AP Psychology

2/4/14

Warm-up

• Turn in McCrory proposal.

• Explain how the need to belong can be both a negative and positive thing—you may use 495-497.

The psychology of JOBS

• SO BORING.

Three attitudes toward work

• Job: necessary to acquire money/materials and enjoy life outside of work.

• Career: deeper personal investment & definition of success through advancement.

• Calling: integral to life. Done for fulfillment & value to society. Originally religious connotation.

• According to Wrzensniewski, 20% of variance in overall life satisfaction is due to satisfaction at work.

Quality of life—purposeful engagement

• Overwhelmed & stressed(Middle School in Durham)

• Flow(Atkins High School)

• Underwhelmed & bored(Real Estate job)

Benefits of flow

• Fully engages skills• Boosts self-esteem & competence• Being lazy is nice sometimes, but it is not

satisfying

• Correlation between flow & positive affect

Industrial-organizational (I/O) Psych

Personnel psychology• Maximizing work output by matching personal

strengths with jobs & then evaluating work.Organizational psychology• Motivating workers to maximize output.

Personnel psychology

• Buckinham & Clifton claim that there are 34 “Personal Themes” that people can have—the ability to woo (able to persuade easily) or bring positivity.

• Identify the traits that make the best employees for different positions and target those in advertisements.

Interviews

• Interviews are a TERRIBLE way to predict success.

“Interviewer illusion”Good intentions are not habitual behaviorsAvailability heuristic when deciding on what

hires were successfulInterview situation--misleadingInterviewers’ mood

Structured Interviews

• Focuses on actual situations (interview at Olympic High School)

• Interviewer takes notes—why is this so vital?

Appraisals

• Different methods:Checklists: yes or noGraphic rating scales: rate attributesBehavior rating scales: pick between two sides

• 360-degree feedback (supervisor, peers, subordinates, customers)

Achievement Motivation

• An individual’s desire for accomplishment: mastering skills, gaining control, or reaching high standards

• Marked by high independence, tendency to seek challenges, and higher achievement.

Strong parents (praised/rewarded success)More active as childrenAchievement by competence/effort, not luck

Employees

• Employee satisfaction = creativity, persistence, helpfulness

• Employee engagement is correlated with organizational success

• Know what’s expected, have what they need, feel fulfilled, have opportunities that work to their strengths, find work significant, able to learn and develop.

Really, a combination of flow & career & calling = effective organization.

Management

Identify strengths->Match to work->Positive managing (concern, recognition, reward)

->Engaged employees=Loyal customers, growth, profit

Goal-setting

• Asking to do your best…doesn’t always get results

• Challenging goals + timely progress reports = higher achievement

• Implementation intentions: action plans with when, where, and how

Types of leadership

• Task leadershipSetting standards, organizing work, and focusing attention on goals (Jim).

• Social leadershipMediating conflicts and building high-achieving teams (Michael).

• The best leaders display…gasp…BOTH

Build-a-business!

• Information on rubric

• Work for the remainder of class