What If Industrial–Organizational Psychology Decided to Take Workplace Decisions Seriously?

Abstract

The major premise of this article is that increased exposure to—and increased application of—theories, methods, and findings from the judgment and decision‐making (JDM) field will aid industrial–organizational psychology and organizational behavior (IOOB) researchers and practitioners in studying workplace decisions. To this end, we first provide evidence of the lack of cross‐fertilization between JDM and IOOB and then provide an overview of the JDM research literature. Next, with the aid of a panel of prominent IOOB scholars who share JDM interests, we discuss the philosophical and methodological traditions in IOOB and JDM, the areas in which IOOB has already been enriched by JDM as well as the areas in which it might be further enriched in the future, ways of increasing cross‐fertilization from JDM to IOOB, and ways in which IOOB can in turn contribute to JDM. Through this focal article, we hope to spark conversation and ultimately engender more cross‐fertilization between JDM and IOOB.

Individual Psychological Assessment: A Practice and Science in Search of Common Ground

“…However, we know of few PhD level graduate programs in I–O psychology that offer individual assessment courses or experience (such as that offered at Baruch College, CUNY). In addition, graduate students can and should be taught decision‐making skills that will lead to more accurate judgment and decisions (Dalal et al, 2010; Meier, 1999; Spengler & Strohmer, 2001). A scientist–practitioner model for assessment developed by Spengler et al (1995) that incorporates methods of scientific hypothesis testing and debiasing techniques also might be included in graduate training.…”

Framing effects in justice perceptions: Prospect theory and counterfactuals

“…As Highhouse (2001) noted, although the domain of JDM contains relevant theoretical and empirical findings that could potentially benefit areas of organizational behavior and industrial and organizational psychology, there is a serious lack of integration with those two fields. Recognizing this gap, Dalal et al (2010), recently called for research that integrates theoretical insights from the JDM literature with other management fields. The theoretical confluence presented in this paper is a step in that direction.…”

Where Have All the “Workers” Gone? A Critical Analysis of the Unrepresentativeness of Our Samples Relative to the Labor Market in the Industrial–Organizational Psychology Literature

“…Not only are manager, professional, and executive samples more common than either worker samples or their proportion of the labor market but also college student samples are considerably more common than are worker samples in the top I-O psychology journals (despite conventional wisdom about what research is accepted in our top journals; Dalal et al, 2010). To demonstrate this, we compared occupational population data with samples in some of the top I-O psychology journals.…”