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Personnel psychology

Subfield of industrial and organizational psychology

  • 6 min read
  • 2 chapters

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History

Twentieth Century

By the end of the nineteenth century, industrial, or personnel psychology, was developed as a way to understand work behavior. One influential figure in the beginning of this new area was Hugo Munsterberg, a German psychologist who was trained by Wilhelm Wundt and who also worked with William James. Munsterberg studied selection and fit in the workplace, and he proposed experimental methods as solutions to business problems in his text, Psychology and Industrial Efficiency (1913). He also served on the faculty at Harvard, and in his writings, talked about such topics as fit in a career, from both an employer's and employee's perspective. Walter Dill Scott, also trained by Wundt and a professor at Northwestern University, is credited with the foundation of I/O psychology, as he used such psychology in advertising and in founding the first personnel consulting firm.

World War I

The time around WW I brought about significant contributions to the field of industrial psychology. Robert Yerkes, along with Walter Van Dyke Bingham and Scott, headed the selection and placement of army personnel with their Army Alpha and Army Beta tests. These test helped to bring attention to testing as a form of selection and their uses in practical applications. This was the beginning of industrial psychology in the real world as opposed to the world of academia.

World War II

World War II was marked by much of the same needs as in World War I. Bingham and Yeakes helped out the military again in developing research programs designed to assess work behavior, including: the Army General Classification Test (AGCT), the Aircrew Classification Test Battery, assessment center methods, and performance appraisal methods. Post World War II advances were also seen in increased doctoral programs, master's degree programs, and the expansion of other already existing programs.

Twenty-first Century

As opposed to war defining most of the twentieth century and the use of the applied psychology, economics will be the main focus of the twenty-first century. Technology is ever changing and decreasing the number of jobs for individuals; organizations are also striving to "flatten" out in their attempts to move away from largely hierarchical companies, and one other changing area of the twenty-first century is the diversifying of the workplace. All these applications and areas will help to serve as importance for I/O psychology in the workplace and economic world.

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