Psychologists who are interested in the nature of ideology and the achievement of social change generally focus their primary theoretical and empirical attention on those people outside academia who are trying to change or to prevent change in one political sphere or another. There may be some value in looking at psychology and psychologists as well to better understand the impact of ideology in psychological research. A number of psychologists in recent years have convincingly pointed out a variety of ideological assumptions, commonly accepted in academic psychology, that are related to the positivist philosophical justifications for experimental, quantitative research; the focus on the individual rather than the structural level of change; and the liberal, rather than conservative or radical political orientation of psychological theory. The purpose of this paper is to consider some of the consequences for psychologists of the widespread acceptance of these assumptions, particularly as they interact with career pressures and, also, to consider the prospects for social and ideological change within psychology. (Author/IS)