Essay on Industrial Psychology |

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Read this are to learn about Industrial Psychology. After

reading this article you will lean about: 1. Meaning and
Definition of Industrial Psychology 2. History of
Industrial Psychology 3. Foundation 4. Objectives 5. Scope
6. Applications.
Contents:
1. Essay on the Meaning and Definition of Industrial Psychology
2. Essay on the History of Industrial Psychology
3. Essay on the Foundations of Industrial Psychology
4. Essay on the Objectives of Industrial Psychology
5. Essay on the Scope of Industrial Psychology
6. Essay on the Applications of Industrial Psychology in Industry

Essay # 1. Meaning and Definition of Industrial

Psychology:
The term industrial psychology stands for the psychology applied to
industry. It is the study of people at work. It deals with the
aptitudes, attitudes and interests of the people at work.

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The term ‘Industrial Psychology’ is a combination of two words

—‘industrial’ and ‘psychology’. By the word ‘industrial’ we
mean that part of social life which provides civilised man with the
material goods that his condition of life demands.
‘Psychology’ may be defined as the science of minds i.e. accurate
and systematic knowledge of the mind. Thus, Industrial Psychology
is the systematic study of the state of mind of the people at work so
that several industrial problems may be solved without difficulty.
Industrial psychology is firstly the study of human behaviour and is
concerned with the discovery of information relating to human
behaviour. Secondly, it is concerned with the application of
information about human behaviour to the various problems of
human life. Industrial psychology is the professional aspect of
psychology.

The meaning of the term will be more clear from the

following definitions:
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According to J.R. Batlibai, “Industrial psychology resolves itself into

an analytical study of the intellect involved in the task of
administration and organisation as also of the mental and physical
ability required for manual and operative labour. It further
embodies a scientific research into the relative efficiency of the
varied methods of performing manual operations for the better
utilisation and least waste of efforts.”

According to Thomas W. Harrell, “Industrial psychology may be

defined as the study of people as individuals and in groups and of
the relationship between individuals and groups.”
According to Blum and Naylor, “Industrial psychology is
simply the application or extension of psychological facts
and principles to the problems concerning human beings
operating within the context of business and industry.”
Thus, Industrial Psychology is the study of human behaviour and is
concerned with the discovery of information relating to human
behaviour at work. It is concerned with the application of
information about human behaviour to the various problems of
industrial human life.

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The main aim of industrial psychology is research rather than

administration and the personnel administration is the application
of such research. It studies the varied methods of performing
manual operations for the better utilisation and the least waste of
efforts through human engineering.

Essay # 2. History of Industrial Psychology:

The field of industrial psychology has developed largely since the
beginning of this century. The early industrial psychologists were
concerned particularly with problems of personnel section, but their
interests also embraced other applied areas, such as advertising and
selling, accidents and employer rating processes.

But by the 1930’s, the field of industrial psychology had been

established as a distinct phase of psychology. Since then, major
developments and expansions have taken place. The primary
development in this field took place in certain countries in Western
Europe and in United States.

After that, the field has developed in countries all over the world.
During the 1940s and 1950s considerable interest was generated in
the human relations aspects of personnel management, with
particular concern for group interaction, supervision and leadership
processes, communications and job satisfaction.

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This increased emphasis on human relations in industry led to

greater attention to human relations, training of supervisory and
management personnel and to management development
programmes.

Interest in the social aspects of human work has led to the

development of organisational psychology. In organisational
psychology, the main focus is on human motivation and efforts are
made to understand effects of the organisational setting on
motivation, job satisfaction and work effectiveness.

Essay # 3. Foundations of Industrial Psychology:

The concept of Industrial Psychology is basically founded
on three factors:
(i) Economic

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(ii) Social 
(iii) Psychological.

These factors may be called the basis or foundations of Industrial

Psychology.

(i) Economic Foundation:

The main objective of every management is maximum production at
minimum cost so as to earn higher profits and to bring prosperity to
the industry and the nation. Basically, in the initial years,
management was concerned mainly with the full and proper
utilisation of physical factors of production.

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Human factor of organisation was paid little or no attention. It was

not realised that the utilisation of physical factors depends on the
human factor. If the workers do not work willingly and in the best
interests of the organisation, the economic aim of getting the best
results from the minimum efforts cannot be achieved.

Peter F. Drucker observes “The resources capable of

enlargement can only be human resources. All other
resources can be better utilised or worse utilised, but they
can never have an output greater than the sum of the
inputs. Man alone, of all the resources available to the
man, can grow and develop. When we speak of growth and
development, we imply the human being determines what
he contributes”.
The human resources available in the organisation can be motivated
to work together and to increase their output to an amazing extent.
Several psychological researches have been made in the field of
motivation, job satisfaction, morale, training etc. F.W. Taylor
developed the time and motion study and contributed a lot in the
field of Industrial Psychology. A desired organisational result can be
obtained only through proper human behaviour.

(ii) Social Foundation:
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The social industrial development such as evolution and

development of trade union movement, group activities, leadership,
communication etc., has played an important role in the
development of Industrial Psychology. Since the beginning of
Twentieth Century, the attitude of Government and employers
began to change.

Employers were assigned more responsibilities towards labour

welfare and the employees themselves awakened to their rights.
These factors widened the field of Industrial Psychology. More and
more psychological researches were conducted for improving
industrial relations.

Group studies were carried out to understand the group behaviour.

The main aim of Industrial Psychology became not only to achieve
the maximum production but also to provide more and more
facilities to workers on job.

(iii) Psychological Foundation:
The psychological attitude of the labour and employer gave impetus
to the development of industrial psychology. Industrial psychology
contributes to a large extent in improving the industrial relations
and to avoid the conflict between employers and employees.
Researches in the field of psychology and their application to the
industry have helped in the development of industrial psychology.

To conclude, we can say that economic, social and psychological

foundations all have contributed to a great extent in the
development of industrial psychology.

Essay # 4. Objectives of Industrial Psychology:

The main objective of industrial psychology is to give the worker
greater physical and mental ease at work. The aim of industrial
psychology is research rather than administration. The researcher
have been conducted to study the human behaviour and to suggest
various ways and means to improve the efficiency of workers in the
industry.

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The main objectives of industrial psychology are as

explained below:
(i) Proper Man at Proper Place:
Industrial Psychology has developed a whole array of tests. By the
use of systematic in-depth interviews and psychological tests such
as intelligence, aptitude, skills, abilities and interest tests, the
personnel characteristics of the persons are measured and proper
man is selected and placed on the job.

(ii) Proper Work Distribution:

The next aim of Industrial Psychology is the proper distribution of
work according to the ability and aptitude of the employees so that
they feel satisfied and give maximum output at minimum costs.

(iii) Minimising the Wastage:

The Industrial Psychology also aims at minimising the wastage of
manpower due to fatigue, illness, accidents etc. It studies several
psychological factors causing fatigue or accidents and suggests
measures for preventing the accidents or minimising fatigue. The
techniques of motivation and morale are used for this purpose.

(iv) Promotion of Labour Welfare:

Industrial Psychology aims to promote labour welfare through job
satisfaction, increase in labour efficiency, incentive provisions etc.

(v) Improvement in Human Relations:

The main aim of Industrial Psychology is to improve the human
relations in the industry. Human relation may be defined as
the “relations or contracts among individuals in an
organisation and the group behaviour that emerges from
these relations”.
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Industrial Psychology has made significant contribution in the

sphere of human relations by developing concepts and techniques
of leadership, supervision, communication and employee
participation in management.

(vi) Improvement in Industrial Relations:

Industrial Psychology studies the attitude of employers and
employees and offers suggestions to improve the labour relations in
industries. It assumes that all individuals differ from each other in
degree though not in kind and therefore, different measures are
adopted in solving the problems like promotions, transfers etc.
relating to each individual.

(vii) Maximum Production:
The chief aim of organisation is to get the best results from the
available resources. Industrial Psychology helps in achieving this
aim. The production is automatically increased if proper selection is
made, the work is distributed properly, industrial relations are
improved and human relations are promoted.

Essay # 5. Scope of Industrial Psychology:

The aim of Industrial Psychology is to give the worker greater
physical and mental ease at work. Its aim is research rather than
administration.

To achieve the aims and objectives of Industrial

Psychology, the scope of work of the industrial
Psychologist can be described as follows:
(i) To investigate and analyse in an unbiased manner the ways in
which the human psychological problems are handled at present.

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(ii) To develop new methods of problem solving and/or modify the

existing methods which have been tried and tested.

(iii) To formulate certain principles and guidelines which will help

in the solution of new problems.
In other words, we can say, that the scope of Industrial Psychology
is limited to material and social environment to which an individual
adapts himself while he is at work and by which his attitude is
modified. Industrial Psychology is the study of human behaviour at
work; its scope is the entire process of management’s dealings with
people at work.

Routine administrative details are not included in the scope of

Industrial Psychology as it lays emphasis on scientific research
aspects of people at work. It provides a useful aid to the
management by efficiently managing the people at work.

Essay # 6. Applications of Industrial Psychology in

Industry:
As Industrial psychology is the study of human behaviour at work, it
applies to every field of industry where human understanding is
required. there is hardly a problem in business where human aspect
is not involved and hence, there is hardly any area where
psychology cannot paly its role.

The principles, techniques and findings of Industrial

Psychology may be applied usefully to the following areas
of management:
(i) Recruitment of Personnel:
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Psychology may help in recruiting right man for the right job.
Accurate job analysis, standardised application forms, scientific
screening of applications, use of psychological tests for vocational
fitness, final overall rating and continuous review and follow up of
the entire programme are some of the areas where the psychologists
can make an important contribution.

Several psychological tests may be developed for the proper

screening of the people.

(ii) Selection and Placement:

To select the right person for the right job in the organisation, one
should measure the candidate’s aptitudes, intelligence, skills,
abilities, interests and temperaments. Industrial Psychology helps
in this effort also. It develops various devices such as interviews and
psychological tests in order to achieve the objective of the selection;
it also helps in the placement of employees at different jobs.

Job requirements and abilities must tally. Scientific assignment of

job results in securing the contentment and loyalty of the working
force. This is possible only with the help of Industrial Psychology.
Proper placement reduces the problem of Indiscipline and
Inefficiency in industries.

(iii) Training and Executive Development:

After careful selection of the executives using tests and interviews,
the next step is training the executives so that they can perform
better at their present jobs.

In organising an executive development programme, the Industrial

Psychologist keeps a range of goals in mind to increase the
effectiveness of the executive group. The technique of sensitivity
programme helps the executives to develop his areas of strengths
and weaknesses while working in groups is a clear example.
(iv) Promotional Schemes:
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The promotion, demotion, transfer etc. of an employee should be

based on abilities, usefulness and seniority. Performance appraisal
is one of the psychological techniques to recognise the people’s
ability. Mere seniority should not be considered as the guiding
principle for promotions.

(v) Motivation:
The psychologists assume that the causes of different types of
human behaviour in industry and business are the needs or the
motives that drive an individual to behave in a particular way.

Industrial Psychology probes into the behaviour of people at work

to determine the conditions in which an individual feels motivated
and is willing to work wholeheartedly to maximise the productivity.
Industrial Psychology has identified the financial and non-financial
incentives which are used by the management to motivate the
personnel.

(vi) Attitude and Morale:

To keep the morale of the personnel high is another significant
problem of management industrial psychologist can go into the
cause of low morale of the employees and can determine the factors
influencing the relationship between attitudes of employees and
their performance. It explains the behaviour of people when they
work in groups.

(vii) Wage and Salary Administration:

The psychologists have developed the techniques of job evaluation,
merit rating and job analysis as basis for rational wage and salary
administration. Job analysis determines the job description and
worth of the job, whereas merit rating evaluates the man.

(viii) Public Relations:
Industrial Psychology helps the management to develop effective
and systematic public relations machinery in order to create a high
image of the organisation. With the rapid expansion and growth of
industrial undertakings, the management is facing problems in
effectively communicating its policies, procedures and practices to
its employees, shareholders, consumers and general public.

(ix) Human Engineering:
Human Engineering is designing and laying out equipment in order
to get the greatest efficiency of man machine system. The industrial
psychologists working in human engineering provide data on which
management can decide to improve the design and the product for
the comfort and to increase the sale to the satisfaction of the
customers.

It also helps in reducing machine breakdowns and wastage of raw

materials; it helps in preventing accidents and induces better
performance and job satisfaction. Industrial Psychology has
humanised the management and opened the way to a much fuller
utilisation of the human factor in industry.

(x) Accident Prevention:
The Psychological Studies show that 98% of the accidents in the
industry are preventable. It means personal or psychological factors
play an important role in any programme of accident prevention.
Monotony and fatigue studies help in minimising the accidents.
Psychologists have made the contribution to the development of
safety programmes and the prevention of accidents in industry by
analysing the factors that make man more accident prone than
others. They have also suggested certain positive measures for
reducing accident problems.

(xi) Organisational Behaviour:
Managements in various public, private and even in other sectors,
have been realising the importance of team spirit in the
organisation and redesigning their organisational structures and
policies based on research findings on organisation behaviour.

Thus, the Industrial Psychology can be used in every area of

Industrial management. There is hardly any field where Industrial
Psychology is not being used or cannot be used.