Microsoft Word - 1. Editorial Cooper.doc


Europe’s Journal of Psychology 2/2009, pp.1-2  

www.ejop.org 

 

 

 

Research that makes a difference 
 

 

By Cary L. Cooper, CBE 
Lancaster University 

 

 

Given the dramatic economic times we are all living in today, it is important, more 

than ever before, that the research we undertake in the field of psychology is of 

relevance to society.  The economic recession is one of the worst in recent history, 

and will have many consequences for the cultures that we live and work in.  It will 

not only affect the field of occupational psychology but also clinical, developmental 

and neuro-cognitive psychology as well.  The impact of this downturn is having 

consequences for individual’s health and well-being, family relationships, the roles of 

men and women at work and in the family, and for old age as well as work 

opportunities begin to dry up for older workers. It is incumbent of research 

psychologists that our work is relevant and applied to the contemporary problems 

we currently face.  We will always engage of blue-sky or basic psychological 

research, but many of the problems people face in Europe during these difficult 

times require apposite and effective solutions.  The time has come for applied 

psychologists to work on the issues that really matter in understanding human 

behaviour in times of distress.  This is a golden opportunity for us, as many of the 

changes that are taking place across Europe provide us with a natural laboratory for 

our science, and the practice of applied psychology.  

 

There are likely to be cutbacks in a variety of the public services, whether in 

education or health or social services, so the focus of our work should be to identify 

what is happening, what we can do about it and how we can pinpoint and 

synchronize our interventions (and, of course, assess their impact).  By being 

instrumental in our focus on current issues, it is likely to make a difference in our 

respective countries, and show the usefulness of the science of psychology.  We 

should take this opportunity of the changing economic order to explore new areas 

of research for psychology, as the old adage goes “if you always do what you 

always did—you’ll always get what you always got”.  I would like to encourage the 



 
Europe’s Journal of Psychology 

 

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new generation of psychological researchers and practitioners to explore the 

dynamics of our times, of the current turmoil that many are experiencing and 

develop new paradigms for research and practice.  This is our challenge, or as the 

old Chinese proverb goes, about the importance of understanding human 

behaviour, “if you are planning for one year, plant rice. If you are planning for ten 

years, plant trees. If you are planning for a hundred years, plant people”. 

 

I hope you will enjoy this issue of the journal and look forward to seeing very timely 

and innovative articles in the future. 

 

 

About the author: 

 

Cary Cooper is a Director and founder of Robertson Cooper Ltd, Professor of 

Organisational Psychology and Health and Pro Vice Chancellor at Lancaster 

University. Recently awarded the Lifetime Practitioner Award from the British 

Psychology Society in recognition of his services to the profession, he is recognised as 

a world-leading expert on stress and is the media’s first choice for comment on 

workplace issues. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, The Royal Society 

of Arts, The Royal Society of Medicine, The Royal Society of Health and an Honorary 

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.  He is also the President of the British 

Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, Editor-in-Chief of the Blackwell 

Encyclopedia of Management and the author /editor of over 100 books.