Invitation
We would like to invite you to participate as a contributor in our next, Twenty-Seventh Annual Sydney Symposium of Social Psychology. This time the Symposium will be held in Europe, outside Budapest, in the romantic and historical small town of Visegrad on the banks of the Danube, Hungary, Monday – Friday on the 14-18th July 2025. All local expenses (hotel, meals, excursions) will be covered for invited participants.These meetings are held every year on a different broad topic, and bring together leading international researchers covering a major topic in social psychology (see www.sydneysymposium.unsw.edu.au for details, programs, pictures of past symposia, etc. See also https://www.crcpress.com/Sydney-Symposium-of-Social-Psychology/book-series/TFSE00262 for information about our book series). The Sydney Symposia have a reputation of being among the most stimulating, enjoyable and fun small group conferences in our field - feel free to check with our past participants (for a list, see last page!). The topic of next year's symposium is
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TRUST
Aims and background. The conference seeks to bring together researchers who are interested in understanding the psychology of trust – the uniquely human symbolic ability to have confidence in the reliability, truthfulness and predictability of other people, our social relationships, and our cultural and political institutions. Trust is a key aspect of human sociability, and an essential prerequisite for healthy personality adjustment as well as successful personal relationships and larger social systems.
We hope to invite researchers working in any area of psychology related to the topic of trust including areas of evolutionary, personality, cognitive, cultural, political and economic research who are interested in exploring the nature origins, functions, and psychological and cultural antecedents and consequences of trust in our daily lives. Given the recent worrying decline of trust in our liberal democracies and the increasingly polarized and hostile nature of public discourse, this topic seems particularly interesting and relevant at this time.
We believe that many substantive areas of psychology and related fields have an important contribution to make to understanding how humans create, maintain and sometimes damage trust. We would like the get contributions from leading international researchers like yourself whose work has some interesting implications for understanding the psychological processes underlying the formation, preservation and destruction of trust, from any area of research.
As always with our Symposia the topic is broadly defined and we are interested in contributions from a wide variety of empirical and theoretical backgrounds that usually result in a lively, engaging and entertaining discussion across disciplinary boundaries.
Financial support. Given your important contribution to this field, we really hope that you will be able to accept our invitation to participate. As with all previous Sydney Symposia,
We will cover the total cost of accommodation and meals for invited participants for four days on a twin-share basis in our four-star resort hotel.
(Partners are also very welcome to attend but will incur a small extra cost. Single rooms are also available at a small extra charge).
The location. The Hotel Visegrad https://www.hotelvisegrad.hu/en/ is a four star resort hotel located near Budapest, on the banks of the Danube, in a spectacular and historic setting. The hotel has luxurious wellness facilities, and an outstanding restaurant. Visegrad was Hungary’s medieval capital in the 15th century and is the site of the remains of a renaissance palace and a fortress. The Symposium will also feature many exciting social activities and excursions free to invited participants, including a sunset cruise on the Danube, a Renaissance feast, castle visits, and excursion to neighbouring scenic and historical attractions in the Danube Bend area.
Publication. As in previous years, contributions to the Symposium will be published in a book form by Routledge / Psychology Press, New York. Invited contributions should be first authors on the paper, presenting an overview of a significant area of theory and research relevant to the psychological processes relevant to understanding the psychology of trust in all its forms (max. 6000 words, without references).
Your response. We very much hope that you will be able to accept our invitation; if so, please
1. Indicate by email your acceptance or rejection of our invitation in the next few days
2. Please send us a title and abstract of your proposed paper within the week or so
3. We would also like to receive a draft of your contribution by the middle of April, 2025.
Thank you for considering this, and we look forward to hearing from you!