Workplace psychology is more of a modern-day approach to psychology, in that it looks at the current environment, and attempts to understand and explain the effects that environment has on people and their behaviors.
This field began as an attempt to understand the conditions of working people in places like factories. Today, however, it has started to expand even further with advancements in technology. There are now a lot of new areas of research to go into; workplace psychology is a field that's very ripe for further exploration.
Workplace psychology is very much an applied research field, meaning that the research being done is used to solve practical problems and to improve current workplace conditions.
This is different from some of the other fields of psychology, in which the research being done is a bit more general, and for the purpose of explaining certain behavior and phenomena. Workplace psychology looks at specific problems in order to determine how the conditions for the people in that area can be improved.
There are several subfields under the category of workplace psychology, and the first two of these fields attempt to improve upon specific aspects of the workplace.
EXAMPLE
An I/O psychologist might attempt to improve productivity within a certain factory, trying to get things to work more effectively and efficiently. Or, this type of psychologist might work in human relations, attempting to see what kinds of problems the workers might be having, and to resolve them in the best possible way. As you can see, industrial/organizational psychology is heavily focused on the human aspects of the workplace.The work of people in this field can also involve selecting job applicants, analyzing different skills involved in the workplace, and evaluating on-the-job training to ensure it is the best possible education for the workers.
One focus of engineering psychology is on computer-human interactions, studying how people are using computers, and how people can use them more efficiently. In this way, engineering psychology is often focused on the “ease of use” of various types of technology.
Another area of study under the umbrella of workplace psychology is environmental psychology. Contrary to what you might think from looking at the term initially, environmental psychology is actually a very broad area of study.
In the simplest terms, environmental psychologists attempt to uncover the effects that surroundings have on the people living within them. These could be natural surroundings, such as forests or oceans; they could also be built environments, such as cities, towns, or villages.
EXAMPLE
An environmental psychologist might investigate the effect that urban noise and overcrowding have on the stress levels of people that are living in such cities.Environmental psychology might not be as specific an applied research area as some of the other aspects of workplace psychology; however, there are definitely certain useful implications for this area of research.
Environmental psychologists might also be called in as experts for actual environmental issues as we think of them generally.
EXAMPLE
These psychologists may not only investigate the effects that humans have on the environment, but also might look at the effects that the natural environment has on people, and why that might be beneficial.EXAMPLE
Think of the generally accepted idea of the 24-hour day. People expect the sun to rise and set within a certain period of time. The effect of modern technology and electricity has essentially been an extension of the workday to times when people might normally be asleep, which might disrupt the general flow of their days. The environmental effects that might be studied under evolutionary psychology could be whether it is healthy or possible for people to continue on in a workplace like this.Thus, environmental psychology can have further implications in different areas of psychology when it comes to improving people's lives.
Source: This work is adapted from Sophia author Erick Taggart.
