Psych 210 - Exam 2

Industrial-Organizational Psychology: (general + individual defintions)

the application of psychological principles, theory, and research to the work setting

• Industrial Psychology (micro/task focus): Recruitment, selection, training, performance, appraisal, promotion, transfer, termination

• Organizational Psychology (macro/social focus): Attitudes, fairness, motivation, stress, leadership, teams, broader aspects of organizational and work design

SCIENTIST-PRACTITIONER MODEL

Scientists: Theory & Research

• Understand individual, group and organizational behavior through research

• Focus on generating knowledge

Practitioner: Practice

• Apply I/O Psychology to organizations, externally or internally

• Consumer of and applier of knowledge

Walter Dill Scott & Walter Van Dyke Bingham

• Applied psychology to organization (military)

• Helped with testing and placement for the Army during WWI

• Adapted the Stanford-Binet for large group testing

Army Alpha & Army Beta

WWI mass mental tests:

• Alpha for literate recruits

• Beta (non-verbal) for illiterate/non-English recruits.

Scientific Management:

A movement based on principles developed by Frederick W. Taylor

• Suggested that there was one best and most efficient way to perform various jobs; also known as “Taylorism’

Time and Motion Studies: Frank & Lillian Gilbreth

Studies that broke every action into its constituent parts, timed those movements with a stopwatch, and developed more efficient movements to increase productivity.

Hawthorne Studies

• 1930’s set of studies by Harvard researchers at

Western Electric Company

• Interested in the relationship between lighting with employee morale and efficiency

Hawthorne Effect:

the alteration of behavior by subjects due to awareness of being observed

Human Relations Movement:

conceptual shift toward increased focus on employee emotion and motivation

Goal of Selection

Identify the individual(s) amongst a pool of applicants who would be most likely to succeed in a given job role

Organizational attraction

• Applicants’ overall evaluation of the appeal of working at that organization in that role

Job analysis:

Systematic study of a job or role to determine the activities, responsibilities, and attributes needed to perform required tasks successfully

KSAO’s

• Knowledge: collection of discrete, related facts and information about a particular domain

• Skill: Practiced act

• Ability: Stable capacity to engage in a specific behavior

• “Other” Characteristics: Personality, interests, etc

Reliability and Validity

• Reliability: The consistency and stability of a psychological measure over time.

• Validity: The accuracy and appropriateness of a measure, or whether the tool actually measures the specific psychological construct it claims to measure.

Person-Organization Fit:

alignment and compatibility in characteristics between an individual and their environment (in this case, the organization)

AI in Selection

Automated resume parsing and video screening; often perceived as less fair by applicants than human evaluation.

Oddball Questions

Unconventional interview questions: decrease perceived job fairness and organizational attractiveness.

Mediator Variable

variable explaining the process through which two variables are related

Moderator Variable

variable affecting the strength and direction to the relationship between two variables

Disparate Treatment + Impact

• Disparate Treatment: intentional discrimination based on protected group membership

• Disparate Impact: inequity in group outcomes regardless of intention

Motivation

a psychological force that energizes, directs and sustains behavior

Maslow’s Need’s Hierarchy

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic: engaging in behavior due to genuine interest and satisfaction

Extrinsic: engaging in behavior due to external rewards

Self Determination Theory + CAR

Modern “needs-based theory” focused on fostering intrinsic motivation, suggests three fundamental human needs: CAR

• competence

• autonomy

• relatedness

Goal-Setting Theory

Specific and difficult (challenging) goals yield higher performance than vague or easy goals.

SMART Goals

Goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Causal Mechanisms of Goal-Setting

1. Diverts attention to goal-relevant activities

2. Energizes people; encourages application of greater effort

3. Prolongs effort over time

4. Motivate use of existing or needed knowledge

Goal Conditions

Goal effectiveness requires feedback, commitment, adequate resources, and self-efficacy.

Stress, Stressor, Strain

• Stress: process

• Stressor: source

• Strain: outcome

Acute vs. Chronic Stressor

• Acute = short-term/sudden demand

• Chronic = long-term/ongoing condition

Role Stressors

Strain caused by unclear/conflicting role demands:

• Ambiguity (unclear)

• Conflict (opposing)

• Overload (too much).

DEMAND-CONTROL MODEL

Demands: workload or intellectual requirements of a job

Control: combination of autonomy in the job and discretion for using different skills

• High Demands & Low Control > Job Stress

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Intervention

Primary Intervention: Prevention, removes or reduces stressors at the source (e.g., job redesign).

Secondary Intervention: Management, builds employee coping skills and resilience (e.g., stress management training).

Tertiary Intervention: Treatment, treats existing health or strain problems (e.g., Employee Assistance Programs).

Absenteeism and Presenteeism:

Absenteeism: employee unplanned workplace absences

Presenteeism: lost productivity due to suboptimal employee functioning given an illness, injury, or other condition

Schedule Vs Location Flexibility

• Schedule flexibility is control over when work gets done,

• Location flexibility control over where work gets done.

Trait Approach (Leadership)

consider the traits and characteristics that make up a good leader.

Behavioral Approach (Leadership)

consider the behaviors leaders enact (usually people- or task-focused).

Contingency/Situational Approach Leadership

both the leader and the situation should be considered for effectiveness

Consideration

behavior indicating mutual trust, respect, and a certain warmth and rapport between the supervisor and group.

Initiating Structure:

behavior in which the supervisor organizes and defines group activities and his/her relation to the group

The Big 5

• (O)peneness

• (C)onscientiousness

• (E)xtraversion

• (A)greeableness

• (N)eurotisicm

Role congruity theory:

Prejudice is formed when individual/social group stereotypes and role stereotypes don’t align :

• For example, feminine stereotypes don’t align with the leadership role

DOUBLE BIND PHENOMENON

When individual stereotypes and role stereotypes don’t align, an underrepresented leader can choose to:

• Behave in alignment with their stereotyped identities.

OR

• Behave in alignment with role expectations.

Glass Ceiling

An invisible systemic barrier that prevents certain people from rising to senior-level positions within an organization

Glass Cliff

a phenomenon where women are promoted to leadership roles in difficult times, when risk of failure is high