How do the fields of social psychology and organisations integrate? - Chapter 1

How do the fields of social psychology and organisations integrate? - Chapter 1

In this book (de Cremer, van Dick, & Murninghan, 2015) , we'll see how social psychology and organisations integrate with each other. The authors brought together researchers from social psychology and from organizations. This book discusses the findings of these people. There is a special interest in how the research in one field relates to the other field. Although there is a clear bond between both the social psychology and organisations, the relation between them stays implicit. The goal of the authors is to make this relation more explicit.

An understanding of 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. The 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.

The social, and organisational research themes

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 eachother can be categorized as competitive, cooperative or conflict relationships. Understanding these categories and interactions can be done by employing theories on cooperation, aggression, justice and fairness, and affiliation.

How organizations and their managers can handle conflict is a central aspect in leadership. It is important to maintain, build, and restore trust; it is also crucial that leaders use fair and legitimate decision-making procedures.

Theme 3: social context and culture of work space

Beliefs, both individual and cultural, are important social influencers. When individual beliefs differ from organizational beliefs, social psychology helps to understand how to merge those beliefs into a central, motivating culture. 

Questions Chapter 1: Seeing organizations through the eye of a social psychologist

How can the field of social psychology be described?

How can organizations improve?