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Unit 1: Introduction to Industrial Psychology

INTRODUCTION

The simplest definition of industrial and organizational psychology is “the application of

psychological principles, theory, and research to the work setting." The domain of I/O
psychology stretches well beyond the physical boundaries of the workplace because many of
the factors that influence work behavior are not always found in the work setting. These factors
include things like family responsibilities, cultural influences, employment-related legislation,
and nonwork events.

Traditionally, I-O psychology has been divided into three major concentrations. Even though we
will talk about them separately; they often overlap considerably.
 Personnel Psychology- Personnel Psychology (often seen as part of human resources, or
HR) addresses issues such as recruitment, selection, training, performance appraisal,
promotion, transfer, and termination. The approach assumes that people are
consistently different in their attributes and work behaviors; and that information about
these differences can be used to predict, maintain, and increase work performance and
satisfaction.
 Organizational Psychology- combines research and ideas from social psychology and
organizational behavior. It addresses the emotional and motivational side of work. It
includes topics such as attitudes, fairness, motivation, stress, leadership, teams, and the
border aspects of organizational and work design. In some senses, it concentrates on
the reactions of people to work and the action plans that develop because of those
reactions. Both work and people are variables of interest, and the issue is the extent to
which characteristics of the people match the characteristics or demands of the work.
Of course, organizational psychology has implications for performance, but it may not
be as direct as is the case with personnel psychology.
 Human Engineering (also called human factor psychology)- is the study of the
capacities and limitations of humans with respect to a particular environment. The
human engineering approach is almost the opposite of the personnel approach.
Remember, in the personnel approach the goal is to find or fit the best person for the
job. In the human engineering approach, the task of the human engineer is to develop
an environment that is compatible with the characteristics of the worker. The
“environmental” aspects this may include are quite diverse; among them are tools,
workspaces, information display, shift work, work pace, machine controls, and even the
extent to which safety is valued in the organization or workgroup. Human engineering,
more than personnel or organizational psychology, integrates many different disciplines,
such as cognitive sciences, ergonomics, exercise physiology, and even anatomy.

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Human Engineering (human factor psychology)

The study of the capacities and limitations of human with respect to a particular environment.

Organizational Psychology
Field of psychology that combines research from social psychology and organizational behavior and addresses the emotional and
motivational side of work.

Scientific Practitioner Model

A model that uses scientific tools and research in the practice of I – O psychology.

The most striking characteristic of the profession of I/O psychology is that research is actually
used to address a concrete problem or issue. There is a clear connection between research
conducted using the tools of science and the practice of I-O psychology. This emphasis on the
application of scientific knowledge is known as the scientist-practitioner model. This does not
mean that every practicing I-O psychologist must also be an active researcher must be an active
practitioner. It simply means that science and practice are both important parts of I-O
psychology. As an example, real problems related to medical accidents and mistakes in
operating rooms lead to research on safety culture in hospitals. Similarly, University-based
research on team training is tested in the hospital environment.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN I/O AND BUSINESS PROGRAMS

The purpose of I/O psychology is “to enhance the dignity and performance of human beings,
and the organizations they work in, by advancing the science and knowledge of human
behaviour” (Rucci,2008). The application of psychological principles is what best distinguishes
I/O psychology from related fields typically taught in business colleges. There can be four such
distinguishing factors
1. Topics covered are similar but the techniques and reasons behind them are different.
2. I/O psychology examines factors that affect people in an organization as opposed to the
broader aspects of running an organization such as marketing channels, transportation
networks, and cost accounting.
3. I/O psychology relies extensively on research, quantitative methods, and testing
techniques. I/O psychologists are trained to use empirical data and statistics rather than
intuition to make decisions; they are not clinical psychologists and hence do not conduct
therapy for workers. It relies on the scientific-practitioner model, i.e., they act as
scientists when they conduct research and as practitioners when they work with actual
organizations. They also use this model when they apply research findings so that the
work they perform with organizations will be of high quality and enhance an
organization’s effectiveness.

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4. I/O psychology enables professionals to have a positive impact on the lives of other
people. These professionals can also improve the quality of life by increasing employee
effectiveness, which reduces the cost of goods sold by improving product quality. This in
turn reduces repair and replacement cost by improving organizational efficiency, which
can result in decreases in inefficient activities such as waiting in line.

EMPLOYMENT OF I/O PSYCHOLOGISTS

I/O psychologists typically work in four settings:
 At college & universities- they teach and conduct research, some may also work as
administrators
 At consulting firms- they help a wide variety of organizations become more productive
by helping them select a high-quality and diverse workforce, designing systems that will
motivate employees while treating them fairly, training employees, and ensuring that
organizations treat applicants and employees in a legal and ethical manner
 The private sector- here, they work for a single company such as IBM, Microsoft, etc.
 The public sector- here, they work for a local, state or federal government agency.
Though the private sector historically paid more than the public sector, many employees
believe the higher job-stability of the public sector offsets the potential for lower pay. Also,
though master’s and doctoral level graduates can be found in all employment areas, [Link] are
much more likely to be employed in academic settings: master’s level graduates are more often
employed as HR executives, data analysts, trainers, and compensation analysts.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The roots of I-O psychology trace back nearly to the beginning of psychology as a science.
Wilhelm Wundt founded one of the first psychological laboratories in 1876 in Leipzig, Germany.
Within 10 years, he had established a thriving graduate training and research enterprise. He
hoped to put scientific psychology on an even footing with the more establish physical sciences
of chemistry, physics, and biology. In the mid – 1880s, he trained two psychologists who would
have a major influence on the eventual emergence of I-O psychology: Hugo Munsterberg and
James McKeen Cattell.

Munsterberg left Germany for America in 1892 and became the director of the psychological
laboratories at Harvard University. Munsterberg was one of the first to measure abilities in
workers and tie those abilities to performance – something that may seem in hindsight like an
obvious path to follow but was innovative at the time. In another departure from the practice
of his day, he applied rudimentary statistics to “analyze” the result of his studies. The world’s
first I-O psychology textbook, written 1912 and translated German to English in 1913, was
another of Munsterberg’s memorable contributions to the field. At the time of his death in
1916, Munsterberg was at the pinnacle of his career at Harvard. In conjunction with pursuing

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his research on industrial efficiency, he devoted considerable energy to persuading the leaders
of American government and industry that I-O psychology was a key contributor to the nation’s
economic development.

Cattell was an American contemporary of Munsterberg and is recognized for being among the
first to realize the importance of differences among individuals as a way of predicting their
behavior. Wundt, under whose direction he studied, was interested in general laws of behavior
and less interested in differences among subjects in responding to his experimental stimuli. He
and other experimental psychologists of the time considered those differences as "errors" that
served to complicate and muddy their results. Cattell observed instead that these differences
were reliable properties of the subjects and could be used to understand behavior more fully.
When the USA entered the World War I (1917), Yerkes, the President of the American
Psychological Association (APA), led a team that developed recruitment tests to select recruits
for military service based on their test scores. Tests of mental performance, notably intelligence
tests, were developed, which were primarily based on Alfred Binet’s intelligence test. The Army
Alpha test was developed for those who could read and write, and the Army Beta test was
similar but was nonverbal and administered to recruits who were illiterate. When the war
ended (1914-1918), the private industry set out to emulate the successful testing of army
personnel, and mental ability testing soon became commonplace in the work setting.

Prior to 1917, there had never been a graduate degree conferred in industrial psychology.
Lillian Gilbreth was awarded the first Ph.D. in Industrial psychology by Brown University for her
research applying the Scientific Management principles of Frederick W. Taylor to educational
institutions. Scientific Management was based on the principles of time and motion study. She
and her husband Frank Gilbreth became well-known human engineering practitioners and
management consultants. As America entered the second World War the field of human
engineering emerged. Until then, human engineering was little more than the study of time and
motion. Time and motion specialists (like Frederick W. Taylor and the Gilbreths) broke every
action down into its constituent parts, timed those movements with a stopwatch, and
developed new and more efficient movements that would reduce fatigue, as well as increase
productivity.

STANFORD-BINET TEST
A well-known intelligence Test designed for testing one individual at a time. Originally developed by Alfred Binet and
Theodore Simon in 1905, the Binet – Simon test was updated starting in 1916 by Lewis Terman and colleagues at
Stanford University, which led to the test’s current name.

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
A movement based on principles developed by Frederick W. Taylor who suggested that there was one best and most
efficient way to perform various jobs.

TIME AND MOTION STUDIES

Studies that broke every action down into its constituent parts, timed those movements with a stopwatch and
developed new and more efficient movements that would reduce fatigue and increase productivity.

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1 930— 1 964
Industrial psychology underwent a sea change when Elton Mayo, a psychologist from Australia,
arrived in the United States in 1924 and immediately began studying not the efficiency of
workers, but their emotions. He immediately began studying not the efficiency of workers, but
their emotions. He was particularly interested in the possibility that work "caused" workers to
act in pathological ways. He proposed that there was a mental state known as revery
obsession that resulted from the mind-numbing, repetitive, and difficult work that
characterized the factories of the day. Mayo proposed that since workers were not required to
use their intellect but only their physical effort, their minds would inevitably wander and in this
wandering, various paranoid thoughts would arise. As a result, they would be unhappy, prone
to resist management attempts to increase productivity, and sympathetic to labor unions. It is
interesting to note that such a reaction to boring work today would be considered normal
rather than pathological.

When Mayo was given a faculty appointment at Harvard in 1926, research was being done at
the Hawthorne, Illinois, plant of the Western Electric Corporation. These studies are classics and
are known collectively as the Hawthorne studies the research had begun as simple attempts to
increase productivity by manipulating lighting, rest breaks, and work hours. But the results of
the experiments were puzzling. Sometimes, when conditions were actually made worse (e.g.,
lighting was reduced) production improved; and when conditions were made better (e.g.,
lighting was reduced) production sometimes dropped! Mayo suggested the workers be
interviewed to see what was going on. This led to the rather dramatic discovery (for the time)
that workers' attitudes actually played a role in productivity. In the context of the Hawthorne
experiments, the very fact that someone was finally paying attention to the workers seemed to
have affected behavior. This has become known as the "Hawthorne Effect" the change in
behavior that results from researchers paying attention to the workers. Until that time, it had
been generally accepted that the only significant motivator of effort was money and that the
environment, rather than the person, was of primary importance.

The results of the Hawthorne studies ushered in a radically new movement known as Human
Relations Movement. Researchers in this movement were interested in more complicated
theories of motivation as well as in the newly discovered emotional world of the worker.
Studies of job satisfaction became more common.

REVERY OBSESSION
Australian psychologist Elton Mayo proposed that this mental state resulted from the mind-numbing, repetitive, and
difficult work that characterized U.S. factories in the early 20th century, causing factory workers to be unhappy prone
to resist management attempts to increase productivity and sympathetic to labor unions.

HAWTHORNE STUDIES
Research is done at the Hawthorne, Illinois, plant of the Western Electric Company that began as an attempt to increase
productivity by manipulating lighting, rest breaks, and work hours. This research showed the important role that
workers’ attitudes played in productivity.

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HUMAN RELATIONS MOVEMENT

The results of the Hawthorne studies ushered and this movement, which accused on work attitudes and the newly
discovered emotional world of the worker.

The second World War (1939-1945) brought some interesting new problems, particularly in the
Air Force. The aircraft that had been used in the first world war were primitive and differed
little from one model to another. They were biplanes (i.e., structured with two wings one on
top of the other) with simple controls for the throttle, the flaps and the rudder. Some had
crudely mounted machine guns, bombs were dropped over the side with hands, etc. But in the
two decades between the wars, tremendous advances had been made in the aircraft and other
battle tools. There were many different types of aircrafts: fighters, bombers, transport planes,
etc. And even within a type of aircraft, controls (flaps, landing gear, throttle) and displays
(gauges and dials that signaled airspeed or altitude) were located in different places. This
meant that as pilots moved from one plane to another, they would encounter completely
different cockpit configurations. This in turn led to an astounding number of crashes, many
fatal, as pilots would mistakenly activate the landing gear instead of the flaps or the flaps
instead of the throttle. Applied psychologists suggested that cockpits be standardized with
respect to the placement of displays and controls, and that controls be given unique shapes so
that a pilot would know simply by grasping a control that it was the correct one. The landing
gear control was to be shaped like a wheel or tire, and the flap control to feel like a flap would
feel, and so forth. When these innovations were implemented, the resulting immediate
reduction in accidents assured human engineering its place as a subarea of industrial
psychology.
In the more traditional areas of I-O psychology, the war brought renewed interest in ability
testing (to accurately place recruits in these new technologically advanced military jobs) as well
as the introduction of the assessment center)
In contrast to the depression of the early 1930s, when employers were laying off workers
rather than hiring them and consequently had little interest in selection testing, the post-
Second World War years were a boom time for the industry, with many jobs to be filled and
applicants to be tested. Interestingly, however, when the war ended, and the soldiers came
back to work, there was an increasing trend toward labor unrest. Increasing numbers of
authorized and unauthorized (sometimes called "wildcat" strikes) work stoppages were staged
by unions and workers, and management was very concerned about the effect of these strikes
on productivity. This was a period of unprecedented interest in worker attitude surveys.

By 1950, as employers realized that interests and attitudes, and personality might be
contributors to desirable outcomes such as productivity and workforce stability, a glut of tests
had entered the market. The influx of new tests for selection continued unabated until the
passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act was written in sections called
"titles," with each title addressing a specific area of possible discrimination. Such as voting,
education, or housing. The section dealing with employment discrimination was Title VII and it
required employers to justify the use of tests of selection. If the test could not be shown to be
related to job performance, and if a protected group (demographic groups specifically

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identified in the legislation, e.g., African Americans, Hispanics, women) tended to score lower
on that test, on average, than the non-protected groups, resulting in fewer offers of
employment, the test might be considered illegal. This legislation revolutionized selection
testing and led to the development of a broad base of technical knowledge about the
characteristics of employment tests.

A summary of the Historical events can be presented as in the image further:

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AT WORK

Individual differences are important in the work environment as potential predictors of training
effectiveness, individual responses to stress, and overall productivity. People’s personality,
abilities, intelligence, background, attitudes, perceptions, motivations, cultures, roles they play,
gender, race and disability are amongst those fundamental factors that make us into
individuals.

PERSONALITY
Personality is a complex phenomenon built on a wide range of the physical, mental, ethical, and
social qualities, specific to each individual. This specific content and composition of various
natural and acquired impulses, habits, interests, ideals, mannerisms, opinions, and believes
projected out to the world and how we present ourselves to others.
However, the special mix that our personality is also what makes us, individuals unique and
distinguishable from each other. All the aspects that form our personality are relatively stable

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and enduring; therefor, at least theoretically, it should be possible to form prediction about
people’s behavior based on our knowledge and understanding of their personalities.

Theoretical approaches to personality:

Informal theories of personality:

Informal theories affect the judgment we make about people’s personalities. Most of us from
some sort of stereotypical exceptions of gender differences and how other cultures will
behavior; for example, an urban child raised by series of different foster parents is expected to
behave differently in some respects from a child raised by a family in middle –class suburbs.

Scientific theories of personality

Unlike informal theories, scientific personality models involve scientific measurement and
assessment methods that arise from these models. Different theories have emphasized
different aspects. Though, not all personality theories are relevant to psychology at work.

I The Humanistic Approach

The humanistic theories differ widely in the concept on which they focus, but they share the
following views:
1. Each of us is largely responsible for what happens to us, and we are not merely driven
and controlled by dark forces within our personalities.
2. The focus of personality development is on the present and traumatic experiences from
our childhood do not have to have an overwhelming effect on our personalities.
3. Humanistic approach stresses the importance of ‘personal growth’ stating that people
are not content with simply meeting their current needs but wish to progress toward
bigger goals such as becoming the best they can be or achieving self-actualization.

Self-actualized people are those who accept themselves as they are, recognizing their strengths
as well as their weaknesses. Such people are in touch with their own personalities and as a
result, less inhibited and less likely to conform than most of us. Self-actualized people would
retain their childhood curiously and fascination with the world. For them boredom is a rare
state of mind as they see each day as an exciting adventure. Finally, self-actualization people at
times have ‘peak experiences’ or instances in which they have a powerful feeling of unity with
the universe with waves of great power and wonder. Such experiences are linked to further
personal growth as, following them, they report feeling more spontaneous and more
appreciative of life.

II The Behaviorist and Cognitive-Behaviorist approaches:

The behaviorist approach in psychology understands human beings because of conditioning.
We become conditioned to respond to our environment because of learning by an associate or
operant conditioning. Learning by associations is attributed to Ivan Pavlov in the 1920s and his
theory of classical conditioning, while operant conditioning, or learning by way of reward and
unpleasant conquest, is credited to B.F Skinner in the 1950s.

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Early behaviorists argued that most human behaviors are conditioned or drive-by reinforcers
such as money and social praise. For example, people work for money because they know that
it will result in food and other direct comforts. Over the course of a lifetime, people accumulate
innumerable associations between stimuli they encounter, their behavioral responses to them,
and the reinforcement or punishment that result. Since each person’s history of exposure to
such environmental contingencies varies, each person’s behavior will also differ. Thus, a person
who had a frightening experience with in-class presentations as a student might avoid
presentations in the future; if the experience particularly punishing, they may develop a phobia
that has an overly strong influence on their behavior. At the same time, a person who had
mostly positive experiences with presentations would behave differently when speaking
publicly.
Furthermore, the behaviorist approach emphasized the central role of learning in forming
personality. The reinforcement theory underpins training programmers concerned with
developing skills through instructions and feedback. Employees going through such programs
are conditioned to respond and receive immediate feedback, making step-by-step progress,
which takes them to a positive outcome.

III The Cognitive-Behaviorist approach

The cognitive-behaviorist approach sees people as active learners who acquire knowledge and
understanding by being exposed to different situations and by solving problems. This approach
is utilized when developing learning and training programmers that include: self-directed
learning, personal development planning activities, and discovery learning processes with the
help of facilitators, coaches, or mentors. Armstrong (2003) notes the practical implementation
that these techniques have had on modern learning, such as e-learning. Learning to go on to
internalize and enrich their knowledge by examining case studies, taking on projects, and
solving problems in given activities. Most personality theorists now believe that behaviors are
acquired and modified through learning. Future more, there is a general consensus that
cognitive factors play an important role in human behavior. Finally, this approach is significant
for work psychology as the techniques based on it are commonly used in the selection process
and involves situational tests and work simulations such as in exercises, presentations, leaders
group discussion, and role-plays.

IV The Type Approach

Personality type theory aims to classify people into distinct categories, i.e., this type or that.
Personality types are synonymous with ‘personality styles.’ Types refer to categories that are
distinct and discontinuous. A person is either one or the other.
The personality type approach states a person is either an introvert or an extrovert; while the
personality trait approach emphasizes that a person can be anywhere on a continuum ranging
from introversion, with most people clustering in the middle, and fewer people towards the
extremes.

Extroversion-introversion typology:
Devised by Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) this is probably the most widely used and amongst the
best known in everyday life. As with personality types, according to Jung people are either

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extroverts or introverts. The two orientations are seen as distinct categories, each having its
own value. The extrovert is oriented to the outer world of things and events, while the introvert
is oriented to the inner world of thoughts and ideas.

MBTI:
Further development of Jung’s personality typology is found in the work of Isabel Myers and
Katherine Briggs. They developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a questionnaire that
is widely used in business and training, and which provides information and exercise for better
understanding one’s own personality type and others with whom the individuals interact and
work. There are four basic personality traits (functions) or what is known in the literature as
‘BIG4’
1. Extroversion (E) or Introversion (I): Does the person recharge their energy via external
contact and activity (Extroversion) or spending time in their inner space (Introversion)?
Is the person-oriented to the outer world of things and events (E) or the inner world of
ideas and concepts (I)?
2. Intuition (N) or sensing (S): Does the person rely on their inner voice (Intuition) or
observations (Sensing)? Do they perceive means of the five senses (S) or go beyond
what is concretely present and focus on associations between what is perceived via
senses(N)?
3. Thinking (T) or Feeling (F): When making decisions what do they rely most on? Thoughts
(T) or Feelings (F)? are the person’s decisions made objectively(T) or subjectively(F)?
4. Judgment(J) or Perception (P): Do they tend to set schedules and organize life
(Judgments), or do they tend to leave the options open and see what happens
(Perceptions)? Does the person close their mind once a decision is made (J) or remains
open to further information (P)?
We can use all aspects of our personality; however, we feel more comfortable with some
others, i.e., being more intuitive than sensing. Our preference is the one we use at work, with
others, and in our relationship socially. Using the letters above, it is possible to have a unique
four-level code to indicate each of the sixteen personality types. The sixteen types represent
‘pure’ types and Myers (1987) acknowledges that it is unlikely that people will be purely one
type or another. A person may be in the middle of any categorization; extroverted at times and
introverted at others, they may be capable of both subjective and objective decision making.

Type A and B personalities: Friedman, an American cardiologist, noticed in the 1940s that the
chairs in his waiting room got worn out from the edges. He then hypothesized that his patients
were driven, impatient people, who sat on the edge of their seats when waiting and labeled
these people ‘Type A’ personalities. Furthermore, Type A personalities are workaholics, always
busy, somewhat impatient, extremely competitive, often irritable, and aggressive. Type B
personalities can take a more objective view of the issues in front of them and of themselves.
Described here are the extreme ends of the A-B dimensions. Most people will show some type
A characteristics, at least on occasion. Certainly, successful managers can balance the objective
view of the task ahead with their drive for success. It is worth noting that the concept of ‘Type A
personality’ has found its way into general jargon.

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V The Trait Approach: In some ways, the trait approach is an extension and development
of type approach. But, instead of placing people in different categories, trait theorists consider
each personality characteristic as a continuum and describe personality in terms of where a
person comes on these continua. A trait is any persisting characteristic, whether emotional,
cognitive, or behavioral, which influences the way personality is manifested in a relatively
permanent and consistent way. Trait theorists usually try to describe the basic traits that can all
come under meaningful descriptions of personality, and then they try to measure them. This is
done by shortlisting the most important traits from which can be drawn a comprehensive
profile of the individual’s personality.
The trait approach can be enhanced using psychometric techniques. R. B. Cattell (1978)
identified sixteen important factors which are underlying influences on the way we are seen to
behave. Each factor is the source of a range of observable behaviors. Each is referred to as a
sources trait while associated observable behaviors are referred to as surface traits. His sixteen
factors form the basis of the 16PF questionnaire, also used as a reputable tool in business.
The 5 factors model represents the most basic dimensions underlying the personality traits
identified in both the language and the expensive psychological research. The BIG5 embodies a
general agreement about 5 factors that provide most of what can be said about personality.
The BIG5 personality factors (dimensions) given by McCrae & Costa with their description are:
 Extroversion: warmth, assertiveness, activity, seeking excitement, enthusiasm, and
sociability on one side and caution, reserve, silence, and sobriety on the other side.
 Emotional stability: anxiety, self-consciousness, vulnerability, hostility, depression on
one side, and emotional stability on the other side.
 Openness to experience: flexibility with openness to change and new ideas at one end
to down-to-earth, simple, and narrow interests on the other end.
 Agreeableness: honest, straightforward, altruistic, modest, tender-minded, obedient,
conformist on one side and irritable, suspicious, and uncooperative on the other.
 Conscientiousness: competent, duty-driven, self-disciplined, thoughtful on one end of
the dimension to disorganized, impulsive, careless, and undependable on the other end.

These five factors can be assessed by two personality assessment instruments: NEO
Inventories: NEO-FFI and NEO-PI. Many psychologists view BIG5 as providing important insights
into key dimensions of personality. Where people stand on BIG5 dimensions is closely linked to
their success in performing many jobs. Several findings suggest that the BIG5 are related to
many important aspects of behaviors, and they are big indeed especially a lot of work
psychology.

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INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence can be broadly defined as a facility for solving problems. it is a cognitive capability
that involves abilities such as reasoning, planning, abstract thinking, understanding of a
complex idea, “making sense” of our surroundings, and ‘figuring out what to do. Intelligence is
also a person’s capacity for goal-directed, adaptive behavior.

Different approaches to Intelligence

Most modern theories of Intelligence recognize that intelligence may involve a general ability to
handle a wide range of cognitive tasks and problems, as Spearman suggested (‘g’ and ‘s’
factors), but also that intelligence is expressed in many ways and that persons can be high on
some aspects of intelligence but low on others.
Cattell (1971) made a distinction between fluid and crystallized intelligence where fluid
intelligence is also our ability to reason and process information. We rely on our fluid
intelligence when faced up with new situations, having to solve an unfamiliar problem or when
we have to learn something new. On the other hand, crystallized intelligence consists of
acquired skills and specific knowledge in our unique experience. Crystallized intelligence
continues to increase as long as we stay mentally and physically active - the more experience
we have the more skills we acquire while fluid intelligence peaks sometime before our twenties
and remains constant until a more mature age when it starts declining.

Intelligence in the workplace:

Intelligence, especially general Intelligence, is a good predictor of both job performance and
work training proficiency. Research also indicate that no other employee selection method is as
good as intelligence tests, in comparison to a more subjective selection method. It appears
further that 'g' is a particularly good predictor of performance in complex jobs, but it also
predicts lifetime productivity.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) originates from two published articles by
psychologists John Mayer and Peter Salovey in 1990 and 1993. Furthermore, it enters the pop-
psychology arena with a help of Daniel Goleman (1995, 1998) and his best-selling books on the
topic. Since then, it has stirred up a lot of discussion amongst scholars, while the business
largely bought into the ideas of Catering and developing more competencies that turn from EI.

The Mayer-Salovey model defines EI as the ability to perceive understand, manage, and use
emotions to facilitate thinking. They postulated that though frequently conceived as opposites,
emotions and intellect often work in concert, each enhancing the other. Therefore, certain
interactions between feelings and intellect that authors term emotional intelligence could make
the difference between a conventional decision and an enterprising one, between a stilted
peach and an inspiring one.

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Goleman's Model Views EI as an array

of emotional and social competencies
that contribute to managerial
performance. He defined emotional
intelligence as ‘the capacity for
recognizing our own feelings and that
of others, for motivating ourselves, for
managing emotions well in ourselves
as well as others' (Goleman 1995).
According to Goleman (1995) EI
consist of the major components
shown in the image.
Goleman portrayed an emotionally
intelligent person as one possessing all
the qualities of a nice person: kind,
warm, and friendly, while the original
researchers focused more on the fluid
interplay between emotions and
intelligence. Goleman also expanded
the boundaries of EI, including in its
range of qualities, like zeal and
persistence, not usually associated
with emotion. He equated high EI with
' maturity' and ' character', an
association that Salovey and Mayer denied. Finally, there is a test for measuring Goleman's
concept of EI: ECI-360, which is widely used.

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION AT WORK

The terms of 'creativity and 'innovation' are often used interchangeably in research studies and
the distinction between the two concepts two may be more one of emphasis than substance.
Recently creativity had to do with the production of novel and useful ideas, it involves an ability
to come up with new and different new points on the subject. It implies breaking down and
restructuring our knowledge about the subject to gain new insights into its nature. While
innovation has to do with the production or adoption of useful ideas and idea implementation,
it is about using information from a variety of different sources to create unique solutions to a
problem. Although creativity is often framed as doing something for the first time.
Stages of the innovation process:

 Problem recognition
 Generation of Ideas or solution
 Seeking support from others

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 Production of prototype or model of innovation

PERCEPTION
The study of perception at workplace is important because it is our perception of reality and
not reality itself that shapes and directs our behaviour. Perception can be defined as a
subjective process by which we select, organize, and interpret incoming stimuli in our
environment to make it meaningful to ourselves. Subjective processes include the phenomena
of selective attention, personal judgment, and interpretation affects the meaning we give to
our environment. The perceptual process follows a number of stages and is influenced by a
number of factors. Perception acts as a filter to simplify and order our experiences so that we
are not overwhelmed by the constant bombardment of sensory information. It explains how
many people look at the same thing yet perceive it differently. Perception is affected by both
internal (background, values, interest, motives, past experiences, attitudes, and personality)
and external (characteristic of target person or object, relationship of the target to its
background) factors. Also, it is affected by the context in which we see the target or object,
such as social, physical or organizational context that can influence our perception.

Person Perception
It is the process by which individuals attribute characteristics or traits to other people. In
person perception, rather than viewing individuals for their unique attributions, the perceiver’s
evaluations, impressions, and memories are shaped and guided by their knowledge and pre-
existing beliefs. As a result, we often experience distortions in our perception, especially when
we perceive other people where there is more scope for subjectivity, bias, errors, and
distortions, as opposed to while perceiving an object. At work, person perception plays an
important role in areas such as hiring and firing, appraisals, promotions, etc.

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Attribution Theory
Attribution theory has been proposed to develop explanations of the ways in which we judge
people differently, depending on what meaning we attribute to a given behaviour (Kelly, 1971).
According to this theory, when people observe behaviours, they want to attribute causes to the
behaviours they see rather than assuming that these behaviours are random. By making such
inferences people are assumed ‘to achieve greater understanding of, and hence greater
control, over their environment.’ They attempt to determine whether the behaviours were
externally or internally caused. Internally caused behaviours are those that are believed to be
under the personal control of the individual; whereas externally caused behaviour is seen as
resulting from an outside force or factor. However, the determination of whether the
behaviour is attributable to internal rather than external (situational) causes is largely
dependent on three factors:
 Distinctiveness- How different is the behaviour being observed from other related
behaviour? Is it distinctive or not?
 Consensus- Does everyone who is faced with a similar situation behave in the same
way? If so, we can assume the behaviour shows consensus
 Consistency- Is the behaviour repeated over time and in different situations? If so, we
can assume the behaviour is consistent
The attribution theory provides a useful conceptual framework for understanding how
attributions are made. Research has revealed patterns in our attributions particularly with
respect to biases that distort our attributions about success and failure. There is a tendency for
individual to attribute their own success to internal factors such as their capabilities, but when
they are explaining their failures, they blame them on external causes that are beyond their
control. This is called self-serving bias. Thus, a common attribution for a person’s success might
be ‘I was promoted because of the effort I’ve put into my job’ while that for a failure might be ‘I
didn’t get the promotion because the personnel lost my application.’

When we make judgements of other people, we are generally more inclined to make internal
attributions to explain their behaviour and underestimate the influence of external factors. This
is called fundamental attribution error. For example, if a manager assumes that an employee’s
poor performance is due to the lack of effort rather than attributing the behaviour to external
contributors such as lack of support or problems with equipment. Inaccurate attributions about
causes of poor performance can have negative repercussions for the organization.

Attribution theory can explain aspects of discrimination in an organizational setting.

Discrimination arises as a result of unequal treatment based on arbitrary characteristics such as
race, gender, ethnicity, or age and is demonstrated through behaviours. Discrimination differs
from prejudice in that prejudice occurs because of prejudging others and perceiving others
based on stereotypes- positive or negative; it usually has negative connotations. Prejudice is
shown through attitudes.
Discrimination against a particular group or individuals, based on gender, sexual orientation,
disability, age, or ethnic background, is widely recognized however, legislation addresses such
issues with stringent actions, especially in organizations.

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Stereotyping is one of many examples of perceptual distortions. Stereotypes are beliefs about
the characteristics, attributes, and behaviours of members of certain groups. This term was
popularized by Lippman (1922) and he saw stereotypes as ‘pictures in the head,’ simple mental
images of groups and their behaviour. People use stereotypes in general as heuristics or
shortcuts to fill in the information they lack, to arrive at quick inferences and judgements, and
to save effort. They are almost always developed for out-groups, since we rarely label people
who share our attributes or beliefs. Th explicit and implicit teachings of social agents such as
parents, peers, media transmits stereotypes at a young age, before we get an opportunity to
develop our own beliefs based on our own personal experiences. Stereotypes serve to minimize
information processing and serve as a social function. This way they help people to quickly form
impressions, in situations where experience is limited or absent.

Perception in employment interviews

The employment interview is an important source of information and remains by far the most
frequently used technique for selecting employees. There is evidence that the interviewer
makes implicit decisions to accept or reject a candidate remarkably early on in an interview.
Research suggests that majority of the interviews are settled within the first five minutes and as
many as four out of five hiring decisions are made in the first 10 minutes of an interview. This
could have an adverse effect on the outcome of the interview process if the initial opinion is
unfavourable.
Impressions are also based on non-verbal cues, such as body-language, vocal tone, and
appearance, etc. Subtle cues may play a role in triggering implicit discriminatory responses such
as the applicants’ accent. Research has shown that in the USA the French accent is associated
with sophistication and Asian accents are associated with high economic and educational
attainment.
Ingratiation
•Conformity
Impression management plays an
•Favours important role in person perception and
•Flattery refers to the process by which people
•Self Enhancement seek control or influence the impressions
that others form. Hence, to some extent,
Self-Promotion the perceiver only sees what the target
•Entitlement person wants him or her to perceive.
•Enhancement Impression management can be discreet
•Overcoming obstacles or direct; however, during evaluative
situations such as interviews, it can be
Intimidation heightened. Assertive impression
• Arouse fear management tactics are used to acquire
• Controlling others & Exercise power and promote favourable impressions and
consists of both ingratiation and self-
Defensive Tactic promotion tactics. Some of these tactics
are mentioned in the image. Most of us
•Excuses
•Justification
have experienced instances where our
•Apologies
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perceptions have been clearly erroneous and the people and events around us were not what
they appeared to be. To avoid the many problems associated with perceptual distortions,
Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) suggest:
1. Allowing more time and avoiding ‘snap’ judgements of others
2. Collecting and consciously using more information about others
3. Self-awareness and understanding of how our own biases and preferences affect our
perceptions
4. Checking our attributions.

Perceptions & Attitudes

Attitudes can have implicit effects on perception. They can also bias judgements and these
biases are stronger when judgements are made under time pressure. Attitudes have been
identified in a variety of ways and is defined as enduring systems of positive or negative
evaluations, emotional feelings, and action tendencies with respect to an individual’s social
world. Attitudes act as in initial screen; people select information that is consistent with their
attitudes and ignore that which is opposed to them. They are developed through experience,
but they are less stable than traits and change as new experiences are gained or influences
absorbed.
Within organizations, attitudes are affected by cultural factors, for examples the values and
norms in the organization, management style, policies such as those concerned with pay,
recognition, promotion, and the quality of working life and the influence of the ‘reference
group.’ Attitudes are often described as having three evaluative components-
 Affective component- feelings and emotions that the object evokes
 Behavioural component- tendency or disposition to act in a particular way towards the
object
 Cognitive component- our perceptions, thoughts, beliefs and ideas about the object.
The affective or feeling component is of prime importance and it can have significant impact on
the other two components.

RESEARCH IN INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY

CONSIDERATIONS IN CONDUCTING RESEARCH

1. IDEAS, HYPOTHESES, AND THEORIES

The first step in conducting research is to decide what to research. Though the majority of I/O
psychology research is conducted to test the accuracy of theories, many research ideas stem
from a person starting a sentence with “I wonder…...” For example, a manager might say, “I
wonder why some of my employees can’t get to work on time”, an employee might say, “I
wonder if I could assemble more parts if my chair were higher.” These seem ordinary questions,
but each is valid and important in research. Once a question has been asked, the next step is to

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form a hypothesis – an educated prediction about the answer to a question. This prediction is
usually based on theory, previous research, or logic. For example, a researcher is curious about
the effect of noise on employee performance (the question) and believes that high levels of
noise will result in decreased performance (the hypothesis). The prediction is based on the
theory that distracting events reduce the ability to concentrate. To see if the hypothesis is
correct, the researcher would need to conduct a study. If the result supports the hypothesis, it
becomes important to test the theory. In psychology, there are often competing theories that
predict the same outcome, but for different reasons.

HYPOTHESIS
An educated prediction about the answer to a research question.

THEORY
A systematic set of assumptions regarding the cause and nature of behavior.

Thus, even though a study might support a hypothesis, it is still important to determine why the
hypothesis is true. This is important because our ability to understand and use the best theory
allows us to develop new methods to improve productivity in the workplace.

2. LITERATURE REVIEWS
Once a research idea has been created, the next step is to search the literature for similar
research. This is important because if the question you are interested in answering has already
been researched in 20 studies, it is probably not necessary for you to conduct a new study.
Even if your specific question has not been researched before, the probability is high that
similar research has been conducted. This research is useful even though it does not directly
answer your question, because it can provide some good ideas on how to conduct your study.

Literature review can be conducted in many ways, the most common of which are using such
electronic databases as PsycINFO and Academic Search Complete, browsing through journals,
searching the reference sections of related articles, and asking other researchers. When
reviewing literature, there are four types of periodicals:
Journals- consist of articles written by researchers directly reporting the results of the study.
Journals can be difficult to read but are the best source of unbiased and accurate information
about the topic.
Bridge publications- are designed to bridge the gap between academia and the applied world.
Articles in these publications are usually written by professors about a topic of interest to
practitioners but they are not as formal or statistically complex as articles in journals.
Trade magazines- contain articles written by professional writers who have developed
expertise in a given field, and the main audience is practitioners of the field. Trade magazines
present the research on a topic in an easy-to-understand format; however, these articles can be
somewhat biased and do not cover all the research on the topic.

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Magazines- periodicals such as Time magazine, are designed to entertain as well as inform.
They are good source of ideas but terrible source to be used in scientific hypothesis, since the
articles are written by professional writers not trained in the topic with little expertise.
An increasingly popular source of information is the Internet. As most of you have already
discovered, the Internet contains a wealth of information on just about every topic. As useful as
the internet is, a word of caution is in order. There is no review of information placed on the
internet to ensure that it is accurate.

3. THE LOCATION OF THE STUDY

Once a research idea has been created and a hypothesis formed, you must decide whether to
conduct the study in the laboratory or the field.

Laboratory Research:
Research that is conducted under controlled conditions inside a laboratory and uses an
experimental method is called laboratory research.
One disadvantage of laboratory research is external validity or generalizability of results to
organizations in the “real world”.

EXTERNAL VALIDITY
The extent to which research results can be expected to hold true outside the specific setting in which they were
obtained.

GENERALIZABILITY
Like external validity, the extent to which research results hold true outside the specific setting in which they were
obtained.

Field research:
Another location for research is away from the laboratory and out in the “field” or natural
setting, which could be the assembly line for an automotive plant, the secretarial pool of a large
insurance company, or the interviewing room at a personnel agency. Field research has a
problem opposite to that of laboratory research. What field research obviously gains in external
validity loses in control of extraneous variables that are not of interest to the researcher
(internal validity).

Field research also provides researchers with an ethical dilemma. Psychologists require that
subjects participate in studies of their own free will – a concept called informed consent. In
laboratory studies, informed consent is seldom an issue because potential subjects are told the
nature and purpose of a study, their right to decline participation or withdraw from
participation, the risks and benefits of participating, limits of confidentiality, and whom they
can contact questions. They are then asked to sign an informed consent form indicating that
they understand their rights as subjects and have chosen to voluntarily participate. In field
studies, however, obtaining informed consent can not only be difficult but change the way
people behave.

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On the basis of our ethical guidelines, informed consent can be waived only when the research
involves minimal risk to the participates, the waiver will not adversely affect the rights of the
participants, and the research could not be carried out without the waiver. When studies
involve negative consequences for a subject, as would be the case if we subjected employees to
intense heat to study the effect of temperature, informed consent can be waived only if the
importance of the study outweighs the negative consequences.
Universities have institutional review boards to monitor research to ensure ethical treatment of
research participants. One area to which these review boards pay close attention is
confidentiality. Because the data collected in research can be of a sensitive nature (e.g.
performance rating, salaries, test scores), researchers ensure confidentiality by using subject ID
numbers rather than names and avoiding discussion of individual participants.

[Link] RESEARCH METHOD TO BE USED

The experimental method is the most powerful of all research methods because it is the only
one that can determine cause-and-effect relationships. Thus, if it is important to know whether
one variable produces or causes another variable to change, then the experiment is the only
method that should be used.
Two characteristics define an experiment:
1. Manipulation of one or more independent variables.
2. Random assignment of subjects to experimental and control conditions.

If either of these characteristics is missing, a research project cannot be called an experiment;

instead, it is called a quasi-experiment, a study, a survey, or an investigation. In an experiment,
the researcher intentionally manipulated one or more aspects of the question of interest, called
the independent variable, and measures the changes that occur because of that manipulation,
called the dependent variable. For example, a researcher might randomly assign 100
employees to receive customer service training and 100 employees to receive no training.
Following the training program, the researcher looks at the change in customer spending. In
this example, training is the independent variable (what was expected to change as a result of
the independent variable). The employee who received the training are collectively called the
experimental group, and the employees who did not receive the training are collectively
called the control group.

Quasi- experiments
Even though researchers prefer to use experiments, it is not always possible. Quasi-
experiments are then used. Quasi-experiments are often used to evaluate the result of a new
program implemented by an organization. For example, an organization that had instituted a
childcare center wanted to see whether the center had any effect on employee absenteeism.
To find the answer, the organization compared absenteeism levels from the year before the
center was introduced with the absenteeism level for the year following the implementations;
the organization found that both absenteeism and turnover had decreased.

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Archival Research
Another research method that is commonly used in I/O psychology is archival research.
Archival research involves using previously collected data or records to answer a research
question. For example, if we want to know what distinguished good workers from poor
workers, we could look in the personnel files to see whether the background of goods workers
has common characteristics not shared by poor workers. Or, if we want to see if people on the
nightly shift had more turnover than people on the day shift, we could get information on shift
and turnover from the company records. archival research has many desirable features, such as
not being obtrusive one expensive, but it also has severe drawbacks. Records in files are not
always accurate and are not always kept up to date. Furthermore, the type of data needed by a
researcher may not be in the archival because the data were never recorded in the first place.

CAUSE-AND-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS
The result of a well-controlled experiment about which the researcher can confidently state that the independent
variable caused the change in the dependent variable.

EXPERIMENT
A type of research study in which the independent variable is manipulated by the experimenter.

MANIPULATION
The alteration of a variable by an experimenter in the expectation that the alteration will result in a change in the
dependent variable.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
The manipulated variable in an experiment.

DEPENDENT VARIABLE
The measure of behavior that is expected to change as a result of changes in the independent variable.

EXPERIMENTAL GROUP
In an experiment, the group of subjects that receives the experimental treatment of interest to the experimenter.

CONTROL GROUP
A group of employees who do not receive a particular type of training so that their performance can be compared
with that of employees who do receive training.

ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
Research that involves the use of previously collected data.

QUASI-EXPERIMENTS
Research method in which the experimenter either does not manipulate the independent variable or in which subjects
are not randomly assigned to conditions.

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Surveys
Another method of conducting research is to ask people their opinion on some topic. Surveys
might ask employees about their attitudes toward the organization, HR directors about their
opinions regarding the best recruitment method, or managers about the success of their
childcare centers. Surveys can be conducted by mail, personal interviews, phone, fax, email,
Internet, or magazines. The method chosen depends on such factors as sample size, budget,
amount of time available to conduct the study, and need for a representative sample. For
example, mail surveys are less expensive and time-consuming than personal interviews. But
result in lower response rates and, at times, lower-quality answers. Email surveys are
inexpensive but are limited to people how to have email (not a representative sample), are
more subject to size and format restrictions, and result in slower response rates than mail
surveys. Internet surveys are also expensive, but as with email, are limited to people now have
access to a computer.

A comparison of people responding to Internet surveys and those responding to more

traditional methods indicated that Internet surveys more accurately reflect the population in
terms of gender and social class but less accurately reflect the population in terms of race.
Employees completing the surveys online were more likely to leave items blank than were
employees using a paper-and-pencil format.
Based on the meta-analysis results of Anseel et al.(2010), response rates can be increased by
doing the following:

 Notifying participants in advance that they will be receiving a surveys

 Personalizing the surveys through such means as an original signature or addressing the
participant in a cover letter.
 Ensuring that surveys responses will be anonymous by using identification numbered
 Having a university sponsor the survey
 Distributing the surveys in person rather than through the mail

Contrary to popular belief, producing incentives and sending reminders do not increase survey
responses (Anseel et al., 2010). Well-designed survey questions are easy to understand, use
simple language, do not ask about hypothetical situations, and are relatively short in length.
Care must be taken in choosing the words used in each question.

A final issue involving surveys is the extent to which responses to the survey questions are
accurate. This issue is especially important when asking about sensitive or controversial issues.
Inaccurately responding to survey questions is not always an intentional attempt to be
dishonest. Instead, an inaccurate response can be the result of a person not actually knowing
the correct answer to a question.

Meta-Analysis
Meta-analysis is a statistical method of reaching conclusions based on previous research. Prior
to meta-analysis, a researcher interested in reviewing the literature on a topic would read all of
the available research and they make a rather subjective conclusion based on the articles with

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meta-analysis, the researchers go through each article determines the size of the effect for
each article, and then finds a statistical average of effect sizes across all articles. Meta-analysis
results in one number called the mean effect size, which indicates the effectiveness of some
variables.
Correlation coefficients (r) are used as the effect size when researchers are interested in the
relationship between two variables, and the majority of studies use correlation as to their
statistical test. The example includes studies looking at the relationship between personality
and job performance, integrity test course and employee theft, and the relationship between
jobs satisfaction and performance.
A difference score (d) is used as the effect size when researchers are looking at the difference
between two groups. Examples are studies are looking at the effectiveness of a training
method, the effect of goal setting, and the effects of shift work. Effect sizes can be interpreted
in two ways: by comparing them to norms or directly applying them to two particular
situations. Effect sizes (d) less than .40 are considered to be a small; those between .40 and .80
are moderate, and those higher than .80 are considered large (Cohen, 1988). Of course, these
numbers are “rules of thumb”; the actual practical significance of effect size depends on many
factors- formulas are available to be more precise.

EFFECT SIZE
Used in the meta-analysis, a statistic that indicates the amount of change caused by experimental manipulation.

5. SUBJECT SAMPLES

Decision also must be made regarding the size, composition, and method of selecting a subject
who will serve as the sample in a study. Although it is nice to have a large sample for any
research study, large sample size is not necessary if the experimenter can choose a random
sample and control for many of the extraneous variables.

The method of selecting the sample is certainly dependent on the nature of the organization. A
small origination will probably be forced to use all of its employees, which means that the
sample will be small, but highly representative of the intended population. For economic and
practical reasons, a large organization will select only certain employees to participate in a
study rather than using the workforce. The problem then becomes one in which employees will
participate.
If the study involves a questionnaire, it is no problem to randomly select the desired number of
employees and have them complete the survey. If, however, the study is more elaborate, such
as investigating the effects of lighting on performance it would be difficult to randomly select
employees.
A final important issue concerns the method used to recruit subjects. To obtain the best
research results, it is essential to use a random sample so that the sample will be as
representative as possible. This means that if a survey is randomly sent to 100 employees, the
research will be most accurate only if all employees return the survey. The problem is that
researchers are unlikely to get a 100 % return rate if study participation is voluntary.

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Because obtaining random samples is very difficult, especially in the industry, many studies use
a convenience sample and then randomly assign subjects to the various experimental
conditions. A convenience sample, such as student in a psychology class, is easily available to
the researcher. With random assignment, each subject in a non-random sample is randomly
assigned to particular experimental conditions. For example, in a study design to test the

CONVENIENCE SAMPLE
A non-random research sample that is used because it is easily available.

RANDOM ASSIGNMENT
The random, unbiased assignment of subjects in a research sample to the various experimental and control conditions.
effectiveness of a training method, 60 subjects agree to participate in the study. 30 of the
subject are randomly assigned two the group receiving training, and another 30 are randomly
assigned to the control group that does not receive training. Random assignment is important
when using conveniences samples as research indicates that random and non-random
assignments result in different outcomes.

RANDOM SAMPLE
A sample in which every member of the relevant population had an equal chance of being chosen to participate in the
study.

[Link] A STUDY

When all of these decisions have been made, it is finally time to run the study and collect data.
To ensure that data are collected in an unbiased fashion, it is important that all instructions to
the subjects be stated in a standardized fashion and at an understandable level. Once the
subject is finished with participation, s/he should be debriefed, or told the purpose of the
experiment and be given a chance to ask questions about her participation.

[Link] ANALYSIS

After all, data have been collected, the results are statistically analyzed. Statistical Analysis
helps us determine how confident we are that our results are real and did not occur by chance
alone. For example, if we conducted a study in your classroom in which we compared the
average age of students on the left side of the room with that of students on the right side of
the room, we would know doubt get a difference. That is, the average age of the student on the
right would not be exactly the same as that for students on the left. If we did not conduct a
statistical analysis of our data, we would conclude that people on the right side are older than
people on the left side. Perhaps we could even develop a theory about our results.
Does this sound ridiculous? Of course, it does. But it points out that the idea that any set of
numbers we collect will in all probability be different. The question is, are they significantly
different?

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Statistical Analysis provides the answer by determining the probability that our data were the
result of chance. In psychology, we use the 0.5 level of significance; if our analysis indicates
that the probability that our data resulted from chance is 5% or less, we consider our results to
be statistically significant. Although the 0.05 level of significance is the most commonly used,
some researchers have suggested that we should be more flexible and used either more
conservative or more liberal levels, depending upon the situation.

At this point, caution must be made about the interpretation of significance levels. Significance
levels indicate only the level of confidence we can place on a result being the product of
chance. They say nothing about the strength of the result. Thus, a study with a result significant
at the 0.1 level does not necessarily show a stronger effect than a study with a result significant
at the 0.5 level of confidence.

To determine the strength of a finding, we use the effect size, discussed earlier in the section
on meta-analysis. Significance levels tell us the statistical significance of a study, and effect size
(combined with logic) tells us the practical significance of a study.

Correlation: It is necessary to discuss one particular statistics-correlation- because it is so widely

used in I/O psychology. Correlation is a statistical procedure that enables researchers to
determine the relationship between two variables- for example, the relationships found
between an employments test and future employee performance; jobs satisfaction and job
attendance; or performance rating made by workers and supervisors. It is important to
understand that co-relational analysis does not necessarily say anything about causality.
Why does the Correlation coefficient not indicate a cause–and–effect relationship? Because a
third variable is an intervening variable, often accounts for the relationship between two
variables.

The result of the correlational analysis is a number called a correlation coefficient. The values
of this coefficient range from -1 to +1; the further the coefficient is from 0, the greater the
relationship between the two variables. That is, a correlation of 0.40 shows a stronger
relationship between two variables than a correlation of 0.20. Likewise, a correlation of -0.39
shows a stronger relationship than a correlation of +0.30. The (+) and (-) signs indicate the
direction of the correlation.
A positive (+) correlation means that as the value of one variable increase, so do the value of
the second variable. For example, they might find a positive correlation between intelligence
and scores on classroom exams. This would mean that the more intelligent student, the higher
her score on the exam.
A negative (-) correlation means that as the values of one variable increase, the value of the
second variable decrease. For example, we would probably find a negative correlation between
the number of beers that you drink the night before a test and your score on the test. In I\O
psychology we find negative correlations between job satisfaction and absenteeism, and the
reaction time and nervousness and interview success done.

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 ILOE-INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY NOTES: 2021-22 ONWARDS

Other statistical tools that are widely used are t-test (a comparison of means of two data sets),
ANOVA (analysis of co-variance of multiple data sets), etc. Most popularly used
techniques/softwares are SPSS (free version for 15 days, with further cost added), MS Excel, and
R programming software (open source-free). Researchers must choose carefully which
software/technique is most useful and comfortable for them.

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