Introduction to

Industrial and
Organizational
Psychology

ERICKSON A. AMION, RPsy, RPm

Overview
• The Field of I/O Psychology
– Differences Between I/O and Business Programs
– Major Fields of I/O Psychology
– Brief History of I/O Psychology
– Employment of I/O Psychologists
• Research in I/O Psychology
• Ethics in I/O Psychology
The Field of I/O Psychology
• Industrial/organizational
psychology is a branch of
psychology that applies the
principles of psychology to the
workplace.
• The purpose of I/O psychology
is “to enhance the dignity and
performance of human beings,
and the organizations they work
in, by advancing the science and
knowledge of human behavior”
(Rucci, 2008).
Industrial Psychology and Organizational Psychology
• The industrial approach (the “I” in I/O psychology)
focuses on determining the competencies needed to
perform a job, staffing the organization with
employees who have those competencies, and
increasing those competencies through training.
• The organizational approach (the “O” in I/O
psychology) creates an organizational structure and
culture that will motivate employees to perform
well, give them with the necessary information to do
their jobs, and provide working conditions that are
safe and result in an enjoyable and satisfying work
environment.
The “I” and the “O”
Differences Between I/O and Business Programs

• The application of psychological principles is what

best distinguishes I/O psychology from related fields
typically taught in business colleges.
• I/O psychology examines factors that affect the
people in an organization as opposed to the broader
aspects of running an organization such as marketing
channels, transportation networks, and cost
accounting
Comparison of MBA and I/O Master’s Degree Coursework
Difference Between I/O Psychology and Other Related
Disciplines
 I/O Psychologists….
• rely extensively on research,
quantitative methods, and testing
techniques.
• uses empirical data and statistics
rather than clinical judgment to make
decisions are not clinical
• who happen to be in industry, and
they do not conduct therapy for
workers.
• act as scientist-practitioners when
they conduct research (scientists) and
apply research findings so that the
work they perform with organizations
will be of high quality and enhance an
organization’s effectiveness
(practitioner).
I/O Psychology….
• One reason that I/O psychology continually
increases in popularity is that, perhaps more
than any other field, professionals in the field
can have a positive impact on the lives of
other people.
• From a societal perspective, I/O psychologists
can also improve the quality of life by
increasing employee effectiveness, which
reduces the cost of goods sold by improving
product quality.
• Thus, I/O psychology can improve the quality
of life at levels equal to, and often exceeding,
those of fields such as counseling psychology
and medicine.
Major Fields of I/O Psychology
• Personnel Psychology – this covers such areas as
analyzing jobs, recruiting applicants, selecting
employees, determining salary levels, training
employees, and evaluating employee performance.
• Organizational Psychology - concerned with the issues
of leadership, job satisfaction, employee motivation,
organizational communication, conflict management,
organizational change, and group processes within an
organization.
• Human Factors/Ergonomics - concentrate on workplace
design, human-machine interaction, ergonomics, and
physical fatigue and stress. Sample activities in this
subfield have included designing the optimal way to draw
a map, designing the most comfortable chair, and
investigating the optimal work schedule.
Brief History of I/O Psychology
• 1903 - Walter Dill Scott wrote The Theory of Advertising, in
which psychology was first applied to business
• 1913 - Hugo Munsterberg wrote Psychology and Industrial
Efficiency
• World War I - provides I/O psychologists with the first
opportunity for large-scale employee testing and selection
– The testing was accomplished mainly through the Army Alpha and
Army Beta tests of mental ability. The Alpha test was used for recruits
who could read and the Beta test for recruits who could not read.
• 1920 - Thomas A. Edison understood the importance of
selecting the right employees. Edison created a 150-item
knowledge test that he administered to over 900 applicants.
Brief History of I/O Psychology
• Frank Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth -
The Gilbreths were among the first, if not the
first, scientists to improve productivity and
reduce fatigue by studying the motions used
by workers
• 1930s - the findings from the famous
Hawthorne studies were published,
psychologists became more involved in the
quality of the work environment, as well as
the attitudes of employees.
• 1960s - were characterized by the passage of
several major pieces of civil rights legislation.
These laws focused the attention of HR
professionals on developing fair selection
techniques.
Brief History of I/O Psychology
• 1970s - B. F. Skinner’s (1971) Beyond Freedom and
Dignity resulted in the increased use of behavior-
modification techniques in organizations.
• 1980s and 1990s - brought four major changes to I/O
psychology
– first involved an increased use of fairly sophisticated statistical
techniques and methods of analysis.
– second change concerned a new interest in the application of
cognitive psychology to industry.
– third change was the increased interest in the effects of work on
family life and leisure activities
– final major change came about when I/O psychologists took a
renewed interest in developing methods to select employees
• 2000s - perhaps the greatest influence on I/O
psychology is the rapid advances in technology.
Many tests and surveys are now administered
through computers and the Internet, employers
recruit and screen applicants online, employees are
being trained using e-learning and distance
education, and managers are holding meetings in
cyberspace rather than in person.
Brief History of I/O Psychology
Employment of I/O Psychologists
Job Titles of I/O Psychologists
Educational Requirements and Types of
Programs
• Although people with bachelor’s degrees
can find employment in the HRM field,
having a master’s or doctoral degree
certainly increases employment and
career opportunities.
• MA in Psychology
• PhD in Psychology
Masters Degree in Psychology in the Philippines
• There are two types of graduate programs within the
Masters in Psychology degree:
– Non-thesis Master’s Program
• The program trains students to understand concepts,
principles, issues and the general practice of Psychology with
the use of theories and research. Students are not required
to write a thesis paper, but are required to complete a
culminating project.
– Thesis Master’s Program
• Students of this program learn to design and implement
interventions in social systems. This programs aims to
develop students’ competencies in the major fields of
Psychology such as Industrial-Organizational Psychology,
Clinical Psychology, Counseling and Social and Community
Psychology. A thesis paper is required.
THUS, IO PSYHOLOGY ….
• The application of psychological principles to the
workplace (anywhere people work)
• Helping people do their jobs
– helping employers treat employees fairly
– helping make jobs more interesting and satisfying
– helping workers be more productive
Treating employees fairly
• Treating people from diverse backgrounds fairly
– selecting people for jobs
– providing training
– rewarding promotions/raises
– addressing harassment
• Assessing performance accurately
Making jobs more interesting/satisfying
• Designing jobs people will find satisfying
– rewarding work
– safe, efficient work areas (Human Factors)
• Motivating employees to perform
• Creating teams that work well together
– combining diverse talents and perspectives

Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP © 1998
Helping people be more productive
• Designing work patterns that enhance efficiency
• Providing skills training and development
• Helping to meet the challenges of competition
• Moving past downsizing
RESEARCH IN I/O PSYCHOLOGY
Why Conduct Research?
• Answering Questions and Making Decisions
• Research and Everyday Life
• Common Sense Is Often Wrong
Considerations in Conducting Research
• Ideas, Hypotheses, and Theories
– The first step in conducting research is to decide what to research.
– Once a question has been asked, the next step is to form a
hypothesis—an educated prediction about the answer to a question
– This prediction is usually based on a theory, previous research, or
logic.
Literature Reviews
• Once a research idea has been created, the next
step is to search the literature for similar
research.
• This search is important because if the question
you are interested in answering has already
been researched in 20 studies, it is probably not
necessary for you to conduct a new study.
• When reviewing the literature, you are likely to
encounter four types of periodicals:
– Journals consist of articles written by
researchers directly reporting the results of
a study
– Bridge publications are designed to “bridge
the gap” between academia and the
applied world
– Trade magazines contain articles usually
written by professional writers who have
developed expertise in a given field.
– Magazines These periodicals are designed
to entertain as well as inform
The Location of the Study
• Once a research idea has been created and a hypothesis
formed, you must decide whether to conduct the study
in the laboratory or in the field
– Laboratory Research
• One disadvantage of laboratory research is external validity,
or generalizability of results to organizations in the “real
world.”
– Field Research
• Field research has a problem opposite to that of laboratory
research. What field research obviously gains in external
validity it loses in control of extraneous variables that are
not of interest to the researcher (internal validity).
The Research Method to Be Used
• Experiments – experimental method is the most powerful of
all research methods because it is the only one that can
determine cause-and-effect relationships.
– Two characteristics define an experiment: (1)
manipulation of one or more independent variables and
(2) random assignment of subjects to experimental and
control conditions.
– If either of these characteristics is missing, a research
project cannot be called an experiment; instead, it is called
a quasi-experiment, a study, a survey, or an investigation.
– The researcher intentionally manipulates one or more
aspects of the question of interest, called the independent
variable, and measures the changes that occur as a result
of that manipulation, called the dependent variable.
• The employees who received the training are
collectively called the experimental group, and the
employees who did not receive the training are
collectively called the control group.
The Research Method to Be Used
• Quasi-experiments - Even though researchers prefer to use
experiments, it is not always possible. Quasi-experiments are
then used.
• Archival Research involves using previously collected data or
records to answer a research question. For example, if we
want to know what distinguishes good workers from poor
workers, we could look in the personnel files to see whether
the backgrounds of good workers have common
characteristics not shared by poor workers.
• Surveys involves wherein the researchers ask people their
opinion on some topic.
• Correlation when researchers are interested in the
relationship between two variables but this does not imply
causation
• Meta-analysis is a statistical method of reaching conclusions
based on previous research.
Subject Samples
• Decisions also must be made regarding the size,
composition, and method of selecting the subjects
who will serve as the sample in a study.
• To obtain the best research results, it is essential to
use a random sample so that the sample will be as
representative as possible. This means that if a
survey is randomly sent to 100 employees, the
research will be most accurate only if all employees
return the survey.
Statistical Analysis
• After all data have been collected, the results are
statistically analyzed
• Statistical analysis helps us determine how confident
we are that our results are real and did not occur by
chance alone.
ETHICS IN INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY
Ethics in IO Psychology
• Organizations and employees are faced with ethical
dilemmas every day.
• Ethical dilemmas are ambiguous situations that require
a personal judgment of what is right or wrong because
there are no rules, policies, or laws guiding such
decisions.
– For example, suppose you want to sell your car. You
know that your car has been in several accidents and
has had a lot of work done on it. Do you share that
information with a prospective buyer? There is no law
or policy that says you must.
In life, we often encounter two types of ethical
dilemmas:
• Type A dilemma,
– there is a high level of uncertainty as to what is right
or wrong, there appears to be no best solution, and
there are both positive and negative consequences to
a decision.
• For example, many people would say that drug research that
uses animals to test new drugs is unethical, because it is
morally wrong to hurt any living creature. Others would say
that new drugs could save millions of lives and that it would
be morally wrong not to make and test drugs that could
potentially save human lives.
• Type B dilemma (rationalizing dilemma)
– The difference between right and wrong is much
clearer than in a Type A dilemma
– Usually, individuals know what is right but choose the
solution that is most advantageous to themselves.
• In a survey done by Careerbuilder.com (2005) of 2,050
workers, 19% of them reported participating in the unethical
act of lying in the workplace at some point in their
professional career.
• Ethics Resource Center in 2007, 56% of workers surveyed
reported witnessing unethical behavior from others,
including such things as “borrowing” work supplies and
taking them home, stealing pencils and other equipment,
using sick leave when they weren’t sick, abuse of employees
by management, and coming in late and leaving early