Organisational Psychology Flashcards

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1
Q

What is organisational psychology?

A

the scientific study of behaviour in the workplace - evidence based approached to understand the factors that affect an organisation and its members such as job satisfaction and work perfomrnace

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2
Q

What are the three levels of focus for organisational behaviour?

A
  1. Individual level - what an individual brings to the workplace (personality, attitudes, motivation)
  2. Group level - assessing how groups work together and the factors that influence this (group composition, inter and intra group behaviour, conflict, leadership)
  3. Organisational Level - culture and climate of an organisation and the way/why things are done (culture structure, change and development)
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3
Q

\What is the aim of an Organisational psychologist? What are the 2 features they measure?

A

To enhance the organisations performance and employee satisification

2 features:
1. Job satisification
2. Work/organisation performance

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4
Q

Reliable vs Valid

A

Reliable: same or very similar results would be obtained on a second occasion

Valid: a theory or measure that does what it is assumed to do

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5
Q

Describe the 3 different organisations:

A

Not for profit: provide services for the community and do not oporate to make a profit of members

Government: governement appointed group funded by the government

Commercial: buisiness that sells goods or service for the purpose of making a profit

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6
Q

what are 2 different tools that can be used to assess employee performance/satisfaction

A
  1. Trackers (objective)
  2. 360 review and upward appraisal (subjective)
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7
Q

Describe the 4 data collections:

A

Objective data: what is observed. Can be verified by other researches, increasing validility and reliability of data

Subjective data: collected and obtained via personal observations

Qualitative: often expressed with words or sentences, and describes the quaility of behaviour

Quantitative: represented through numbers and can be presented through graphs which can be more easily interpreted

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8
Q

What is the 360 review?

A

Gets feedback from a range of sources (peers, customers, colleagues, managers), and can be used to measure group or individual performance

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9
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of the 360 review

A

Advantages: more comprehensive assesment from multiple sources, provides voice, useful for rewarding and improving employee performance

Disadvantages: complex and time consuming, subject to bias, potentially disruptive of relationships amongst those involved in the appraisal process

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10
Q

What is motivation?

A

Is the force that determines your direction, intensity and persistence of a behaviour

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11
Q

What is maslows heirachy of needs in the context of organisational theory?

A

is a motivational theory that consists of levels that need to be met to ensure that an individual is motivated to come to work

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12
Q

How can motivation impact job performance?

A

is what causes you to act and is a factor that influences decision making, behaviour and performance within the workplace

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13
Q

Define and describe each level of Maslows heirachy of needs in the context of organisational psychology

A
  1. Psychological - pay, pleasent working conditions
  2. Safety - safe working conditions, company benefits, job security
  3. Social - Cohesive work group, friendly supervision, professional associations
  4. Esteem - Social recognition, job title, high status job, feedback for the job itself
  5. Self-actualisation - challenging job, oppurtunities for creativity, achievment in work, advancemnts in the organisation
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14
Q

Define Vroom’s theory of expectancy

A
  • A cognitive theory of motivation, suggesting that employees are rational decision makers who will put efforts into activities that lead to rewards that they are seeking
  • relates to peoples thoughts and beliefs about a situation
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15
Q

What are the 4 stages of Vrooms theory?

A
  1. Expectancy - Effort: Will my effort lead to a good performance?
  2. Instrumentality - Performance: Will my performance lead good outcomes?
  3. Valance - Rewards: Do I find the outcomes desirable?
  4. If expectancy, instrumentality and valance are high then motivation is high (Effort x performance x reward = motivation)
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16
Q

What is vocational guidence? What is personal selection?

A
  • Vocational guidence: the process of helping an individual to choose an appropriate vocation (through in depth interviews, personality tests, discussion of the type of work and their interests)
  • Personal selection: assistance with finding a person for a job - right person for the job is important e.g. soldiers
17
Q

What is climate and culture and what do they ompact?

A

Climate: explains what ad how things are done in an organisation

Culture: explains why things are done in an organisation

Climate + culture -> influence -> organisation performance

18
Q

How to remember the difference between Vroom’s and Maslow’s theory?

A

Vroom is the thoughts on work (more cognitive), whereas Maslow is what surrounds an individual at work