L10 Social

What does I/O stand for and what is it also called in the UK?

Industrial/Organizational Psychology the psychology of the workplace referred to as Occupational Psychology in the UK.

What is the general distinction between the I and the O in I/O psychology?

The I Industrial Personnel is more practical while the O Organizational is more theoretical.

What topics fall under Industrial Personnel Psychology?

Job analysis legal issues in employee selection recruiting and interviewing psychological testing performance evaluation training systems workspace design work motivation and job stress.

What topics fall under Organizational Psychology?

Workplace diversity individual differences organizational structure culture change communication leadership and management style work teams and group dynamics decision making power politics conflict negotiation and job satisfaction.

Why is personality testing e.g. Big Five commonly used in employee selection?

It offers an objective easy to deliver measure of how well a candidate might fit a role or organization though psychologists must ensure measures have predictive validity unlike poorly supported tools like the Myers Briggs.

What percentage of psychologists work in I/O psychology and how large was SIOP membership in 2017?

Approximately 6 percent of psychologists work in I/O with about 10000 professional SIOP members in 2017.

What is notable about I/O psychology's projected job growth and income?

It was projected to grow 53 percent between 2012 and 2022 and has the highest average income of all psychology disciplines in the US about 85000 dollars per year with a Masters and about 119000 dollars per year with a PhD.

Despite strong growth and pay what is a notable limitation of I/O psychology as a career path?

It remains a widely unknown career and is underrepresented in most undergraduate curricula.

Do you need an advanced degree MSc or PhD to practice I/O psychology?

It depends in the UK BPS qualification requires a Masters from an accredited program but many other degree paths such as applied social psychology organizational behavior HR management business and data science can also lead to I/O related careers.

How does I/O postgraduate training differ from typical business postgraduate training?

I/O programs focus on research quantitative methods employee selection organizational psychology psychometrics training development performance appraisal and job analysis while business programs focus on finance marketing accounting economics and operations management.

What is the scientist practitioner model in I/O psychology?

Using the scientific method as the basis for generating knowledge and developing workplace interventions similar to the medical clinical field model.

What factors undermine the scientist practitioner model in practice?

Lack of data for practitioners academics not addressing applied questions practitioners not being rewarded for research and real world time pressures.

What is human capital in the context of I/O psychology's purpose?

The skills expertise and wellbeing of a workforce I/O psychology aims to help organizations balance human capital against cost and efficiency.

What were the Hawthorne Studies?

Early I/O research a partnership between Harvard psychologists and Western Electric that studied how lighting conditions affected worker productivity.

What was the surprising finding of the Hawthorne Studies regarding lighting?

Lighting had no overall consistent effect productivity increased whether light was increased decreased or held constant.

How is the Hawthorne effect explained?

As a confounding variable simply being observed or any change to the work environment boosted worker productivity regardless of the specific manipulation.

What was the main legacy of the Hawthorne Studies despite few clear takeaways?

They demonstrated the feasibility and value of applying scientific inquiry to the workplace revealing how complex workplace behavior is and spurring future I/O research.

What are the main job attitudes studied in modern I/O psychology?

Job satisfaction organizational commitment employee engagement involvement and perceived organizational support justice.

What is job satisfaction and what does it predict?

The degree of pleasure or overall favorable evaluation an employee derives from their job it predicts job performance turnover absences and overall health such as depression anxiety and psychological distress.

What personality trait is associated with higher job satisfaction and why?

Openness likely because it helps people better tolerate the uncertainties that often come with employment.

What are Allen and Meyer's 1990 three types of organizational commitment?

Affective calculative continuance and normative commitment.

What is affective commitment?

Commitment based on genuine belief in and alignment with the organization's values an internally driven form of commitment.

What is continuance calculative commitment?

Commitment based on the sunk cost effect staying because of time or resources already invested not wanting to feel that investment was wasted.

What is normative commitment?

Commitment driven by perceived social or organizational pressure to change behavior without necessarily personally believing in it an externally driven form linked to self determination theory.

How does self determination theory relate to the three types of commitment?

Affective commitment aligns with intrinsic internal motivation while normative commitment aligns with extrinsic external motivation and social pressure.

What critique does the lecturer make about I/O psychology as a field?

That it often rebrands long established social psychology concepts to sell to organizations unfamiliar with psychological theory.

What is the goal of employee selection in I/O psychology?

To learn about an individual in order to predict future job behavior based on the assumption that past success and stable individual differences predict future success.

What two factors determine anticipated job performance in selection theory?

Motivation and ability even the most skilled applicant must also demonstrate sufficient motivation.

What does accurate prediction in selection depend on?

Correctly linking predictors to job criteria via job analysis and accurately and reliably measuring both predictors and criteria validity and reliability.

What are the four general approaches to measuring knowledge or skills in selection?

Past experiences and accomplishments direct demonstration indirect construct measurement and future oriented skill assessment.

What are the Dark Triad personality traits sometimes assessed in selection?

Machiavellianism narcissism and psychopathy.

What are other common selection measures besides personality and cognitive ability?

Job knowledge tests integrity tests physical ability tests emotional intelligence situational judgment tests resumes employment references drug testing work samples job tryouts polygraphs and social network data mining.

Why is standardizing the selection process important?

It helps ensure a productive work environment reduces turnover enhances job satisfaction and helps address unconscious biases in hiring decisions.

What are the advantages of team based work structures?

Better decision making improved information sharing increased employee motivation engagement and greater flexibility.

What are the challenges of team based work structures?

Extra resources needed for team maintenance social loafing groupthink polarization and potential for unhealthy conflict.

What is social loafing and why does it occur?

Reduced individual effort in groups caused by low accountability high expected effort from others high perceived dispensability and low personal meaning in the task.

What is group polarization?

The tendency for group discussion to shift members toward a more extreme position than their initial views.

What is groupthink?

Flawed group decision making where members prioritize group harmony over critical analysis.

What is task interdependence and what are its levels?

The degree to which team members share resources or expertise including pooled sequential and reciprocal interdependence.

Why do teams with higher task interdependence tend to perform better?

Because it improves communication coordination and increases motivation to stay engaged.

Why are smaller teams often considered better?

They require less coordination time and increase individual responsibility and engagement.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of team diversity?

Benefits include varied perspectives broader knowledge and better representation while drawbacks include slower team development and time needed to integrate differences.

What does the meta-analytic research say about Conscientiousness and team/job performance?

Conscientiousness self-discipline organization responsibility is positively related to contextual performance in team settings and to team performance in field settings and is generally the strongest predictor of job performance.

What does research say about Extraversion and team performance?

Extraversion sociability assertiveness enthusiasm shows a small to moderate positive relationship with contextual performance in team settings.

What does research say about Agreeableness and team performance?

Agreeableness likeability trustworthiness cooperation shows a small positive relationship with contextual performance in team settings and team performance in field settings.

What does research say about Emotional Stability and team performance?

Emotional stability calmness low anxiety adjustability is positively but only marginally related to contextual performance in team settings with a small positive relationship in field studies.

What does research say about Openness to Experience and team performance?

Openness willingness to try new things is positively related to team performance in some field settings but this finding is not supported consistently across all studies.

Which Big Five trait is considered the strongest predictor of job performance overall?

Conscientiousness though too much conscientiousness can also become a disadvantage.

Why is Openness a desirable trait for person job fit?

It is linked to better adjustment to organizational change higher creativity and greater adaptability.

Why is Extraversion valuable in certain workplace roles?

It is linked to higher performance in sales and management roles given its association with social interaction and persuasion.

Why is Agreeableness valuable in certain workplace roles?

It is effective in jobs requiring cooperation and helpfulness though it can lead to overly lenient performance ratings of others.

What are the workplace advantages of low Neuroticism high Emotional Stability?

Better stress coping and it is a strong predictor of job performance job satisfaction and leadership emergence.

What is a disadvantage associated with high Agreeableness at work?

It can lead to giving overly lenient ratings and may reduce willingness to engage in necessary conflict.

What is a disadvantage associated with high Openness at work?

It can be linked to more counterproductive behaviors and accidents despite its benefits for creativity and adaptability.

What is a disadvantage associated with high Extraversion at work?

It can be linked to higher absenteeism and accidents despite benefits for sales performance and leadership emergence.

What do trait theories of leadership assume?

That leaders are born not made and that specific traits determine who becomes a good leader.

What do behavioral theories of leadership assume?

That leaders can be made and leadership involves learnable strategies such as goal setting monitoring performance and providing feedback.

What are French and Raven's types of power in leadership?

Coercive reward legitimate and expert power.

What is coercive power?

Power based on forcing someone to do something they do not want to do ideally applied legally and respectfully.

What is reward power?

Power based on the ability to give rewards such as promotions or raises for desired behavior.

What is legitimate power?

Power derived from one's position rank or formal role within an organization.

What is expert power?

Power based on an individual's skills education and specialized knowledge maintained through continued learning.

What did Fiedler's contingency approach to leadership argue?

That no single leadership style is best and effectiveness depends on matching leadership style to the situation.

What is transformational leadership?

Leadership that inspires followers toward a shared vision builds confidence and is linked to internal motivation.

What is transactional leadership?

Leadership based on exchanges of rewards or punishments for performance linked to external motivation.

What is laissez faire leadership and what outcomes is it linked to?

Leadership where responsibility is avoided and followers are left alone and it is linked to negative outcomes.

What is Leader Member Exchange LMX Theory?

A theory focusing on the one to one relationship between leader and follower recognizing different relationship quality across team members.

What characterizes in group members under LMX theory?

They have high quality relationships with leaders receive more support and are more empowered and motivated.

What characterizes out group members under LMX theory?

They have formal low quality relationships receive routine tasks and less support.

What factors lead to being placed in a leader's in group under LMX theory?

Competence trustworthiness and perceived similarity to the leader.

What outcomes are associated with high quality in group LMX relationships?

Higher job satisfaction more pro organizational behavior lower turnover and less resistance to change.

In hiring bias research how did facial attractiveness affect candidate evaluation and hiring?

More attractive candidates received higher evaluations and were more likely to be hired despite no relation to job performance.

What is authentic leadership?

Leadership characterized by transparency genuineness ethical decision making and strong values.

What is servant leadership and what outcome is it linked to?

Leadership that prioritizes others needs first and it is linked to loyalty to the leader rather than the organization.

What is organizational culture?

The shared values beliefs language and customs of an organization.

What is the iceberg metaphor used to describe organizational culture?

Visible artifacts are above the surface while shared values and assumptions lie below and are harder to observe.

What are shared assumptions in organizational culture?

Unconscious taken for granted beliefs that shape behavior within an organization.

What is the difference between enacted and espoused values?

Enacted values are those actually practiced while espoused values are those an organization claims to follow.

What are artifacts of organizational culture?

Visible elements such as rituals stories language ceremonies and office design.

What makes a story or legend an effective cultural artifact?

It is widely known assumed to be true and communicates expected behavior.

In the masculine feminine leadership metaphor study what happened when men were given a feminine interview prime?

They experienced higher stress and performed worse in interviews.

In the masculine feminine leadership metaphor study what happened when women were given a masculine interview prime?

They also experienced higher stress and worse performance.

What psychological phenomenon explains the effects of gendered leadership metaphors?

Stereotype threat causing stress and reduced performance.

How can building or office structure function as a cultural artifact?

Physical layout design and space use can signal and reinforce organizational values such as collaboration or hierarchy.