What Is I/O Psychology?

WHAT IS I/O PSYCHOLOGY?

Psychology is the science of human behavior

I/O psychology is the science of human behavior at work

Dual focus

Efficiency/productivity of organizations

Health/well-being of employees

Dual nature

Application of the science of psychology to the workplace

Development/discovery of scientific psychological principles at work

SPECIFIC AREAS OF CONCERN TO I/O PSYCHOLOGISTS

Recruiting and selecting employees for jobs

Placing employees into jobs

Training employees

Assessing performance

Defining and analyzing jobs

Determining people feel about work

Determining why people act as they do at work

Effects work has on people

Effects people have on one another

How organizations are structured and function

Designing work

Designing tools and equipment

Employee Health and Safety

I/O AS A PROFESSION

Graduate degree necessary (MA or Ph.D.)

Content of graduate training

Basic psychology

Research methods (heavy emphasis)

I/O content

Thesis, Dissertation

Qualifying exam

Internship, practica

Computer skills

Training technical

Entry requirements very competitive (Check SIOP website)

Employment

Little or no unemployment

Academic and nonacademic market strong

Field expanding and becoming popular

Settings for I/O work

Percentage of I/O Psychologists Who Work in Various Settings in 1960 and 2001

Setting / 2001 / 1960
Consulting firms / 32% / 28%
Government / 7% / 11%
Private companies / 15% / 35%
Universities / 38% / 26%
Other / 8%

Note: Trend away from private companies in favor of consulting firms and academia.

Mean Salaries of I/O Psychologists in the US in 2000

M.A. / $67,000
Ph.D. / $90,000
Top 10% / $200,000 or more
Professors / $73,000
Companies / $100,000
New Ph.D. / $60,000
Men / $93,000
Women / $77,000

Note: Gender difference mostly accounted for by women being more likely to be M.A. level and being younger. Source: Katkowski, D. A., & Medsker, G. J. (2001). Income and employment of SIOP members in 2000. Bowling Green, OH: SIOP.

I/O PSYCHOLOGY AROUND THE WORLD

At one time I/O was almost entirely American

I/O interest has exploded over the past 10-15 years and accelerating

American consulting firms have become international, reflected in names

DDI--Developmental Decisions Inc. to International

PDI--Personnel Decisions Inc. to International

Number of graduate programs increasing rapidly around the world

Number of I/O Graduate Programs Per Country

Country / Number of programs / Country / Number of programs
Australia / 7 / Portugal / 1
Belgium / 5 / Puerto Rico / 3
Canada / 8 / Russia / 1
China / 5 / Scotland / 1
Costa Rica / 2 / Singapore / 1
England / 7 / South Africa / 2
France / 4 / Spain / 4
Germany / 8 / Sweden / 2
Hong Kong / 2 / Switzerland / 1
Ireland / 1 / Turkey / 1
Israel / 3 / Uganda / 1
Netherlands / 5 / United States / 115 (63 of which are Ph.D.)
New Zealand / 4 / Zimbabwe / 1
Nigeria / 3 / Portugal / 1

The Most Popular I/O Research Topics in Eight Countries

Country / Topics
Canada / Career development, Employee selection, job stress, leadership
England / Employee selection, gender, job stress, leadership, turnover
Germany / Job Stress, motivation, training, work environment
India / Job satisfaction, job stress, motivation, organizational level
Israel / Career development, cross-cultural, job satisfaction, motivation, performance appraisal, values
Japan / Career development, job stress, leadership, motivation
Scandinavia / Gender, job stress, shift work, unemployment
United States / Career development, employee selection, leadership, performance appraisal

Note: From Erez, M. (1994). Toward a model of cross-cultural industrial and organizational psychology. In M. D. Dunnette and L. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Volume IV. Theory in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

CURRENT TRENDS AFFECTING I/O

Technology: Computers and the Web

Internationalization: Rapid expansion internationally and international collaboration

Skilled labor shortages: Of particular concern in the U.S. and a few other countries

Occupational Health Psychology: Shift to concern about employee well-being

I/O PSYCHOLOGY INTERNET RESOURCES

Web address / Description
/ Paul Spector's (textbook author’s) website
/ Academy of Management: Contains information about this I/O related association and the field itself.
/ American Psychological Association: Contains information about the association, lots of psychology links, and abstracts of articles in APA journals.
/ American Psychological Society's Research on the Net Page: You can participate in actual research studies on this site.
/ Mostly selection oriented information and links.
/ Human Factors and Ergonomics Society: Contains information about the association and their publications.
/ International Association of Applied Psychology Organizational Psychology Division: Contains information and links about the field in Europe.
/ Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Contents of TIP and lots of information about the field and about graduate programs.
/ Southern Management Association: Contains information about the association.

Listservs

List name / Address to subscribe to list / Description
EAWOP-L / / European Association of Work and Organizational Psychologists' list
HRNET / / List devoted to human resources issues
IAAP-L / .e / International Association of Applied Psychology list
IOOBF-L / / List devoted to I/O psychology
OHPLIST /