Psychology and Work

Work Psychology
Understanding human behaviour in the workplace SECOND EDITION

John Arnold
Cary L. Cooper Ivan T. Robertson

CHAPTER 3

Work psychology: its origins, subjectmatter and research techniques
OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
~ Describe important features of the history of work psychology. ~ Specify the topics covered by work psychologists.
~ Describe the main elements of a psychological theory, and explain the links between those elements.
Discuss the relationship between work psychology and common sense.
~ Describe five methods of data collection used in research by work psychologists. ~ Describe the key features, advantages and disadvantages of four research designs used by work psychologists.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter begins with a brief look at the roots and history of work psychology, including the Hawthorne studies and other key milestones. Attention then turns to modern work psychology: the topics it covers, the relationship between theory and practice, and professional affairs. The issue of whether work psychology is more useful than so-called common sense is examined. If it is to be useful, work psychology must be based on sound information and appropriate techniques. This chapter therefore concludes with an analysis of how work psychologists obtain information using research methods. The strengths and weaknesses of each method are illustrated with examples. By the end of the chapter the reader should know the topics that work psychology covers, and be able to describe and evaluate the research methods used by work psychologists.
3.2 THE ORIGINS OF WORK PSYCHOLOGY
Work psychology has at least two distinct roots. One resides in a pair of traditions that have often been termed 'fitting the man [sic] to the job ' (FMJ) and 'fitting the job to the man [sic] '
(FJM). The FMJ tradition manifests itself in employee selection, training and vocational guidance. These endeavours

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