In this book, we'll see how social psychology and organisations integrate with each other by bringing researchers from social psychology and from organizations together. This book discusses their findings. There is a special interest in how research in one field relates to the other field. Although there is a clear bond between both social psychology and organisations, the relation between them stays implicit. The goal of this book is to make this relation more explicit.
How can you understand work life?
Most people spend much of their time at a workplace, mostly within organisations. We are not always aware of the different things that influence our work. Social interactions at work influence, among others, our thoughts and feelings. To have a better understanding of this influence, we take the perspective of the social psychologist.
Social psychology can be defined as a "scientific attempt to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other human beings" (Allport, 1954). Social scientists are particularly interested in how social elements influence individuals and how individuals influence social relationships.
Organizations are social entities: they include individuals, groups, and interactions. Social psychology provides conceptual tools and theories to tackle organizational challenges.
What themes are there in social, and organisational research?
Theme 1: theories of individuals
How do individual staff members perceive their organisations and organisational experiences? In what way do these perceptions contribute to the organisation-related behaviour of the employee?
Theories of individuals such as attribution theory, cognitive dissonance, psychological reactance, and theories of attitudes and persuasion can all give guidance to answering these questions.
Theme 2: theories on interactions
The way in which members of an organisation interact with each other can be categorized as competitive, cooperative or conflict relationships. Understanding these categories and interactions
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