PSY202 - Exam #1

Objectives of I/O

help org function, more effectively, understand work behavior, enhance well-being of employees

Scientist-Practitioner Model

I/O scientists conduct research, practitioners apply principles to the workplace

Industrial (1944)

management perspective of organizational efficiency through use of human resources

Industrial examples

job analysis, performance appraisal, selection, training, human factors/ergonomics

Organizational (1970)

concerned with understanding behavior and enhancing well-being of employees

Organizational example

job satisfaction, motivation, job stress, work/family balance

Hugo Munsterburg

Father of I/O, studied selection testing (trolley cars, ship captains)

First industrial text

Psychology and Industrial Efficiency (1913)

Walter Dill Scott

2nd father of psychology (PhD 1900), selection (first biographical data), speech on advertising, first consulting firm

Frederick Winslow Taylor

mechanical engineer, invented scientific management, “one best method”

Time + Motion studies

maximize efficiency for company/$$ for employee, created monotonous work (boring, no creativity)

“Efficiency experts”

Amazon’s warehouses

Principles of scientific management (1911)

scientifically analyze the jobs/tasks, scientifically select employees on characteristics that help them perform tasks, train carefully, monetary rewards for productivity

Importance of 1917

first issue of Journal of Applied Psychology

Robert Yerkes

1st group intelligence tests to assess recruits

Army Alpha

to determine job classification

Army Beta

30% illiterates and foreign language speakers

Human Relations Movement

focus on interpersonal, attiudinals factors

Hawthorne Studies (1924-32)

Western Electric Company, determine impact of physical conditions on productivity - first studies to show how employee attitudes and interpersonal relationships affect productivity

Hawthorne Studies results

optimal rest breaks, changed/shortened work day = increased productivity

Incentives

resistance against “work hard, paid more”

Hawthorne effect

positive changes in behavior resulting from being observed (not from experimental manipulation)

Cockpit engineering

Human Factors field began

Army General Classification Test

situation stress tests, innovative assessment methods

Title VII of Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1964

no discrimination in employment against protected classes (15 or more employees)

Protected classes

race/color, national origin, religion, gender

Disparate treatment

intentional - members of a protected class singled out and treated less favorably

June 2020

discrimination because of sex/sexual orientation violates Title VII

Disparate impact

unintentional discrimination

Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1978)

pregnant women must be treated as if they have a disability (or better)

Age Discrimination in Employment Act

40 + over protected

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities of a person - must hire if can perform essential functions of job w/ or w/o accommodation

Essential functions

job duties of an employee must perform

Reasonable accommodation

providing or modifying equipment or devices, part-time or modified work schedules, training materials or policies, providing readers/interpreters, making workplace readily accessible

Ledbetter v Goodyear

must file lawsuit within 180 days after pay is first set (OBAMA REVERSED SUPREME COURT DECISION)

“The Great Resignation”

50 million quit jobs after COVID

Quiet quitting

doing what is required and no more

Variables

an attribute or characteristic of people or things that can vary

Predictor variables

measured to predict/forecast the value of criterion variable

Criterion

predicted (also MEASURED) by the predictor variables

Types of research studies

questionnaire/survey, experiment (lab/field), quasi-experiment

Survey

self-report to obtain data on attitudes/behaviors, employee behaviors that hurt org or employees

Random selection

every person in our population has an equal change of being included in our sample (rarely used) —> helps generalize results obtained from sample to population

Sampling bias

a sample is not representative of population

Phrasing of question

wording counts, avoid double-barreled q’s

Response bias

tendency for particular q’s to be answered in a particular

Social Desirability responding

people tend to present themselves in a way we think others will find desirable

Surveys cannot

determine cause + effect relationships among variables

Experiment (lab/field)

can assess cause and effect, IV is manipulated, at least 2 levels of IV (to be compared), DV is measured, participants have to be randomly assigned

Random assignment helps to eliminate

confounding

Confounding

when 2 or more variables are intertwined in such a way that conclusions cannot be drawn about either one

Confounding example

effects of safety on number of job accidents

Lab

phenomenon studied in unnatural context (controlled)

Field

phenomenon is studied in its naturally occurring context

Lab pros and cons

much control over experiment, lack realism, less able to make generalizations to real organizational behavior, easier to replicate

Field pros and cons

less control, difficult to manipulate IV, realistic, results are generalizable to real org behavior, difficult to get access to orgs

Quasi-experiment

used when you cannot randomly assign subjects to level of the IV, manipulation of IV, measurement of DV, at least 2 levels of IV, no random assignment = confounding

Descriptive statistics

describe data, mean, variability, correlation, meta-analysis

Inferential statistics

make inferences

Variability

how much scores tend to vary or depart from the mean

Correlation coefficient

statistic that suggests whether 2 variables are related and how strongly, usually measured or observed but NOT MANIPULATED

Correlation characteristics

direction + strength

Positive correlation

both variables move in same direction

Negative correlation

variables move in the opposite direction

Strength

numerical indication of degree of relationship between 2 variables

Correlation does not

imply causation

Meta-analysis

quantitative way of combining results of research studies already conducted

Descriptive statistics do not allow

to generalize about people who weren’t members of the sample

Job analysis

family of formal methods for describing jobs and human attributes necessary for jobs, process of collecting information

Job description

end product

Job oriented job analysis

gather information about jobs themselves, position, duties, tasks, activities + elements

Position

collection of duties

Duty

major components of a job

Duty example

professor teaches students

Task

complete piece of work that accomplishes some objective

Task example

professor prepares lecture

Activity

individual parts that make up the task

Activity example

professor reads textbook

Element

actions that make up the activities

Element example

professor takes book off bookshelves

Duties and tasks

used most frequently

Person oriented job analysis

gathers information about human characteristics required to perform the job

KSAOs

knowledge, skills, abilities, other characteristics

Knowledge

what a person needs to know how to do a particular job

Knowledge example

hairstylist needs to know types of cut, hair care

Skill

what a person is able to do on the job, developed capacities, present observable competence (speaking, writing, negotiation, persuasion)

Skill example

can cut + style hair, listening

Ability

the person’s aptitude or capability to do job tasks or learn to do job tasks, stable, enduring attributes (cognitive, sensory, physical)

Ability example

arm-hand steadiness, finger dexterity

Other personal characteristics

anything relevant to job that is not covered by other three categories, often related to attitudes and personality

Other personal characteristics example

friendly, likes interacting with others

Methods of conducting job analysis

subject matter experts

SMEs

job incumbents (person who holds current position), job supervisors

Personal interview advantages

trust is essential, detailed information is provided, multiple perspectives, tasks that are not observable are described, good for “thinking” jobs

Personal interview DISadv

memory of SME/exaggeration, omission, fails to show context/setting

Observation ADV

more objective than interview, context is shown, good for manual jobs

Observation DISadv

poor for '“thinking” jobs

Diary ADV

detailed (lots of information) - but uncommon

Diary DISadv

time-consuming for employee

Analyst performs job ADV

shows context