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...

Good work - High quality work that contributes to society in a meaningful way.
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.
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

Human personnel: do we reckon this fella is the best for this position?

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. Emphasis 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.

Chapter 2 - The Past, Present, & Future of I-O psychology

Wilhelm Wundt: psychologist, founded the first psychology lab at the University of Leipzig, published the first psychological journal (Psychological Studies).
Hugo Munsterbeg: director of psycholoigcal labs at Harvard, first to look into I-O psych, wrote first I-O psych textbook (Psychology and Industrial Efficiency), "father of I-O Psych".
James McKeen Cattell: psychologist/student of Wundt, first American to publish a dissertation in psych, first US psych professor, president of APA.
Frederick Taylor: founder of Scientific Management, self-educated engineer, studied iron workers, made "The Principles of Scientific Management".
Lillian Gilbreth: first PhD degree in Industrial Psychology from Brown Uni, only person with a PhD in psych on a U.S. stamp, first true I/O psychologist.
Harry Hollingsworth: Defended Coca Cola in Coca-Cola vs. US Government (1911).
Robert Yerkes: APA president, army alpha/beta test, Journal of Applied Psychology.
Walter Dill Scott/Walter Van Dyke Bingham: selecting & training salespeople.
Elton Mayo & Hawthorne Studies (1927-1932). The Hawthorne effect is a change in behavior that comes from researchers paying close attention to workers. They also included interviews (or "counseling") to decrease stress/dissatisfaction. Because of these studies, we now know of the emotional world of the worker, what drives people to do things, and people's satisfaction with their jobs.

General History

Human engineers made plane cockpits and separate controls. The Army General Classification Test (AGCT) was released with 12 million people tested.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 & Title VII: Title VII named demographic groups that should not be discriminated in the workforce. Age and disability was added later on, to the already present list of race, color, gender, national origin, and religion.

Female I-O psychs have increased, and salaries too. 41% of I-O psychs are employed in academic, 24% in consulting, 22% in private organizations, and 9% in public organizations.

Labels may be: organizational/work/applied psychologist or occupational psychologist.

Challenges

- COVID-19, globalization, technology, teams/groups, work-nonwork balance, and nontraditional employment conditions.

Needs to be USEFUL, BIGGER, and GROUNDED (important topics with well-designed research).

Chapter 3 - Multicultural and Cross-Cultural Issues in I-O Psych

Multiculturalism: Multiple cultures in one area... cultures is a system in which individuals share meaning and common ways of viewing certain entities/interpretating certain events.

The influence of culture is huge and can operate on several levels, including the individual, group culture, organizational culture, national culture, and global culture.

Multiculturalism is important for I-O psych because it addresses the global economy (& economic blocs), expatriates, and the "west vs. the rest" mentality.

Hofstede's Theory of Cultural Influence - Culture is the "collective programming of the mind" which "distinguishes the members of one group/category" from another. Five definitions are:

Individualism: Individuals look after themselves vs. staying in family groups.
Power distance: Less powerful members of an organization accept/expect unequal distribution of power.
Uncertainty avoidance: The uncomfortable of a culture in unstructured situations.
Masculinity/femininity: Gender roles + masculine culture vs. feminine culture.
Long term vs. short-term: Immediate vs. delayed gratification in all fields.
Indulgence vs. restraint: How 'free' are they? How 'restricted' are they [to gratifications of needs]?

Triandis brought in:

Horizontal cultures: minimizing distance between individuals (collectivists: Israeli Kibbutz; individualists: Sweden, Australia)
Vertical cultures: accept & depend on distances between individuals (collectivists: China, India, Greece; individualists: America, Germany).

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.