Week 9 - IO & vocational psychology PDF

Psychology at work: IO & Vocational Psychology Introduction to Psychology Saint Mary’s University  Work and work roles Work Purposeful activity directed at producing a valued good or service (Kelloway et al., 2004) Emp...

Psychology at work: IO & Vocational Psychology Introduction to Psychology Saint Mary’s University  Work and work roles Work Purposeful activity directed at producing a valued good or service (Kelloway et al., 2004) Employment, volunteering, parenting, creative pursuits…. Employment When someone pays you to do work for them The relationship is defined by a contract defining roles and responsibilities Job A task, or a position in an organization defined by a scope of tasks Occupation Purposeful activity a person spends their time on May or may not be a job, or work.  KSAOs Knowledge The range of one’s understanding or information. Ability Existing competence to perform a specific physical or mental act. Skill A proficiency acquired through training and practice. Proficiency: A high degree of competence or expertise Other attributes E.g., personality, values, fit for culture (soft skills)  Professions Professions are political Jobs regulated for exclusive social closure in the marketplace Legally-regulated in particular jurisdictions Governed by a professional body Code of ethics; licensure can be revoked High pay and status Example: psychologist, doctor, lawyer, pharmacist, police officer, elementary school teacher Lay use of the term: to be serious, to be a good job, to comply with norms for behaviour  Talent A very highly developed skill Come from ‘gifts’ Aptitudes (genetic) Development of the aptitude into a talent requires investment By both the person and their environment/community An ancient measure of great value Form of currency  Talent An ancient measure of great value Form of currency We trade our talents..as a livelihood... to find meaning …to benefit our communities The Parable of the Talents  Vocation Historically Christian concept that was adopted into modern psychology and secularized Vocation = term with a Catholic history Calling = term with a Protestant history The intersection of your gifts (talents) and the needs of society Work that you are particularly adapted to  Calling (Hall & Chandler, 2005) Work that a person perceives as their purpose in life Unique to the individual Fits with the person’s talents The person loves or is passionate about the work Feel a need or an urgency to do the work The meaning of the work is subjective and self-relevant Work is a part of the personal and professional ‘whole person’ Belief that the work will contribute to a better world Awareness that the work will serve others Follows a process of discernment Not easy to discover one’s path: introspection, listening to oneself, dialogue with others, trying different things, listening to oneself Leads to a sense of fulfillment High life and job satisfaction, low absenteeism  What about fun? Avocation An activity that calls you away from your work Play Doing an activity for the pleasure of it; for its own sake (Hurd & Andersen, 2010) Usually conducting during leisure time Intrinsically motivated, nonserious, freely chosen, spontaneous , imaginative An end in itself, not a means to an end Recreation Play for the sake of its socially valued outcomes (Hurd & Andersen, 2010) Hobby Play that produces an object of economic value (Daily, 2018)  Psychology of Work & Career Management perspective: Industrial-Organizational Psychology Focus on making the workforce more efficient Might ask… What individual is the right fit for the job/organization? Highest-earning ‘psychologists’; practice as management consultants Tends to focus on elites; Lagging in EDIA issues Mission of peak performance for individuals and organizations Individual Perspective: Vocational psychology Focus on individual’s vocational choices and career management Might ask… What job/organization is the right fit for the individual? Practice as career counsellors Strong social justice agenda Lacks organizational perspective Mission of ‘decent work for all’ Founders: IO psychology Hugo Munsterberg: Psychology and Industrial Efficiency Frederick Taylor: Principles of Scientific Management Walter Dill Scott: Applied psychology to personnel selection and advertising  Founder: Vocational Psychology Frank Parsons (1854-1908) Lawyer & civil engineer Noticed people (esp. recent immigrants) struggling with poverty Choosing a vocation (1909) Advocated for vocational guidance services (esp. in public schools) Thought that people should select the line of work to which their nature was most adapted: “The calling to which your aptitudes, capacities, interests, and ambitions best adapt you” “Efficiency and success are largely dependent on adaptation. You must learn what you are best adapted to do, and get started in that line” Led to the discipline of counselling psychology Mission: Decent work for all  The individual perspective on career Your career includes but is more than the work role The sum of all your public social roles (student, employee, daughter, sister, volunteer, hijabi) Your career transcends any particular job or organization Your career is happening now  Donald Super’s (1980) Life-Span, Life-Space Theory Career is the sequence of occupations, jobs, and positions held over the lifecourse The Career-Life Rainbow The Arc of the Rainbow  Career is a journey From the French carrière (road or racecourse) From Latin via cararia (track for carriage) From carrus (chariot) Noun: The course of one’s public life Verb: To move swiftly and in an ‘uncontrolled’ way in a specified direction. ‘In full career’ = At full speed  What is career development? Schaffer & Wiens (2019)  Expect Obstacles and Transitions Personal and systemic barriers Transitions are expected (graduation) and unexpected (layoff) People transition between social roles across their career Child -> student -> employee -> parent -> grandparent People use resources and skills to navigate in order to achieve good results (resilience)  Career development & adaptability Schaffer & Wiens (2019)  Adaptability Model READINESS RESOURCES RESPONSES RESULTS Adaptability is the readiness to leverage one’s resources in order to respond to challenges in ways that achieve desired results  Career Construction Theory Career is also a story (narrative) Who you are, what you’ve done, what you can offer Stories are partly true … Facts that are included in the story are highly selected Some parts of the story may not be true The story is socially constructed between an individual and an audience The adaptive value of the story is its power to advise Mark Savickas your next action What are you going to do with that story  Stories have actors Who make the actions in some theatre Actors have characters Personality, skills, virtues, vices… Represent archetypes Who are in roles On some quest Follow scripts Stories have themes Reflect values The moral of the story Psyche at the throne of Aphrodite Success and resilience are outcomes of adaptability  Resilience Showing successful outcomes in the face of disabling circumstances; unexpected success - Sometimes due to luck - Usually due to adaptive responding  Prudence & Wisdom Prudence (prudentia): The ability to discern the appropriate course of action in a given situation at the appropriate time, with consideration of potential consequences. Wisdom (sapientia): The ability to contemplate and act productively using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight.  What is mental health? Well-being Prudential value: what is good for you What is ‘good’ (values) WHO definition of mental health “a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” Psyche in the temple of love Archetypes of Personalities Analytical Psychology Carl Jung 1875 – 1961 He is no hero who never met the dragon, or who, if he once saw it, declared afterwards that he saw nothing. Equally, only one who has risked the fight with the dragon and is not overcome by it wins the hoard, the “treasure hard to attain”. -- Carl Jung  Calling & Trauma People’s careers are often rooted in a Career supports healing through helping others personally traumatic experience avoid or navigate the same experience; Career Psychologist transforming personal pain into a gift to others Jacobus Maree PRIVATE PREOCCUPATION (trauma) can become PUBLIC OCCUPATION (career)  Charioteer Person, career actor Has wellbeing as strength Horse Self-efficacy Tools (Chariot, wheels, helmet, sword, reins) Career adaptability resources Developed, inner personal resources: Knowledge, skills, abilities, virtues Acquired or external personal resources: Wealth, credentials, connections Community resources Environment Through which the person travels; may be chosen Different environments appeal to different interests and abilities (P-E fit) and offer different challenges Steering Virtues, especially Compass prudence Values Dragons The thrill of the ride Challenges Passion Obstacles Destination Barriers Vocation/calling Course or path Career  Interest An attitude characterized by a need or desire to give selective attention to something that is significant to the individual, such as an activity, goal, or research area.  John Lewis Holland 1919 – 2008 Psychologist & Sociologist RIASEC (Holland Model of Vocational Interests)  Other items: assemble items in a factory, install flooring in houses, handle customer’s bank transactions, teach children how to read, play a musical instrument, develop a new medical procedure The role of passion in career  Passion Noun: To suffer A passive, reactive state Of being moved by something external Could be reacting to an internal emotion Does not need to be chosen Passion is not purpose May not be pleasurable either Purpose comes from values Best understood as ‘engagement’ Engagement may or may not be adaptive.  Important Points about Passion We will have more than one passion in our life (or at a time) Passions develop with exploration and practice Pursuing passion at all costs assumes class privilege ‘Successful’ people who pursued their passion had a lot of other things going for them too Our passions can be useless or harmful to ourselves/others Pursuing a passion through the work role may not be prudent There may be little/no labour market for your passionate activity There are many people who did not find success by pursuing their passion  Important Points about Passion Career is more than a single activity You do not have to like/love everything about your work There are other good reasons to choose a role (a job that pays the bills) Passions can be pursued outside the work/employee role In other public roles: volunteer, parent In private life, as play You are naturally passionate about your vocation  Charioteer Person, career actor Has wellbeing as strength Horse Adaptive responding Tools (Chariot, wheels, helmet, sword, reins) Career adaptability resources Developed, inner personal resources: Knowledge, skills, abilities, virtues Acquired or external personal resources: Wealth, credentials, connections Community resources Environment Through which the person travels; may be chosen Different environments appeal to different interests and abilities (P-E fit) and offer different challenges Steering Compass Virtue, especially prudence Values Calling Dragons The thrill of the ride Challenges Passion Obstacles Destination Barriers Vocation Course or path Career  Values A value is a moral, social, or aesthetic principle accepted by an individual or society as a guide to what is good, desirable, or important. Organizations have cultures based on values Person-organization fit depends on values alignment Engagement in with a culture that does not align with your values leads to burnout. Some examples of values  Integrity & Values Your compass must be true And so must you Values are instilled by parents, schools, organizations, societies Are they yours? You do not need to know your destination to be on ‘the right path’  Strength Vis Physical or mental force (to carry on your path); constitution What you are good at (strength as hard skills and talent) Vertus Moral force How you are good (strength as virtue) Strengths and weaknesses always have a social context  Virtues Values become virtues when they are practiced as actions which become habits Virtue signalling is a corruption of virtue because it is not based on real action Virtues are character strengths that are socially valued because they are supposed to contribute to a good life for self & others Character strengths & virtues handbook (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) Positive psychology Test: VIA Character Strengths Inventory  Virtues are social constructs Actions are not good of themselves They may or may not function to serve a higher good This depends on having an external reference point by which to judge what is good (well being) E.g., the wellbeing of … oneself? one’s family? one’s community? nation? humanity? deities?  The Art of Wayfinding Destination (destiny) is continually revealed The path emerges before you as you discern vocational choices Career is a journey The whole journey can only be understood at the end  Your path is emerging As you navigate vocational choice points according to your talents & values You can’t see that far ahead But you do need to know when to make the right turns Discernment We Know the Way And sometimes we need a little help  Charioteer Person, career actor Has well-being as strength Horse Adaptive responding Tools (Chariot, wheels, helmet, sword, reins) Career adaptability resources Developed, inner personal resources: Knowledge, skills, abilities, virtues, sense of self-efficacy Acquired or external personal resources: Wealth, credentials, connections Community resources Environment Through which the person travels; may be chosen Different environments appeal to different interests and abilities (P-E fit) and offer different challenges Steering Career adaptability Compass responding Values Virtue of prudence Calling Dragons The thrill of the ride Challenges Passion Obstacles Destination Barriers Vocation Course or path Career The Psyche Butterfly (Leptosia Nina)