How is organizational psychology different from general psychology?

What is organizational psychology?

Organizational psychology is focused on group-type settings, most commonly offices and workplace psychology. The organization psychologist is a person who can focus on both individuals’ needs and wants as much as the group’s dynamics and communication styles. This section of psychology takes theories, research, and intervention and communication strategies and applies them to groups in both work and non-work settings. People in this field focus on helping people understand their interactions with one another so that everyone can work together to accomplish important tasks. An organizational psychologist works with everyone from lower-ranked employees to middle management and leadership teams. Such professionals want to make sure that the workplace and the employees are as productive as possible. This means observing the workplace and finding evidence-based solutions to maximize the efforts of workers and managers.

In contrast to organizational psychology, general psychology is a discipline of studying mental processes and human behavior to aid with disease, conditions and also to help individuals achieve goals. Many organizational psychologists work directly with the human resources departments or consult for companies in specific situations requiring this expertise such as project development. Most organizational psychologists work in this capacity intermittently while pursuing other forms of psychology.

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