Clermont-Ferrand, France, 13-14 October 2026

Experiments addressing societal-level factors face unique challenges related to context, as psychological processes are shaped by social, cultural, and situational influences, which complicate the replicability of findings (e.g., Van Bavel et al., 2016). Many societal-level manipulations are developed ad hoc, without systematic validation, making it unclear what is truly being manipulated and how it translates to real-world settings (Chester & Lasko, 2021). Ensuring external validity remains critical for applying experimental findings to societal issues, such as informing policy, which requires a deeper understanding of contextual influences.

This meeting will provide a forum for researchers working with experimental manipulations referring to societal-level factors (e.g., economic threat, politicians, meritocracy, social mobility) to discuss best practices, share insights, and collaborate on ways to enhance the methodological robustness of their experiments. We will explore questions such as: What factors have participants identified in their own work that influence the replicability of social psychological experiments across different contexts? How can we bridge the gap between experimental findings and real-world applications?

We encourage participants to share “failed” or inconclusive studies, as these cases provide valuable insights into the complexities of experimental design. The aim of the meeting is to open discussions about methodological challenges, with the goal of co-creating clear guidance on good practices for more robust experimental manipulations, especially for those referring to real-life societal issues. With this aim in mind, the small group meeting will consist of research presentations, and participatory workshops and roundtables. The idea is to collectively develop, adapt and refine manipulations for future research. This could potentially result in a shared conceptual working paper for the broader community. To summarize, the meeting will serve as a platform to connect and co-create new manipulations of social context, which might be tested in a rigorous fashion.

The event will take place on 13th & 14th of October at the Université Clermont Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

The deadline for abstract submissions is April 20th, 2026. The abstract (max. 250 words) should include information about the research question, the key manipulation and the methodological challenge it might pose. Notification of acceptance or rejection will be sent via email at the end of May 2026.

Abstract Submission https://enquetes.lapsco.fr/index.php/125155?lang=en

If you are interested in attending the meeting without presenting your own work, please register your interest here (https://enquetes.lapsco.fr/index.php/425714?lang=en). Spots will be randomly allocated if the number of applications to attend without presentation exceeds the number of available spots.

Target Audience

This call is open to researchers at all career stages. The meeting is primarily open to EASP members, but contributions from non-EASP members are welcome. We especially invite participation from those coming from historically under-represented groups and contexts.

Fees and Funding

Thanks to generous funding of EASP and LAPSCO there is no participation fee for the small group meeting. Food and catering services are provided for all participants during the small group meeting.

For further information or question, please email us at: socialcontext@posteo.uk

We look forward to welcoming you!

Nele Claes (Université Clermont Auvergne) & Rebekka Kesberg (University of Sussex)