Disciplines That Contribute to the OB Field

 

Disciplines That Contribute to the OB Field

  1. 1.3 Identify the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB.

OB is an applied behavioral science built on contributions from a number of behavioral disciplines, mainly psychology and social psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Psychology’s contributions have been principally at the individual or micro-level of analysis, while the other disciplines have contributed to our understanding of macro concepts such as group processes and organization. Exhibit 1-1 is an overview of the major contributions to the study of OB.

Exhibit 1-1

Toward an OB Discipline



Behavioral scienceContributionsUnit of analysisOutput
PsychologyLearning
Motivation
Personality
Emotions
Perception
Training
Leadership effectiveness
Job satisfaction
Individual decision making
Performance appraisal
Attitude measurement
Employee selection
Work design
Work stress		IndividualStudy of organizational behavior
Social psychologyBehavioral change
Attitude change
Communication
Group processes
Group decision making
Communication
Power
Conflict
Intergroup behavior		GroupStudy of organizational behavior
SociologyCommunication
Power
Conflict
Intergroup behavior		GroupStudy of organizational behavior
Formal organization theory
Organizational technology
Organizational change
Organizational culture		Organization system
AnthropologyComparative values
Comparative attitudes
Cross-cultural analysis		GroupStudy of organizational behavior
Organizational culture
Organizational environment
Power		Organization system

Psychology

Psychology seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals. Contributors to the knowledge of OB are learning theorists, personality theorists, counseling psychologists, and, most important, industrial and organizational psychologists.

Early industrial and organizational psychologists studied the problems of fatigue, boredom, and other working conditions that could impede efficient work performance. More recently, their contributions have expanded to include learning, perception, personality, emotions, training, leadership effectiveness, needs and motivational forces, job satisfaction, decision-making processes, performance appraisals, attitude measurement, employee-selection techniques, work design, and job stress.

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