SOAL-SOAL PSIKOLOGI INDUSTRI DAN ORGANISASI
Pertemuan 1 & 2:
Pendahuluan : Pengenalan Psikologi Industri dan Organisasi
1. What’s so great about I-O psychology? What has it done for you lately?
a. I-O psychology is the application of the methods, facts, and principles of
psychology to people at work. The findings and practices of I-O psychologists
determine the positions for which you are hired, the way you are expected to
perform your job duties, your rank and compensation, your ultimate level of
responsibility, and the personal happiness you derive from work.
b. I-O psychologists help develop advertising and marketing techniques and use
similar techniques to promote political candidates.
c. I-O psychologists assist engineers in design and layout.
2. What aspects of a job would make you want to keep doing it, even if you won a lot of
money in a lottery and didn’t have to work to earn a living?
a. Personal satisfaction, fulfillment, and pride of accomplishment
b. Emotional security, self-esteem, and contentment
c. Identity and status, friendships and belonging
d. Challenging tasks
e. Participation in decision making
f. Control over the environment
g. Opportunities for career development and advancement
h. Competent leadership
i. Supervisors concerned with employees’ well-being
3. Give some examples of how I-O psychologists can save money for employers.
a. Reduce absenteeism
b. Reduce turnover of personnel
c. Improve communication between management and workers
d. Enhance job satisfaction
e. Ensure the hiring of only the best qualified applicants for a job
4. How did each of the following influence the development of I-O psychology: Walter Dill
Scott, Hugo Münsterberg, and World War I?
a. Walter Dill Scott (1869-1955)
i. First to apply psychology to advertising, employee selection, and
management
ii. Theory and Practice of Advertising (1903)
b. Hugo Münsterberg (1863-1916)
i. The Psychology of Industrial Efficiency (1913)
ii. Goal of improving worker efficiency
iii. Used tests to measure skills and match workers to jobs
iv. Conducted research in the workplace
c. World War I
i. WWI marked the emergence of I-O psychology as an important discipline
ii. Testing
1. Army Alpha
a. For recruits who could read and write
2. Army Beta
a. For recruits who couldn’t read or speak English
3. Personal Data Sheet
a. To detect neurotic tendencies
iii. Officer and pilot training
5. What were the Hawthorne studies? How did they change the nature of industrial
psychology?
a. A long-term research program at the Hawthorne, Illinois, Western Electric
Company plant. It documented the influence of a variety of managerial and
organizational factors on employee behavior.
b. Begun in 1924, it studied effects of work environment on employee efficiency
c. Findings:
i. Social and psychological factors in the work environment were of
potentially greater importance than physical factors
ii. Opened up new areas in leadership, informal groups, attitudes,
communications, motivation, and satisfaction
6. How does the hiring of temporary workers affect a company’s full-time employees? How
do you think you would react if your company suddenly hired temporary workers for
your department?
a. The use of contingent workers can decrease the full-time workers loyalty toward
the organization.
b. Their relations with management can also deteriorate.
c. Many organizations expect their full-time employees to supervise and train the
contingent force and hold their own full-time jobs.
d. Full-time workers will tend to view their own positions as being higher in
prestige.
7. How will the trends toward virtual employees, the virtual workplace, and globalization
affect your career?
a. The virtual workplace is one where employees operate remotely from each other
and from managers; employees often work off-site; telecommuting is frequent;
workers need to be skilled in information technology and information
management; workers are often expected to work or be available beyond the
normal working hours; 37 percent of I-O psychologists point to the impact of
technology and Internet-related developments as the most important future trend
in the field.
b. Workers expect more involvement and participation; managers no longer can rule
by command; now they function more as guides and leaders.
c. There is a radical change in the application of technology to enhance productivity.
d. Many corporations are outsourcing jobs overseas, leaving workers unemployed at
home. Workers will need to continually upgrade skills.
8. What kinds of jobs can you get with a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a
doctoral degree in I-O psychology?
a. Bachelor’s degree – find jobs in all sectors of the economy in managerial
positions, sales, human resources, training, and other staff functions.
b. Master’s degree – median salary: $67,000; top 10 percent earn more than
$185,000
c. Doctoral degree – median salary: $90,000; top 10 percent earn more than
$180,000
9. What unique problems do I-O psychologists face in the workplace?
a. Fraudulent practitioners
b. Credentials and certification
c. Communication with management
d. Resistance to new ideas
10. Describe the controversy between research and application in the workplace.
a. Research is often seen as too technical and difficult to apply
b. Research is often not oriented toward real-world problems
c. Psychologists who work for organizations know that research and application are
interdependent
d. Organizations are often looking for a quick fix; research “takes too long”