INDUSTRIAL

ORGANIZATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY
QURAT UL AIN

LECTURER GCWUF
The specialty of industrial-organizational psychology
(also called I/O psychology) is characterized by the
scientific study of human behavior in organizations
and the work place.

The specialty focuses on deriving principles of

individual, group and organizational behavior and
applying this knowledge to the solution of problems
at work.
SCOPE AND AREAS OF I/O PSYCHOLOGY
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates
that I/O psychology, as a field,
will grow 26% by the year 2018
• The specialty of Industrial Organizational Psychology addresses issues of
• recruitment,
• selection and placement,
• training and development,
• performance measurement,
• workplace motivation and reward systems,
• quality of work life,
• structure of work and human factors,
• organizational development and
• consumer behavior.
 Specialized Knowledge
Specialized knowledge and training in the science of behavior in the
workplace requires in-depth knowledge of organizational development,
attitudes, career development, decision theory, human performance and
human factors, consumer behavior, small group theory and process,
criterion theory and development, job and task analysis and individual
assessment.
In addition, the specialty of industrial-organizational psychology requires
knowledge of ethical considerations as well as statutory, administrative,
and case law and executive orders as related to activities in the workplace.
 Skills and Procedures Utilized
• I/O Psychologists are scientist-practitioners who have expertise in the design,
execution and interpretation of research in psychology and who apply their
findings to help address human and organizational problems in the context of
organized work. I/O psychologists:
• Identify training and development needs;
• Design and optimize job and work and quality of work life;
• Formulate and implement training programs and evaluate their effectiveness;
• Coach employees;
• Develop criteria to evaluate performance of individuals and organizations; and
• Assess consumer preferences, customer satisfaction and market strategies.
• Industrial and organizational psychologists work in four
main contexts:
• academia,
• government,
• consulting firms,
• business.
Most I-O psychologists have a master’s or doctorate degree.
• The field of I-O psychology can be divided into
three broad areas,

• industrial,
• organizational,
• human factors.
• Industrial psychology is concerned with describing job
requirements and assessing individuals for their ability to
meet those requirements.
• In addition, once employees are hired, industrial psychology
studies and develops ways to train, evaluate, and respond to
those evaluations.
• As a consequence of its concern for candidate characteristics,
industrial psychology must also consider issues of legality
regarding discrimination in hiring.
• Organizational psychology is a discipline interested in how the
relationships among employees affect those employees and the
performance of a business.
• This includes studying worker satisfaction, motivation, and commitment.
• This field also studies management, leadership, and organizational
culture, as well as how an organization’s structures, management and
leadership styles, social norms, and role expectations affect individual
behavior.
• As a result of its interest in worker wellbeing and relationships,
organizational psychology also considers the subjects of harassment,
including sexual harassment, and workplace violence.
• Human factors psychology is the study of how workers interact
with the tools of work and how to design those tools to optimize
workers’ productivity, safety, and health.
• These studies can involve interactions as straightforward as the fit of
a desk, chair, and computer to a human having to sit on the chair at
the desk using the computer for several hours each day.
• They can also include the examination of how humans interact with
complex displays and their ability to interpret them accurately and
quickly.
• In Europe, this field is referred to as ergonomics.
• Occupational health psychology (OHP) deals with the stress, diseases, and
disorders that can affect employees as a result of the workplace.
• As such, the field is informed by research from the medical, biological,
psychological, organizational, human factors, human resources, and industrial
fields.
• Individuals in this field seek to examine the ways in which the organization affects
the quality of work life for an employee and the responses that employees have
towards their organization or as a result of their organization’s influence on them.
• The responses for employees are not limited to the workplace as there may be
some spillover into their personal lives outside of work, especially if there is not
good work-life balance.
• The ultimate goal of an occupational health psychologist is to improve the overall
health and well-being of an individual, and, as a result, increase the overall health
of the organization (Society for Occupational Health Psychology, 2020).
• In 2009, the field of humanitarian work psychology (HWP) was developed as the brainchild of a
small group of I-O psychologists who met at a conference.
• Realizing they had a shared set of goals involving helping those who are underserved and
underprivileged, the I-O psychologists formally formed the group in 2012 and have
approximately 300 members worldwide.
• Although this is a small number, the group continues to expand. The group seeks to help
marginalized members of society, such as low-income individuals, find work. In addition, they
help to determine ways to deliver humanitarian aid during major catastrophes.
• The Humanitarian Work Psychology group can also reach out to those in the local community
who do not have the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to be able to find gainful
employment that would enable them to not need to receive aid.
• In both cases, humanitarian work psychologists try to help the underserved individuals develop
KSAs that they can use to improve their lives and their current situations. When ensuring these
underserved individuals receive training or education, the focus is on skills that, once learned,
will never be forgotten and can serve individuals throughout their lifetimes as they seek
employment (APA, 2016).
SOCIETIES OF I/O PSY
• SIOP is an independent organization but also a subdivision of American
Psychological Association (APA), which is the scientific organization that represents
psychologists in the United States.
• Different regions of the world have their own associations for I/O psychologists. For
example, the European Association for Work and Organizational Psychology
(EAWOP) is the premiere organization for I/O psychologists in Europe, where I/O
psychology is typically referred to as work and organizational psychology.
• A global federation of I/O psychology organizations, named the Alliance for
Organizational Psychology, was recently established.
• It currently has three member organizations (SIOP, EAWOP, and the Organizational
Psychology Division of the International Association for Applied Psychology, or
Division 1), with plans to expand in the future.
• The Association for Psychological Science (APS) is another association to which
many I/O psychologists belong.
• American Psychological Association, APA was founded in 1892.
• I/O Psychology represented by the 14th division of APA.
• About 4 % of all psychologists work in this area.
• In UK it is called “occupational psychology”
• In Europe “work and organizational psychology”
• In south Africa ,”industrial psychology”.
 Historical Development of
Industrial Organizational Psychology
• Early years (1900-1916)
• World war l(1917-1918)
• Between wars era(1919-1940)
• World war ll(1941-1945)
EARLY YEARS (1900-1916)

• Pragmatic nature(scientific) of research was focused

• Frank and Lillian Gilbreath work on industrial efficiency.
• 1910:industrial psychology became legitimate specialty of
psychology
• 1970: “organizational” part became official
FOUNDING FATHERS OF I/O PSYCHOLOGY
• Walter Dill Scott
books; theory of advertising (1903) ,
the psychology of advertising (1908),
influencing men in business,
increasing human efficiency in business

• Frederick W. Taylor
• Book: the principles of scientific management
• Criticized on his work on efficiency of work by giving rest breaks to workers
• Hugo Munsterberg
• Book: Psychology and industrial efficiency
WORLD WAR 1

• Robert Yerkes (president of (APA) presented many proposals to army to take

benefits from the field of psychology in wartime
• Development of army alpha test (for literate people)
• Army beta test(verbal test of illiterate people)
• 1917 :oldest journal of I/O PSYCHOLOGY started publishing : THE
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY”
BETWEEN WARS TIME PERIOD(1919-1940)

• Walter Bingham developed the bureau of salesmanship research at

CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OF TCHNOLOGY

• BOOK: Aids In Selecting Salesmen

• James cattell founded psychological corporation in1921.
• 1924: hawthrone works
WORLD WAR 2 (1941-1945)

• AGCT was developed (Army general classification test)

• Work on selection and training of pilots to fly warplane
CURRENT TRENDS IN I-O
PSYCHOLOGY
• The Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology
(SIOP), the largest professional organization of I-O
psychologists in the US, polls its members and puts out a
list of the top 10 trends relevant to organizations each
year
.
• Here are the top 10 trends for 2016, based on responses
from 7,000 I-Os:
10.Using Social Media to Make Employment-Related Decisions. Companies have been
increasingly using social media, like Facebook and LinkedIn, to recruit potential
employees and even make hiring and firing decisions based on content in profiles. I-Os
can help organizations use social media to make better-informed and lawful decisions.
11.Building Healthy, Diverse Workforces. I-Os will help organizations value diversity,
build diverse teams, and train employees to be more aware of issues related to diversity
in the workplace.
12.Work–Life Balance across Generations. As the boundaries between work and home
continue to be blurred as a result of technology, I-Os will need to help organizations
support individuals from different generations maintain work-life balance, despite
different preferences for staying connected, working from home, and flexible
scheduling.
7.increased Focus on Business Agility and Flexibility in Work and Business
Processes. With ever changing market demands and customer needs, I-Os can be
valuable by showing organizations how to be innovative and quickly adapt to the
evolving landscape.
8.Increasing Focus on Health and Wellness in the Workplace. Research shows that
healthy employees are more productive at work. I-Os will continue to play a role in
advising organizations on which health and wellness policies and programs to
adopt, while also providing guidance on how to motivate employees to take
advantage of such opportunities.
9.Employee Engagement. Research shows employees who are “engaged” in their
jobs (versus just kind of present) tend to contribute more to the organizations that
employ them. For example they are more likely to go above and beyond their
assigned duties, roles, and responsibilities.
4.Changing Nature of Performance Management and Development. More
and more organizations are changing the way they approach managing and
evaluating employee performance. They are also increasingly recognizing
the importance of helping employees advance their knowledge and skills,
benefiting both the workers themselves and the organization.
5.Managing Virtual Teams. Issues concerning how to manage work teams
whose members work from their homes or other locations has become
increasingly important in recent years. The questions of how organizations
can best help their employees manage themselves and maintain high levels of
productivity in the virtual workplace are being currently being addressed by
I-O psychologists.
2.Trends in How Technology Will Change the Way Work Is
Done. Organizations are becoming increasingly reliant on technology and
automation that will likely change or eliminate jobs. What will the
consequences be for organizations, in terms of how many employees they
will need, and what kinds of skills those individuals will need? I-O
psychologists are working with organizations to help decrease the uncertainty
and anticipate and lessen the impact that technology and automation will
have on various kinds of organizations.
 So what’s the
#1 trend
in I-O Psychology today?
• Making Optimal Use of Big Data to Make Better Decisions. This topic
has become very popular within I-O psychology in recent years.
• I-O psychologists can help organizations understand what valuable
information can be gleaned from big data sets.
• With new advances in technology, organizations are collecting a lot of
information that can help them understand their customers, competitors,
and employees.
• I-Os can assist organizations with understanding what questions to ask,
the proper ways to analyze big data sets, how to interpret results, and
how to employ interpretations to best inform important business
decisions.