Work Psychology
Lecture 1: introduction – 21 October
The origins
The Hawthore Studies
Social needs, besides of economic needs, play an important role in influencing work-related
attitudes and behaviors. The Hawthorne Effect = employees will perform better when they
feel singled out for special attention or feel that management is concerned about employee
welfare.
Field of Work Psychology: personnel psychology, organizational psychology, occupational
health and safety, consumer psychology, human factors/ergonomics and coaching
psychology.
Research in work psychology
Scientist-Practitioner Model: acting as scientists when they conduct research and
implementing these into the actual organizations as practitioners evidence based
management.
We need to relay on research and not on our intuition or common sense. Common sense is
actually nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind prior to the age of
eighteen.
People’s intuitions and beliefs about human behavior often turn out to be wrong. People
have biases:
- Anchoring bias = people are over-reliant on the first piece of information they hear.
- Availability bias = people overestimate the importance of information that is
available to them.
- Bandwagon effect = the probability of one person adopting a belief increases based
on the number of people who hold that belief groupthink.
- Blind-spot bias = failing to recognize your own cognitive biases is a bias in itself.
- Choice-supportive bias = when you choose something you tend to feel positive about
it, even if that choice has flaws.
- Clustering illusion = the tendency to see patterns in random events.
- Confirmation bias = we tend to listen only to information that confirms out
preconceptions.
- Conservatism bias = people favor prior evidence over new evidence or information
that has emerged slow to accept new things.
This is why we cannot rely on common sense.
Question hypothesis theory.
The location of the study
Laboratory research is good for causal relationships; however, it might not generalize that
well to the real world lack of external validity.
Field research and survey studies are good for correlation.
If you combine these measures, you have the strength of each method.
It matters which participants we include in the study and the sample size is also important.
,Individual differences
Implicit theories help us to make sense of the world around us and affect our attitudes
towards people are no basis for a science of individual differences.
Study of individual differences is called differential psychology.
Focus on differences in intelligence/cognitive ability and personality.
Intelligence
General mental (cognitive) capability, involving abilities to:
1. Reason
2. Plan
3. Solve problems
4. Think abstractly
5. Comprehend complex ideas
6. Learn quickly and learn from experience
It is not merely book learning, learning a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts
intelligence is not the same as your performance in school.
Rather it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings –
‘catching-on’, ‘making sense’ of things, or ‘figuring out’ how to use the information we have
gathered Gottfredson.
IQ = ‘inteligence quotient’ is introduced by William Stern.
The first IQ test is developed by psychologist Alfred Binet.
Models of intelligence
Vernon
Verbal intelligence = ability to read, write, speak, debate, …
Spatial/mechanical intelligence = designing, drawing, building, imagining, …
Cattel
Crystallized ability = accumulation of knowledge and experiences that you acquire over time
through education, experience and culture.
Fluid ability = ability to solve new problems and adapt to new situations.
Spearman’s G
Strong overlap of performance on different tasks due
to an underlying factor of intelligence the ‘g’ factor.
There are different components to intelligence, and
they correlate with each other. So, if one component
scores higher than it is most likely they score higher in
another domain, due to the underlying factor.
,Cognitive ability at work
Does cognitive ability matter?
- There is a correlation between general cognitive ability and job performance and
especially for complex job.
- There are correlations between general cognitive ability and job performance and
training success.
It helps to acquire job knowledge better and faster.
Personality
Theories of personality
Personality relates to people’s behavior, thought and emotions. Reflection of their patterns
of how they interact and react in environments.
Personality is assumed to be internal, stable, consistent (apply across different situations)
and different between people.
Another view is that there are effects of the situation on personality traits are coherent
responses to particular situation cues (people behave differently in different situations).
Personality models
The Myers-Briggs type indicator: most widely used but poor validity and restrictive
categories.
these combinations lead to 16 personality types.
NT is a personality category which lots of successful businesspeople has.
Criticism on the Myers-Briggs
There is very little evidence that Myers-Briggs is a valid measure of personality.
- Poor validity and reliability
- Dichotomies are not always independent
- Not comprehensive
Pseudoscience!
The Big Five/OCEAN: most widely researched and the most valid model of personality.
You can score high or low on each category.
, Criticism of the Big Five:
- Atheoretical, so not based on a specific theory but on empirical data.
- Self-reported
- Different results based on context/timing
- More/less dimensions?
Big Six (HEXACO): honesty-humility
Personality differences
Does personality matter?
- Predicts job performance – depending on job requirements and if they are starting
the job.
- Certain traits (extraversion and conscientiousness) are related to job satisfaction and
commitment
- Occupational interests
- Team processes
- Leadership behavior
Individual differences dynamic
Dynamic and developmental model of personality at work
Some issues with the literature on personality and work outcomes:
- Relations of personality traits with work outcomes are considered static
- Personality is always considered as a predictor, but more recently it is also seen as an
outcome variable personality may affect work behavior and also be affected by
work.
Trait Activation Theory (TAT) proposes behavior results from an interaction between person
and situation.
Influences of personality on job performance change over time performance demands
change.
Ways work (context) might affect personality development:
- Normative change = what is expected by society and your age.
- Deepening and strengthening of traits = if we choose our environment this will
deepen our traits.
Lecture 1: introduction – 21 October
The origins
The Hawthore Studies
Social needs, besides of economic needs, play an important role in influencing work-related
attitudes and behaviors. The Hawthorne Effect = employees will perform better when they
feel singled out for special attention or feel that management is concerned about employee
welfare.
Field of Work Psychology: personnel psychology, organizational psychology, occupational
health and safety, consumer psychology, human factors/ergonomics and coaching
psychology.
Research in work psychology
Scientist-Practitioner Model: acting as scientists when they conduct research and
implementing these into the actual organizations as practitioners evidence based
management.
We need to relay on research and not on our intuition or common sense. Common sense is
actually nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind prior to the age of
eighteen.
People’s intuitions and beliefs about human behavior often turn out to be wrong. People
have biases:
- Anchoring bias = people are over-reliant on the first piece of information they hear.
- Availability bias = people overestimate the importance of information that is
available to them.
- Bandwagon effect = the probability of one person adopting a belief increases based
on the number of people who hold that belief groupthink.
- Blind-spot bias = failing to recognize your own cognitive biases is a bias in itself.
- Choice-supportive bias = when you choose something you tend to feel positive about
it, even if that choice has flaws.
- Clustering illusion = the tendency to see patterns in random events.
- Confirmation bias = we tend to listen only to information that confirms out
preconceptions.
- Conservatism bias = people favor prior evidence over new evidence or information
that has emerged slow to accept new things.
This is why we cannot rely on common sense.
Question hypothesis theory.
The location of the study
Laboratory research is good for causal relationships; however, it might not generalize that
well to the real world lack of external validity.
Field research and survey studies are good for correlation.
If you combine these measures, you have the strength of each method.
It matters which participants we include in the study and the sample size is also important.
,Individual differences
Implicit theories help us to make sense of the world around us and affect our attitudes
towards people are no basis for a science of individual differences.
Study of individual differences is called differential psychology.
Focus on differences in intelligence/cognitive ability and personality.
Intelligence
General mental (cognitive) capability, involving abilities to:
1. Reason
2. Plan
3. Solve problems
4. Think abstractly
5. Comprehend complex ideas
6. Learn quickly and learn from experience
It is not merely book learning, learning a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts
intelligence is not the same as your performance in school.
Rather it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings –
‘catching-on’, ‘making sense’ of things, or ‘figuring out’ how to use the information we have
gathered Gottfredson.
IQ = ‘inteligence quotient’ is introduced by William Stern.
The first IQ test is developed by psychologist Alfred Binet.
Models of intelligence
Vernon
Verbal intelligence = ability to read, write, speak, debate, …
Spatial/mechanical intelligence = designing, drawing, building, imagining, …
Cattel
Crystallized ability = accumulation of knowledge and experiences that you acquire over time
through education, experience and culture.
Fluid ability = ability to solve new problems and adapt to new situations.
Spearman’s G
Strong overlap of performance on different tasks due
to an underlying factor of intelligence the ‘g’ factor.
There are different components to intelligence, and
they correlate with each other. So, if one component
scores higher than it is most likely they score higher in
another domain, due to the underlying factor.
,Cognitive ability at work
Does cognitive ability matter?
- There is a correlation between general cognitive ability and job performance and
especially for complex job.
- There are correlations between general cognitive ability and job performance and
training success.
It helps to acquire job knowledge better and faster.
Personality
Theories of personality
Personality relates to people’s behavior, thought and emotions. Reflection of their patterns
of how they interact and react in environments.
Personality is assumed to be internal, stable, consistent (apply across different situations)
and different between people.
Another view is that there are effects of the situation on personality traits are coherent
responses to particular situation cues (people behave differently in different situations).
Personality models
The Myers-Briggs type indicator: most widely used but poor validity and restrictive
categories.
these combinations lead to 16 personality types.
NT is a personality category which lots of successful businesspeople has.
Criticism on the Myers-Briggs
There is very little evidence that Myers-Briggs is a valid measure of personality.
- Poor validity and reliability
- Dichotomies are not always independent
- Not comprehensive
Pseudoscience!
The Big Five/OCEAN: most widely researched and the most valid model of personality.
You can score high or low on each category.
, Criticism of the Big Five:
- Atheoretical, so not based on a specific theory but on empirical data.
- Self-reported
- Different results based on context/timing
- More/less dimensions?
Big Six (HEXACO): honesty-humility
Personality differences
Does personality matter?
- Predicts job performance – depending on job requirements and if they are starting
the job.
- Certain traits (extraversion and conscientiousness) are related to job satisfaction and
commitment
- Occupational interests
- Team processes
- Leadership behavior
Individual differences dynamic
Dynamic and developmental model of personality at work
Some issues with the literature on personality and work outcomes:
- Relations of personality traits with work outcomes are considered static
- Personality is always considered as a predictor, but more recently it is also seen as an
outcome variable personality may affect work behavior and also be affected by
work.
Trait Activation Theory (TAT) proposes behavior results from an interaction between person
and situation.
Influences of personality on job performance change over time performance demands
change.
Ways work (context) might affect personality development:
- Normative change = what is expected by society and your age.
- Deepening and strengthening of traits = if we choose our environment this will
deepen our traits.
