Matakuliah : L0014 / PSIKOLOGI UMUM
Tahun
: 2007
PSYCHOLOGY APPLIED TO BUSINESS
AND OTHER PROFFESSIONS
Pertemuan 25
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Psychology and Work
• Industrial-organizational psychologists
– Seek to improve human benefits of work
•
•
•
•
Increase job production
Increase job satisfaction
Employee selection
Methods of training and management
– Hired, employed in personnel departments
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Employee Selection and Evaluation
• Psychological measures used in
– Selection and hiring new employees
•
•
•
•
•
Interviews
Paper-and-pencil tests
Performance tests
Job performance ratings
Evaluating simulated job performance
– Finding right person improves morale and productivity; decreases turnover
and absenteeism
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Psychological Measures
• Interviews
– Personality, spoken language, personal factors
– Unstructured and structured questions used
• Tests of
–
–
–
–
Intelligence (desired 115 IQ?)
Specific abilities, skills, and job knowledge
Performance
Ratings of job performance (scales, check lists)
34.13% 34.13%
13.59%
13.59%
2.14%
55
70
2.14%
85
100
115
130 145
Attorney
Chemist
Accountant
Sales manager
Sales
Secretary
Machinist
Mechanic
Factory worker
Range of
intelligence
scores of the
middle half of
applicants for
various
occupations
Tests of Specific Skills
5
A
7
A
B
C
B
C
D
E
D
E
Sample items from multiple-step rating scale
Dependability
Unsatisfactory
Below average
Requires constant
supervision to
ensure that
directions are
followed
Requires
considerable
supervision; does
not always follow
directions
Average
Requires average
to normal
supervision
Above average
Can usually be
depended upon
to complete
assignments
Outstanding
Needs virtually
no supervision;
completely
reliable
Quantity of work
Unsatisfactory
Consistently below
job requirements
Below average
Frequently
below job
requirements
Average
Meets job
requirements
Above average
Frequently
exceeds job
requirements
Outstanding
Consistently
exceeds job
requirements
Job Knowledge
Unsatisfactory
Unsatisfactory
Below average
Below average
Average
Average
Above average
Knows job well
Outstanding
Thorough
knowledge
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Employee Selection
• Assessment centers
– Evaluations by staff or team outside company environment – very
popular method
• Upper managers, psychologists, or outside consultants
– Use of traditional interviews and tests
• Simulated management task
– in-basket technique
– Evaluation of organizational citizenship
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Validity of Job Selection Measures
• Overall, good selections save money, time
– IQ tests – best predictor of performance
• Useful for new employees and complex jobs
• Not useful for selecting for simpler jobs – need performance tests more
than IQ tests
• IQ related to speed of learning new skills; experience tends to equalize job
learning
– Performance tests and assessment centers are valid measures
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Job Selection
– Conscientiousness is important in selection
• Fairness in employee selection
– Gender bias in U.S.
• Two-thirds of positions filled by males have
– Individual high financial rewards
– Power over others
• Jobs involving helping others mostly held by women. Why?
– Men and women want different job types
– Less likely to hire woman in power job
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Job Selection
• Race-ethnic bias
– Powerful, highly paid jobs tend to go to men, and tend to be filled by
majority culture men
– Huge disparities among U.S. ethnic group occupational achievement
– Prejudice is declining but remains a job barrier
– Impact of IQ tests: African Americans and Hispanics tend to score lower
than whites
• Tests content criticized as culture-biased
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Job Selection
• Solutions to biased selection
– More emphasis on job knowledge and skill tests for experienced
employees
– IQ tests for prediction on new employees and complex jobs
– Tests with more validity; elimination or less validity of tests increases
bias
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Job Satisfaction, Happiness, and Productivity
• Goals of I/O psychologists
– Happiness and satisfaction of employees
– Increase productivity
– Both accomplished by
• Match right person to right job
• Improve working conditions
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Job Satisfaction, Happiness, and Productivity
• Research results
– Satisfied employees
•
•
•
•
•
•
More productive
Miss less work
Have fewer accidents on the job
Less likely to resign
Customers more satisfied when in contact
Increase company profits
Intellectual
ability
Job
experience
Knowledge
of job
Conscientiousness
Job
performance
Knowing skills and
information needed to
perform a job tends to
lead to better job
performance
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Management Strategies
•
•
•
Improving employee satisfaction
– Improving management style:
• Considerate (warm, friendly)
• Communicative (good feedback)
• Structuring (organizing, directing work) – manager effectiveness linked to being highly
considerate
Improving employee satisfaction
– Improving managerial organization:
• Participative style – teams of employees at all levels involved in decision process
• Management by objectives – management sets goals and deadline, employees decide how
accomplished and who does what
Improving employee satisfaction
–
Improving physical conditions:
• Influence of physical conditions: lights, noise, temperature) on satisfaction and production
(decision making and errors)
• Design of machines, equipment, tools to fit human characteristics
•
Minimizing social loafing
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Human Diversity
• Gender differences in leadership
– Traits of successful leaders studied
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•
•
•
•
•
•
Drive
Honesty
Flexibility
Leadership
Motivation
Intelligence
Creativity
– Inspiring leaders: charisma, clear vision, inspiration,
personalized attention paid to followers
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Human Diversity
• Gender differences in leadership
– Overall, men and women similar in style
– Transformational management
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•
•
•
•
Seek to improve, change employees
More likely used by female managers
Set clear goals
Set good example, mentor employees
Reward and empower employees
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Psychology of the Entrepreneur
• People who turn ideas into businesses
– Engage in less counterfactual thinking
– Have excellent social skills
– Tend to be physically attractive
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Human Factors Engineering
• Time and motion studies
– Analyze movements of workers
– Efficiency - find better ways to perform tasks
• Ergonomics – human factors engineering
– Design of machines, instrument panels, gages
• Location, grouping design, readability
• Shape related to function,
– Developed to overcome human frailties
Examples of controls and dials arranged to fit the cognitive
characteristics of human operators
Acceptable
arrangement
Preferred arrangement
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Health Psychology in the Workplace
• Stress and unhealthy patterns of behavior
– Overwork, poor diet, lack of exercise
– Good employee health is good business
– Healthy employees
•
•
•
•
More productive
Less absenteeism
Fewer health benefit claims
Live longer, healthier, productive lives
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Other Applications of Psychology
• In the workplace
– Developing training methods for new and continuing education for
current employees
– Computer-assisted instruction in computer simulation area
– Advertising and marketing end of business (size, color, repetition,
social position linked to effectiveness of ads)
– Determining consumer preferences
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Environmental Psychology
• Study effects of
– Environment on behavior and mental processes
– Human behavior on environment
• Office and workplace design: office landscape format (cubicles)
• Architectural design of living units: college dorms and corridors (dense housing)
– Layouts affect human interactions and emotions
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Sustainability and
Environmental Protection
• Three vital concerns
– Overpopulation
• Human concentrations in large cities
• Earth’s carrying capacity reaching its limit
– Resource depletion
• Overconsumption and waste; scarce water
– Pollution and climate change
• Global warming; Greenhouse effect
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Why Environmental Destruction?
We are in denial
We have bad habits
We act like helpless bystanders
We do not believe that we are efficacious
We are guided by short-term self-interest
We refuse to let anyone lead
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Psychology and Law
• Behavior in courts
– Psychologists apply methods in courtroom
– Administering justice involves people, behavior
– Characteristics of defendants, plaintiffs
• Physically attractive defendants less likely to be convicted than
unattractive ones
• White jury members more likely to convict African Americans than white
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Psychology and Law
– Characteristics of defendants, plaintiffs
• Defendants with facial features typical of African Americans get longer
sentences
– Monetary awards in civil courts – younger plaintiffs and male plaintiffs
get larger awards than female or elderly plaintiffs (less emphasis on
needs of plaintiff)
– Juries gave larger settlement awards when defendant was corporation
than if individual
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Psychology and Law
• Characteristics of jury members
– More conviction prone, harsher/punitive
• White, older, better educated, higher in social status, more conservative,
strong belief that authority and law be respected
– Women convict more; more punitive sentences
– Men more likely believe female victim encouraged rape
– Overall, they tend to be kinder to their own
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Capital Punishment
• Link between attitude toward death penalty and likelihood of
conviction
– Cannot bar person from serving on jury due to beliefs against death penalty
unless bias would result in ignoring evidence presented
– Research: pro-death penalty more likely from high status, conservative,
authoritarian males
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Psychological Factors
• Presenting evidence
– Criminal trials: adversarial proceedings
• Order of presentation by attorney has effect (attorney presenting
second had advantage)
• In lengthy, complex information – last items remembered best
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Psychological Factors
• Interrogating criminals
– Good cop-bad cop game; false confessions
• People with poor intellect and emotional resources maybe tricked in false
confession
• Juries more likely believe taped confession if interrogators not present on
tape
• Consultants err in interpreting nervous fidgeting and failed eye contact as
lying
• Liars blink less often, have longer speech pauses than those telling the
truth
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Psychology and Education
• Educational psychology
– Test children (especially for special needs)
– Improve educational needs
– Advise/consult with teachers
• Mastery learning (for slow learners) and intelligent tutoring systems (computer
use)
• Direct instruction (guided learning, small amounts of information presented)
Psychology Applied to Business and Other Professions
Psychology and Education
• Motivating the classroom
– Emphasizing intrinsic importance
• Criterion-referenced testing
– Not for comparing students
– Determine if minimal level of knowledge met
• Mainstreaming those with special needs
– Right defined in Public Law 94-142 and its successor, IDEA (least
restrictive environment)