I-O Psychology Career Guide and History

Schultz & Schultz 10e 1
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Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved
Psychology and Work Today
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Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
• Describe Industrial-Organizational (I-O) psychology, what I-O
psychologists do, and where they work
• Outline the scope and history of I-O psychology
• Understand how I-O psychologists conduct research
• Identify the major areas of I-O psychology
• Explain the contemporary challenges facing I-O psychologists
• Know what you can do with an I-O major
• Describe the problems faced by I-O psychologists

Why Do We Work?
• Is it just about the money?
• What else is there?
• Personal satisfaction, fulfillment, and pride of
accomplishment
• Emotional security, self-esteem, and
contentment
• Identity and status, friendships and
belonging

What is I-O Psychology?
• The application of the methods, facts, and
principles of psychology to people at work
• It is a SCIENCE
• Deals with observable behavior
• Behaviors reflect underlying psychological
processes
• Empirical in its approach to research
• Objective in its methods and results

Open Mouth…

I-O Topics
I-O
Psychology
Human Resources
Development
Organizational
Psychology
Workplace
Characteristics
Engineering
Psychology
Consumer
Psychology
Selection
Testing
Performance appraisal
Training &
development
Leadership
Motivation, satisfaction,
involvement
Organization
Working conditions
Safety, violence, &
health
Stress

I-O Research Methods
• Observe the behavior of employees on
the job under well-controlled and
systematic conditions
• Record behavioral responses
• Vary the conditions and measure
resulting changes
• Look, listen, measure, and record
according to scientific method

Pioneers in I-O
• Walter Dill Scott (1869-1955)
• First to apply psychology to advertising, employee
selection, & management
• Wrote Theory and Practice of Advertising (1903)
• Formed first Industrial Psychology consulting company
(1919)
• Hugo Munsterberg (1863-1916)
• Wrote The Psychology of Industrial Efficiency (1913)
• Goal of improving worker efficiency
• Used tests to measure skills and match workers to jobs
• Conducted research in the workplace
• Wrongfully accused of being a German spy in WWI

Psychological Testing in WWI
• WWI marked the emergence of I-O psychology
as an important discipline
• Testing
• Army Alpha
• for recruits who could read & write English
• Army Beta
• for recruits who couldn’t read or speak English
• Personal Data Sheet
• to detect neurotic tendencies
• Officer & pilot selection tests

The Hawthorne Studies
• Western Electric Co. Hawthorne Works
• Headed by Elton Mayo of Harvard’s Dept. of Industrial Research
• Long-term study conducted between 1929 and 1932
• Studied effects of work environment on employee efficiency
• Findings:
• Social and psychological factors in the work environment had the
potential to effect organizational outcomes as much or more than
physical factors
• Opened up new areas of research
• Leadership, informal groups, attitudes, communications,
motivation, satisfaction
• Criticized for lack of scientific rigor

WWII & Engineering Psychology
• More than 2000 psychologists contributed to the
war effort
• Focused on testing, classifying and training millions
of recruits
• Complex weapons sparked engineering psychology
• human abilities and limitations
• equipment design
• work-place design
• Increased stature of I-O to Government and
Business

Contemporary I-O
• Concern with organizational issues
• Human relations
• Leadership
• Motivation
• Job satisfaction
• Organizational structure and climate
• Decision making

Challenges for I-O Psychology
• Virtual workplace and workers
• Contingent or temporary workers
• Worker involvement
• Technological advances
• Worker literacy
• Globalization
• Increasing demographic diversity
• Generational differences in values

Generational Differences
• Different generations with different
expectations and needs occupy same
workplace
• The Silent Generation – 1922 to 1945
• Baby Boomers – 1946 to 1964
• Generation X – 1965 to 1979
• Generation Y – 1980 to around 1995

Marketable I-O Skills
• Psychological testing, survey construction
and validation
• Human resources selection and
placement
• Performance appraisal
• Fair employment practices
• Employee training

Jobs for I-O Psychologists
• Human Resources Professional
• Market Research
• Assessment Centers
• Manager of Psychological Services
• Organizational Planning and Development
• Training
• Academics

Annual Pay for I-O Psychologists
2015
• Master’s Degree
• Median: US$85,000
• Starting pay: US$67,000
• PhD
• Median: US$119,000
• Starting pay: US$89,000
siop.org

Problems Faced by I-O Psychologists
• Fraudulent practitioners
• Credentials and certification
• Communication with management
• Resistance to new ideas
• Research versus application?

How Is The Text Organized?
Psychology &
Work Today
Practice of
I-O Psychology
Human Resources
Development
Organizational
Psychology
Workplace
Characteristics
Engineering
Psychology (13)
Consumer
Psychology (14)
Tools, tactics &
techniques
of Science (2)
Recruiting & selecting
employees (3 & 4)
Evaluating employee
performance (5)
Employee training
& development (6)
Organizational
leadership (7)
Motivation,
satisfaction, &
job involvement (8)
Organizational
psychology (9)
Working conditions
(10)
Safety, violence,
& health in the
workplace (11)
Stress in the
workplace (12)
Principles, practices
& problems (1)

I-O Psychology Career Guide and History

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