Industrial or Organizational Psychology Essay

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Industrial/organizational psychology, or I-O psychology as it is abbreviated, has gone from being a little known branch of psychology to one that is studied and used by many. Although the concept and the idea of I-O psychology began in the early 1900s, it was not until after World War II that it gained prominence and attention from everyone in the psychology world (Aamond 2009). The idea behind the study of this branch of psychology was to analyze what it was that made people perform in their jobs. In a job market that influenced some to excel, but yet others did not produce results, this branch of psychology was used to understand what it was that caused these problems and how it was that someone could go about fixing them (Spector 2008). These factors were applied to all types of jobs, from factory and office jobs, to professional and military employment. Industrial/organizational psychology is now used to better the performance of individuals so that more productivity could be felt in the workplace.

Unlike other branches in psychology, industrial/organizational psychology focuses on people and their interaction with the workplace (Spector 2008). This branch of psychology is often compared to social psychology which covers the analyzation of people's interactions with each other and how that affects how they behave.

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Although I-O psychology does embrace this concept as well, it goes a little beyond that. Other branches of psychology focus just on the individual, while I-O psychology views organizations, such as the workplace, as an individual itself. Assisting the development of organizations in order to better serve the individuals involved, is part of the function of an industrial and organizational psychologist (Landy & Conte 2009).

Just as its name entails, there are two main components to this branch of psychology. The organizational portion of I-O psychology is the portion that deals the most with the functioning of organizations and how to improve not only the quality of the work that is being outputted, but the way that the individuals are doing the work, and how their performance could reach an even higher level of achievement (Landy & Conte 2009). This portion focuses on the relationships that all individuals in the organization have with each other, whether it is on a manager to worker level or between workers themselves. Dynamics from all angles are studied in this branch so that an organization could learn how to function properly. Having I-O psychology implemented within an organization, could potentially save an organization lots of money for figuring out a way to improve performance, as….....

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"Industrial Or Organizational Psychology" (2011, August 27) Retrieved May 15, 2025, from
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