Industrial and organizational psychology (or I/O psychology) is a United States term. The same discipline is also known as work psychology (from the German, Arbeitspsychologie) and (in the United Kingdom) as occupational psychology.

Industrial and organizational psychology is the study of the behavior of people in the workplace. Industrial and organizational psychology applies psychological knowledge and methods to aid workers and organizations. Historically, job analysis has been the traditional means for which essential characteristics associated with any particular position are identified. A thorough job analysis takes time, resources and money but its benefits tend to out weigh the costs, especially when the position is of great importance, such as an executive position in a major corporation.

Industrial and organizational psychologists may use psychometric tests to measure the knowledge, skills, abilities, and personality characteristics of people for a variety of employment-related purposes, such as selection for appointment or promotion, or for training and development. They may devise questionnaires to measure employee attitudes such as morale, job satisfaction, or feelings towards management or customers.

Increasingly, people factors are recognized as a major determinant of organizational performance and a key competitive differential. Psychologists therefore may also advise senior managers on the management of organizational climate or culture, on dealing with organizational change, or on group dynamics within an organization. It is probably partly for this reason that management coaching is an increasingly popular part of the psychologist's work.

Industrial and organizational psychology is a diverse field incorporating aspects of disciplines such as clinical psychology, social psychology, and psychometrics as well as less closely linked social studies such as law.

Many industrial and organizational psychologists specialize in one of the following aspects: psychometrics; time and motion studies; employment law; personnel selection; training; leadership selection, coaching and development; organizational design and change. Some I/O psychologists are academic (working in both business and psychology departments) or non-academic researchers, while many others are engaged in practice, holding positions such as:

• executive coach
• diversity consultant
• legislative compliance officer
• labor relations specialist
• human resources specialist
• process improvement consultant
• manager of selection and training.

Related disciplines

• Consulting Psychology
• Industrial engineering
• Total quality management
• Psychometrics
• Social psychology
• Labor and industrial relations
• Organizational development
• Personality psychology
• Organizational behavior

Milestones in industrial and organizational psychology

• Hawthorne studies at Western Electric
• U.S. Army Project A

See also

• Industrial sociology
• List of human resource management topics
• List of psychological topics
• How Occupation and Employment can affect Identity
• Important publications in Industrial and organizational psychology

Key works in industrial and organizational psychology

• Handbook Of Research Methods In Industrial And Organizational Psychology, by Steven G. Rogelberg
• Two volume Handbook of Industrial, Work and Organizational Psychology, edited by Neil Anderson, Deniz S. Ones, Handan K. Sinangil, and Chockalingam Viswesvaran
• Handbook of Psychology, Industrial and Organizational Psychology by Walter C. Borman, Daniel R. Ilgen, Richard J. Klimoski, Irving B. Weiner
• California School of Organizational Studies Handbook of Organizational Consulting Psychology, edited by Rodney L. Lowman

External links

• Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, United States
• The Industrial Psychology Research Centre, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
• Association of Business Psychologists, UK
• Division of Occupational Psychology, The British Psychological Association, UK
• Division 1: Work & Organizational Psychology, The International Association of Applied Psychology

Bedryfsielkunde | Wirtschaftspsychologie | روان‌شناسی صنعتی | Psicologia del lavoro | Psychologia pracy | Kadrovsko-menedžerska in industrijska psihologija | Työpsykologia