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 / 1960Consulting 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. / $67,000Ph.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 programsAustralia / 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 / TopicsCanada / 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 / DescriptionEAWOP-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 /
Copyright Paul E. Spector, July 22, 2002, all rights reserved.