What Is Organisational Psychology?

Part A

1. What is organisational psychology?

Organisational psychology, or industrial organisational psychology, is an area of psychology that identifies psychological theories and concepts and uses them in concern with organisations (Muchinsky 2003). Scientific enquiry and the professional side are two sides of this branch of psychology, which is commonly referred to as I/O psychology. The ultimate goal of an organisational psychologist is to understand and analyse employee behaviour and actions in the workplace (Muchinsky 2003).

2. When and why did it emerge as a field of psychology?

It is believed that four psychologists, Hugo Munsterberg, James Cattell, Walter Dill Scott and Walter Bingham each contributed and developed the structure of this branch of psychology (Kazi 2012). Munsterberg’s book, Psychology and Industrial Efficiency, is thought to be the first text published in this field in 1910 (Kazi 2012). However, this field was known as industrial psychology until it led to the formation of industrial organisational psychology in 1970.

Organisational psychology emerged as a field primarily to increase industrial efficiency (Muchinsky 2003). Towards the end of the 19th century, rapid changes occurred in society, due to swift advancements in technology, an increase in immigration, urban expansion and education (Muchinsky 2003). As society focused on science for answers, psychologists strove to help society and industrial psychology arose to solve these problems.

Part B

3. What are the fields of organisational psychology?

Muchinsky (2003) categorised organisational psychology into six general fields, selection and placement, training and development, performance appraisal, organisation development, quality of work life and ergonomics. Selection and placement involves organisational psychologists forming evaluation techniques for the recruitment, selecting and placement of workers in their company (Muchinsky 2003). The field of training and development is involved with categorizing employee skills and abilities that could be improved to enhance job performance, such as technological skill improvement and the teaching of workers to work together successfully. Performance appraisal is concerned with establishing employment standards and analysing the performance of employees. These psychologists may also analyse the performance of the whole organisation or various parts or elements within it. Organisation development field refers to psychologists who analyse the whole organisational structure and aim to ensure the most positive results for individuals and teams within the organisation, as well as its customers, as the organisation grows.