Evolution of I/O Psychology
The field of Industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology puts a lot of focus on needs and individual behaviors in the workplace and provides to different concerns affecting employees. Several theorists have significantly contributed to evolution I/O psychology. According to Sott et al. (2020), Professor Hugo Munsterberg was among the initial founders of I/O psychology. During the early 20th century, he began to see the potential of psychology helping to solve many practical issues experienced in the workplace. Munsterberg became the first psychologist to measure workers’ abilities and link those abilities to their performances at work. He also made a significant contribution to the field by publishing the first I/O psychology textbook. Nonetheless, the theorist was dedicated to researching industrial efficiency and contributed a significant amount of his time and energy to persuade leaders in the U.S that I/O psychology was a major contributor to economic growth in the country.
Over the recent years, specialization in I/O psychology has tremendously grown. At the beginning of the 21st century, there were more than 3000 I/O psychologists joined the field. The early dynamics of change within the workplace not only persisted but also accelerated (Conte & Landy, 2019). Besides coming up with different topics, they led to an interest in change, people’s reactions to change, and forces leading to change. Besides new approaches to classic topics, psychologists have also generated new topics. On the discipline’s organizational side, issues of open systems approaches and level of research have grown to become the guiding frameworks. Today more than ever, organizations are using I/O psychology to help them in taking scientific approaches to improve and assess the behaviors of employees at work.
Several changes in the workplace have increased the importance of I/O psychology. One of the major changes is the use of social media in making employment decisions. I/Os helps companies to employ social media in making lawful and better-informed decisions. Another change is the creation of healthy and diverse workforces. I/O psychology is majorly used in helping workplaces build diverse teams, value diversity, and train employees to become more aware of issues linked to diversity (Sott et al., 2020). Another change is an increased focus on business flexibility and agility in business and work processes. As customers’ needs and market demands continue to change, I/O psychology is valuable in showing organizations how they can quickly adapt to the changes and be innovative.
Based on current trends, I expect the future of I/O psychology to be dependent on the ability of organizations to withstand significant forces such as the provision of diversity and new technology. There is a need to address technological issues carefully and decisively to ensure that the field is abreast of the challenges in the future (Conte & Landy, 2019). In the future, I/O psychology is also likely to be significantly influenced by globalization.
References
Conte, M, J., & Landy, J, F. (2019). Work in the 21st Century: An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology (6th Edition). New York: Wiley.
Sott, M. K., Bender, M. S., Furstenau, L. B., Machado, L. M., Cobo, M. J., & Bragazzi, N. L. (2020). 100 years of scientific evolution of work and organizational psychology: A bibliometric network analysis from 1919 to 2019. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(1), 598676. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.598676
