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work psychology, H01-H07
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“Work Psychology”
Arnold/Randall
5th Edition
Het auteursrecht is het uitsluitend recht van de maker van een werk van letterkunde, wetenschap of kunst, of van
diens rechtverkrijgenden, om dit openbaar te maken en te verveelvoudigen, behoudens de beperkingen, bij de
wet gesteld.
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,H2 Theory research and practice in work psychology
Research design: refers to the overall strategy in conducting research
Research methods: are the procedures by which information is collected.
Methods:
Questionnaires: are often used to asses a person’s attitudes, values, opinions, beliefs or
experiences. Structured and unstructured.
Psychometric tests are normally used to measure ability or personality.
Interview: Structured is questions specified before and unstructured is to permit
respondents to talk about whatever they wish.
Phychophysiological and psychophysical measures involve assessing a person’s neurological,
biological, physical or physiological state or performance.
Observation:
1. Structured observation: stationing themselves as unobtrusively as possible.
2. Participant observation: is participate in the events.
Reflexivity: the researcher analyses how their own perspectives influences on the way the
data were collected and recorded.
Diaries: Advantage: most detailed and fast moving developments of people’s day to day
lives. Disadvantage: some people will forget to complete their dairy.
Archival sources: Anything that already exists in organized form
Research designs:
The survey design: it takes a snapshot of what is happening, usually by asking people about
it. A survey will attempt to discover the relationships of variables with each other. Mostly
questionnaires. Advantages: fairly easy to conduct, investigate their experiences in day to
day setting. Disadvantage: no manipulation of the variables so difficult to establish cause and
effect.
1. Longitudinal surveys: can help clarify cause and effect relationships. Data are
gathered on more than one occasion.
2. Cross sectional: on one occasion only.
Experimental design:
Advantage: allows researcher to control over what happens and rule out other explanations.
In controlled environment such as a laboratory.
Quasi-experimental research designs are often used to help us identify whether an
intervention works or not. Criticism of the use of quasi experiments is that they focus on
measuring what changes at the expense looking at why something changed.
Both surveys and experiments normally express data using numbers.
Qualitative research often involves a much greater emphasis on seeing the world from the point of
view of the people who participate in it. Four kinds of qualitative research:
Naturalism: the emphasis is on observing what goes on in real-life settings. Rich descriptions
of behavior and events but little insight into how those things are understood by the people
involved.
Ethnomethodology: focuses on a close analysis of interactions between people and how
these maintain and reflect social order.
Emotionalism: here the primary interest is in establishing a close rapport with the people
being researched and finding out about their experiences and feelings.
Postmodernism: rejects the notion that there is an objective truth
Qualitative research often involves an attempt to describe and analyse how individuals make sense
of the situations they are in. The focus may be on behavior, social interaction, personal experience or
self presentation. Large amount of data which requires some editing and interpretation by the
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,researcher. Usually a small number of people, it is often not clear whether the findings could be
repeated with a bigger, different sample.
Qualitative research methods:
Case study research: involves the collection of data from a number of teams, organizations or
individuals in order to better understand how the research context influences the research
findings.
Ethnography: where the researcher participates in the research setting in order to collect
data that reflects the meaning of events, behaviors or activities in the research setting.
Repertory grid technique: which is sometimes used to identify the knowledge, skills and
competencies of effective employees in job analysis
Attributional coding: can be used to analyze how people describe the causes of the events
that occur in their working lives.
Action research: research where the researcher and the people being researched participate jointly
in. Intented to solve immediate problems for people collaborating with the researcher. Most likely
interviews and participant observation.
Mixed methods approaches:
Is used to make the best of both worlds. Mixing common refers to the use of both quantitative and
qualitative. A number of ways this can be done:
Triangulation: convergence, corroboration, correspondence or results from different
methods.
Complementarity
Development
Initiation
Expansion
Key principles in hypothesis testing using quantitative data. Much research in work psychology,
particularly in the positivist tradition examines one or both of the following:
Do two or more groups differ from each other
Do two groups or more variables covary within a particular group of people
Error type 1 error: Reject H0 when H0 is correct
Error type 2 error: Accept H0 when H1 is correct
Error type 3: in intervention research. Concluding that an intervention is ineffective when there are
other explanations for a lack of change.
Some common statistical tests:
T-test: in order to assess whether two means scores are significant different.
Analysis of variance: scores of more than two groups. F statistic. F reflects the ratio of
variation in scores between groups to variation in score within groups. The higher the F, the
more likely the population means differ.
Chi-square: categorical data. The chi-square procedure compares the observed value with
those that would be expected if the proportions reporting were the same for each variable.
Correlation: concerned whether two or more variables tend to go together. Mostly used in
survey research. Pearson correlation coefficient. Does the correlation coefficient differ
sufficiently from 0 for me to reject H0. Problem with correlation is causality. It is not obvious
which variable explains a variable. There are maybe more variables.
Multiple regression: extension of correlation for more than two variables. Asses the relative
importance of each pv. It involves estimation of the correlation of the three pv of ov
independent of the other two.
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,Other phenomena in statistical testing:
Effect size: small effect sizes can lead us to reject the null hypothesis.
Statistical power: refers to the probability of rejecting H0 when it is indeed false and therefore
should be rejected. The probability of avoiding making a type 2 error.
Meta analysis: aim is to provide an overview and summary of what general conclusions can be drawn
from a body of research. Critics said that a meta analysis is being something of a blunt instrument
that cannot capture important details of how particular research studies were carried out.
Chapter 7: attitudes at work and the employment relationship
What is an attitude: certain regularities of an individual’s feelings, thoughts and predispositions to
act toward some aspects of his environment. Feelings represent the affective component of an
attitude, thoughts the cognitive component and predispositions to act the behavioral component.
Attitudes are evaluative. The affective component of an attitude(how we feel about something) is
reflected in a person’s physiological responses and or in what the person says about how they feel
about the object of the attitude. The cognitive component refers to a person’s perception. The
behavioral component is reflected by a person’s observable behavior.
Moods are generalized affective states that are not explicitly linked to particular events or
circumstances which may have originally induced the mood.
Values, attitudes and moods differ in terms of whether they concern the past, present or future.
Their stability over time. And whether they are general or specific.
Why do we have attitudes:
Attitudes can help us to make sense of our environment and act effectively within it.
Attitudes can help us to define and maintain our sense of self identity and self esteem (a
sense of personal value).
Attitudes can help us maintain good relations with other people, particularly those who have
the power to reward or punish us.
Attitude is stored in memory as a cognitive representation, three components:
An object label and rules for applying it
An evaluative summary of that object.
A knowledge structure supporting the evaluative summary
Attitudes are almost always assessed using self report questionnaires. Attitude measurement usually
depends upon what people say about their feelings, beliefs and/or behavior towards the particular
object. One difficulty is that they are subject to the social desirability effect: social desirable answers.
Attitudes predict to some extent behavior. Some possible reasons for the lack of correspondence.
One was social pressures of various kinds: laws, societal norms. Four factors that increase
correspondence between attitudes and behavior:
When the object of the attitude is both well defined and salient.
When attitude strength is high.
When knowledge supporting the attitude is plentiful and complex.
When the attitude supports important aspects of the self.
The lack of correspondence between attitudes and behavior found in much research is due partly to
poor research design and partly to a neglect of cognitive processes concerning attitudes.
A model of the relationship between attitudes and behavior: theory of reasoned action: (blz 257). It
assumed that actions are best predicted by intentions and that intentions are in turn determined by
a person’s attitude and their perception of social pressure. This model also acknowledges that people
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,vary in the relative importance of attitude and subjective norm in determining their intentions. The
theory of planned behavior takes ideas from cognitive theories of motivation in proposing that
actions are the product of attitudes, social pressures and intentions . It is effective in explaining both
intentions and actual behavior.
Job satisfaction has been seen as important for two main reasons:
It is one indicator of a person’s psychological well being, or mental health
Job satisfaction will lead to motivation and good work performance.
Job satisfaction is a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job
or job experiences. Refers to a variety of aspects of the job that influence a person’s levels of
satisfaction with it.
Three different approaches in the field of job satisfaction:
Job satisfaction might be considered more a personality characteristic than an attitude and
attempts to improve satisfaction by changing jobs would be doomed to failure.
Job satisfaction is a function of how other people in the workplace interpret and evaluate
what goes on.
Job satisfaction is influenced directly by the characteristic
Job satisfaction will depend partly on how well people’s tasks fit their long-term purposes, how much
their self-esteem depends on their job and which job experiences are processes most thoroughly in
their memory. Job satisfaction is more than how much the person enjoys the job tasks. It also
depends on how important the job is to the person, and how well it fits in with their long-term aims.
Determinants of job satisfaction:
Skill variety: the extent to which the tasks require different skills
Task identity: the extent to which the worker can complete a whole piece of work, as
opposed to a small part of it.
Task significance: the extent to which the work is perceived as influencing the lives of others
Autonomy: the extent to which the worker has freedom within the job to decide how it
should be done.
Feedback: the extent to which there is correct and precise information about how effectively
the worker is performing.
Six possible reasons why job satisfaction and job performance might be related: blz 265.
Happiness and productivity have often been investigated using measures of job satisfaction and work
performance. There is some evidence that people who are satisfied at work perform better, are less
absent and more punctual. However, recent research looking at the results of well-designed studies
suggests that this link could be small and short-lived.
Some people are likely to seek and find jobs of certain kinds, and that the nature of these jobs then
affects job satisfaction.
So it seems that the nature of the job really does matter for job satisfaction, so indirectly does a
person’s disposition and job satisfaction has an impact on more general well being.
Job satisfaction is partly determined by a person’s general disposition, but not so much so that it is
constant over a person’s working life.
Organizational commitment:
Organizational commitment is the relative strength of an individual’s identification with and
involvement in an organization. Three components:
Desire to maintain membership in the organization
Belief in and acceptance of the values and goals of the organization
Willingness to exert effort on behalf of the organization
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,Another way to divide organizational commitment:
Affective commitment: essentially concerns the person’s emotional attachment to their
organization
Continuance commitment: a person’s perception of the costs and risks associated with
leaving their current organization. Two aspects: sacrifice leaving and lack of alternatives.
Normative commitment: moral dimension, based on a person’s felt obligation and
responsibility to their employing organization.
Organizational commitment concerns a person’s sense of attachment to their organization. It has
several components, and is only one of a number of commitments a person may feel.
Measuring organizational commitment:
Organizational commitment questionnaire. Also other questionnaire measures designed to measure
other components and concepts of commitment. Also self report: indicates how commitment a
person is.
Several distinct theoretical approaches to organizational commitment: (blz 271)
One of these, the behavioral approach sees commitment as being created when a person
does things publicly, of their own free will, and that would be difficult to undo.
Self perception approach: people examine their own behavior and conclude that since they
did something with significant consequences in full view of others, when they could have
chosen not to do so, they really must be committed to it.
It is usually assumed that organizational commitment is fostered by positive experiences at work,
and to a lesser extent by circumstances in which the person joined the organization. The possibility
that some people may be more predisposed to be committed than others is less often investigated.
Organizational commitment has only loose links with overall job performance. However highly
committed people are more likely than less committed people to help others in the organization.
A person who does not feel committed to their employing organization is more likely to want to
leave it, and actually do so, than a person who feels more committed. People may be committed to
different objects(their employer, their manager of their peers) and the object of the commitment
may be important in determining how commitment impacts upon behavior.
Employee turnover:
Employee turnover can have significant costs. This issue want organizations to monitor. One of the
problems with collecting data on turnover is that once employees have left the organization, there is
little that can be done to get them back. That’s why measures of intention to leave become
important.
The theory of planned behavior has been used to understand how intention to leave develops, and
how this intention translates into actually leaving the organization. Intention to leave is not only
influenced by attitudes towards the act of leaving, but also attitudes towards objects.
Events that jolt people out of their habitual way of thinking about their job and their employer have
been implicated as causes for turnover.
Numerous factors are implicated as causes for employee turnover. These include some aspects of
personality, age and job design, as well as attitudes to the job and the organization and the state of
the labor market. There are numerous different psychological processes trough which these factors
have an effect.
Unemployment:
Unemployment is often argued to be a far bigger sources of stress than any of the problems people
experience while at work. People who experience unemployment tend to suffer from lower levels of
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,personal happiness, life satisfaction, self esteem and psychological well being than people who are
employed and when they themselves were in employment. Becoming unemployed tends to have a
negative impact on a person’s mental health, but the damage is often repaired when the person
finds a another job that is at least as satisfying as the one they left behind.
The impact and length of unemployment is determined by a number of individual differences and
external factors such as labor market conditions and welfare support mechanisms.
The psychological contract:
An individual’s belief regarding the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement
between that focal person and another part . . . a belief that some form of a promise has been made
and that the terms and conditions of the contract have been accepted by both parties.
Psychological contract comprises subjective beliefs regarding an exchange agreement between an
individual and in organizations typically, the employing firm and its agents. The invisible glue which
binds individuals to the organization over time. It is not a specific, written defined contract. The
contract is about making and keeping promises through exchanges between the employee and the
employer.
Different employees want different things from their work. Different employers want different things
from their employees. The psychological contract describes what each party promises and expects
from the relationship and this contract can change and develop over time.
Four different types of psychological exchanges/contracts common in organizations:
Relational contracts: offer the most mutual trust and stability
Transactional contracts: are based more on money and well-defined specific performance
terms
Transitional contracts: are typical of an eroding relationship between the employer and the
employee. This can happen when the company can no longer offer promises about future
employment.
Balanced contract: mutual expectations are flexible and dynamic, and there is a mutual
understanding that performance expectations are likely to change.
Breaches in the contract:
Breaches most commonly concerned failure to deliver on promises about training and development,
pay and benefits and promotion opportunities.
Violation is often used to describe the negative emotional reaction to a breach. The process of
psychological contract violation: blz 284.
Open communication with employees about the nature of the psychological contract was important
to keeping the contract fulfilled.
Interventions can stop breaches of the psychological contract leading feelings of violation or
mistrust.
Attitude change through persuasion:
Communicator credibility: rests partly on their expertness and trustworthiness as perceived
by the person on the receiving end of the communication
Communicator attractiveness: the amount of attitude change is directly related to the degree
of attractiveness of the change agent.
One-sided versus two sided arguments: two sided presentation was more effective when the
aim was to change the attitude.
Use of fear: attempts to induce fear will be successful in changing behavior when they
convince a person that: the problem is serious, the problem may affect the person, they can
avoid the problem by taking certain specific action and they are capable of performing the
behavior required to avoid the problem.
Social pressures in persuasion: If a member of a group hears other group members
advocating a certain position, they may draw two conclusions: first, that this position is
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, socially acceptable and second, that anything he can do, I can do better, leading the person
the adopt a position more extreme than the one they have just heard.
The social context in which the persuasive message is received can affect the extent to which
it is successful.
Events before the persuasive message: if the recipients of a persuasive message have been
forewarned about the message, they are more likely to resist it if they feel threatened or
demeaned by that attempt.
Overview of attitude change: central versus peripheral routes to persuasion:
Central route: careful thought and weighing up of arguments
Peripheral route: more emotional responses but relatively little thought.
Persuasive messages processed through the central route need to contain strong arguments that
stand up to scrutiny. A persuasive message that accurately targets the function served by the
relevant attitude for the recipient of the message is likely to succeed.
Peripheral processing of information occurs when the recipient of the persuasive message is
unwilling or unable to pay it very much attention.
How persuasive a message is, depends partly on which cognitive processes are used by the recipient
when thinking about it.
The perceived integrity, expertise and attractiveness of the communicator of a persuasive message
partly determine whether the recipients of the message are persuaded by it.
Negotiation and conflict at work:
Negotiation is the process attempting to deal with problems at work through discussion. The most
obvious form of negotiation in the workplace is that between management and employees in
organizations.
Key points in negotiation process:
Unilateral concession: the negotiator lowers their demands, or agree to something desired
by an opposing negotiator.
Standing firm, or contention: the negotiator restates their demands, or refuses to give
something desired by an opposing negotiator.
Collaboration: the negotiator tries to work with, rather than against, opposing negotiators to
find a mutually acceptable solution.
A negotiator has more options than those of conceding or not conceding. A negotiator may not be
concerned only with their own outcomes. Compromise is not in the middle. It is near the top.
Compromise requires a strong concern about the other party’s outcomes.
Effective negotiators pay attention to the interests of the other side as well as their own.
Importance of cooperation between negotiators where possible: Five main factors:
Relationship: a good personal relationship between negotiators
Interests: an understanding of what interests and concerns are most important to the other
side, rather than focusing on the position they initially adopt.
Options: indentifying as many options for resolution that involve mutual gain as possible.
Criteria: the use of objective criteria to evaluate possible outcomes. Criteria might include
existing legislation or organizational policies.
Alternatives: an awareness of what are the alternatives to a negotiated deal and the
consequences of those alternatives.
Interest based negotiation requires negotiators to think carefully and creatively about the concerns
of all parties, and to focus on five concerns: relationships, interests, options, criteria and alternatives.
Negotiators often have to persuade their own side that a deal is acceptable. This requirement can
influence their behavior during the negotiations itself.
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