What is I/O Psychology?

Every semester I get e-mail and calls from students about Industrial and Organizational Psychology wishing they had heard about it earlier in their time at Iowa State. It isn’t something you typically learn about in high school and isn’t often mentioned in introduction to psychology. I, a student, found it by accident, changed my major and now enjoy working in and teaching others about the field.

I/O Psychology is the study of employees in the workplace using psychological principles. Some of the topics in I/O Psychology include how employees are recruited, tested — including the best type of interviews — selected, evaluated, trained, motivated and fired. In addition, group/team performance, leadership, conflict and conflict management, as well as organization development/change, are organizational topics in the field.

Most students will pursue a job after graduation so, in addition to learning about I/O Psychology and the job opportunities a degree can provide, much of the information is relevant to all students interested in obtaining and keeping a job they enjoy. Students learn about employee aspects of organizations and can be prepared to deal with them effectively. It is also useful for those with aspirations to manage others in a variety of settings.

Two courses are offered at Iowa State, including Psychology 250: Introduction to I/O Psychology and Psychology 450: Industrial Psychology. Psychology 250 is an overview course and briefly covers most of the topics in the field, while Psychology 450 is an in-depth look at the industrial psychology side of the field. This is the how-to side and is very application oriented, covering topics such as applicant recruitment, employee selection, how to evaluate job performance, the best ways to train employees, the causes and consequences of job satisfaction/dissatisfaction, as well as legal issues in organizations.

As part of Psychology 450, students design their own businesses and have the opportunity to apply the course content to their organizations. In addition, managers and human resource professionals from Ames provide the link between the information in class and business practices. Past presentations have been made by individuals from Hy-Vee, Starbucks, the city of Ames, Iowa State and Perfect Games. Psychology 250 is offered fall semesters, while Psychology 450 is offered spring semesters.

Please let me know if you have questions about I/O Psychology.

Katy Hanisch

Senior Lecturer, Psychology