Definition of I/O Psychology - Coursework Example

I/O Psychology I/O psychology is the short for industrial and organizational psychology, which is the branch of psychology that studies workplaces, organizations and employees. The aim of I/O psychologists is to study how psychological principles and theories can be applied to workplaces to improve the productivity while understanding the needs and problems of employees working in those workplaces. This helps identify key issues related to employee behavior and the effects of employee attitude on the workplace.

Talking specifically, the first part of I/O psychology is industrial psychology, which deals with matching the employee characteristics with the kind of job each employee fits in, training them, developing performance standards, and evaluating them on those standards. The second part, which is the organizational psychology, deals with how the organizational environment affects employee behavior. This includes social norms, values and standards that are followed at the workplace. Both the sides of the I/O psychology are important to understand employee characteristics and the effect of organization on the wellbeing of every employee.