Psychology in the workplace
Chapter 1 - Industrial and Organizational Psychology 1
Chapter 2 - Research Methods and Statistics in I-O psychology 8
Chapter 3 - Individual Differences and Assessment 12
Chapter 4 - Job Analysis and Performance 21
Chapter 5 - Performance measurement 29
Chapter 6 - Staffing decisions 35
Chapter 7 - Training and Development 39
Chapter 8 - Motivation to Work 47
Chapter 9 - Attitudes, Emotions, and Work 53
Chapter 10 - Stress and Worker well-being 60
Chapter 11 - Fairness, Justice, and Diversity in the Workplace 71
Chapter 12 - Leadership in Organizations 77
Chapter 13 - Teams in Organizations 88
Chapter 14 - SLIDES 94
,Chapter 1 - Industrial and Organizational
Psychology
I-O Psychology = industrial-organizational psychology; the application of psychological
principles, theory and research to the work setting.
Society for Industrial and Organizational psychology = an association to which many I-O
psychologists, both practitioners and researchers, belong.
→ designated as Division 14 of the APA
Industrial-Organizational (called I-O) Psychologists recognize the interdependence of
individuals, organizations, and society, and they recognize the impact of factors such
as increasing government influences, growing consumer awareness, skill shortages,
and the changing nature of the workforce. I-O psychologists facilitate responses to
issues and problems involving people at work by serving as advisors and catalysts
for business, industry, labor, public, academic, community, and health organizations.
3 major concentrations of I-O psychology:
1. personnel psychology
2. organizational psychology
3. human engineering
Personnel psychology = often seen as part of HRM; field of psychology that addresses
issues such as recruitment, selection, training, performance appraisal, promotion, transfer
and termination.
Human Resources Management (HRM) = practices such as recruitment, selection,
retention, training and development of people (human resources) in order to achieve
individual and organizational goals.
Organizational psychology = field of psychology that combines research from social
psychology and organizational behavior and addresses the emotional and motivational side
of work; e.g. attitudes, fairness, motivation, stress, leadership, teams, etc.
Human engineering = (human factors psychology) the study of the capacities and
limitations of humans with respect to a particular environment. Integrates many different
disciplines: e.g. cognitive, ergonomics, exercise physiology & anatomy
→ almost opposite of personnel approach (in personnel the goal is to find the best person for
the job, in human engineering the goal is to develop an environment compatible with worker)
Scientist-practitioner model = a model that uses scientific tools and research in the
practice of I-O psychology; e.g. crime tv show with detectives (practitioners) who search for
skin, teeth, clothing, etc. for analysis (by scientists)
→ vs. relying on ‘best practices’ or experience
Several I-O psychologists have described efforts to lead the way in helping organizations
to be more sustainable.
1
,Green behaviors → individual actions that contribute to or detract from environmental
sustainability goals at work.
→ 5 dimensions:
1. conserving (e.g. finding new uses for discarded items)
2. avoiding harm (e.g. disposing of waste properly)
3. transforming (e.g. using innovations to reduce environmental impact)
4. influencing others
5. taking initiative
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist (TIP) = quarterly newsletter published by the
Society for Industrial and Organizational psychology;
→ provides I-O psychologists and those interested with the latest relevant information about
the field.
SIOP (society for industrial and organizational psychology)
→ goals of their initiative:
1. promoting the science of I-O psychology
2. increasing SIOP’s contributions to organizations and society
3. educating future I-O psychologists and others who might collaborate with I-O
psychologists in research or applied projects
Work values
→ extrinsic values: pay, social contacts, status in wider community
→ intrinsic values: interesting work, challenging work, learning new things, making important
contributions, responsibility and autonomy, being creative
Welfare-to-work program = program that requires individuals to work in return for
government subsidies.
Telecommuting = accomplishing work tasks from a distant location using electronic
communication media.
Virtual team = team that has widely dispersed members working together toward a common
goal and linked through computers and other technology.
Importance of understanding younger workers:
1. They represent a large portion of a population of part-time workers, and as part-time
work becomes more common we need to know all we can about the experience
2. One’s first job is likely to have a substantial influence on the filters through which
subsequent work experiences are viewed.
2
, Little I-O research on younger workers suggests:
1. For younger adults, jobs that provide an opportunity to use current skills or develop
new skills are most satisfying.
2. For younger adults who do not have the opportunity to use current skills, or develop
new skills, cynicism and lack of interest in the work can result
3. Young workers represent a very valuable commodity or resource since their
education levels tend to be higher than their parents’, they are more sophisticated
technologically, they tend to see the world globally rather than domestically, they
have no problem being “connected” 24 hours a day, and multicultural school
environments have given them an open-mindedness that was rare in earlier
generations
Difference between what was important in 1917 and what is important now, due to:
1. change in the world of work
2. accumulation of knowledge about work-related behavior in nearly a century since
then
Changes in the workplace since 1980:
- personal computing
- telecommuting & virtual teams
- videoconferencing
- service vs. manufacturing
- teams vs. individual
- little stability
- family-friendly workplaces
- global workplace
- greater diversity
1876 - 1930:
● Wilhelm Wundt founded one of the first
labs in 1876 in Leipzig
● In mid-1880s he trained 2 psychologists
who would have a major influence on the
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