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
http://chuma.cas.usf.edu/~ Paul Spector's (textbook author’s)
spector
website
http://www.aom.pace.edu
Academy of Management:
Contains information about this
I/O related association and the
field itself.
http://www.apa.com
American Psychological
Association: Contains information
about the association, lots of
psychology links, and abstracts of
articles in APA journals.
http://psych.hanover.edu/
APS/exponnet.html
American Psychological Society's
Research on the Net Page: You
can participate in actual research
studies on this site.
http://www.hrMostly selection oriented
software.net/Employment information and links.
Statistics/
http://www.hfes.org
Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society: Contains information
about the association and their
publications.
http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~pc International Association of
Applied Psychology
oets/div/home.htm
Organizational Psychology
Division: Contains information
and links about the field in
Europe.
http://www.siop.org
Society for Industrial and
Organizational Psychology:
Contents of TIP and lots of
information about the field and
about graduate programs.
http://freeman.sob.tulane.e Southern Management
du/smaweb
Association: Contains information
about the association.
Listservs
List name
Address to
subscribe to list
EAWOP-L
listserv@nic.surfne European
t.nl
Association of
Work and
Organizational
Psychologists' list
HRNET
hrnet@yahoogroup List devoted to
s.com
human resources
issues
IAAP-L
listserv@ucmail.uc International
m.e
Association of
Applied
Psychology list
IOOBF-L
listserv@uga.cc.us List devoted to I/O
g.edu
psychology
OHPLIST
ohplist@lists.apa.o
rg
Copyright Paul E. Spector, July 22, 2002, all rights reserved.
Description