Chapter 1 I/O Psychology: Then & Now

WWII to the Mid-60s

-Big focus on personnel issues -Growth in defense industry and ergonomics -Industrial and Organizational become more equal -Work-group & Leadership theories developed by Kurt Lewin

The Mid-1980s to Today

-Significant increase in number of I/O doctoral programs -Rapid increase in number of I/O psychologists -Americans w/Disabilities Act (1990)

Great Depression Yrs. 30s to Pre-WWII

-The Hawthorn Studies by Elton Mayo: Wanted to identify the optimal level of illumination for peak productivity -Studies resulted in the Hawthorne Effect: When people know their behavior is being observed they begin to behave differently. -Mayos work: The Human Relations Movement: HRM viewed worker productivity as a function of worker morale & social factors

The Mid-60s to the Mid-80s

-Title VII of Civil Rights Act (1964) outlawed employment discrimination -On the industrial side, focused on fairness in personnel selection and performance appraisal. Concerned with ethnic and racial differences on selection tests and the fairness of those test. -On the organizational side, focused on work motivation, job attitudes, and job characteristics. -Age Discrimination in Employment Act (Age 40) -Tremendous growth in I/O psychology

WWI Through the Roaring 20s

Intelligence tests for placement of Army recruits developed by Robert Yerkes: Army Alpha and Army Beta mental ability tests Vocational interest tests developed: Women I/O psychologist emerged First doctoral degree in I/O: 1921

Pre-World War I

Walter Dill Scott- gave talk on the psychological aspects of advertising on Dec. 20.1901 (the beginning of business and industrial psychology) Fred Taylor-1911 (engineer): used time-and motion studies that lead to scientific management. Beneficial for labor jobs or labor intensive jobs. Hugo Munsterberg-1913 (experimental psychologists) worked in job design and personnel selection

dissertation

a unique piece of scholarly research that is usually the last hurdle before obtaining a PhD.

Scientist/practitioner model

an approach used to train I/O psychologists maintaining that because I/O psychologists are both generators and consumers of knowledge, training must be focused on both theory and application.

New technology and the changing nature of work-downsizing

current issues in I/O psy; has decreased the number of traditional jobs for workers and organizations. Companies are always looking to be more competitive, more efficient, and leaner, but the result is that fewer employees are left to do the work that needs to be done, often being asked to do more for less.

Focus of ethics in organizations

current issues in I/O psy; recent review of the literature proposes and tests a model of unethical choices, with a focus on the antecedents that lead to those bad choices: Bad apples (characteristics of people who make poor ethical choices), bad cases (characteristics of the situation surrounding the ethical choice), and bad barrels (organizational climates or cultures that seem defined by poor ethics).

Increasing diversity in the workforce

current issues in I/O psy; the workplace is becoming more diverse in terms of race, gender, age, and ethnicity. This diversity requires much more coordination and sensitivity to "differences" on the part of management and employees. Our workforce is diverse in terms of thoughts, expectations, and culture as well. Even generations develop their own unique cultures such that traditionalist, baby boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials differ significantly in terms of values that develop because of their experiences of different historical events.

Economics and Global Competition: Increasing globalization of business

current issues in I/O psy; workers and firms in the US can no longer expect to freely and easily make a profit. Global competition will continue to require us to have skilled, well-trained, and competent workforce to compare favorably with the many, many countries that are now our competitors.

Increase in the use of telecommunication

current issues in I/O psy;telecommuting resulted in perceptions of more autonomy and less work-family conflict. In addition, this issue had positive benefits on broader outcome variables such as job satisfaction, stress, and intentions to change jobs.

Organizational psychology

deals with motivation, work attitudes, and leadership, as well as the structure, culture, and processes of organizations.

Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychology

is the application of psychological principles and theories to the workplace.

training and development

one of the major areas in I/O psychologist work; companies spend a great deal of time and money on training programs that teach new employees how to do their jobs and more established employees how to do new jobs with new equipment.

quality of work life

one of the major areas in I/O psychologist work; concerns for people who work in this area are the measurement and improvement of job-related attitudes, such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

organizational development (OD)

one of the major areas in I/O psychologist work; experts in this area analyze organizational structures, cultures, and climate and develop interventions appropriate for a particular organization that might make the organization run more effectively.

performance appraisal

one of the major areas in I/O psychologist work; sometimes referred to as performance management. The emphasis here is on developing both individual and organizational measures of performance and using these measures to improve performance.

selection

one of the major areas in I/O psychologists work; experts work on the development and administration of tests used for employee hiring (i.e.. selection and placement)

Industrial psychology

sometimes called personnel psychology; has long been associated with job analysis, training, selection, and performance measurement/appraisal

competencies

the skills, behaviors, and capabilities that allow employees to perform specific functions

How is I/O psy important?

(1) helping laid-off workers become competitive for other jobs and (2) helping those left behind handle more diverse jobs and sometimes a heavier workload.