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Applied Fields: Organizations
Introduction
Psychologists interested in describing, diagnosing or changing organizational behaviour are compelled to assess psychological properties of organizations at some stage of their work. It is for this reason that, as in other applied fields, multiple approaches and techniques concerning psychological assessment have been developed and used in organizations. This entry aims to describe a multilevel psychological assessment, adopting a social systems perspective. To this end, we define psychological assessment of organizations, analyse how it is implemented at different levels, and present future perspectives.
Concept and Objectives of Organizational Assessment
Psychological assessment of organizations refers to the measure of human behaviour in organizations using scientific instruments. The primary objective of this assessment is to describe the organization as an individual and collective behaviour system accurately. However, psychological measures should be also relevant in terms of practical implications, serving the purpose of helping managers and other members of the organizations to make decisions.
Traditionally, psychological assessment in organizations has been restricted to the measure of individual differences, implicitly assuming that organizational effectiveness is the result of the aggregation of the psychological characteristics of individuals. This individual level of analyses, however, is limited and the measurement of the work group and the organization as a whole offer a complementary and more comprehensive assessment. Psychological properties exist at different levels of analyses and all of them contribute to the effectiveness. Thus, a multilevel assessment is needed in obtaining a deeper description of the organizations.
Main Topics in Psychological Assessment at Different Levels of Analyses
The Individual Level
There is a persistent interest in the study of individual experiences in organizations and continuously there are emerging topics and controversies (Nord & Fox, 1996). Personality, cognitive, affective, and behavioural variables have been assessed during decades. With this in mind, the most relevant issues currently associated with the measurement of individuals in organizations are summarized in this section.
Personality
Individuals can be characterized by a number of enduring dispositional properties, which help to understand people's behaviours in organizations. One of the most popular methods of assessing personality is derived from the big five theory. Through self-report inventories, five dimensions of personality are measured: (1) extraversion; (2) emotional stability; (3) agreeableness; (4) conscientiousness; and (5) openness to experience. Several authors prefer the use of a composite of several big five constructs, labelled integrity test, because this broader measure can be more reliable in predicting overall job performance. However, narrower trait constructs can show better prediction of specific job performance criteria within specific occupations (Gatewood, Perloff & Perloff, 2000).
Knowledge, Abilities and Skills (KASs)
KASs are defined, respectively, as the amount of factual information known by an individual, his/her conduct of job specific activities, and his/her conduct of generalized job activities. With respect to the abilities, different goals are associated with the measure of general mental ability or ‘g’ versus specific abilities. Although there is some consensus about the predictive efficiency of the ‘g’ factor, measures of specific abilities tend to be more useful when the goals are understanding people's behaviours or their classification. Given that abilities, as they are measured by aptitude tests, refer to a wide and general range of human experiences, more circumscribed measures of skills and knowledge have been developed in order to improve the validity of measures. This is the case of interpersonal skills, which are especially critical in customer service jobs, work groups, and leadership. Also, job knowledge and tacit-knowledge measures are closely related to specific job performance criteria. For instance, subjects can be exposed to a job-related situation, and their capabilities to solve problem situations can be measured through assessment centre procedures.
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- 1. Theory and Methodology
- Ambulatory Assessment
- Assessment Process
- Assessor's Bias
- Automated Test Assembly Systems
- Classical and Modern Item Analysis
- Classical Test Theory
- Classification (General, including Diagnosis)
- Criterion-Referenced Testing: Methods and Procedures
- Cross-Cultural Assessment
- Decision (including Decision Theory)
- Diagnosis of Mental and Behavioural Disorders
- Diagnostic Testing in Educational Settings
- Dynamic Assessment (Learning Potential Testing, Testing the Limits)
- Ethics
- Evaluability Assessment
- Evaluation: Programme Evaluation (General)
- Explanation
- Factor Analysis: Confirmatory
- Factor Analysis: Exploratory
- Formats for Assessment
- Generalizability Theory
- History of Psychological Assessment
- Intelligence Assessment through Cohort and Time
- Item Banking
- Item Bias
- Item Response Theory: Models and Features
- Latent Class Analysis
- Multidimensional Item Response Theory
- Multidimensional Scaling Methods
- Multimodal Assessment (including Triangulation)
- Multitrait-Multimethod Matrices
- Needs Assessment
- Norm-Referenced Testing: Methods and Procedures
- Objectivity
- Outcome Assessment/Treatment Assessment
- Person/Situation (Environment) Assessment
- Personality Assessment through Longitudinal Designs
- Prediction (General)
- Prediction: Clinical vs. Statistical
- Qualitative Methods
- Reliability
- Report (General)
- Reporting Test Results in Education
- Self-Presentation Measurement
- Self-Report Distortions (including Faking, Lying, Malingering, Social Desirability)
- Test Adaptation/Translation Methods
- Test User Competence/Responsible Test Use
- Theoretical Perspective: Cognitive
- Theoretical Perspective: Cognitive-Behavioural
- Theoretical Perspective: Constructivism
- Theoretical Perspective: Psychoanalytic
- Theoretical Perspective: Psychological Behaviourism
- Theoretical Perspective: Psychometrics
- Theoretical Perspective: Systemic
- Trait-State Models
- Utility
- Validity (General)
- Validity: Construct
- Validity: Content
- Validity: Criterion-Related
- 2. Methods, Tests and Equipment
- Adaptive and Tailored Testing
- Analogue Methods
- Autobiography
- Behavioural Assessment Techniques
- Brain Activity Measurement
- Case Formulation
- Coaching Candidates to Score Higher on Tests
- Computer-Based Testing
- Equipment for Assessing Basic Processes
- Field Survey: Protocols Development
- Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS)
- Idiographic Methods
- Interview (General)
- Interview in Behavioural and Health Settings
- Interview in Child and Family Settings
- Interview in Work and Organizational Settings
- Neuropsychological Test Batteries
- Observational Methods (General)
- Observational Techniques in Clinical Settings
- Observational Techniques in Work and Organizational Settings
- Projective Techniques
- Psychoeducational Test Batteries
- Psychophysiological Equipment and Measurements
- Self-Observation (Self-Monitoring)
- Self-Report Questionnaires
- Self-Reports (General)
- Self-Reports in Behavioural Clinical Settings
- Self-Reports in Work and Organizational Settings
- Socio-Demographic Conditions
- Sociometric Methods
- Standard for Educational and Psychological Testing
- Subjective Methods
- Test Accommodations for Disabilities
- Test Anxiety
- Test Designs: Developments
- Test Directions and Scoring
- Testing through the Internet
- Unobtrusive Measures
- 3. Personality
- Anxiety Assessment
- Attachment
- Attitudes
- Attribution Styles
- Big Five Model Assessment
- Burnout Assessment
- Cognitive Styles
- Coping Styles
- Emotions
- Empowerment
- Interest
- Leadership Personality
- Locus of Control
- Motivation
- Optimism
- Person/Situation (Environment) Assessment
- Personal Constructs
- Personality Assessment (General)
- Personality Assessment through Longitudinal Designs
- Prosocial Behaviour
- Self-Control
- Self-Efficacy
- Self-Presentation Measurement
- Self, The (General)
- Sensation Seeking
- Social Competence (including Social Skills, Assertion)
- Temperament
- Time Orientation
- Trait-State Models
- Values
- Weil-Being (including Life Satisfaction)
- 4. Intelligence
- Attention
- Cognitive Ability: g Factor
- Cognitive Ability: Multiple Cognitive Abilities
- Cognitive Decline/Impairment
- Cognitive Plasticity
- Cognitive Processes: Current Status
- Cognitive Processes: Historical Perspective
- Cognitive/Mental Abilities in Work and Organizational Settings
- Creativity
- Dynamic Assessment (Learning Potential Testing, Testing the Limits)
- Emotional Intelligence
- Equipment for Assessing Basic Processes
- Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence
- Intelligence Assessment (General)
- Intelligence Assessment through Cohort and Time
- Language (General)
- Learning Disabilities
- Memory (General)
- Mental Retardation
- Practical Intelligence: Conceptual Aspects
- Practical Intelligence: Its Measurement
- Problem Solving
- Triarchic Intelligence Components
- Wisdom
- 5. Clinical and Health
- Anger, Hostility and Aggression Assessment
- Antisocial Disorders Assessment
- Anxiety Assessment
- Anxiety Disorders Assessment
- Applied Behavioural Analysis
- Applied Fields: Clinical
- Applied Fields: Gerontology
- Applied Fields: Health
- Caregiver Burden
- Child and Adolescent Assessment in Clinical Settings
- Clinical Judgement
- Coping Styles
- Counselling, Assessment in
- Couple Assessment in Clinical Settings
- Dangerous/Violence Potential Behaviour
- Dementia
- Diagnosis of Mental and Behavioural Disorders
- Dynamic Assessment (Learning Potential Testing, Testing the Limits)
- Eating Disorders
- Health
- Identity Disorders
- Interview in Behavioural and Health Settings
- Irrational Beliefs
- Learning Disabilities
- Mental Retardation
- Mood Disorders
- Observational Techniques in Clinical Settings
- Outcome Assessment/Treatment Assessment
- Palliative Care
- Prediction: Clinical vs. Statistical
- Psychoneuroimmunology
- Quality of Life
- Self-Observation (Self-Monitoring)
- Self-Reports in Behavioural Clinical Settings
- Social Competence (including Social Skills, Assertion)
- Stress
- Substance Abuse
- Test Anxiety
- Thinking Disorders Assessment
- Type A: A Proposed Psychosocial Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Diseases
- Type C: A Proposed Psychosocial Risk Factor for Cancer
- 6. Educational and Child Assessment
- Achievement Testing
- Applied Fields: Education
- Child Custody
- Children with Disabilities
- Coaching Candidates to Score Higher on Tests
- Cognitive Psychology and Assessment Practices
- Communicative Language Abilities
- Development (General)
- Development: Intelligence/Cognitive
- Development: Language
- Development: Psychomotor
- Development: Socio-Emotional
- Diagnostic Testing in Educational Settings
- Dynamic Assessment (Learning Potential Testing, Testing the Limits)
- Evaluation in Higher Education
- Giftedness
- Instructional Strategies
- Interview in Child and Family Settings
- Item Banking
- Learning Strategies
- Performance
- Performance Standards: Constructed Response Item Formats
- Performance Standards: Selected Response Item Formats
- Planning
- Planning Classroom Tests
- Pre-School Children
- Psychoeducational Test Batteries
- Reporting Test Results in Education
- Standard for Educational and Psychological Testing
- Test Accommodations for Disabilities
- Test Directions and Scoring
- Testing in the Second Language in Minorities
- 7. Work and Organizations
- Achievement Motivation
- Applied Fields: Forensic
- Applied Fields: Organizations
- Applied Fields: Work and Industry
- Career and Personnel Development
- Centres (Assessment Centres)
- Cognitive/Mental Abilities in Work and Organizational Settings
- Empowerment
- Interview in Work and Organizational Settings
- Job Characteristics
- Job Stress
- Leadership in Organizational Settings
- Leadership Personality
- Motor Skills in Work Settings
- Observational Techniques in Work and Organizational Settings
- Organizational Culture
- Performance
- Personnel Selection, Assessment in
- Physical Abilities in Work Settings
- Risk and Prevention in Work and Organizational Settings
- Self-Reports in Work and Organizational Settings
- Total Quality Management
- 8. Neurophysiopsychological Assessment
- Applied Fields: Neuropsychology
- Applied Fields: Psychophysiology
- Brain Activity Measurement
- Dementia
- Equipment for Assessing Basic Processes
- Executive Functions Disorders
- Memory Disorders
- Neuropsychological Test Batteries
- Outcome Evaluation in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation
- Psychoneuroimmunology
- Psychophysiological Equipment and Measurements
- Visuo-Perceptual Impairments
- Voluntary Movement
- 9. Environmental Assessment
- Behavioural Settings and Behaviour Mapping
- Cognitive Maps
- Couple Assessment in Clinical Settings
- Environmental Attitudes and Values
- Family
- Landscapes and Natural Environments
- Life Events
- Organizational Structure, Assessment of
- Perceived Environmental Quality
- Person/Situation (Environment) Assessment
- Post-Occupancy Evaluation for the Built Environment
- Residential and Treatment Facilities
- Social Climate
- Social Networks
- Social Resources
- Stressors: Physical
- Stressors: Social
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