Occupational Psychology research and practice
Occupational, industrial or work psychology, whichever name one prefers, is probably the one area of psychology that concerns each of us. We all work in some way shape or form in our daily lives: be it in formal employment, as volunteers for a charity or looking after our homes and families. Occupational psychology draws its theoretical background from a variety of even longer-established psychological theories and frameworks, such as social, cognitive and counselling psychology (e.g. Arnold, Cooper, Robertson, 1998). As the name implies, occupational psychology concerns itself with the study of individual differences and system characteristics in a work environment.
At its heart, it should have the welfare of the individual and the optimisation of the environment they work in. Some of the key areas of occupational psychology are training, appraisal and development counselling, ergonomics and human-computer interaction, the assessment of individual differences and organisational characteristics, job design and organisational development.
© Almuth McDowall - 07/07/2010 12:24:00
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