INTRODUCTION TO

INDUSTRIAL &
ORGANIZATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY

Hülya İlhan
Clinical Psychologist – Industrial Engineer, MBA
What is I/O I/O Psychology as History of I/O
Psychology? Profession and Psychology
Field
WHAT IS I/O
PSYCHOLOGY?
 Psychology I/O psychology Dual focus = Dual nature =
Organization & Scientist &
Employee Practitioner
Is the science of the Add the words “as it Efficiency/productivity of Application of the science
human behavior, relates to work” organizations of psychology to the
cognitions, emotions, and Health/well-being of workplace
motivation. employees Development/discovery
of scientific psychological
principles at work
 uI/O Psychology is:
uThe branch of psychology that applies
the principles of psychology to the

WHAT IS I/O
workplace.
uThe Purpose of I/O Psychology:
PSYCHOLOGY? u“to enhance the dignity and
performance of human beings, and
the organizations they work in, by
advancing the science and knowledge
of human behavior”
IS IT IMPORTANT?

uhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FZQ4_9-iLM
 IS IT IMPORTANT?

Typical Day in the life…

Work Commute to Watch TV Sleep Eat

8 hours work 1 hour 3 hours 8 hours 2 hours

Other
2 hours
IS I/O IMPORTANT?
¡ Work and Sleep = Major Life Activities

§ Workers spend the majority of their time doing

one or the other

¡ Millions of people Work

§ TR 2024 Jan, 16.395.275

§ Around 153.5 million Americans are part of

the labor force (BLS.GOV, 2007).

§ I/O psychology can impact all of these

individuals, PLUS those around them!

¡ http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-

companies/2012/full_list/

¡ Organizational Effectiveness = Cheaper Goods

§ I/O psychologists can help organizations

reduce costs, improve

performance/productivity, etc.
Graduate degree Content of Entry
NECESSARY graduate requirements
training
MA or Ph.D. Basic psychology very competitive for
•M.A. required to get a Research methods PhD (somewhat less
Ph.D. (heavy emphasis) competitive for
Typically Ph.D. takes Masters)
I/O core content
4-5 years to complete •High GRE Scores,
Thesis High GPA, Prior
Dissertation Research, 3 Letters of
Recommendation
Qualifying Exam SIOP website for most
Internship, Practica US programs
experiences (www.siop.org)
 § Approx. 4% of Psychologists work
within the I/O field

§ I/O Related Organizations

§ SIOP – “The Governing I/O
Organization”
§ Society for Industrial and Organizational

I/O AS A Psychology
§ Division 14 of APA (American

PROFESSION Psychological Association)

§ AreI/O’s licensed like clinical

psychologists?
§ Little reason to get licensed and has no
effect on typical I/O jobs
 § Key Differences

I/O VS. § I/O psychologists rely on application of

psychological principles.

BUSINESS § I/O psychologists focus on the factors in

businesses that affect people.

PROGRAMS § I/O psychologists heavily on research,

quantitative methods, and testing
techniques for guiding decisions.
Typical I/O PhD Courses Typical MBA Courses
•Statistics •Statistics
•Experimental Methodology •Business Research
•Psychometric Theory •Organizational Behavior
•Employee Selection and •Administrative Policy
Placement •Managerial Economics
•Organizational Psychology •Financial Management
•Employee Training and •Marketing Management
Development •Managerial Accounting
•Performance Appraisal
•Job Analysis
 Personnel Psychology (The Organizational Psychology
“I” in I/O) (The “O” in I/O)
Defining and analyzing jobs Determining how people feel about
Recruiting and selecting employees work

MAJOR
for jobs Determining why people act as they
Training employees do at work
Assessing performance Examining the effects work has on

ACTIVITIES
people
Promoting and retaining employees
Examining the effects people have on
Test development and Validation one another
Legal Issues How organizations are structured and
function
How work is designed
Tool and equipment usage on the job
Examining work relevant health,
safety, and well-being issues
I/O AS A PROFESSION
uEmployment
uLittle or no unemployment (usually)
u4 Main Work Settings:
u Universities
u Consulting Firms
u Industry/Corporations
u Government Agencies
uField expanding and becoming
more popular
§ I/O psychologists often
work/consult with
u MBAs
u CEOs,
u VPs,
u HR staff
u Healthcare/Health Science Staff (if in
Occupational Health Specialty)
I/O AS A PROFESSION
Other
10%

Private Universities
17% 39%

Government
9%

Consulting
Firms
25%
M.A.’S – EMPLOYMENT SETTINGS

Other Education
7% 1%

Private
Consulting
Sector
37%
44%

Public Sector
12%
PH.D.’S – EMPLOYMENT SETTINGS

Other
4%

Consulting
Education
25%
40%

Public Sector
8%
Private
Sector
23%
SALARIES OF I/O PSYCHOLOGISTS IN THE US
Mean Salaries 2009 Median Salaries 2009

M.A. $88,000

Ph.D. $125,000

Top 10% $200,000 or more

Professors $94,000

Consultants $106,717

New Ph.D. $83,307

Men Ph.D. $132,000

Women Ph.D. $106,957

Note: Data taken from 2009 SIOP Income Survey

SIOP ACTIVITY
§ Go to web site of the Society for Industrial-Organizational
Psychology (SIOP) at http://www.siop.org
Click on “WHAT IS I/O”
uEarly Years (1900s)
uWorld War I (1914-1918)
uBetween the Wars (1919-1940)
uWorld War II (1941-1945)
uToward Specialization (1946-1963
uGovernment Intervention (1964-
1993)
uInformation Age (1994–Present)
EARLY 1900S
§ Merging of two forces: Applying psychology & industrial
engineers improving efficiency
§ Four Major Figures

uWalter Dill Scott

§ “Psychology of Advertising” 1908
§ “Increasing Human Efficiency”
§ Contributed WWI to application to Army
EARLY 1900’S
uFrederick Taylor
§ Engineer focused on redesigning work
§ “Principles of Scientific Management” 1911

§ Four Principles
uScience over rule of thumb
uScientific selection and training
uCooperation over individualism
uEqual division of work best suited to management and
employees

§ Known for institutionalizing forced breaks for those handling

heavy iron (half the cost, 3 times the production)
 EARLY 1900’S
uLillian (and Frank) Gilbreth
§ Lillian - Focused on Stress and fatigue on workers
§ Frank - Focused on technical aspects of worker
efficiency
- Lillian’s 1908 speech – called for attention to person
element

§ Time & Motion Studies, “therblig”

§ Later – invented things like foot pedal trashcan

§ “Cheaper by the Dozen”

EARLY 1900’S
uHugo Munsterberg
§ Considered the “Father of Industrial Psychology”
§ “Psychology and Industrial Efficiency” 1913

§ Trolley Car Simulator Creation

uSystematically studied all aspects of job through
observations
uStudied what makes good operator
uAnalyzed behaviors and asked questions
uBasically, he pioneered Job Analysis
WORLD WAR I (1914-1918)
uArmy Alpha Project (1914 – 1918) –
§ Army hires psychologists including Robert Yerkes
§ Screen recruits for intelligence
§ Army Beta – created for those that were illiterate
(30%)

uJournal of Applied Psychology (1917) –

first I/O journal
§ Documented Army Alpha & Beta projects
§ Still most prestigious journal in the field
BETWEEN THE WARS (1919-1940)
uJames Cattell (1921)
§ forms Psychological Corporation to provide services to industry

uHawthorne Studies (1924)

§ Research by Harvard & MIT
§ Led by Elton Mayo
§ Conducted at Hawthorne Plant of Western Electric Co.
§ Looking for cost effective ways to reduce expenses
§ adjusted lighting levels
§ Key Finding-
§ Found impact of intervention on employee performance was a result of the
intervention itself.
§ Hawthorne Effect
§ Novelty of intervention influences behavior (i.e., I observe you working, and
you perform better because of my presence as an observer)
WORLD WAR II (1941-1946)
uArmy hires I/O psychologists to select & classify recruits

uArmy General Classification Test (AGCT)

§ Group testing, sorted applicants into 5 categories based on if they
could learn duties, etc
 POST WORLD WAR II
u Toward Specialization (1946-1963)
§ Evolved into legitimate area of practice, schools, terminology, etc

u Government Intervention (1964-1993)

§ Civil Rights Act of 1964 – Protected Classes (Gender, Race,
Ethnicity
§ Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
§ Court Cases (e.g., Griggs vs Duke Power, Dothard vs Rawlinson)

u Information Age (1994–Present)

§ Higher demands for organizations and employees
§ Greater and more frequent technology improvements
§ More complex, computer generated statistical analyses are
becoming common (MANOVA, Multilevel Modeling, Structural
Equation Modeling, Item Response Theory, etc.)
§ Application of cognitive psychology to I/O, specifically
performance appraisal
§ Increased focus on selection methods (selecting the “right
person” for the job is becoming more important)
§ Globalization has become an important issue
§ Having reviewed the History of I/O and the
current state of the field, where do you think the
field will be in 20 years?
§ Think of organizational, economic, and
governmental factors that may affect the
field in the next 20 years.
§ There are no wrong answers to this question.
THANK YOU ANY
QUESTIONS
 § measuring and
Evaluation
ensures the creation and application
of measurement and evaluation tools
in line with business objectives.
§ Conducts job analysis and/or
competency analysis ; for
businessDetermine the
requirements needed for the
job.
§ improves the system of
attracting, selecting and placing
employees. Examines the
effects of workplace programs.
§ determines criteria for
performance measurement and
develops measurement
systems.
Activities to Improve Employee
Performance, Physical and Mental
Health

Develops and/or implements

compensation, incentive and reward
methods for employees.

Provides counseling to employees to

improve professional and personal
harmony.

It cooperates with occupational

medicine to prevent occupational
diseases.

It takes an active role in measuring the

suitability of business conditions and
making the necessary arrangements.
 To ensure the
career
development of
employees, make
career plans, Training and
determine career Development
paths, and take of Employees
the necessary
I/O initiatives to put
them into
PSYCHOLOGIST practice.

DUTY
DEFINITION Prepares training
programs by
applying the Identifies
principles of training and
learning and
individual developmen
difference; t needs.
Evaluates and
measures the
impact of training
programs.
 mediates and
guides
Organizational Organizational
organizational
Improvement Improvement
development and
change.

Makes research
detects problems arising
proposals on
from the physical advise employers
organizational and employees on
environment of the
structures,
communication systems,
workplace and the labor and
ergonomic design of work employment law
leadership, group
tools and suggests
relations and motivation
improvements. issues.
systems.

helps in carrying
out layoffs in a way
that causes the
least harm.
BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN MASTER'S DEGREE; E/O IN THE FIELD OF MUST BE IN THE FIELD
PSYCHOLOGY; PSYCHOLOGY OR OF BUSINESS
ANOTHER RELATED ADMINISTRATION,
BRANCH OF ORGANIZATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR OR HUMAN
RESOURCES
§ History of Industry /
Organization of Psychology

§ What Industrial/
Organizational Psychologists
must comply with. ethic
principles
 § REQUIRED ETHIC PRINCIPLES

§ Competencies
I/O § HUMAN RIGHTS Respect and Non

PSYCHOLOGIST Discrimination

§ Beneficial be and do no
FOLLOW-UP TO § Responsibility

§ Honesty
Competence/Qualification:

The EO psychologist is responsible for acquiring

and updating the knowledge and skill competencies
stated in the job description.

does not go beyond the scope of knowledge and

skills.
 Being Beneficial and Not Harmful:

The psychologist plans his

psychological knowledge and practices
in a way that will bring the highest
benefit to the person and/or institution
he works with and avoids situations that
may be harmful to them.
Responsibility:

The EO psychologist is
responsible for protecting
and properly managing
confidentiality towards
both the employees and
the management in the
institution where he/she
works.
Honesty: I-O psychologist adopts the
principles of accuracy,
honesty, and impartiality in
his work. Avoids misleading,
deceiving organizations or
individuals, and providing
false or knowingly incomplete
information. He tries to keep
his promises and does not
make promises that will not
come true.
§ Respect for Human Rights and
Non-Discrimination:

§ The EO Psychologist must

ensure that the tests, inventories
and other procedures and
decisions to be used in personnel
selection and performance
evaluation do not discriminate
against people of different ages,
identities, genders, sexual
identities and orientations, ethnic
origins, religions, sects,
socioeconomic levels and physical
or mental disabilities.
THANK YOU ANY
QUESTIONS