Division 49 honors a recent dissertation by someone whose research on small groups seems especially promising. Previous winners of this award are Drs. Wendi Adair, Bianca Beersma, Artemis Chang, Amy Edmondson, Sarah Hutson-Comeaux, Deborah Gruenfeld, Karen Jehn, Peter Kim, Kyle Lewis, Kathleen O'Connor, Gloottjr Tink, Michaela Schippers, and Mary Waller.

In 2007, three finalists were identified and recognized for their outstanding dissertations. Receiving honorable mention were Dr. Astrid Homan: "Harvesting the value in diversity" and  Dr. Gregory Webster:  "Kin-based resource allocation:  Inclusive fitness and emotional closeness".  The winner was Dr. van Zomeren, who graduated from the University of Amsterdam and is now a faculty member at the Free University of Amsterdam.  His dissertation is titled "Social psychological paths to protest: An integrative perspective".  His work offers an integrative perspective on collective action. Conceptualizing group-based anger and group efficacy as emotion- and problem-focused coping processes (respectively) revealed some "general simplicity" among the "specific complexities" of the large, multi-disciplinary, and heterogeneous collective action literature. This "dual pathway model of coping with collective disadvantage" has both scientific and applied value, which should stimulate research into the dynamic processes that move people into collective action against collective disadvantage.  He received a plaque, $500, and 3 years of membership in Division 49.

Individuals who wish to compete for the Dissertation Award should submit a five-page, double-spaced abstract of their work to:

Dr. Richard Moreland
Department of Psychology
3103 Sennott Square
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA. 15260

The deadline is January 31st of each year. Only dissertations that were completed during the prior calendar year are eligible, but the research described in those dissertations can explore any group phenomenon, using any methodology to investigate any type of group. A committee reviews all the abstracts and selects three finalists, who then submit complete copies of their dissertations for the committee's evaluation. The winner is announced and the prize is conferred at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association. Included in the award are $500, a plaque, and a three-year membership in the Division.