Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychology applies psychological principles to workplace settings to enhance organizational efficiency and employee well-being. The field, which requires advanced degrees, focuses on personnel and organizational psychology, encompassing areas such as job analysis, employee performance, and organizational structure. I/O psychologists work across various sectors, employing research and quantitative methods to inform practices that optimize workplace environments.

2. What is I/O Psychology?
I/O Psychology as Profession and Field
History of I/O Psychology

4.  Psychology
 Is the science of the human behavior, cognitions, emotions, and motivation.
 I/O psychology
 Add the words “as it relates to work”
 Dual focus = Organization & Employee
 Efficiency/productivity of organizations
 Health/well-being of employees
 Dual nature = Scientist & Practitioner
 Application of the science of psychology to the workplace
 Development/discovery of scientific psychological principles at work

5. I/O Psychology is:
The branch of psychology that applies the
principles of psychology to the workplace.
The Purpose of I/O Psychology:
“to enhance the dignity and performance of human
beings, and the organizations they work in, by
advancing the science and knowledge of human
behavior”

6.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FZQ4_9-iLM

7.  Typical Day in the life…
Work 8 hours
Commute to work 1 hour
WatchTV 3 hours
Sleep 8 hours
Eat 2 hours
Other 2 hours

8.  Work and Sleep = Major Life Activities
 Workers spend the majority of their time doing one or the other
 Millions of AmericansWork
 Around 153.5 million Americans are part of the labor force
(BLS.GOV, 2007).
 I/O psychology can impact all of these individuals, PLUS those
around them!
 http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-
companies/2012/full_list/
 Organizational Effectiveness = Cheaper Goods
 I/O psychologists can help organizations reduce costs,
improve performance/productivity, etc.

9.  Graduate degree NECESSARY
 MA or Ph.D.
 M.A. required to get a Ph.D.
 Typically Ph.D. takes 4-5 years to complete
 Content of graduate training
 Basic psychology
 Research methods (heavy emphasis)
 I/O core content
 Thesis
 Dissertation
 Qualifying Exam
 Internship, Practica experiences
 Entry requirements
 very competitive for PhD (somewhat less competitive for Masters)
 High GRE Scores, High GPA, Prior Research, 3 Letters of Recommendation
 SIOP website for most US programs (www.siop.org)

10.  Approx. 4% of Psychologists work within the I/O field
 I/O Related Organizations
 SIOP – “The Governing I/O Organization”
 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
 Division 14 of APA (American Psychological Association)
 SHRM
 Society for Human Resources
 Are I/O’s licensed like clinical psychologists?
 Little reason to get licensed and has no effect on typical I/O jobs

11.  Key Differences
 I/O psychologists rely on application of
psychological principles.
 I/O psychologists focus on the factors in
businesses that affect people.
 I/O psychologists heavily on research, quantitative
methods, and testing techniques for guiding
decisions.

12. Typical I/O PhD Courses Typical MBA Courses
•Statistics
•Experimental Methodology
•PsychometricTheory
•Employee Selection and Placement
•Organizational Psychology
•EmployeeTraining and Development
•PerformanceAppraisal
•Job Analysis
•Statistics
•Business Research
•Organizational Behavior
•Administrative Policy
•Managerial Economics
•Financial Management
•Marketing Management
•ManagerialAccounting

13.  Personnel Psychology (The “I” in I/O)
 Defining and analyzing jobs
 Recruiting and selecting employees for jobs
 Training employees
 Assessing performance
 Promoting and retaining employees
 Test development andValidation
 Legal Issues
 Organizational Psychology (The “O” in I/O)
 Determining how people feel about work
 Determining why people act as they do at work
 Examining the effects work has on people
 Examining the effects people have on one another
 How organizations are structured and function
 How work is designed
 Tool and equipment usage on the job
 Examining work relevant health, safety, and well-being issues

14. Employment
 Little or no unemployment (usually)
 4 MainWork Settings:
Universities
Consulting Firms
Industry/Corporations
Government Agencies
 Field expanding and becoming more popular
 I/O psychologists often work/consult with
MBAs
CEOs,
VPs,
HR staff
Healthcare/Health Science Staff (if in Occupational Health Specialty)

15. Universities
39%
Consulting
Firms
25%
Government
9%
Private
17%
Other
10%

16. Education
1%
Private
Sector
44%
Public Sector
12%
Consulting
37%
Other
7%

17. Education
40%
Private
Sector
23%
Public Sector
8%
Consulting
25%
Other
4%

18. M.A. $88,000
Ph.D. $125,000
Top 10% $200,000 or more
Professors $94,000
Consultants $106,717
New Ph.D. $83,307
Men Ph.D. $132,000
Women Ph.D. $106,957
Mean Salaries 2009 Median Salaries 2009
Note: Data taken from 2009 SIOP Income Survey

19.  Go to web site of the Society for Industrial-
Organizational Psychology (SIOP) at
http://www.siop.org
Click on “WHAT IS I/O” and read:
 Go to the SIOP JobNet and click on “Positions
Available”.Assuming you had the proper
training and credentials discuss the 2 open
positions you would find most intriguing and
why.

21.  EarlyYears (1900s)
 WorldWar I (1914-1918)
 Between the Wars (1919-1940)
 WorldWar II (1941-1945)
 Toward Specialization (1946-1963
 Government Intervention (1964-1993)
 InformationAge (1994–Present)

22.  Merging of two forces: Applying psychology
& industrial engineers improving efficiency
 Four Major Figures
Walter Dill Scott
 “Psychology of Advertising” 1908
 “Increasing Human Efficiency”
 ContributedWWI to application to Army

23.  FrederickTaylor
 Engineer focused on redesigning work
 “Principles of Scientific Management” 1911
 Four Principles
Science over rule of thumb
Scientific selection and training
Cooperation over individualism
Equal division of work best suited to management and employees
 Known for institutionalizing forced breaks for those handling heavy
iron (half the cost, 3 times the production)

24. Lillian (and Frank) Gilbreth
 Lillian - Focused on Stress and fatigue on workers
 Frank - Focused on technical aspects of worker efficiency
- Lillian’s 1908 speech – called for attention to person element
 Time & Motion Studies, “therblig”
 Later – invented things like foot pedal trashcan
 “Cheaper by the Dozen”

25. Hugo Munsterberg
 Considered the “Father of Industrial Psychology”
 “Psychology and Industrial Efficiency” 1913
 Trolley Car Simulator Creation
Systematically studied all aspects of job through observations
Studied what makes good operator
Analyzed behaviors and asked questions
Basically, he pioneered Job Analysis

26. Army Alpha Project (1914 – 1918) –
 Army hires psychologists including RobertYerkes
 Screen recruits for intelligence
 Army Beta – created for those that were illiterate (30%)
Journal of Applied Psychology (1917) – first I/O
journal
 DocumentedArmyAlpha & Beta projects
 Still most prestigious journal in the field

27.  James Cattell (1921)
 forms PsychologicalCorporation to provide services to industry
 Hawthorne Studies (1924)
 Research by Harvard & MIT
 Led by Elton Mayo
 Conducted at Hawthorne Plant ofWestern Electric Co.
 Looking for cost effective ways to reduce expenses
 adjusted lighting levels
 Key Finding-
▪ Found impact of intervention on employee performance was a result of the
intervention itself.
 Hawthorne Effect
▪ Novelty of intervention influences behavior (i.e., I observe you working, and you
perform better because of my presence as an observer)

28. Army hires I/O psychologists to select &
classify recruits
Army General ClassificationTest (AGCT)
 Group testing, sorted applicants into 5 categories
based on if they could learn duties, etc

29.  Toward Specialization (1946-1963)
 Evolved into legitimate area of practice, schools, terminology, etc
 Government Intervention (1964-1993)
 Civil Rights Act of 1964 – Protected Classes (Gender, Race, Ethnicity
 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
 Court Cases (e.g., Griggs vs Duke Power, Dothard vs Rawlinson)
 Information Age (1994–Present)
 Higher demands for organizations and employees
 Greater and more frequent technology improvements
 More complex, computer generated statistical analyses are becoming
common (MANOVA, Multilevel Modeling, Structural Equation Modeling,
Item ResponseTheory, etc.)
 Application of cognitive psychology to I/O, specifically performance
appraisal
 Increased focus on selection methods (selecting the “right person” for the
job is becoming more important)
 Globalization has become an important issue

30.  Having reviewed the History of I/O and the
current state of the field, where do you think
the field will be in 20 years?
 Think of organizational, economic, and
governmental factors that may affect the field
in the next 20 years.
 There are no wrong answers to this question.

31.  Research in I/O