Industrial and organizational psychology/Module 1

Chapter 1 - What is Industrial/Organizational Psychology?

Introduction

Good work is excellent, ethical, and engaging.

Work is important for a variety of reasons, as not only do we spent majority of lives at work, but we also see our value in the occupation we are in & what happens at work effects us outside of work. People may work for money, social status, self-definition, or an innate desire to challenge one-self.

A 1973 survey shows most people would work, even if they are financially comfortable.

Work can be divided into...

1. Good work - High quality work that contributes to society in a meaningful way.
2. Compromised work - Not illegal, but not ethical. Why this type of work? People want to make more with less time/effort and to financially suffice their roles in society.
3. Bad work - Illegal and unethical.

According to the Good Project, good work is excellent, ethical, and engaging. Excellent work is work that is high-quality and goes beyond the "call of duty" in comparison to other works. Ethical work is work that is socially acceptable and ensures the safety of one-self, [direct] others, the workplace, domain, and society. Engaging work is work where individuals put full effort into the work they are involved in.

What is I-O psych?

I-O psychology is the usage of psychological concepts and principals, theories, and research in the workforce. The aim of I-O psychology is to improve the well-being and performance of the organization, including the employees of said organization. It also aims to assess and analyze the relationship between one's life and one's work. An I/O psychologist can be a professor, HR director, or research scientist, but NOT a counselor/therapist. Their job could be to manage/direct personnel, human resources, employee relations, or workplace training. They could be a "private consultant", "research scientist: military", or a "corporate consultant". I-O psychs...

• Build and sustain environmentally enriched organizations
• Apply I-O psych to humanitarian arena (poverty, promotion of good work), convince local stakeholder's to push for certain initiatives in certain fields.
• Corporate Social Responsibility: Actions/policies that account for stakeholders' viewpoints and economic, societal, and environmental performances.

Emphasis on evidence-based decisions in their work in organizations (includes decision-making process that combines critical thinking + scientific evidence). Good position to develop and utilize practices that are backed with scientific evidence using the scientist-practitioner model.

The scientist-practitioner model is summarized in the following: "If it isn't scientific, it's not good practice, if it isn't practical, it's not good science". --Morris Viteles.

Human engineering: how do we improve this work environment for this employee?

Fields of I-O psych

Fields of I-O psych include personnel psychology, organizational psychology, and human engineering.

Personnel psychology

Personnel psychology deals with recruitment, selection, training, performance appraisal, promotion, transfer, and terminations within an organization. Takes on individual differences in attributes and behavior, and predicts performance and job satisfaction. Essentially, we are trying to find the best person for the job.

Organizational psychology

Organizational psychology uses theory and research from both social psychology and organizational behavior to assess the emotional and motivational side of the workforce. Eemphasis lies in the attitudes, fairness, motivation, stress, leadership, teams, and organizational/work design.

Human engineering

The aim is the opposite of personnel psychology. In this field, we are trying to bring about the best environment for the worker. We want to develop, evaluate, and optimize the work environment (this includes tools, workspace, information on display, work shifts/pace, machine, and safety controls).

The core is "work design and safety in the workplace". Uses cognitive science, ergonomics, exersise physiology, and anatomy.

Extra Links

• Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology- provides history of I/O psych, membership info, newsletter, job openings, graduate training programs in I/O psych, and a list of SIOP publications.