WEEK 2

Reading topic: Introduction to Work and Health Psychology

Topic objectives:

What is Work Psychology?

What is Health Psychology?

Current perspectives in psychology –Week 2 Page 1

 What is Work Psychology?

Workplace psychology (WP) is the application of psychology into the

workplace. Psychological theories, models and knowledge it is used to
comprehend human behaviour in the workplace.

Workplace Psychology is also known as:

Business Psychology
Organizational Psychology (OP)
Occupational Psychology (WOP)
Industrial and Organisation Psychology (I/O)
Industrial, Work, Organizational Psychology (IWOP)

Workplace Psychology’s main focus is on topics such as motivation, job

satisfaction, job productivity, employee training, job performance, group and
team dynamics, personality and work behaviour, leadership, recruitment etc.

Figure 1 Organizational Psychology key topics Retrieved from

https://www.shutterstock.com/search/organizational+psychology

Current perspectives in psychology –Week 2 Page 2

 Where do Workplace psychologists get employed?

WPs get the same training as an I/O psychologist. Consequently the individual
needs to get a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and then complete a M.Sc. and
or PhD in organizational Psychology.

In academia: run research around motivation, performance, leadership etc.

In organisations and companies and be involved in employee interviews,

recruitment, assessment of performance, training or work to manage issues such
as poor work performance, training and motivation.

Working as an academic or professional are both of significance as research

evidence can be used in real world settings and issues in realistic settings can be
topics of research.

Work Ethics

Work ethics are the moral principles, standards of behaviour of set of values
that deal with the appropriate conduct in the workplace.

Figure 2 Work ethics issues Retrieved from https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/business-

ethics-organizational-behavior-in-the-workplace-icons-part1-gm638532304-114540911

Current perspectives in psychology –Week 2 Page 3

 Why are workplace ethics important?

Ethical standards promote the values that are essential to collaborative

work.
Ethical norms promote moral and social values, such as social
responsibility, human rights, compliance with the laws and health and
safety.
They allow you to discriminate the difference between right and wrong.

Ethical principles (British Psychological Society, 2009)

• Competence: promote you own professional competence

• Legality: know and obey relevant laws

• Respect: respect and accept the individual including social background,

knowledge, skills, sexual orientation, gender etc.

• Autonomy: right of an individual to determine what activities s/he will or will

not participate in

• Caring, the company cares for their employees’ well-being. The manager is
fair and implements excellent leadership techniques.

Cognitive Psychology and Work behaviour

The computational perspective: According to Cognitive Psychology behaviour

derives from information processing. That is attention, perception and memory
(past experiences, learning) and these can affect work behaviour and
performance.

Based on the human information – processing approach, we implement either

‘bottom – up’ or ‘top – down’ processing. Bottom up processing is the process

in which the long-term memory i.e. past experiences, expectations help the
individual to interpret the situation, the task the work environment. Top down
processing refers to the process in which environmental stimuli influence the
individual’s cognitions and actions without the influence of past memories and

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 experiences. It is vital though to highlight that these processes occur
concurrently and there is a balance between these processes depending on
the task (Mathews, Davies, Westerman, & Stammers, 2000).

Furthermore, Cognitive psychology discusses about schemata, cognitive maps

and mental models which they all seem to influence behaviour and workplace
behaviour as well.

More specifically,

‘Schemata contain collections of knowledge derived from past experience

which serve the function of directing perceptual exploration towards relevant
environmental stimuli. Such exploration often leads the perceiver to sample
some of the available stimulus information. If the information obtained from the
environment fails to match information in the relevant schema, then the
information in the schema is modified appropriately’. (Eysenck & Keane,

1995, p. 81)

‘Cognitive maps’ refers to our ability as individuals to find our way around the
physical environment. Consequently, we develop maps to find our way around
our team and work environment.

Lastly, mental models refer to mental representations of external reality, their

ability to complete a task, perceptions about their abilities in general and the
perceptions they have about themselves. E.g. ‘will I be able to complete this
task?’ ‘Do I have the relevant knowledge and expertise for this position?’

As individuals we have internal representations of the world and our abilities,

experiences, knowledge. These are processed differently (individual differences)
for each individual. However, ALL these processes influence behaviour and
more specifically behaviour at work (Hodgkinson & Sparrow, 2002; Rousseau,
2001).

2. The interpretative perspective: organisational environments are social

constructed and thus work behaviour is influenced on how we processes
information about the task, were we attribute success or failure, what
relationships appear within the teams and the organisation.

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 How Cognitive psychology can be applied in workplace behaviour?

The theory has been applied in various areas in the organisation such as
Personnel selection and assessment, training and development, Employee
relations and motivation and, organizational development and change.

For example: Personnel selection and assessment are no longer an outcome of

psychometric assessment but an interaction between the selector and the
candidate their stereotypes, expectations and techniques they implement in
order to have favourable perceptions of one another. ‘A variety of cognitive
processes affect the quality of the judgments of both parties, including memory
effects and attributional biases. Actors’ knowledge structures (including
categories, schemata, implicit personality theories, and stereotypes) have been
shown to play a pivotal role in guiding the interviewer’s attention and
characterizing both applicants and the position’ (Hodgkinson, 2003, pp. 10)

How Developmental psychology can be applied in workplace behaviour?

Developmental Psychology can be applied in the process of group development.

As a person transits from childhood, adolescence to adulthood so does a group.
However, for groups this process is smaller. Therefore, similarly to parental role
a leader/manager in a group should change management styles as the group
moves through the stages. In specific, the leader is originally directive and
instructional, then turns to a coach and lastly as the group is more independent
they are changing into a delegator (Bauer & Erdogan, 2012).

How Developmental psychology can be applied in workplace behaviour?

Social Psychology studies group behaviour, work teams, organisational

structure, communication, politics at work, improvement and organisation
change, stereotypes, prejudice, decision-making, group conflicts, conformity
and attitudes.

How does the Psychology of Individual Differences can be applied with

Workplace Psychology?

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 When companies are hiring staff, they make sure they satisfy at least the
Person- organisation fit and the person-job fit.
The first one refers to whether the person’s values, goals and personality fit
with the organization’s characteristics. The second one refers to whether the
person’s knowledge, skills, abilities and experience match the job’s demands
( Bauer & Erdogan, 2012). If the companies pair the employees’ personality
traits with the relevant tasks and duties, then this is more likely to increase
motivation, productivity and job satisfaction. In addition, if they match the
person’s values and goals with the organization’s, then they are happier, more
satisfied at work and tend to be committed to their companies (Anderson at al,
2008).

Current perspectives in psychology –Week 2 Page 7

 References

American Psychological Association. (2016). Coping with stress at work.

Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/work-stress.aspx

Arvey, D.R., & Zhang, Z. (2015). Biological Factors in Organizational

Behavior and I/O Psychology: An Introduction to the Special Section. Applied
Psychology, 64 (2), 281 – 285

Kim, M.Y., & James, L.R. (2015). Neurological evidence for the relationship
between suppression and aggressive behavior: Implications for workplace
aggression. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 64(2), 286–307.

Current perspectives in psychology –Week 2 Page 8

 What is Health Psychology?

What is Health?

Figure 3 Health definition according to WHO Retrieved from https://daily-

healthinformation.blogspot.com/2010/11/world-health-organization-definition.html

Health is a “complete state of physical, mental and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO).

‘Health Psychology is the aggregate of the specific educational, scientific, and

professional contributions of the discipline of psychology to the promotion and
maintenance of health, the prevention and treatment of illness, the identification
of etiologic and diagnostic correlates of health, illness, and related dysfunction
and to the analysis and improvement of the health care system and health policy
formation’ (Matarazzo, 1982).

Traditional Biomedical Model

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 TheTraditional Biomedical Model focuses on the physical and biological
aspects of disease and illness.

According to Ogden (2007) the biomedical model of medicine can be utilised to

address the following:

What causes illness?

Diseases come from outside the body, invade the body and cause physical
changes within the body, or originate as internal involuntary physical changes.

Who is responsible for illness?

Illness arise from biological changes.

How should illness be treated?

Illness should be treated with a surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, all of

which aim to change the physical state of the body.

Who is responsible for treatment?

Rests on the medical profession (e.g. doctor).

What is the relationship between health and illness?

Either healthy or ill.

What is the relationship between the mind and the body?

The mind and body function independently of each other.

What is the role of psychology in health and illness?

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 Within traditional biomedicine, illness may have psychological consequences,
but not psychological causes.

Biopsychosocial Model of Health

According to the Biopsychosocial Model of health (Engel, 1977; 1980)

behaviours, thoughts and feelings may influence a physical state. Psychological
and social factors influence biological functioning influence health and illness
similarly. It accepts the role of biological factors of disease but includes the role
of psychological and social influences.

Illness can be caused by a combination of factors:

• biological (e.g. virus)

• psychological (e.g. behaviours, beliefs) and

• social (e.g. employment) factors

Who is responsible for illness?

The individual may be held responsible for their health and illness.

How should illness be treated?

The whole person should be treated, not just the physical changes that have
taken place (e.g. behaviour change, beliefs etc.).

Who is responsible for treatment?

Because the whole person is treated, not just their physical illness, the patient is
therefore in part responsible for their treatment. This may take the form of
responsibility to take medication, responsibility to change beliefs and
behaviour. They are not seen as a victim.

What is the relationship between health and illness?

Health and illness are not qualitatively different, but exist on a continuum

What is the relationship between the mind and body?

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 The twentieth century has seen a challenge to the traditional separation of mind
and body suggested by a dualistic model of health and illness, with an
increasing focus on an interaction between the mind and the body.

What is the role of psychology in health and illness?

Health psychologists consider both a direct and indirect association between

psychology and health.

What are the Clinical Applications of the Biopsychosocial Model?

During diagnosis health professionals should take into account the

interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors.
The relationship between the patient and the health care practitioner
(doctor/patient communication) has an impact on the effectiveness of
care.

What are the aims of Health Psychology?

Health psychology stresses the role of psychological factors in the cause,

progression and consequences of health and illness.

1. To understand, explain, develop and test theory

Evaluate the role of behaviour as an illness cause
Predict unhealthy behaviours
Evaluate the interaction between psychology and physiology
Understanding the role of psychology in the experience of illness
Evaluating the role of psychology in the treatment of illness

2. To put theory into practice

Promote healthy behaviour

e.g. to understand the role of behaviour in illness can allow unhealthy

behaviours

Prevent illness

e.g. changing beliefs and behaviour could prevent illness onset

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 Areas of Focus in Health Psychology

Health Promotion and Maintenance

Prevention and Treatment of Illness
Etiology (causes) and Correlates of Health and Illness
Health Policy and Health Care Service Delivery

Contributions of Health Psychology

Cognitive behavioural interventions have been effective in helping

patients to manage different chronic conditions (e.g. pain, irritable bowel
syndrome etc.).
Change bad health habits (such as smoking).
Manage side effects and treatment effects when coping with chronic
illness.
Health psychologist help ease the adjustment process for patients.

Health Psychologist work settings

Academic within higher education system (e.g. University/college)

Health Promotion settings (e.g. schools or industry and or within health
service)

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 Figure 4 Main Work Settings for those working as a Health Psychologist Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Main-Work-Settings-for-those-Working-as-a-Health-
Psychologist_fig4_322498581

How to become a HP?

Clinical Health Psychologist

 Clinical HP

Training: clinical psychologist and then expertise in HP i.e. understanding the

theories and methods in HP.

 Professional Health Psychologist

Undertake a Doctoral Degree (competencies in teaching, consultancy, research).

Knowledge of academic HP with higher degree in HP.

Work as academic, within the health promotion setting, schools, health setting

(BPS, 2018).

Current perspectives in psychology –Week 2 Page 14

 References

Engel G., L. (1977). The need for a new medical model: A challenge for
biomedicine.

Science, 129–136.

Engel G. L. (1980). The clinical application of the biopsychosocial mode.

American

Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 535–544. doi:10.1176/ajp.137.5.535

Matarazzo, J. D. (1982). Behavioral health’s challenge to academic, scientific,

and

professional psychology. American Psychologist, 37, 1–14.

The British Psychological Society (2018). Retrieved from

https://careers.bps.org.uk/area/health

Ogden, J. (2007). Health Psychology: a textbook. 4th Edition

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