Psychology at Work: IO & Vocational Psychology

Psychology at Work: IO & Vocational Psychology

• This is a subject on psychology in the workplace
• It covers Industrial-Organizational (IO) and Vocational Psychology
• The course is part of an Introduction to Psychology class at Saint Mary's University

Work and Work Roles

• Work is purposeful activity that produces a valued good or service (Kelloway et al., 2004).
• This includes employment, volunteering, parenting, and creative pursuits.
• Employment is when someone pays you to do work for them, with roles and responsibilities set out in a contract.
• A Job is a task or position in an organization, defined by its scope of tasks.
• An occupation is purposeful activity a person spends their time on; it may or may not be a job or work

KSAOS

• Knowledge is the extent of one's understanding or information.
• Ability is the existing competence to complete a defined physical or mental act.
• Skill is a proficiency acquired through training and practice; proficiency represents a high degree of competence.
• Other attributes include personality, values, and cultural fit, often referred to as "soft skills."

Professions

• Professions are regulated by legally-defined social closure in the marketplace.
• They are managed by professional bodies with codes of ethics that can be revoked.
• Examples of professions include psychologists, doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, police officers, and teachers.
• Professions are often associated with high pay or status. A "lay" person uses the term to denote serious occupations that have standards of behaviour

Talent

• Talent is a highly developed skill, often innate or "gifted."
• Aptitudes, which are genetic, are the foundation of talent.
• The development of talent requires investment from the individual and their environment/community.
• Talent has been of great value in history and has been a form of currency.
• People make a living, or find meaning through usage of this talent and this is traded to benefit communities.

The Parable of the Talents

• The parable of the talents is a story in the Bible (Matthew 25:14-30)
• A man traveling away entrusts different amounts of money to his servants..
• The servants who actively invested the money received more.
• The servant who did not invest received no reward.
• The story emphasizes the need to use your abilities productively

Vocation

• Vocation is a historically Christian concept that has been adopted to modern psychology, initially secularized.
• Vocation is a term with Catholic history, relating to work/career.
• Calling is the term with a Protestant history, also relating to work/career.
• It is the intersection of individual gifts (talents) and society's needs.
• It is work a person is particularly adapted to

Calling (Hall & Chandler, 2005)

• Calling is work that someone sees as their life purpose.
• It’s unique to the person.
• It resonates with and fulfills their talents.
• There is a sensed need or urgency to do the work
• It’s meaningful and relevant to their personal and professional selves
• It contributes to a better world and serves others.
• It follows a journey of discernment
• It leads to fulfillment and satisfaction and low absenteeism

Avocation, Play, Recreation, Hobby

• Avocation is an activity that distracts from work
• Play is an intrinsically motivated activity done for its own sake; freely chosen. It's nonserious, imaginative, spontaneous and an 'end in itself', not a 'means to an end'.
• Recreation is play for socially valued outcomes.
• A hobby produces an object of economic value.

Psychology of Work & Career

• Management perspective focuses on workforce efficiency; what individual fits a position?
• Vocational psychology focuses on individual career decisions and management; what job/organization fits the individual?
• It’s about the individual and what matters to them, in terms of social justice.
• Lacks organizational perspective but has decent work for all as a mission.

Founders: IO and Vocational Psychology

• Hugo Munsterberg: Psychology and Industrial Efficiency
• Frederick Taylor: Principles of Scientific Management
• Walter Dill Scott: Applied Psychology to personnel selection and advertising
• Frank Parsons: Vocational Psychology. He noticed and helped immigrants with career issues. He advocated for vocational guidance programs and lead to counseling.

The Individual Perspective on Career

• Career is more than just a job; it's the sum of all social roles
• It transcends any single job or organization.
• It is taking place now.

Donald Super's Life-Span, Life-Space Theory

• Career is a sequence of occupations over the lifespan.
• The Career-Life Rainbow chart visually shows how many of the roles interplay.

Career is a Journey

• Career is a road or track, likened to chariots and carriages, and sometimes uncontrolled.
• A noun relating to public life.

What is Career Development?

• It is a lifelong process.
• It is a blend of paid and unpaid activities.
• It includes learning, work, entrepreneurship, volunteerism, and leisure.

Expect Obstacles and Transitions

• Personal and system barriers exist.
• Transitions (graduation, layoffs) are anticipated and unexpected
• People transition between different social roles throughout their career (child, student, employee, parent, grandparent).
• People use resources and skills to achieve results and be resilient in order to get through challenging transitions.

Career Development & Adaptability

• Career development is dynamic and evolving.
• Adaptability involves constant adjustment and resilience.
• It's about navigating career transitions.

Adaptability Model

• Adaptability involves readiness to leverage resources for desired results. It’s about responding to challenges. The model is a three stage cycle: Readiness, Resources, Responses and Results (or outcomes).

Career Construction Theory

• Career is a narrative (a story).
• It contains who you are, what you've done, and your potential.
• Stories are selectively presented and not necessarily wholly true; they're socially constructed between the individual and the audience.
• Their power is to guide action

Stories Have Actors, Themes

• Stories have characters (personality, skills, virtues, vices, archetypes), roles and scripts and themes (reflecting values and a moral)

Mental Health

• Well-being relates to what is good for you.
• What’s ‘good’ is about personal values.
• WHO Defines mental health as being able to realize one’s own abilities, and deal with life's stresses to be able to contribute to community.

Archetypes of Personalities:

• A system of archetypal personalities (Jung, 1875-1961)
• The personalities include 'Creator', 'Innocent', 'Sage', 'Ruler', 'Caregiver', 'Member', 'Jester', 'Lover', 'Hero', 'Explorer', 'Magician', 'Outlaw'

Hero’s Journey Agenda

• A structure (often applied to stories) describing stages (ordinary life, the call, helpers, the pit, problems/perils, special powers, return, gifts) a person, often a hero/ine can experience on their personal journey.

Calling & Trauma

• People's careers are anchored in personally traumatic experiences; these may become a source of career calling.
• Work may transform personal pain to a gift; helping others avoid or navigate the same experience.

Interest

• Interest is an attitude characterized by a need or desire to focus attention on something individual-significant (activity, goal, research area)

RIASEC Model

• A model classifying career interests.
• It includes Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional.

Dictionary of Occupational Titles

• This publication provides details about available jobs.

O*NET OnLine

• A website providing detailed descriptions and analysis of job roles.

Values

• Values are moral principles (of an individual and a society).
• Person-organization fit relies on appropriate values alignment.
• Engagement in a culture that doesn’t share your values can be problematic

Integrity & Values

• Having a true compass (being honest and sincere).
• Values are developed through family, schools, and wider society; they might be difficult to change
• You don’t need to know the end to be on the right path.

Strengths

• Strengths as physical/mental force
• Skills and talent (what you're good at)
• Moral force (virtue)
• Strengths and weakness are socially contextual

Virtues

• Values become habits when practiced.
• Virtue signalling is not based on real action.
• Virtues are character strengths socially valued and contribute to well-being (Peterson & Seligman, 2004)

The Art of Wayfinding

• Destination (Destiny) is continually revealed.
• The path arises with vocational choices.
• Career is a journey that can only be understood at the end.

Your Path Is Emerging

• Career path emerges from vocational choice points, talents, and values.
• You don’t need to know everything in advance.
• Discernment is necessary to navigate.

Resilience

• Resilience leads to successful outcomes in the face of challenges or circumstances; unexpected success may be due to luck, but usually comes from the ability to respond adaptively to problems/ circumstances.

Prudence & Wisdom

• Prudence is knowing what to do, when. It considers potential consequences, and takes time to find the right solution.
• Wisdom is understanding, experience, common sense, and insight, used to consider problems and act on appropriate solutions.

The Psyche Butterfly (Leptosia Nina)

• A type of butterfly, illustrating an example of a form of life cycle/ transformation and change (metamorphosis).

Explore the fascinating field of Industrial-Organizational and Vocational Psychology within the context of the workplace. This quiz will test your knowledge on work roles, KSAOs (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other characteristics), and the various types of work and employment. Perfect for students of Introduction to Psychology at Saint Mary's University.