Psi Chi Honor Society

Psi Chi is the international honor society in psychology, founded in 1929 for the purposes of encouraging, stimulating and maintaining excellence in scholarship, and advancing the science of psychology. Membership is open to both graduate and undergraduate students who are studying psychology, and who meet the minimum qualifications. Psi Chi is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies and is an affiliate of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Psychological Society (APS).

Mission and Goals

Psi Chi serves two major goals. 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. In addition, the national organization provides programs to help achieve these goals, including national and regional conventions held annually in conjunction with the psychological associations, research award competitions and certificate recognition programs.

We believe that our mission can be fulfilled only by supporting and encouraging people of varied racial, ethnic, gender identity, sexual orientation, and social class backgrounds to both participate in conducting psychological research, education, practice, training, and service, and to recognize and value diverse people within these contexts. The scope of our organizational relevance is only as broad as the diversity of our membership and their scholarly pursuits.

Membership

This is a lifetime membership and chapter dues are a one-time payment due after your application has been accepted. Apply online to be a Psi Chi member.

The Psi Chi Constitution requires that undergraduate student applicants:

• Must be enrolled as a student at Salem State University.
• Must have established a GPA at Salem State University.
• Must be at least a second-semester sophomore.
• Must be enrolled as a major or minor in a psychology program or a program psychological in nature that is equivalent to a psychology major.
• Must have completed at least nine semester hours or 14 quarter hours of psychology courses.
• Must have an overall GPA that is a 3.3 or higher.
• Must have a psychology GPA that is at least 3.00 on a four-point scale.

Undergraduate transfer students who wish to join an established chapter must complete at least 12 semester hours (or the quarter equivalent) at the new institution unless the Psi Chi chapter has a transfer student policy that articulates clear alternative criteria, yet still conforms to the society standards regarding hours. The society standards regarding hours are that the student must have completed 36 semester hours of college credit (or the quarter equivalent) and nine semester hours of psychology (or the quarter equivalent).

Psi Chi membership is also available for graduate students. The Psi Chi Constitution requires that graduate student applicants:

• Must be enrolled as a graduate student at Salem State University in a psychology graduate program
• Must have established a GPA at Salem State University
• Must have an overall GPA of at least 3.00 on a four-point scale in all graduate courses, including psychology

Graduate students who matriculate into a new institution and are interested in becoming a Psi Chi member must complete one semester at the new institution to establish a GPA in addition to the above requirements.