PSY201 Revision Notes PDF

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PSY201 Revision Notes (Jan 2019 intake)Study Unit 1: Introduction (chapters 1-2) Study Unit 2: From Job Analysis to Employee Recruitment (chapters 3-4) Study Unit 2: Selecting Employees & Evaluating Their Performance (chapters 5-6) Study Unit 3: Motivating & Leading Employees (chapte...

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PSY201 Revision Notes (Jan 2019 intake) Study Unit 1: Introduction (chapters 1-2) Study Unit 2: From Job Analysis to Employee Recruitment (chapters 3-4) Study Unit 2: Selecting Employees & Evaluating Their Performance (chapters 5-6) Study Unit 3: Motivating & Leading Employees (chapters 8, 13) Study Unit 3: Shaping Employee Attitudes & Behaviours for the Better (chapters 9-10) Study Unit 4: Enhancing Work Groups in the Organization (chapters 12, 15) Riggio, R. E. (2018). Introduction to industrial/organizational psychology (7th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. EXAM TIPS:  Chapters 7, 11, and 14 are not examinable, but academic articles indicated as compulsory readings are  Most questions are set in a context: define concept, explain concept, connect back to the case  Always start with *definitions, explain what the topic is about  Case study questions o Don’t look at the case as a case o Try to relate & put I/O psychology concepts in order  Look through all the questions, prepare an outline of how to answer them Jan 18 Q3:  Part a) Don’t use measurement of stressful life events (individual level)  Part b) Major stress producers? What resources can be used? Programmes? (refer to pg. 306) Unit 1

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Chapter 1  Frederick Taylor o Time-and-Motion Studies o Scientific Management  Elton Mayon o Hawthorne Studies o Human Relations Movement  Four Trends in I/O Psychology Chapter 3  Job Analysis  Techniques

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Chapter 5  Employee Screening Tests

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Chapter 8  Motivation Theories

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Chapter 9  Job Satisfaction

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Chapter 12  Group Processes

Main Themes to Study/Memorize Chapter 2  Research Process (steps)  Reliability and Validity  Ethical Issues

Chapter 4  Employee Recruitment  Employee Screening  Employee Selection  Employee Placement Chapter 6  Performance Appraisals o Subjective vs. Objective o Techniques o Pitfalls (and how to overcome) Chapter 13  Leadership Theories  Leadership Studies Chapter 10  Worker Stress  Job Burnout Chapter 15  Organizational Structures  Organizational Development

PSY201 Revision Notes: Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1: Introduction: Definitions and History What is Industrial/Organizational Psychology? I/O Psychology: The branch of psychology that is concerned with the study of behaviour in work settings and the application of psychology principles to change work behaviour Broader picture:  Structure of work organizations  How physical, social, and psychological environments affect worker behaviour Group processes: Psychological processes: Basic personnel functions:  Relationships between workplace  Recruitment and selection processes  Motivation to work supervisors and subordinates  Worker feelings of job satisfaction  Employee training  Coordination between group  Stress  Measurement of employee job members performance Science and Practice of I/O Psychology (2 Objectives) Scientific objective: Applied objective: 2. To apply that knowledge to improve the work behaviour, the work 1. To conduct research in an effort to increase environment, and the psychological conditions of workers our knowledge and understanding of human work behaviour  Involves the study and understanding of all  Involves the application of psychological principles and of knowledge aspects of behaviour at work gleaned from psychological research to work behaviour  Many work issues are similarly complex and  E.g., an I/O psychologist might evaluate an employee testing program or need to be examined from a variety of conduct an employee attitude survey or some type of employee training perspectives program The Roots and Early History of I/O Psychology The Beginnings 1. Hugo Munsterberg 4. Frederick W. Taylor (engineer) believed that scientific principles could be applied to the (experimental psychologist) study of work behaviour to help increase worker efficiency and productivity became interested in the  Time-and-motion studies: Procedures in which work tasks are broken down into design of work and simple component movements and the movements timed to develop a more efficient personnel selection for jobs method for performing the tasks such as streetcar operator  Scientific management: Begun by Frederick Taylor, a method of using scientific 2. Walter Dill Scott principles to improve the efficiency and productivity of jobs  Narrow/limited philosophy – jobs today are much more complex, often require (experimental psychologist) was interested in studying sophisticated problem-solving skills or the use of creative thinking (not merely through scientific management), and lesser physical labour (tasks are not amenable salespersons and the psychology of advertising to time-and-motion studies) 3. Scott (first professor) started 6. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (husband-and-wife team) implemented the principles of scientific management and revolutionized several physical labor jobs by making the a consulting company to accepted work procedures more efficient and productive practice what was being  Tried to economize everything (e.g., being more efficient in bathroom routines) learned from research World War I and the 1920s:  Robert Yerkes (president of American Psychological Association) and a group of psychologists worked with the U.S. Army to create intelligence tests for the placement of Army recruits o Represented the first mass testing efforts and set the stage for future testing efforts  After WWI, psychologists began to be involved in the screening and placement of personnel in industry  In 1920s, the first psychological consulting organizations began o 1919: Walter Dill Scott opened a short-lived personnel consulting firm o 1921: James McKeen Cattell founded the Psychological Corporation  The difficult economic times in the early part of the 21 st century led to organizational downsizing, and replacement of inhouse to outsourced I/O psychologists (from consulting firms) The Great Depression Years and World War II Hawthorne  Researcher Elton Mayo and his colleagues wanted to study the effects of the physical work environment Studies (e.g., lighting) on worker productivity  Hawthorne effect: Changes in behaviour occurring as a function of participants’ knowledge that they are being observed and their expectations concerning their role as research participants  Human relations movement: A movement based on the studies of Elton Mayo that emphasizes the importance of social factors in influencing work performance o A harmonious work environment, with good interpersonal relationships among coworkers, should be a productive work environment, particularly when the work itself is boring or monotonous Contribution of 1. The tremendous need and the increasing complexity of machinery was an important impetus for human WWII factors psychology and for training soldiers to operate the equipment. 2. I/O psychologists were called on to improve selection and placement of military personnel, continuing the

PSY201 Revision Notes: Chapter 1 work that psychologists had begun during World War I. 1948: A distinct focus on personnel issues, such as testing, selection, and the evaluation of employees, was helped in part by the publication of a new journal, Personnel Psychology  Cold War years of the 1950s and 1960s: The growth of the defense industry further spurred the development of a specialty area called engineering psychology (today referred to as human factors psychology, or ergonomics; this has become a separate discipline, but shares roots with I/O psychology)  1960s to early 1990s: Research and practice in I/O psychology flourished  1964: Civil rights legislations to ban discrimination in employment practices o Designed to protect underrepresented groups such as ethnic minorities from being unfairly discriminated against in work-related decisions, this legislation forced organizations to take a closer look at the ways people were selected for jobs Industrial/Organizational Psychology Today and in the Future 1st Trend: The Changing Nature of Work  Flatter organizations (fewer levels in the Organizational downsizing: A strategy of reducing an organization’s hierarchy) – broken up into smaller subunits workforce to improve organizational efficiency and/or competitiveness with greater emphasis on work teams  Requires organizations to “do more with less” to survive (fewer workers are doing more work)  Due to technological advancements:  Led to negative consequences for workers (e.g., a sense of job insecurity) o People can work in almost any location o Many jobs are becoming increasingly Outsourcing: Contracting with an external organization to accomplish work complex and demanding, requiring tasks workers to process more information and  Used to increase output and can reduce overhead costs associated with the personnel needed to do the tasks in house to make more decisions 2nd Trend: Expanding Focus on Human Resources “Talent management” reflects the emphasis on: Beginning to focus more broadly, seeing the worker as a “whole person” rather than just an employee  The value of the worker  Employee recruitment and selection procedures  Highlights individual development (e.g., job engagement processes, stress management,  Employee training, development, and compensation programs  Benefit programs (e.g., “family-friendly” policies such as understanding role of emotions) employer-sponsored child-care and extended family leaves)  Recognizes work-life balance 3rd Trend: Increasing Diversity and Globalization of the Workforce  Greater workplace diversity (demographic and cultural) due to immigration, the increase in global organizations, and the increasing number of women entering the organizational workforce  The successful executive or manager of the future must be globally aware, knowledgeable and respectful of other cultures, and capable of working with people from a wide variety of backgrounds The Postwar Years and the Modern Era

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Advantages Disadvantages (if not carefully managed) Represents strength and opportunity  Increased destructive conflict Different viewpoints and perspectives  organizational  Inhibits team cooperation creativity and innovation  Impedes performance Understand and reach new markets for products/service Recruiting and retaining the best workers 4th Trend: Increasing Relevance of I/O Psychology in Policy and Practice Workplace and social issues that should be addressed: o Selecting and developing better organizational leaders – (e.g., ethical and socially responsible) o Improving the lot of workers through fair compensation, flexible work policies (including work–family issues), and reducing discrimination in the workplace o Leveraging workforce diversity and globalization in optimal ways o Improving performance through optimal management and development of talent o Helping organizations (and the people in them) to embrace positive change and be more innovative

PSY201 Revision Notes: Chapter 2 CHAPTER 2: Research Methods in Industrial/Organizational Psychology Social Science Research Methods Goals of  Describe, explain, and predict work behaviour SSRM  Control or alter behaviour to obtain desirable outcomes (e.g., through implementation of programs) Steps in the Research Process 1. Formulation of the problem 2. Generation of hypotheses 3. Choosing an experimental design  Specify the problem or issue to be  Involves measurement of variables to  Depends on the research setting studied generate hypotheses and the degree of control the researcher has over the setting  Often influenced by previous  Develop a theory/model by testing the research hypotheses through the collection of (e.g., natural vs. laboratory) systematic observations of behaviour 4. Collection of data  Sampling: The selection of a representative group from a larger population for study  Random sampling: The selection of research participants from a population so that each individual has an equal probability of being chosen o E.g., a random sample of 20 workers from a company employing 200 workers  Stratified sampling: The selection of research participants based on categories that represent important distinguishing characteristics of a population o E.g., males and females are considered as different stratas; selected sample might involve specific % of males and females  Helps to ensure that the sample is representative of the population and prevents biases 5. Statistical analyses of data 6. Interpretation of results and drawing of conclusions  Quantitative or qualitative data  Includes research limitations  Helps to interpret collected observations Major Research Designs Experimental Method: A research design characterized by a high degree of control over the research setting to allow for the determination of cause-and-effect relationships among variables Laboratory experiment Field experiment Advantages Offers great deal of control; major advantage of conducting Less concern about generalizability of findings research Disadvantages Artificiality: Researcher may create a situation that is quite Less control than laboratory; researcher must different from the actual work setting  difficulty in still maintain control over the situation to draw strong conclusions generalizing the findings  Independent variable: In the experimental method, the  Treatment group: The group in an experimental variable that is manipulated by the researcher investigation that is subjected to the change in the independent variable  Dependent variable: In the experimental method, the variable that is acted on by the independent variable; the  Control group: A comparison group in an experimental outcome variable investigation that receives no treatment  Extraneous variables: Variables other than the  Random assignment: A method of assigning subjects to independent variable that may influence the dependent groups by chance to control for the effects of extraneous variable variables o Important to hold all EVs constant (e.g., using same o Ensures that any motivational differences or other methods, equipment, timing) individual characteristics show up in equivalent o May result from systematic differences in the proportions in both groups o Serves to control for the effects of EVs individuals being studied Other Research Methods QuasiDefinition: Follows the experimental design but lacks random assignment and/or manipulation of an Experiments independent variable  Can be used to compare departments or organizations on some variables of interest (groups should be as equivalent as possible)  Researchers often try to measure as many possible EVs as they can in order to statistically control for their effects  Helps to strengthen the results Definition: A research design that examines the relationship among or between variables as they naturally occur Correlational (Observationa  No manipulation of variables by the experimenter – measures 2 or more variables and examines their l) Method statistical relationship (distinctions between IV and DV are not as important)  Does not require the rigid control over variables  easy to use in actual work settings  Can be conducted with archival data (data that an organization has already collected)  Disadvantages – cannot determine cause-and-effect relationships (tendency to try and make causal statements from correlations, which leads to many misconceptions and faulty interpretations of data)

Complex

Multiple regression design:

Mediation model:

PSY201 Revision Notes: Chapter 2 Correlational Design

MetaAnalysis

Examines the relationship between a particular outcome variable and multiple predictors  Allows the researcher to determine how a number of variables correlate with a certain outcome  Allows a researcher to control for possible EVs and examine the effect of one variable on another after controlling for (or “holding constant”) the effects of EVs What is it used for?

When is it used? How is it used?

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Can be used to infer causality The relationship between 2 variables is hypothesized to be explained/mediated by a 3rd variable (the mediator variable) E.g., the relationship between job satisfaction and employee turnover (assuming that less satisfied employees are more likely to quit their jobs) is mediated by a third variable (the intention to quit)

Definition: A technique that allows results from several different research studies to be combined and summarized  E.g., summarizing the relationship between variables examined in each of a set of studies, determining other factors (moderating variables) that are associated with increases or decreases in the magnitude of relationships between variables of interest  Compare and combine data from all of the examined studies (e.g., effect sizes and sample size) Usually conducted when there are 20 or more separate studies of a given hypothesis/topic

Uses an indicator of effect size (an estimate of the magnitude of a relationship or effect found in a research investigation) from each examined study  E.g., correlational design (between any variable X and any variable Y) or experimental design (between IV and DV)  One measure of effect size is the correlation coefficient, which is provided in many studies to describe relationships between variables Purpose  Yields a summary statistic about the overall relationship between the variables examined in each of the studies and whether there are significantly different results between the studies  Addressed issues such as the effectiveness of employment tests, college GPA in predicting job performance, the relationship between age and work motivation, the effectiveness of managerial training programs, and the validity of certain leadership theories Case Study Definition: A research investigation involving a one-time assessment of behaviour  Usually used in exploratory studies – can provide rich, descriptive information about certain work behaviours and situations  Disadvantages: o Does not allow researchers to draw any firm conclusions or generalize findings o Unable to test hypotheses or determine cause-and-effect relationships Measurement of Variables Operationalized: Clearly defining a research variable so that it can be measured  Brought down from the abstract level to a more concrete level and clearly defined so that it can be measured or manipulated  Key dependent variables (e.g., productivity, work quality, employee turnover, employee absenteeism, and employee satisfaction/engagement) represent work outcomes Observational Techniques Self-Report Techniques 1. Obtrusive observation: Research observation in which Definition: Measurement methods relying on research the presence of the observer is known to the participants participants’ reports of their own behavior or attitudes  Disadvantages – participants may behave differently because they know they are a part of a research Survey: A common self-report measure in which participants investigation are asked to report on their attitudes, beliefs, and/or behaviors 2. Unobtrusive observation: Research observation in which  Modes: pencil-and-paper or online measures, face-to-face the presence of the observer is not known to the or telephone interviews participants  Used to assess workers’ personalities, occupational  Involves direct observation of behavior, but interests, and management or supervisory style; to obtain participants are unaware of the researcher’s presence evaluations of job candidates; or to elicit supervisors’ and do not know that/which their behavior is being ratings of worker performance studied  Advantages – Allows the researcher to collect massive amounts of data relatively inexpensively  Advantages – the researcher can be fairly confident that the recorded behavior is typical  Disadvantages: o Requires thorough knowledge of measurement  Disadvantages – ethical concerns about protecting the privacy of the participants theory, research methods and statistics o Possibility of distortion or bias of responses (either  Both can be costly and difficult to obtain – requires the intentional or...