International Society for the Study of Individual Differences

What International Society for the Study of Individual Differences does

The International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (ISSID) is a non-profit academic society founded in 1983 and registered in Canada at Western University, London, Ontario. Its purpose is to foster international research on individual differences in temperament, intelligence, attitudes, and abilities, spanning experimental, physiological, pharmacological, clinical, medical, genetic, statistical, and social psychology. The society serves academic researchers globally, with governance led by elected officers and board members drawn from universities across the Netherlands, Australia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Austria, and Canada.

ISSID's core product is the peer-reviewed journal Personality and Individual Differences (PAID), published in partnership with Elsevier across 16 volumes annually and serving as the field's flagship publication. Supporting offerings include biennial international conferences (Vienna 2025, Durham 2027, with prior events in Florence, Warsaw, Barcelona, and Belfast), Summer Schools for graduate-level training conducted by field experts, Expert Meetings on emerging topics such as the 2024 Munich meeting on 'Dynamics of Personality,' and the Jan Strelau Program for geographic diversification including a South America Engagement Project. The society also maintains an awards portfolio (Distinguished Contribution Award, Eysenck Lecture, Early Career Award, Blazej Szymura Conference Travel Award) and produces the ISSIDINSIGHTS video podcast. No proprietary technology products are developed; ISSID's underlying infrastructure consists of a Wix-hosted website, a member portal, social media channels, and content publishing workflows.

Revenue is generated through membership dues (full £50/2-year, student and World Bank low/low-middle income economy members £15/2-year, emeritus free after 15+ years), discounted journal subscriptions for members (£80/year vs. US$132/year non-member), and conference registration fees, with Elsevier providing co-funding for awards and German Research Foundation (DFG) co-funding for selected expert meetings. Membership applications are reviewed by a membership committee, and distribution relies on direct website sign-up and Elsevier for journal fulfillment. The society reports members and activity across at least 13 countries spanning North America, Europe, Australia, and South America.

Name

International Society for the Study of Individual Differences

Legal name

International Society for the Study of Individual Differences

Website

https://issid.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Short description

ISSID is a non-profit international academic society founded in 1983 that serves researchers in personality and individual differences psychology through its Elsevier-published journal, biennial conferences, summer schools, expert meetings, and member programs spanning more than a dozen countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London, Ontario

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: ISSID generates revenue primarily through membership fees. Full 2-year membership costs £50.00, while student and reduced-rate memberships (for members in low or low-middle income economies as rated by the World Bank) cost £15.00. Emeritus members (65+ with 15+ years of membership) pay no fees.
2. Journal Subscriptions: ISSID members can purchase hard-copy subscriptions to the Personality and Individual Differences journal for £80.00 per year. Non-member subscription rate is US $132.
3. Conference Fees: Revenue generated from reduced costs for conference attendance as a member benefit, plus eligibility to attend pre-conference workshops.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ISSID is a professional academic society that advances the scientific study of individual differences in personality, intelligence, temperament, attitudes, and abilities. Its core offerings include membership programs (full, student/reduced-rate, emeritus tiers), the official peer-reviewed journal Personality and Individual Differences (PAID) published via Elsevier, biennial international scientific conferences, graduate-level summer schools, expert meetings, the Jan Strelau Program for geographic diversification, and a portfolio of awards recognizing scholarly achievement in the field.

Product overview

ISSID operates as a professional society with a platform-plus-services model. The core offering is the Personality and Individual Differences (PAID) Journal, published by Elsevier, which serves as the flagship publication for the field. Supporting this are biennial conferences that bring together the global research community. The society extends its reach through specialized programs including Summer Schools for graduate training, Expert Meetings on emerging topics, the Jan Strelau Program for geographic diversification, and Awards Programs recognizing scholarly achievement. Additional member services include the Members Area portal and the ISSID News/Blog platform featuring the ISSIDINSIGHTS video podcast series.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Personality and Individual Differences (PAID): The official journal of ISSID, published by Elsevier, which publishes papers on personality, intelligence, cognitive abilities, psychometric theory, mood, motivation, and the genetic, biological, and environmental foundations of individual differences.
• Jan Strelau Program
• ISSID Summer Schools
• ISSID Expert Meetings

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• International Society for Intelligence Research (ISIR)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024ISIR is ISSID's family organization. The societies have reciprocal arrangements concerning involvement in each other's conferences. ISSID focuses on personality and individual differences while ISIR fills the gap in cognitive abilities research. In 2024, ISSID sponsored a symposium at ISIR's conference in Zurich on generational test score changes and intelligence.
• ElseviercoreOthersElsevier publishes ISSID's official journal Personality and Individual Differences (PAID). ISSID members receive discounted subscription rates (£80 for members vs US $132 for non-members). Elsevier also provides financial support for the Early Career Award.
• Polish Conference on Personality and Individual DifferencesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIn 2027, ISSID will serve as honorary patron for the inaugural Polish Conference on Personality and Individual Differences. Honorary patronage consists of formally acknowledging patronage in promotional materials without financial contributions.
• German Research Foundation (DFG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDFG provided funding for the 2024 ISSID Expert Meeting on 'Dynamics of Personality' at Technical University of Munich, along with ISSID and Elsevier.
• British Society for the Psychology of Individual Differences (BSPID)minorOthersRelated society listed on ISSID's links page for the psychology of individual differences community.
• World Association for Personality PsychologyminorOthersRelated international society publishing the International Journal of Personality Psychology.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• British Society for the Psychology of Individual Differences (BSPID): Listed directly on ISSID's links page and is a UK-focused national counterpart in the psychology of individual differences, sharing ISSID's subject matter and conference/research activities for British researchers.
• International Society for Intelligence Research (ISIR): ISIR is described in ISSID's own materials as its "family organization," focused on cognitive abilities and intelligence research. ISSID and ISIR hold reciprocal conference arrangements (e.g., ISSID-sponsored symposium at ISIR Zurich 2024), making them the closest comparable peer in scope, membership model, and academic mission.
• Association for Research in Personality (ARP): ARP is a US-focused scientific society dedicated specifically to personality research. It hosts a biennial conference and is closely aligned to ISSID's mission of advancing the empirical study of personality and individual differences.
• Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP): SPSP is a major US-based scientific society for personality and social psychologists. Its conferences, journal (PSPB), and member benefits compete for the same academic audience as ISSID, particularly researchers who span personality psychology and adjacent fields.
• European Association of Personality Psychology (EAPP): EAPP is a regional European counterpart to ISSID and the publisher of the European Journal of Personality. It directly overlaps ISSID's membership, journal, and conference offerings for personality researchers, especially in Europe, and competes for the same author and member pool.
• World Association for Personality Psychology: Listed on ISSID's links page as a related society, WAPP publishes the International Journal of Personality Psychology and serves an overlapping international community of personality researchers.

Regional players

• European Association of Social Psychology (EASP): EASP is a European regional association for social psychology with overlapping membership pool with ISSID at conferences and journals. It is a regional rather than global peer but addresses part of the same European academic psychology audience.

Broad incumbents

• International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP): IAAP is a long-standing international psychological association with an applied focus and quadrennial congress, representing an alternative forum for psychology researchers (including personality and individual differences subfields) at a broader international scale than ISSID.
• American Psychological Association (APA): APA is the largest professional psychology organization globally and serves as a broad incumbent whose mission subsumes personality psychology within a much wider portfolio of divisions, journals, and conferences. APA does not specialize in individual differences but is the obvious umbrella alternative for psychologists ISSID might otherwise engage.
• Association for Psychological Science (APS): APS is the leading scientific society for the full spectrum of psychological science, publishing multiple journals and running large annual conventions. It overlaps with ISSID in personality/individual-differences researchers but at a much broader scale and with different governance.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ISSIDOfficial
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php?id=61554976123422

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about International Society for the Study of Individual Differences