Psychology of Organization and Work
Short description
The research group Psychology of Organization and Work (POW) is focused on many dynamics that exist within the work environment that might influence stress, job satisfaction, innovation, burnout, group behavior, and team effectiveness (to name a few). Whilst employee performance can be one goal of research of the POW group, much of the group’s work focuses on the wellbeing, health, safety and quality of life of employees in the workplace. The methods used to perform research varies, but the most common methods are questionnaire surveys, interviews, observational studies and intervention studies.
Our research area
The POW group examines how work culture influences employee behavior. Because work culture is difficult to observe, researchers often study work climate (employees' perceptions of their work environment) as a way to gain insights into the underlying culture of the organization. For example, studying the “safety climate” of an organization will give insight into the factors that affect adherence to safety guidelines by employees.
Leadership is a topic commonly studied in the POW group. From the perspective of organizational psychology, leadership is a process that helps organizations, supervisors and employees reach a common goal. These goals include safety, productivity, health, innovation, and motivation. The POW group has studied leadership of employees in production, healthcare, municipalities, and construction. Various interventions have also been used to improve qualities of leadership. For example, the Functional Leadership project uses features of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to improve managerial leadership through CBT based training. Additionally, leadership has been studied to better understand innovative behavior and sustainability of employees.
The POW group also focuses on work groups and group development as people work with each other and develop as a team. The goal of most research on work groups and group development is to learn the dynamics of the groups and why and how groups change over time. Group dynamics look at a variety of aspects, such as: the quality of output produced by a group, the type and frequency of their activities, their cohesiveness, and group conflicts. The development of technology has directly changed group dynamics, and researchers now investigate the influence of digital media and devices on behavior. For example, the “Phubbing at Work” project focuses on this relationship by investigating how mobile phone behavior affects the social working environment.
Safety in the workplace is also a common outcome of many research projects in the POW group. Safety refers to both the physical safety and psychological safety of employees and stakeholders (such as patients or clients). Safety behavior can refer to wearing personal protective equipment, but also to the attitudes of managers towards safety. For example, the POW group has investigated the safety climate differences between Sweden and Denmark, and have also used mixed-method designs to investigate the leadership practices of construction site managers and their influence on occupational safety.
Employee stress and health is a common topic in the POW group. There is a strong connection between the psychosocial work environment, and employee health/stress. This relationship can be mutual. High demands or poor support at work can increase stress, which can further lead to burnout, reduced productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. However, supporting the needs of employees can lead to improved health, performance, and behaviors (including innovation). The POW group has studied these topics by investigating for example need satisfaction, perceived muscular tension, perceived stress, and psychosocial work conditions.
These varied areas of research come together to accomplish the overall objective of the group: to improve the life, safety, and productivity of organizations, employees, and stakeholders.
Research projects
Members
Researchers
Karin Allard
leadership, organizational culture, gender, gender equality
Martin Grill
leadership, safety, behavior
Mattias Gunnarsson
health, motivation, personality
Christian Jacobsson
leadership, team development, work-related health
Pernilla Larsman
Psychosocial work environment, work-related stress, health
Anders Pousette
Safety and security climate, interventions, leadership
Max Rapp Ricciardi
Coachingpsychology, dysfunctional leadership/counterproductive work behavior, group- and organizational development
Sara Thomée
Information and communication technology, work-related health, mental health
PhD students
Niké Henriksson
Per Martinsson
Psychosocial work environment, information and communication technology, behavior
Niklas Rydbo
working environment, motivation, cooperation
Amanda Samuelsson
leadership, behavior, working environment
Johanna Widh