self-fulfillment and thus to self realization. By recognizing that what you do does make a difference, you are stimulated to higher productivity. Accomplishments are enjoyed more when shared with others. Furthermore, the contacts made through Psi Chi will be valuable throughout your educational and professional careers.

Concrete advantages of membership include:

• The documents - a membership certificate and card which give tangible evidence of membership.
  
• The references provided throughout one's lifetime (this service alone is worth the investment).
  
• The experience gained by working with Psi Chi is excellent for building up a resume; it is difficult to attain that first managerial and creative experience.
  
• Psi Chi is a springboard for professional growth. Opportunities are made available to the members for promoting their research, receiving national and international recognition, meeting and interacting with leaders in their field, and meeting Psi Chi members of other chapters who also will be future leaders.
  
• The United States government recognizes membership in Psi Chi as meeting one of the requirements for entrance at the GS-7 level in the Federal service.