Psychology 49

Chapter 1
Introduction to Industrial/Organizational
Psychology

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Objectives
• Define I/O Psychology
• Describe the major activities of I/O Psychologists
• Summarize the history of the I/O field
• Explain the importance of the research and how it
relates to practice
 Centrality of work to human
existence
• In today’s society, you are what you do. Your choice of a
job/occupation determines as much about what you will be,
the status and prestige you will be afforded, what your children
will do and who they will do it with, where they go to school,
as do your choice of a spouse/partner and your own values.
One of the first questions you ask someone: what’s your major? Or what do you do?
Or perhaps identify by religion or spouse, not as likely

• Go to a mall, your favorite bar, a construction site, etc., and

ask anybody who will talk to you, “What are you?” How many
define themselves in terms of their job or occupation?
Success = money Success = happy Happy = what you want
What you want requires $$$ or accomplishing goal. Goal usually is professional.

• How does one know when one is a “success?” What is our

cultural measuring-stick?
3
Work is a source of…
− Identity - Last name ‘Smith’ ‘Cooper’
− Relationships outside the family.
− Obligatory activity
• Provides structure to our days.
− deadlines
− Autonomy--Independence
• Provides money, products, & associated values. (Women)
− Opportunity to develop skills.
− Self-esteem
• What would you do if you didn’t have college or a job
• You can afford to be lazy for a break, what about when no
end in sight.
− Money

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Implicit Themes of Work
• Mentioned when work is discussed
− Good Provider: Heavily influenced by
social constructions of gender and
gender identity.
− Independence: “Stand on one’s own
two feet.”
• Being separate from your parents
− Success: “Hard work pays off.”
− Self Respect: Hard work of any type
has dignity; a person’s worth is
reflected in work. 5
Unemployment
• Workplace violence: In 1996, Clifford McCree
returned to his former place of work 14 months
after being fired from his maintenance job with
the City of Fort Lauderdale. He killed five former
coworkers, wounded one, and killed himself. His
suicide note said, “The economic lynching without
regard or recourse was something very evil. Since
I couldn’t support my family, life became nothing.
I also want to punish some...that helped bring this
about.”
• Cross-culturally: High incidence of suicide among
“ashamed” Japanese executives

• Transition to adulthood: work represents a

“coming of age”
− Loss of a job marks return to dependency (welfare) 6
What is I/O Psychology?
• Definition:
• Application of psychological theory and
research methods (principles) to issues
concerned with work

• Domains:
− Cognition (worker perception)
− Affect (worker emotion)
• Influences worker going beyond call of duty
− Behavior (worker action)
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What is I/O psychology?
• Textbook definition:
− “Application of psychological principles
and theories to the workplace”

• What I usually tell my student:

− “It is a study of how people get along at
work and are able to perform effectively”
I/O vs Management Program
• Focus:
− I/O – focus on people . Uses psychological
theories to better understand groups and
people in organization with conflict,
motivation, emotions and other issues.
− Management – focuses on the running or
managing as aspect of the organization
such as marketing, advertising, costing,
etc.
I/O vs Management Program
• Approach: Example
− Management uses unstructured interviews
for example as their best way to size-up
and understand applicants or people.
− I/O uses standardized tests and structured
interviews are just part and parcel of the
process of hiring/placement program.
I/O vs Management Program
• Methodology:
− Relies extensively in Research,
Quantitative Methods, and Testing
techniques.
− Uses empirical data and statistics to make
decisions.
− Scientist-Practitioner Model. Scientist
when conducting research, practitioner
when working in actual organization.
 What is I/O psychology?
• Subareas within I/O
− Industrial or Personnel psychology
• HR stuff: recruitment, job analysis, selection, training,
performance appraisal, compensation, employment law
(Title VII of CRA)
• KSAs job performance
− Organizational Psychology
• Micro: motivation, leadership, teams, worker attitudes,
safety & well-being, work-family
• Macro: org theory, culture, org development & change
− Human Factors & Ergonomics
• Modifying equipment & environment to fit workers
 Industrial vs Organizational Psychology
• Industrial Psychology (personnel psychology):
− Personnel selection--individual differences of employees
− Prediction of job performance.
− Covers job analysis
• distinguish what a successful worker from unsuccessful
− and selection, training, performance appraisal.
• Job performance = company “bottom line”
− Traditionally, correlational approach used for research
(motivation, interview test)

• Organizational Psychology (social life aspects applied to work):

− Leadership
− Not only job performance, but satisfaction, motivation, etc.
− Traditionally experimental research method

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The Training of I/O Psychologists (U.S.)
• * Society for Industrial and
Organizational Psychologists (SIOP)
is the professional association with
which I/O Psychologists affiliate.
− www.siop.org

• Training approach uses the

Scientist-Practitioner Model
− Stresses both the theoretical study of
the field, and its application (in
practice) to the workplace
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I/O Psychologists Organization
• PMAP (People Management
Association of the Philippines)
− http://www.pmap.org.ph/

• PAP (Psychological Association of

the Philippines)
− http://www.pap.org.ph/

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 Who are I/O psychologists?
• Two general groups
− Academics
• Professors in research- and teaching-
oriented universities and colleges
− Example departments: psychology, management,
industrial relations, quantitative sciences, occupational
health & safety
• Major activities
− Teaching courses, conducting research, writing and
presenting research papers, attending conferences,
mentoring students, performing university and
professional service
 Who are I/O psychologists?
• Two general groups
− Practitioners
• HR and organizational specialists in
consulting, private, and public organizations
• Major activities
− Job analysis, diagnosis, surveying employees,
designing and administering selection & performance
appraisal systems, training, developing psychological
tests, implementing and evaluating OD & change,
data analysis
− “Other” category
• Research institutes, think tanks (e.g., RAND)
Who are I/O psychologists?

6%
7%

33%

15%
Consulting

Academic
Private

Public
Other

39%
 Activities and Settings of I/O
Psychologists
• Concerned with practice and research
− Practice activities involve the use of psychological principles to
solve real-world problems
− Research provides principles that can be applied in practice
− Some practice activities require research to determine the best
approach to solve the problem at hand
• I/O Psychologists are professors
− Practice settings include consulting firms, government, the
military and private corporations (or consulting firms)
− To create and to disseminate knowledge
− Enhancing the effectiveness and functioning or organizations
 Who are I/O psychologists?
• Scientists AND practitioners
− Understanding and evaluating research necessary for
good practice…
− …and awareness of practical problems necessary for
good research
• I/Oers are thieves!
− We “borrow” from social, cognitive, developmental,
clinical, and other areas of psychology
What do I/O Psychologists DO?
• Careers emphasize science and
research or practice.
• 39% are professors employed by
universities
• 15% work in private organizations
(Human Resources)
• 15% work in public organizations
• 33% work in consulting firms
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The science and practice of I/O Psychology
• Primary work areas for I/O work:
• Selection
− Develop, validate, and administer psychological tests to assess
(measure) skills, abilities and interests as aids in selection and
placement and promotion.

• Training
− Analyze: First thing I/O dude does, is try to understand nature of
job--knowledge & task requirements
− Conduct training programs, and evaluate the effectiveness of
training.

• Organizational Development
− Analyze organizations’ culture/climate, develop interventions -->
increase in efficiency. E.g. user interface fucking productivity

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More functions of the I/O Psychologist
• Performance Appraisal
− Develop rating scales, and other measures of
individual/organizational performance to improve
employee performance.

• Quality of Work-life
− Previously, human workers were not viewed as human
− Develop surveys that assess employees’ satisfaction with
their jobs and commitment to the organization.
Satisfaction: one of most common surveys.

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Job Titles of I/O Psychologist
• I/O Psychologist
• Consultant
• Psychology Professor
• HR Recruiter
• Research psychologist / analyst / scientist
• Staffing Manager
• Trainer, Training Coordinator
• VP – Human Resource
• VP – Organizational Development
• HR Director, Generalist, Representative, Specialist,
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Supervisor, Manager
History of I/O Psychology:
(1900-1916)
• I/O Psych was nameless at first.
− W. L. Bryan…
• Stressed importance of studying “concrete
activities and functions as they appear in
daily life.”

• But not really considered father of I/O

Psych because he was a precursor, before
the field was established

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When was the nameless named?
• Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
− Interested in improving productivity and
efficiency of industrial engineers.
• Argued for the use of psychology in the
work lives of industrial engineers.
− Led to the merger of psychology with
applied interests.
− The nameless was crowned industrial
psychology in 1910.
• (The “organizational” bit came in the
1970s).

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The 3 Founding Fathers

• 1. Walter Dill Scott (American Psychologist)

• 2. Hugo Munsterberg (German)

• 3. Frederick Taylor (American Engineer)

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Walter Dill Scott
• Walter Dill Scott (American Psychologist)
− First to apply the principles of psychology
to motivation and productivity in the
workplace.
− Would later become instrumental in the
application of personnel procedures within
the army during World War I.
• Boosted Industrial Psychology

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Hugo Munsterberg (German)

• Father of industrial psychology

− 1. Applied psychological method to
practical industrial problems.
− 2. Psychology and Industrial Efficiency
(1913)
− * View of I/O psychology:
• 1. People need to fit the organization --
training!
• 2. Applied behavioral sciences should help
organizations to shape people to serve as
replacement parts for organizational
machines. Mechanistic. 29
 Frederick Taylor (American Engineer)

• Principles of Scientific Management (1911).

• Science over intuition
• The best workers should be selected and trained in
the established “one best method”
• Management and workers should cooperatively share
responsibility for the design and conduct of work.
− Motivation and monetary gain
• Motivation results from monetary gain.
− E.g.: Showed that workers who handle heavy iron ingots
were more productive when allowed work rests.
• Training when to work and when to rest raised productivity
from 12.5 to 47.0 tons moved per day.
• Company increase efficiency. Costs dropped from 9.2 to 3.9
cents per ton.
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World War I - I/O field catalyst

• Robert Yerkes and Walter Dill

Scott:
− Screening recruits for mental deficiency—Army
Alpha and Beta intelligence tests developed.
− Classification of selected recruits into jobs
− Performance evaluations of officers
− Job Analysis
− soldier motivation and morale
− Discipline

• *(1917): Journal of Applied Psychology

began publication
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 Between the Wars (1916-1940)
The Hawthorne Studies
• Collaboration b/w Harvard researchers and
Western Electric Co.
− Studied the relation b/w lighting and productivity.
• Productivity went up when lighting was increased…and when
light was decreased

• Hawthorne Effect
− Employees knew they were being watched
• Following onset of novel treatment (new or increased
attention usually)
− If you don’t want more work given to you, purposely perform
poorly.

• Human Relations Movement – social factors boost

worker morale. 32
 World War II and shortly thereafter
• Selection and classification work continued in the Army:
− Development of Army General Classification Test (AGCT).
• Sorted army recruits into categories based on their abilities to learn
duties of a soldier
− The Office of Strategic Services came about
• Assessed candidates’ ability to deal with stressful situations
− Build a cube with one passive helper and one frustrating ‘helper’
− Pilots trained to fly warplanes.
• Good candidates were selected; also equipment’s HF.

• Henceforth, use of employment tests increased in

industry.
− Industrial psychologists proved useful for selection, training and machine design.
− Industrial leaders interested in applying social psychology.
• Measures of attitudes and morale, now used in industry 33
History of the Field of I/O Psychology
History of the Field of I/O Psychology (I)
• I/O Psychology is a 20-century invention, with roots
in the late 1800s and early 1900s
− First psychologists to do I/O work ere experimental
psychologists who were applied the new principles of
psychology to problems in organizations
− Two main founders of the field were Hugo Munsterberg and
Walter Dill Scott
• Munsterberg interested in the selection of employees and the
use of the new psychological tests, wrote the first I/O
textbook , Psychology and Industrial Efficiency (1913)
• Scott interested in advertising, Scott’s The Theory of
Advertising (1930)
 History of the Field of I/O Psychology
(II)
− The major influence on the I/O field was the work of
Frederick Winslow Taylor
• Developed the Scientific Management
− Each job should be carefully analyzed so that the optimal way of
doing tasks can be specified
− Employees should be selected (hired) that related to job
performance
− Employees should be carefully trained to do their job tasks
− Employees should be rewarded for their productivity to encourage
high levels of performance
− Frank and Lillian Gilberth, who were combined the
fields of engineering and psychology
• Their best-known contribution was the time and motion study
− Measuring and timing people’s motions as they did tasks with the
goal of developing more efficient ways of working
− Lillian was the first to receive an I/O Ph.D. in 1915
History of the Field of I/O Psychology (III)
− Robert Yerkes offered their services to the army
• Development of the Army Alpha and Army Beta group tests for
mental ability
• This is the first large-scale application of psychological testing to
place individuals in jobs
− Hawthorne studies (Hawthorne effect)
• The investigation of lighting-level effects
− Determine the lighting level that would produce optimal performance
on a factory task
− Productivity increased and seemed to have little to do with lighting
levels
− Social factors can be more important than physical factors in people’s
job performance

• APA applied psychology, and Division 14 of Industrial and

Business Psychology was formed in 1944
History of the Field of I/O Psychology (IV)
• In 1970, the Division of Industrial and
Organizational Psychology and today
called the Society for Industrial and
Organizational Psychology (SIOP)
• I/O Psychology was the passage of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
− Help develop procedures that would eliminate
discrimination in the workplace.
 I/O Psychology Around the World
• US has had a long tradition of paying somewhat
greater attention to the I side than the O side of
the field
− Canada and Europe focuses somewhat more on the
organizational direction
− Scandinavian countries concerned with employee health
and stress
− US , employee selection was the most popular topic

• Began the 21 century, the practice is spreading as

I/O techniques gain acceptance in more and more
places
 Ethics of The I/O Field
• Ethical code
− Psychologists should do their best to avoid harming other
people through their professional work
− Psychologists have a social responsibility to use their
talents to help other people
− Helping to improve organizations so that they function
better and helping to improve the well-being of
employees
− Contains 6 principles
• Competence, integrity, professional and scientific
responsibility, respect for people’s rights and dignity,
concerns for others welfare and social responsibility
• Honesty, integrity, respect for others, and responsibility
 Current Trends Affecting the Field (I)
• Linked to the realities of day-to-day organizational
life
− Workplace affect both the practice and the research field
− Deal with contemporary challenges and problems

• Technology
− Advances in communication and transportation changed the
way in which organizations functioned
− The World Wide Web is responsible for much of this changed
− Organizations are simply posting their old ads on-line

• Internationalization
− In the practice side, DDI and PDI changed the meaning of the
I in their names from “incorporated” to “international”
 Current Trends Affecting the Field (II)
− The research side, collaboration among scholars in
different countries has grown
− Providing cross-fertilization of the field through the
introduction of new ideas
• Skilled Labor Shortages
− Jobs have become more complex, requiring higher levels of
skills, the supply of employees has been dwindling
− How best to attract applications in the first place
− How to find and train people who have potential
− How to retain the employees they have

• Occupational Health Psychology

− Focus on the health, safety and well-being of employees in
the workplace
 A Look Into the Crystal Ball: The Future

• Changing nature of employees:

− Fewer young people entering workforce (baby boom)
− More women (2/3 of entry-level)
− More minorities (1/3 of entry-level)
− More temporary workers

• Changing nature of organizations:

− Mergers and acquisitions; failures and downsizing--layoffs--
more work, less manpower.
− Smaller organizations, employing fewer people. Cynical
workers/job security.
− Greater focus on work teams (flatter management hierarchy)

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A Look Into the Crystal Ball: The Future
• Growing importance of technology:
− Technology-mediated communication
• 1. Workers can work anywhere (from home, etc)
• 2. Loss of direct human contact--impact on social
relationships, mental health, etc.
− Human-technology interaction
• New jobs in maintenance of technology
− Replace manufacturing operatives as “worker
elite”
• Greater focus on decision-making and
coordination of activities by humans
− Because jobs are becoming more technologically
complex
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 A Look Into the Crystal Ball: The Future
• Redefinition of “job”:
− less emphasis on job as a fixed bundle of tasks
− emphasis on constantly changing tasks
• 1. Requires constant learning
• 2. More higher-order thinking
• 3. Less “9 to 5”

• Changing nature of pay:

− 1. *Tied less to position or tenure in organization
− 2. Tied more to market value of person’s KSAOs
(Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other characteristics).
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 Where do you go to become an
I/O psychologist?
• Grad school!!!
− Top MA and PhD programs
• Lots of course work in years 1 and 2
• MA thesis completed in year 2 or 3
− Varies in formality by program
• Internship?
• Comprehensive exams in year 3
• Dissertation in years 4 and 5
− Proposal and defense meetings
 When should you begin thinking about
grad school in I/O psychology?
• The sooner the better!
− Stuff to think about early on
• Relevant coursework
− I/O (duh!), stats, research methods, tests & measures, social,
personality, motivation, cognitive, OB/HR
• Research experience
− Honor’s thesis, RA
− Experience is more important than topic
• Interact with faculty, grad students
− Be active (not passive)
− Attend brown bags
− Involvement in professional societies (Psi Chi, SIOP)
 Why should you consider getting
a degree in I/O psychology?
• Applied field
− There will always be practical problems to solve!
• Company restructuring & downsizing
• Workplace diversity

• Variety of job possibilities

− Academic positions in multiple departments
− Internal and external consulting
− Private and public organizations
− Any combination of the above
 Why should you consider getting a
degree in I/O psychology?
• Variety of research topics
− Attitudes, emotions, behavior (social)
− Learning, memory, heuristics (cog)
− Employee aging, retirement (develop)
− Employee counseling, coaching (clinical)
− Data analysis, test development (quant)
• Field is growing
− More and more I/O and management department’s
− Out with the old, in with the new…
 References:
• Aamodt, Michael G. Industrial and Organizational
Psychology Philippines (reprint), CENGAGE
Learning Asia Pte. Ltd., 2012.
• Muchinsky, Paul M. Psychology Applied to Work
(An Introduction to Industrial/Organizational
Psychology). 8th ed. Thomson/Wadsworth.
University of North Carolina, 2007.