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Lectures Organizational Psychology
Inhoud
, 2
Lecture 1: Introduction Organizational Psychology
Psychology: the study of human mind and behavior.
Organizational psychology: the study of human mind and behavior in an organizational
context.
Organization: a group of people regularly working together to achieve some common goal.
Levels of study:
Individual level: emotions, attitudes, decision-making, job performance (e.g., doctor)
Group/Team level: teamwork, cooperation or competition, leadership (e.g., surgical
team)
Organizational level: organizational structure, culture, justice, or change (e.g.,
hospital)
Organizational behavior: investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have
on behavior within organizations to improve the performance behavior of organizations in
terms of effectiveness (achieving goals) and efficiency (minimizing costs).
Work centrality: the degree of importance work plays in one’s life. Work is a defining
characteristic of how people assess their value to society, their family, and themselves.
Sources of evidence-based practice:
Scientific literature: empirical studies.
Organization: internal data.
Practitioners: professional expertise.
Stakeholders: values and concerns.
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Lecture 2: Work-Related Attitudes
Attitudes: evaluative statements about objects, people, or events. Three components of an
attitude (ABC-model):
Affective component: feeling (e.g., “I dislike my supervisor.”)
Behavioral component: action (e.g., “I’m looking for other work; I’ve complained
about my supervisor to anyone who would listen.”)
Cognitive component: evaluation (e.g., “My supervisor gave a promotion to a
coworker who deserved it less than me. My supervisor is unfair.”)
Cognitive Dissonance Theory: People try to reduce cognitive dissonance, the mental
discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes.
Hawthorne effect: the Hawthorne studies showed that productivity increased regardless of
whether physical conditions improved or worsened. Employees will perform better when they
feel singled out for special attention or feel that management is concerned about employee
welfare.
Job satisfaction: an evaluation of one’s job.
Overall satisfaction: overall evaluative rating of the job.
Facet satisfaction: information related to specific elements of job satisfaction, like co-
workers, pay, or tasks.
Factors influencing job satisfaction:
Pay has a small positive effect on job satisfaction (r = .15). A stronger positive
association is found at lower pay levels. At higher salary levels, a weaker or negative
effect is found; Lawyers earning $148,000 were less satisfied than childcare workers
earning $23,500.
Job satisfaction is positively related to job performance (r = .30). Satisfaction can be
increased through autonomy, career development, supportive management, and
meaningful work. It can be decreased through high workload, lack of recognition, and
poor management.
Work engagement: a positive, full-filling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by
vigor, dedication, and absorption. It has a positive correlation with job satisfaction (r = .50),
and it predicts performance about equally strong as job satisfaction.
Vigor: employee has energy to do the job (e.g., ‘At my job I feel strong and
vigorous.’).
Dedication: the job is meaningful to the employee (e.g., ‘I am proud of the work that I
do.’).
Absorption: the employee is fully concentrated on his job (e.g., ‘Time flies when I am
working.’).
Job Demands-Resources Model: A model that explains how work characteristics (job
resources and job demands) influence engagement and burnout.
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Lecture 3: Emotions at Work
Affect: a broad range of feelings that people experience. Affect can be experienced in the
form of emotions or moods.
Emotions: caused by specific events. Very brief in duration. Specific and numerous in
nature. Usually accompanied by distinct facial expressions. Action oriented in nature.
Moods: cause is general and unclear. Last longer than emotions. More general in
nature. Generally not indicated by distinct expressions. Cognitive in nature.
Basic emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust.
Problems in identifying emotions by studying facial expressions:
Some emotions are too complex to be represented on faces (e.g., love).
Cultures differ in norms of emotional expressions (e.g., smile in U.S. vs Middle East).
Basic moods:
Positive offset: most people are in a positive mood most of the time.
Negativity bias: negative events have a stronger impact than positive events, when of
similar intensity.
Sources of emotions:
Time of the day: Positive moods peaks during the middle part of the day. Negative
moods show very little variation over the day; they are constant on an average level.
Day of the week: Positive moods are highest at the end of the week (Saturday).
Negative moods are highest on Sundays and Mondays and fall throughout the week.
Daily activities: different work tasks elicit different emotional responses.
Stressors at work: stressful environments contribute to negative emotions and moods.
Affective Events Theory: explains how
emotions influence workplace behaviors. Work
events trigger emotional reactions. Affective
reactions (positive/negative emotions) shape
employees’ work attitudes and job
performance. Individual dispositions also affect
how people respond to events.
Emotional labor: act of managing emotions at work.
Surface acting: faking the required emotions without actually trying to feel the
emotions.
Deep acting: modifying feelings to match the required emotions.
Emotional dissonance: felt versus displayed emotions.
Emotional intelligence: the ability to perceive emotions in self and others, understand the
meaning of these emotions, and regulate one’s emotions accordingly. It is positively related to
job performance (between r = .18 and r = .47).
Lectures Organizational Psychology
Inhoud
, 2
Lecture 1: Introduction Organizational Psychology
Psychology: the study of human mind and behavior.
Organizational psychology: the study of human mind and behavior in an organizational
context.
Organization: a group of people regularly working together to achieve some common goal.
Levels of study:
Individual level: emotions, attitudes, decision-making, job performance (e.g., doctor)
Group/Team level: teamwork, cooperation or competition, leadership (e.g., surgical
team)
Organizational level: organizational structure, culture, justice, or change (e.g.,
hospital)
Organizational behavior: investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have
on behavior within organizations to improve the performance behavior of organizations in
terms of effectiveness (achieving goals) and efficiency (minimizing costs).
Work centrality: the degree of importance work plays in one’s life. Work is a defining
characteristic of how people assess their value to society, their family, and themselves.
Sources of evidence-based practice:
Scientific literature: empirical studies.
Organization: internal data.
Practitioners: professional expertise.
Stakeholders: values and concerns.
, 3
Lecture 2: Work-Related Attitudes
Attitudes: evaluative statements about objects, people, or events. Three components of an
attitude (ABC-model):
Affective component: feeling (e.g., “I dislike my supervisor.”)
Behavioral component: action (e.g., “I’m looking for other work; I’ve complained
about my supervisor to anyone who would listen.”)
Cognitive component: evaluation (e.g., “My supervisor gave a promotion to a
coworker who deserved it less than me. My supervisor is unfair.”)
Cognitive Dissonance Theory: People try to reduce cognitive dissonance, the mental
discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes.
Hawthorne effect: the Hawthorne studies showed that productivity increased regardless of
whether physical conditions improved or worsened. Employees will perform better when they
feel singled out for special attention or feel that management is concerned about employee
welfare.
Job satisfaction: an evaluation of one’s job.
Overall satisfaction: overall evaluative rating of the job.
Facet satisfaction: information related to specific elements of job satisfaction, like co-
workers, pay, or tasks.
Factors influencing job satisfaction:
Pay has a small positive effect on job satisfaction (r = .15). A stronger positive
association is found at lower pay levels. At higher salary levels, a weaker or negative
effect is found; Lawyers earning $148,000 were less satisfied than childcare workers
earning $23,500.
Job satisfaction is positively related to job performance (r = .30). Satisfaction can be
increased through autonomy, career development, supportive management, and
meaningful work. It can be decreased through high workload, lack of recognition, and
poor management.
Work engagement: a positive, full-filling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by
vigor, dedication, and absorption. It has a positive correlation with job satisfaction (r = .50),
and it predicts performance about equally strong as job satisfaction.
Vigor: employee has energy to do the job (e.g., ‘At my job I feel strong and
vigorous.’).
Dedication: the job is meaningful to the employee (e.g., ‘I am proud of the work that I
do.’).
Absorption: the employee is fully concentrated on his job (e.g., ‘Time flies when I am
working.’).
Job Demands-Resources Model: A model that explains how work characteristics (job
resources and job demands) influence engagement and burnout.
, 4
Lecture 3: Emotions at Work
Affect: a broad range of feelings that people experience. Affect can be experienced in the
form of emotions or moods.
Emotions: caused by specific events. Very brief in duration. Specific and numerous in
nature. Usually accompanied by distinct facial expressions. Action oriented in nature.
Moods: cause is general and unclear. Last longer than emotions. More general in
nature. Generally not indicated by distinct expressions. Cognitive in nature.
Basic emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust.
Problems in identifying emotions by studying facial expressions:
Some emotions are too complex to be represented on faces (e.g., love).
Cultures differ in norms of emotional expressions (e.g., smile in U.S. vs Middle East).
Basic moods:
Positive offset: most people are in a positive mood most of the time.
Negativity bias: negative events have a stronger impact than positive events, when of
similar intensity.
Sources of emotions:
Time of the day: Positive moods peaks during the middle part of the day. Negative
moods show very little variation over the day; they are constant on an average level.
Day of the week: Positive moods are highest at the end of the week (Saturday).
Negative moods are highest on Sundays and Mondays and fall throughout the week.
Daily activities: different work tasks elicit different emotional responses.
Stressors at work: stressful environments contribute to negative emotions and moods.
Affective Events Theory: explains how
emotions influence workplace behaviors. Work
events trigger emotional reactions. Affective
reactions (positive/negative emotions) shape
employees’ work attitudes and job
performance. Individual dispositions also affect
how people respond to events.
Emotional labor: act of managing emotions at work.
Surface acting: faking the required emotions without actually trying to feel the
emotions.
Deep acting: modifying feelings to match the required emotions.
Emotional dissonance: felt versus displayed emotions.
Emotional intelligence: the ability to perceive emotions in self and others, understand the
meaning of these emotions, and regulate one’s emotions accordingly. It is positively related to
job performance (between r = .18 and r = .47).
