ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY: CHARACTERISTICS, THEORIES AND FUNCTIONS - JOB - 2025

The organizational psychology or organizational psychology is the branch of psychology that is responsible for studying the behavior of people in the world of work and organizations. It is an applied science that examines human behavior both at the individual level and at the group and organizational level.

Organizational psychology is today a specialized area of ​​psychology. It is considered as a scientific discipline and its closest antecedents are industrial psychology and social psychology.

Organizational psychology allows us to describe, explain and predict human behaviors developed in collective environments. Likewise, it allows the development of interventions and strategies to solve specific or global problems of an organization.

Thus, the main objectives of organizational psychology can be summarized in two main aspects.

On the one hand, this applied science is used to improve performance and labor productivity, examining the functioning of the organization and detecting the areas to intervene.

On the other hand, organizational psychology is used to increase and enhance the personal development of workers and improve their quality of life in the workplace.

The main aspects that this branch of psychology studies about organizations are: structure, climate, culture, social systems and processes.

This article reviews the main characteristics of organizational psychology. Its theories and its main fields of study are explained, and the specific interventions that are developed from this branch of psychology are discussed.

Definition according to authors

Psychology is a science that can be applied in different fields. Likewise, the study of human behavior can not only be applied to people individually, but it can also be applied in a group way.

In this sense, organizational psychology studies precisely the habitual behaviors of the worker in companies, the roles that they can play and the habitual conflicts in the environment.

However, defining the concept of organizational psychology is a somewhat more complex task than it may seem. In general, there are no doubts when it comes to affirming that it constitutes a science applied to the organizational field, however, establishing a clear and unequivocal definition is somewhat more confusing.

In fact, there are many authors who have proposed different definitions of the concept of organizational psychology. In order to review the particularities of this branch of psychology, the most important ones are discussed below.

1- Spector

In 2002, Spector defined the concept of organizational and / or industrial psychology as a small field of applied psychology that refers to the development and applications of scientific principles in the workplace.

2- Andy and Conte

Three years later, Andy and Conte reviewed Spector's conceptualization and reformulated the term organizational psychology as the application of the psychological, of theory, and of research in the workplace.

These authors also postulated that industrial and / or organizational psychology went beyond the physical limits of the workplace, influencing many other factors in organizational behavior.

3- Blum and Neylor

These authors were one of the pioneers in establishing the concept of organizational psychology and defined it as the application or extension of psychological facts and principles to problems that concern human beings working within the context of business and industry.

4- Saal and Knight

According to these authors, organizational psychology refers to two main concepts.

In the first place, there is the study of the behavior, thoughts and feelings of human beings as they adapt to their colleagues, objectives and the environment in which they operate professionally.

On the other hand, organizational psychology also refers to the use of the above information to maximize the economic and psychological well-being of employees.

5- Furnham

According to Furnham, organizational psychology is the study of the way in which people are recruited, selected and socialized in organizations.

Likewise, it includes other aspects such as the type of reward that workers receive, the degree of motivation they present and the way in which organizations are structured both formally and informally into groups, sections and teams.

Differences between organizational psychology and work psychology

At present, organizational psychology and occupational psychology are two terms that are used interchangeably as they refer to two highly similar concepts.

In fact, both organizational psychology and occupational psychology constitute sciences that study the same elements. That is, both are responsible for examining human behavior within the workplace.

However, it should be borne in mind that occupational psychology and organizational psychology are not exactly the same, since they differ in the approach and scientific objectives pursued by each.

In this sense, it has now been established that work psychology is concerned with the specific activity of each worker and is more interested in the type of tasks they have.

The work environment, schedules, workload, role conflicts, work motivation or burnout syndrome are the main study elements of work psychology.

In contrast, organizational psychology is characterized by presenting a broader approach, which studies beyond the worker. The element of main interest in organizational psychology is the very organization in which the person is immersed.

In this way, both branches of psychology are dedicated to examining, evaluating and defining the same concepts: the behavior of people in the workplace. However, the positions adopted by each discipline are different, and the studies and interventions developed tend to also present differences.

Theories

Throughout history, multiple theories have been developed that aim to define an ideological conception of man and organization.

These theories have given rise to the emergence of organizational psychology, have allowed to lay its foundations and establish the lines of study to follow.

In a concrete way, organizational psychology has been undertaken and studied by three main theories, which propose three different axes of study. These are: classical rationalist theories, theories of human relations and theories of organization as an open system.

1- Classical rationalist theories

The classical rationalist theories were developed by Taylor and are characterized by analyzing production processes in order to increase efficiency and productivity.

It was the first theory on organizational psychology and its main mode of operation was based on the development of techniques and methods to normalize production through the decomposition of complex tasks into a set of simple tasks.

According to classical theories, man is a cog in the machine of efficiency and productivity, and is motivated by the fear of hunger and the need for money to survive.

For this reason, the theories developed by Taylor posited salary rewards as the only source of motivation for workers and, therefore, established salary as one of the most important elements of organizational psychology.

2- Theories of human relationships

The theories of human relationships were postulated by Mayo and Lewin. According to this study perspective, the main objective of organizational psychology is to achieve harmony within the company by linking productivity with the mood of the workers.

The theories of human relations try to interpret changes in the context and companies, thus discovering the meaning of certain social processes and studying in depth the influence of the work environment on productivity and occupational accidents.

In this sense, this second group of theories on organizational psychology increases the perspective and the elements to take into account in the functioning of an organization, and postulates the importance of new variables.

According to Mayo and Lewin, man is a social being, thinking, with integrity and with feelings. Everyone needs to be part of a group and be taken into account, so social recognition and relevance to the group are the main elements to develop their work motivation.

3- Theories of the organization as an open system

According to the theories of the organization as an open system and of the complex and autonomous agent, the organization is a system that constantly interacts with the environment.

Likewise, it postulates the concept of organization as a system, which is why it is made up of different elements that maintain a minimum of cooperation among themselves to achieve common and own objectives.

According to this third theory of organizational psychology, man is a complex and autonomous people who act in the organization. In this way, the context variables that can influence the individual state of the worker can vary in each vessel.

Likewise, the theory of the organization as an open system postulates that every organization is made up of groups of interdependent and interacting individuals.

Workers interact with each other to achieve common goals, so the interdependence between individuals in an organization means that any modification of one element can alter in some way all the others.

Systems

One of the main insights that have been developed from organizational psychology is that organizations act as systems.

In this way, the interactions that occur within each organization, that is, within each system, can take multiple forms and modalities.

In general, organizations can develop as open systems or as closed systems.

Open systems are organizations that have exchange relationships with the environment through inputs and outputs.

Scott defined a natural system as an organization whose participants have a common interest in the survival of the system and who are articulated with collective activities and informal structures.

Closed systems, on the other hand, are systems that do not show exchange with the environment that surrounds them, since they are hermetic to any environmental influence.

Scott defined rational systems as “systems in which the collectivity is oriented to a given purpose, for which it establishes specific objectives that are explicit, clearly defined.

From these early conceptualizations of organizational psychology, organizations can develop and be interpreted through different perspectives. The main ones are: closed rational systems, as closed natural systems, as open rational systems or as open systems and social agents.

1- Organizations as closed rational systems

Organizations as closed rational systems are characterized by being "organizations without people." That is, only the organizational aspects of the group of people are taken into account, but not the individuals that compose it.

According to this perspective, organizations would have universal solutions, since the resolution of a problem would not depend on the individual characteristics of its members.

Organizations as closed rational systems propose precise measurements of times, methods and movements. They have a formal design, with a division of labor, a unity of command and a well-established hierarchy.

Likewise, organizations as closed rational systems propose a bureaucratic rationality, which is based on technical competence and legal authority.

2- Organizations as closed natural systems

These types of organizations are antagonistic to the previous one and can be defined as "groups of people without organization."

Organizational models result from a conception of the human being in permanent development. The worker is a social being who responds more to the social forces of the groups than to economic incentives.

The focus of the studies according to this perspective is more group than individual and work behavior is analyzed jointly.

The work performance of organizations as closed natural systems is not so linked to psychological or physiological capacities, but to the degree of satisfaction obtained, which in turn will depend on the social treatment received.

3- Organizations as open rational systems

Organizations as open rational systems can be defined as "organizations as social systems."

In this case, the organization is an open and complex system, in which the people who make it up make decisions by analyzing their environment.

This organizational conception was developed from the technological approach, which emphasized the study of the characteristics of the task, the work environment and individual behavior.

Likewise, organizations as open rational systems establish the starting point through which the term of industrial psychology is abandoned and the concept of organizational psychology is developed.

4- Organizations as open systems and social agents

Finally, this last conceptualization defines organizations as coalitions of opposing interest groups. It adopts new paradigms in the production of scientific knowledge and questions the assumptions of realism, objectivism and rationality.

In this sense, organizations are interpreted as a collectivity, the complexity of the organization is taken into account and the strategic management of human resources is developed for the first time.

Organizational communication

Communication is one of the most relevant elements in the fields of study of organizational psychology.

In fact, the organization is not understood without the development of communication between the different members, which is why the communicative elements are the most important for many organizational psychologists.

In this sense, organizational psychology postulates different relationships between communication and organization. The main ones are:

1. The organization defines a communication context.
2. Communication is an organizational variable.
3. The communication symbiosis defines the organization.
4. The characteristics of the organization define the communicative characteristics.

Likewise, it is postulated that communication within an organization not only develops functions of coordination, control or obtaining information, but also plays a very important role in different psychosocial aspects.

Work motivation, the involvement of workers or the climate of the organization are elements that are highly influenced by the communication that takes place in the organization.

Thus, organizational psychology establishes five basic points in the study of communication within the organization:

1- Characteristic of communication

According to organizational psychology, communication is a dynamic and reciprocal process that allows ideas and messages to be transmitted and exchanged.

Communication always travels from a sender to a receiver, and it is an indispensable tool to obtain a response or a change within the organization.

2- Communicative perspectives

Within organizational psychology, three different communicative perspectives are distinguished: the traditional perspective, the constructionist perspective, and the strategic perspective.

The traditional perspective interprets communication as any other organizational element. Communication processes are unidirectional, serve to ensure execution, and contain only formal communication.

The constructionist perspective places special emphasis on the role of language and symbols and establishes that communication is vital in dealing with conflicts. He interprets the organization as a system of shared meanings, and defines the organization as a system of power and influence.

Finally, the strategic perspective interprets communication as a strategic element. The communication processes allow to identify the needs of the clients, inform and involve the workers and transmit the messages, the identity and the image to be projected.

3- Formal communication vs informal communication

In organizations there is both formal communication and informal communication, and both communication styles are of special interest to organizational psychology.

Formal communication is characterized by using formal channels. It is a communicative process that can be executed vertically and horizontally. Its main function is to guide behaviors and has drawbacks such as saturation or minimization.

Informal communication, for its part, constitutes those communicative processes that take place outside of formal channels. It allows to establish personal relationships and daily interactions. It is a communicative process that cannot be eliminated and is characterized by confirming, replacing or modifying formal communication.

Climate and Culture

Climate and culture are two main elements of organizational psychology. It defines the vast majority of the global characteristics of organizations and establishes their operation.

Climate and culture are two terms that refer to very similar concepts. However, they differ by being examined through different perspectives.

• Climate is a concept that is rooted in Psychology, it emphasizes the perception of individuals through questionnaires related to statistical variables and quantitative methods. The generalization of results in the population is emphasized.

• Culture, on the other hand, is a conceptualization rooted in Anthropology, it is studied through hermeneutical methods, (Ethnography). The results are interpreted from the perspective of the subject, without referring to a population.

In this sense, both the climate and the culture are characterized by:

1. They try to understand the ways in which members experience organizations.
2. They understand attitudes, values ​​and practices that characterize the members of an organization.
3. Explain the impact of the organization on individuals
4. Climate is a measure of the superficial manifestations of culture and is not entirely different from culture.
5. Culture determines the climate and the latter accompanies it as one more component of the former.

Organizational psychology interventions

The psychosocial variables that influence the functioning of an organization are many and varied. For this reason, organizational psychology is an applied science that performs a large number of activities.

The most important tasks carried out from this branch of psychology are:

1. Examine, define and modify the work environment.
2. Examine the organizational culture and develop communicative, normative and interpretive processes that are adapted to all members.
3. Develop both the group motivation of the company and the individual motivation of each worker
4. Define the professional profiles of each of the workers.
5. Examine the positions and roles that best suit each professional profile.
6. Develop personnel selection processes based on specific demands.
7. Develop training programs for workers.

References

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