Module 82 Psychology at Work

LEARNING TARGETS

• 82-1 Explain the concept of flow.
• 82-2 Describe three key areas of study related to industrial-organizational psychology.
• 82-3 Discuss how personnel psychologists facilitate job seeking, employee selection, work placement, and performance appraisal.
• 82-4 Describe the role of organizational psychologists.
• 82-5 Examine some effective leadership techniques.
• 82-6 Discuss what cultural influences need to be considered when choosing an effective leadership style.
• 82-7 Describe human factors psychologists’ work to create user-friendly machines and work settings.

For most people, to live is to work. Work is life’s biggest waking activity. Work helps satisfy multiple needs. Work supports us, enabling food, water, and shelter. Work connects us, meeting our social needs. Work helps define us. Meeting someone for the first time and wondering about their identity, we may ask, “So, what do you do?”

But the answer may give us only a partial picture of a person’s life. We have many motives beyond work, including the desire for family, friends, and hobbies. We also vary in our job satisfaction. On the day we leave the workforce, some of us will sadly bid our former employer farewell; others will bid our former employer good riddance. What factors influence our perceptions of work as an activity marked by frustration versus flow, as a necessary chore versus a meaningful calling, or as an opportunity to do the bare minimum versus maximize our potential?