Chapter 2

FIELDS OF STUDY AND PRACTICE

AREAS IN INDUSTRIAL AND
ORGANISATIONAL (I-O)
PSYCHOLOGY

Learning outcomes to keep in mind whilst studying this chapter

What are the main themes and focus areas of industrial

and Organisational Psychology (IO) and why are they
important?

Describe the nature and identity of I-O psychology

Name and discuss various subfields of I-O psychology

Describe application fields in I-O psychology

Discuss the history of I-O psychology

Discuss professional training and practice in I-O psychology

Discuss future challenges in I-O psychology.

Sub-fields in psychology
Clinical psychology aims to alleviate emotional distress
caused by psychological disorders and problems of life

Counselling psychology management of pain caused by life,

facilitating improved understanding of issues, fostering use of effective
coping skills

Career psychology involves studying and facilitating

occupational development across the life-span

Educational and school psychology focuses on studying

factors, behaviour, processes & problems of learning

Developmental psychology focuses on age related changes

across a persons life span

Social psychology studying human social interaction by

understanding the influence of behaviour, beliefs and feelings
amongst people.

Sub-fields in psychology (continued)

Cognitive psychology revolves around the theory and
research regarding higher mental processes

Personality psychology the study of the more or less

consistent patterns of behaviour in people across time and situations

Physiological/Neurological psychology Study of

relationship between human behaviour and neurological and
physiological systems

Psychometrics entails the development of psychological

measuring instruments

Experimental psychology used in many psychological

disciplines to establish patterns of human behaviour in controlled
situations

Health psychology utilises psychological knowledge to identify

causes and symptoms of physical health and illness and related
dysfunctions.

Sub-fields in psychology (continued)

Positive psychology emphasis on enhancement of optimum
human functioning

Forensic psychology studying context of criminal behaviour

(e.g. causes) and obtaining and giving evidence in legal procedures

Community psychology using, developing and adapting

psychological knowledge and practices to improve quality of life in
human communities

Cross-cultural psychology focuses on diversity

management or the consideration of differences in and between
groups of people

Consulting psychology professional involvement of

psychologists with individuals, groups & organisations

Industrial and Organisational (I-O) psychology utilises

principles and assumptions of psychology to study and influence
human behaviour at work.

Nature and identity of I-O psychology:

IO Psychology: A scientific discipline?

I-O Psychology is branch of psychology

Utilises psychological knowledge and in the work context to assess,

utilise, develop and influence individual employees

While inextricably linked to psychology, I-O psychology has adapted

and developed it own identity

It utilises, develops and teaches foundational knowledge, e.g.

psychological theory/research on human behaviour in work context

Foundational knowledge is supported through work-related research

to further its knowledge base

Is an applied science utilising many types of practical applications and

methods to achieve best fit between employee and workplace.

Sub-fields and practice areas in I-O

psychology
Organisational psychology

Concerned with work organisations as systems involving individual

employees and work groups, as well as structure and dynamics of
organisations

Personnel psychology

Focus on utilising individual differences in and between employees

and predicting the optimal employee-organisation fit

Research methodology

Entails psychological methods of inquiry to solve research problems

Occupational psychological assessment

Entails the development and utilisation of assessment instruments to

obtain measures of attributes and behaviour of employees.

Sub-fields and practice areas in I-O

psychology (continued)
Career or vocational psychology/counselling

Studies career development issues with regard to individuals,

employment, unemployment, career-related issues in organisations
and also non-work influencing factors

Employment relations

Deals with behavioural dynamics, communication and conflict

management between individuals and groups of employees,
employers and other parties

Employee and organisational well-being

Aims to facilitate positive psychological capital or resources in

organisations and employees

Ergonomics

Concerned with understanding of human interaction between

employees and their technical environment.

Sub-fields and practice areas in I-O

psychology (continued)
Consumer psychology

Also referred to as Economic and Market Psychology concerned with

studying psychological aspects of consumer behaviour

Other applied fields

Cross-cultural Industrial Psychology

Management and leadership

Entrepreneurship and diversity management.

History of I-O psychology

Taylorism

Man is a rational-economic being

Humans are inherently

Lazy, inefficient and unreliable

Only motivated by financial incentives

Criticism of taylorism

Heavily criticised as a result of findings in Hawthorne experiments

Perceived as an exploitation of workers

Neglect of individual differences

Hawthorne experiments

Employee work performance may vary if employees follow specific

procedures and standards under strict supervision.

Professional training and practice

issues
Contributing institutions

HPCSA

Professional Board for Psychology, etc.

Contributing peoples, associations and events

Professional training and practice

Governing bodies

Qualifications

Practice

Universities and other training institutions

Proximity with human resources management.

Future challenges in I-O psychology

How to use existing knowledge and practice

How to develop and adapt this knowledge and practice

I-O psychologist must be able to speak the language of business

Future psychologists successes in making employees and

organisation more adaptive to change

The management of the increase in work stress

Creating meaningful employment amidst growing sophisticated

technology, business mergers and downsizing, decreasing job
opportunities

Changing nature of work requires ongoing revision of validity theory in

the assessment of employees

More incorporation of technology driven interventions in organisations.

Thank you.