Data on 105 countries from the Global Development of Applied Community Studies project and a geographic information system (ArcGIS) were used to map and identify spatial patterns in the international growth of community psychology, as measured by professional associations and conferences, graduate and undergraduate programs and courses, and publications. Our primary aim was to analyze the field's global development, emphasizing professional training and research products, in the context of geographic proximity and theories of knowledge transfer and knowledge spillover. The results of Hot Spot Analysis and Cluster and Outlier Analysis spatially confirmed our hypothesis, revealing statistically significant hot spots of the strength of community psychology in the countries sharing borders. Hierarchical regression analysis found that the strength of community psychology in neighboring countries significantly predicted the development of community psychology beyond the influence of population size, Human Development Index, freedom score, and a history of grassroots activism. Implications for theory, research, and international professional and student exchanges are discussed.
Keywords: GIS; community psychology; geographic proximity; geospatial analysis; knowledge transfer and spillover.
© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.