---
name: jpsp-topic-selection
description: Use when judging whether a personality/social-psychology project fits the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP) and — critically — which of the three independently edited sections (ASC, IRGP, PPID) it belongs to. Tests theoretical-contribution fit and section choice; it does not generate research ideas.
---

# Topic Selection & Section Fit (jpsp-topic-selection)

JPSP rewards a **theoretical contribution**, not just a clean effect. Before anything else you must
make two decisions: (1) is the contribution big enough for JPSP's long-format, multi-study standard,
and (2) which of the **three sections** is it for. Picking the wrong section is a common, avoidable
cause of a desk re-route or rejection — each section is edited separately.

## When to trigger

- Deciding whether a project is a JPSP paper or belongs in a shorter / more specialized outlet
- Choosing among **ASC**, **IRGP**, and **PPID**
- Reframing a single-study finding into a JPSP-scale theoretical package

## Step 1 — Choose the section

| Section | Core remit | Signals it's the right home |
|---------|-----------|------------------------------|
| **ASC** — Attitudes and Social Cognition | Attitudes, persuasion, social cognition, attribution, stereotyping, emotion/motivation in social contexts | The contribution is about how people *think, evaluate, and feel* in social contexts |
| **IRGP** — Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes | Dyads, close relationships, intragroup and intergroup processes, group behavior | The unit is a *relationship or group*, not a lone perceiver |
| **PPID** — Personality Processes and Individual Differences | Personality structure, development, assessment; trait processes; individual differences | The contribution is about *who people are and how they differ*, not a manipulated social state |

> Borderline cases (e.g., self-regulation, identity, culture) can fit more than one section. Decide by
> the **theoretical question** the paper answers, name the section in the cover letter, and confirm the
> live per-section remit (待核实 on exact wording).

## Step 2 — Test JPSP-scale fit

1. **Theoretical contribution.** New theory + evidence; using theory to explain a new phenomenon;
   novel connections between theories; a new mechanism; conditions/moderators that reconcile
   conflicting findings; a new construct shown to matter. A lone "X affects Y" effect is not enough.
2. **Generative.** Does it open questions, not just close one? JPSP papers seed literatures.
3. **Multi-study capable.** Can the idea sustain **several related studies** converging on the claim?
   If it is inherently one study, JPSP is likely the wrong format.
4. **Reaches the section's readership.** It must matter beyond a narrow subtopic of the section.

## Anti-patterns

- Submitting a single experiment and hoping JPSP waives the multi-study norm
- Choosing the section by author habit rather than the paper's theoretical question
- Pitching a methods-only or measure-only paper with no theoretical advance
- "Significance-chasing": a surprising effect with no theory behind it

## Borderline routing: when two sections both seem to fit

The most common section-choice errors at JPSP. Decide by the **theoretical question**, name the section in the cover letter, and confirm live remits against the submission guidelines (待核实).

| If the paper is about… | Tempting wrong call | Decide by |
|------------------------|---------------------|-----------|
| Self-regulation | "personality → PPID" | A *manipulated social state* → ASC; a *trait difference* → PPID |
| Stigma / prejudice | "groups → IRGP" | The perceiver's *cognition* → ASC; *intergroup process* → IRGP |
| Identity / self | "individual → PPID" | A *relational/group* identity → IRGP; *trait structure* → PPID |
| Culture | "any of the three" | Route by the *process*, not the moderator |

A correct route is itself a fit signal: it tells the editor you understand the remit. A mis-route risks a return.


## Fit pass for Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Treat this skill as an executable review pass, not a prose hint. First lock the construct validity, study sequence, power/robustness plan, and boundary conditions; then judge whether the current manuscript answers the venue's real reader: psychology reviewers who need a theoretical construct, validated measurement, and cumulative-study logic.

- **Do the pass:** Score the manuscript on venue fit, novelty, evidence readiness, and audience ownership; reject a prestige-only target when a sibling venue owns the contribution more directly.
- **Return a ledger:** give `claim / evidence / risk / manuscript location` rows, so the next agent can edit rather than rediscover the issue.
- **Sibling guard:** compare against Psychological Science for shorter general-interest findings, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin for field scope, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology for experiment-centered claims; if a sibling owns the contribution, recommend re-routing before polishing format.
- **Stop condition:** do not give submission-ready advice until the pack's `resources/official-source-map.md` has been checked for volatile rules and the manuscript has one concrete fix for the largest venue-specific risk.

## Output format

```
【Section】ASC / IRGP / PPID  + one-line justification by theoretical question
【Contribution type】new theory / new mechanism / reconciliation / new construct / …
【Multi-study plausible】Y/N — sketch of the study set
【JPSP-scale?】Y/N — if N, where instead
【Next】jpsp-literature-positioning
```

## Supplementary resources

- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — data sources by section/design
- [`../../resources/official-source-map.md`](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — official per-section remits and rules