Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Psychology 2e

Key Terms

Psychology 2eKey Terms

Americans with Disabilities Act
employers cannot discriminate against any individual based on a disability
bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)
requirement of certain occupations for which denying an individual employment would otherwise violate the law, such as requirements concerning religion or sex
checklist
method used to reduce workplace accidents
diversity training
training employees about cultural differences with the goal of improving teamwork
downsizing
process in which an organization tries to achieve greater overall efficiency by reducing the number of employees
Hawthorne effect
increase in performance of individuals who are noticed, watched, and paid attention to by researchers or supervisors
human factors psychology
branch of psychology that studies how workers interact with the tools of work and how to design those tools to optimize workers’ productivity, safety, and health
immutable characteristic
traits that employers cannot use to discriminate in hiring, benefits, promotions, or termination; these traits are fundamental to one’s personal identity (e.g. skin color and hair texture)
industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology
field in psychology that applies scientific principles to the study of work and the workplace
industrial psychology
branch of psychology that studies job characteristics, applicant characteristics, and how to match them; also studies employee training and performance appraisal
job analysis
determining and listing tasks associated with a particular job
job satisfaction
degree of pleasure that employees derive from their job
organizational culture
values, visions, hierarchies, norms and interactions between its employees; how an organization is run, how it operates, and how it makes decisions
organizational psychology
branch of psychology that studies the interactions between people working in organizations and the effects of those interactions on productivity
performance appraisal
evaluation of an employee’s success or lack of success at performing the duties of the job
procedural justice
fairness by which means are used to achieve results in an organization
scientific management
theory of management that analyzed and synthesized workflows with the main objective of improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity
sexual harassment
sexually-based behavior that is knowingly unwanted and has an adverse effect of a person’s employment status, interferes with a person’s job performance, or creates a hostile or intimidating work environment
telecommuting
employees’ ability to set their own hours allowing them to work from home at different parts of the day
Theory X
assumes workers are inherently lazy and unproductive; managers must have control and use punishments
Theory Y
assumes workers are people who seek to work hard and productively; managers and workers can find creative solutions to problems; workers do not need to be controlled and punished
transactional leadership style
characteristic of leaders who focus on supervision and organizational goals achieved through a system of rewards and punishments; maintenance of the organizational status quo
transformational leadership style
characteristic of leaders who are charismatic role models, inspirational, intellectually stimulating, and individually considerate and who seek to change the organization
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, or genetic information
work team
group of people within an organization or company given a specific task to achieve together
work–family balance
occurs when people juggle the demands of work life with the demands of family life
workplace violence
violence or the threat of violence against workers; can occur inside or outside the workplace
Order a print copy

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Jan 6, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.