Chapter 1
This branch of psychology focuses on studying and improving work behavior and relationships in workplace settings.
What is industrial/organizational psychology?
A researcher is studying the impact of flexible work schedules on job satisfaction. The first step they take is defining the research problem. What is the second step?
What is creating a hypothesis?
This specialty area of I/O psychology focuses on optimizing an organization’s human resources.
What is personnel psychology?
This process involves attracting job applicants to an organization through job postings, advertisements, and outreach efforts.
What is employee recruitment?
When employees receive guidance in setting career goals, developing skills, and identifying growth opportunities, they are more likely to feel engaged and motivated. This process helps improve job satisfaction and long-term success.
What is career development planning?
I/O psychologists study factors like employee selection, training, job satisfaction, and motivation to improve this aspect of the workplace.
What is work behavior?
A manager wants to hear feedback from customers about their experience at his restaurant. What is the most common way to receive feedback from customers?
What is a survey?
This document outlines specific tasks, responsibilities, and tools used for a particular job.
What is a job description?
A company provides applicants with an honest portrayal of both the positive and challenging aspects of a job to reduce turnover. This hiring strategy is called
What is a realistic job preview (RJP)?
This theory suggests that motivation is driven by goal-setting, pathways thinking, and a sense of agency, helping individuals stay persistent in achieving their objectives.
What is Snyder’s Hope Theory?
A set of procedures where work tasks are broken down into simple movements and timed for efficiency.
What is time-and-motion studies?
A researcher wants to determine the overall impact of remote work on employee productivity by analyzing multiple past studies.
What is a meta-analysis?
A hiring manager needs to determine the necessary qualifications for a new sales associate position. She refers to a document listing the human characteristics required for the job.
What is a job specification?
This employee selection model requires applicants to meet a minimum score on each predictor of job performance before moving forward in the hiring process.
What is the multiple cutoff model?
According to this theory, employees are primarily driven by one of three needs: achievement, affiliation, or power, which influence their work behavior and career success.
What is McClelland’s Achievement Motivation Theory?
When used in employee selection or performance evaluations, tests must meet these two key requirements: reliability and validity.
What are the key principles of measurement in I/O psychology?
A company calculates the average employee satisfaction score from a survey and uses this data to estimate overall satisfaction levels for the industry. This type of statistical analysis is being used.
What is inferential statistics?
A company wants to ensure fair pay for jobs of similar value. They use a process to assess the worth of each job within their organization.
What is job evaluation?
A company uses a personality test that was validated on sales employees to screen customer service representatives. If the test does not accurately predict job success in this new setting, it lacks this key measurement property.
What is validity generalization?
This theory explains workplace motivation by identifying two key categories: hygiene factors, which prevent dissatisfaction, and motivators, which encourage job satisfaction and performance.
What is Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory?
Elton Mayo's studies at the Hawthorne plant led to the discovery of this phenomenon, where workers improve performance simply because they know they are being observed.
What is the Hawthorne effect?
A training program that improved productivity by 30% in a small tech startup may not have the same effect in a large manufacturing company because of this key research concept.
What is external validity?
Two employees have similar roles with equivalent KSAOs, but one is paid significantly more. The company ignores this discrepancy.
What is exceptioning?
A highly qualified job applicant is rejected due to a flawed selection process. This type of error occurs when a potentially successful employee is mistakenly denied the job.
What is a false-negative error?
This type of feedback process involves gathering performance reviews from multiple sources, including supervisors, peers, subordinates, and even self-assessments, to provide a comprehensive view of an individual's strengths and areas for improvement.
What is 360-degree feedback?