thesis topics for organizational psychology

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Industrial/Organizational Psychology Theses

Theses/dissertations from 2022 2022.

Employee Satisfaction and Perceptions of Organizational Leadership Accountability , Caroline M. Clancy

The Effects of Transformational Leadership on Sales Performance in a Multilevel Marketing Organization , Alexander Techy

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Too Illegit to Quit: The Impact of Illegitiate Tasks on Turnover Intentions and Well-Being , Jacob Wessels

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

The Effects of Positive and Negative Humor at Work , Trevor Frey

Diverse Teams, Team Effectiveness, and the Moderating Effect of Organizational Support , Hannah Tilstra

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Effects of Psychological Need Satisfaction on Proactive Work Behaviors , Shota Kawasaki

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Gender Differences in Development Center Performance in a Healthcare Organization , Samuel Lawson

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Success in Learning Groups: Where have we been? And Where are we going? , Tiffany Michelle Ackerman

Individual Differences as Predictors of Success for Learning Community Students , Nicole Haffield

Moderating Effects of Resilience and Recovery on the Stressor-Strain Relationship Among Law Enforcement Officers , Austin Hearne

Selection Portfolio: Applying Modern Portfolio Theory to Personnel Selection , Eric Leingang

The Hogan Development Survey: Personality in Selecting and Training Aviation Pilots , Jenna McChesney

Evaluating a Measure of Student Effectiveness in an Undergraduate Psychology Program , Colin Omori

Participant Self-Assessment of Development Center Performance , Ryan Powley

“Let’s be clear”: Exploring the Role of Transparency Within the Organization , Maxwell Salazar

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

The Effect of an Email Intervention Tailored to Highly Ambitious Students on University Retention , Lauren Bahls

911,What's My Emergency? Emotional Labor, Work-Related Rumination, and Strain Outcomes in Emergency Medical Dispatchers , Jessica Lee Deselms

Can You Hack It? Validating Predictors for IT Boot Camps , Courtney Gear

Intervention E-mails and Retention: How E-mails Tailored to Personality Impact an Undergraduate Student's Decision to Return to School or Not , John Kelly Heffernon

Prudence and Persistence: Personality in Student Retention , Logan J. Michels

Examination of the Antecedents, Reactions, and Outcomes to a Major Technology-driven Organizational Change , Ngoc Dinh Nguyen

Training Coping Techniques to Reduce Statistics Anxiety , Brittany Prothe

Assessing the Effect of Personality Characteristics of Minnesota Golfers on the Brand Equity of Golf Drivers , Eric Schinella

Mood and Engagement Contagion in a Call Center Environment , Sarah Welsch

Why Do Some Employees Readjust to Their Home Organizations Better Than Others? Job Demands-Resources Model of Repatriation Adjustment , Yukiko Yamasaki

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Fitting Flow: An Analysis of the Role of Flow Within a Model of Occupational Stress , Jeffrey Alan Dahlke

Created Equal? Comparing Disturbing Media Outcomes Across Occupations , Christine Nicole Gundermann

The Influence of Perceived Similarity, Affect and Trust on the Performance of Student Learning Groups , Jennifer Louise Lacewell

Depth of a Salesman: Exploring Personality as a Predictor of Sales Performance in a Multi-Level Marketing Sample , Colleen Rose Miller

Expatriate Adjustment of U.S. Military on Foreign Assignment:The Role of Personality and Cultural Intelligence in Adjustment , Jennifer Pauline Stockert

Organizational Trust As a Moderator of the Relationship between Burnout and Intentions to Quit , Glenn Trussell

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Ethnic Names, Resumes, and Occupational stereotypes: Will D'Money Get the Job? , Tony Matthew Carthen

Examining the Effectiveness of the After Action Review for Online and Face-to-Face Discussion Groups , William Cradick

University Commitment: Test of a Three-Component Model , Brittany Davis

An Investigation into the Effect of Power on Entrepreneurial Motivations , Jack Reed Durand

Development and Enhancement to a Pilot Selection Battery for a University Aviation Program , Ryan Thomas Hanna

Overseas Assignments: Expatriate and Spousal Adjustment in the U.S. Air Force , Andrew R. Hayes

The Roles of Social Support and Job Meaningfulness in the Disturbing Media Exposure-Job Strain Relationship , Hung T. Hoang

Student Assessment of Professor Effectiveness , Roger Emil Knutson

Dirty Work: The Effects of Viewing Disturbing Media on Military Attorneys , Natalie Lynn Sokol

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Selection System Prediction Of Safety: A Step Toward Zero Accidents In South African Mining , Rachel Aguilera-Vanderheyden

Examining Generational Differences across Organizational Factors that Relate to Turnover , Kimberly Asuncion

An Investigation of Online Unproctored Testing and Cheating Motivations Using Equity Theory and Theory of Planned Behavior , Valerie Nicole Brophy

Race, Gender, and Leadership Promotion: The Moderating Effect of Social Dominance Orientation , Chelsea Chatham

Disentangling Individual, Organization, and Learning Process Factors that Drive Employee Participation , Diana Colangelo

Will [email protected] get the Job Done? An Analysis of Employees' Email Usernames, Turnover, and Job Performance , Jessica Marie Lillegaard

Using Personality Traits to Select Customer-Oriented Security Guards , Tracy Marie Shega

Mobile Internet Testing: Applicant Reactions To Mobile Internet Testing , Sarah Smeltzer

Ethical Leadership: Need for Cross-Cultural Examinations , Shuo Tian

Development of a Pilot Selection System for a Midwestern University Aviation Program , Kathryn Wilson

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Identifying Organizational Factors that Moderate the Engagement-Turnover Relationship in a Healthcare Setting , Stevie Ann Collini

Organizational Wellness Programs: Who Participates and Does it Help? , Justin Michael Dumond

Coping with Economic Stressors: Religious and Non-Religious Strategies for Managing Psychological Distress , Jonathan Karl Feil

The Creation and Validation of a Pilot Selection System for a Midwestern University Aviation Department , Jacob William Forsman

The National Survey of Student Engagement as a Predictor of Academic Success , Paul Michael Fursman

Perceptions of a Text-Based SJT versus an Animated SJT , Amanda Helen Halabi

The Moderating Effects of Work Control and Leisure Control on the Recovery-Strain Relationship , Jason Nicholas Jaber

The Role Social Influence Has On Dormitory Residents' Responses to Fire Alarms , Michael Otting Leytem

The Impact of Culture, Industry Type, and Job Relevance on Applicant Reactions , Olivia Martin

Someone Who Understands: The Effect of Support on Law Enforcement Officers Exposed to Disturbing Media , Jessica Morales

The Effects of Task Ambiguity and Individual Differences on Personal Internet Use at Work , Hitoshi Nishina

The Roles of Self-Efficacy and Self-Deception in Cheating on Unproctored Internet Testing , Christopher Adam Wedge

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Assessing Transfer Student Performance , Hyderhusain Shakir Abadin

Should You Hire [email protected]?: An Analysis of Job Applicants' Email Addresses and their Scores on Pre-Employment Assessments , Evan Blackhurst

The Dirty Work Of Law Enforcement: Emotion, Secondary Traumatic Stress, And Burnout In Federal Officers Exposed To Disturbing Media , Amanda Harms

Comparison of a Ranking and Rating Format of the 5Plus5: A Personality Measure , Kristy Lynn Jungemann

Cultural Intelligence and Collective Efficacy in Virtual Team Effectiveness , Pei See Ng

Relationship Type Determines the Target of Threat in Perceived Relational Devaluation: Organizational Self vs. Interpersonal Relationships , Peter Sanacore

Development of an Assessment Center as a Selection Method for I/O Graduate Applicants , Ting Tseng

Hiking, Haiku, or Happy Hour After Hours: The Effects of Need Satisfaction and Proactive Personality on the Recovery-Strain Relationship , Paige Woodruff

Exploring the Antecedents of Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Knowledge-based Virtual Communities , Luman Yong

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6.2 Topics in Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Topics in Industrial and Organizational Psychology 1 2

Work occupies a central part of people’s lives around the world. For example, full-time workers in the U.S. work an average of 8.5 hours/day, spending more time working than performing any other life activity except for sleep (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). Work experiences exert a heavy effect on people’s life satisfaction (Erdogan, Bauer, Truxillo, & Mansfield, 2012), and career goals are a central concern of many young adults (e.g., Rogers, Creed, & Glendon, 2008). Indeed, most readers of this chapter are likely in college as a step toward achieving a hoped-for career!

However, the world of work is changing in many ways that present new questions and challenges for workers. For example, advances in technology, including automation, are disrupting major industries and changing or eliminating many jobs (Susskind & Susskind, 2016). Employers are increasingly experimenting with alternative work arrangements, like contract workers in “gig” jobs (e.g., driving for Uber or Lyft), rather than offering full-time work with job security and stable benefits (Friedman, 2014). Despite progress, women, racial and ethnic minorities, religious minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with disabilities still struggle to be accepted and successful in many workplaces (Myors et al., 2008). And, around the world, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers continue to search for decent work opportunities that can fulfill their basic needs (Moyce & Schenker, 2018).

Against this backdrop, industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology has an important role to play in improving organizations and promoting the well-being of workers. This chapter first presents a brief overview of I-O and what work in this field entails, and then reviews a series of major areas of research and practice within each half of the field.

I-O psychology is the scientific study of working and the application of psychological principles to workplace issues facing individuals, teams, and organizations. I-O psychologists apply the scientific method to investigate issues of critical relevance to individuals, businesses, and society. As a consequence, I-O psychologists are trained as scientist-practitioners with the ability to both conduct rigorous research and engage in the practical application of scientific knowledge alongside business people.

There are roughly 500 graduate programs in the U.S. that grant master’s and doctoral degrees in I-O psychology. Unlike many areas of psychology that require a doctoral degree practice, a terminal master’s degree is sufficient to pursue many excellent work opportunities in I-O psychology (Michalski, 2017). Moreover, the Department of Labor projects increased demand for I-O psychology into the mid-2020s. Much more information about graduate training and work opportunities is available on the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) website; SIOP is the primary professional body for the field.

Figure 1. SIOP, Division 14 of the American Psychological Association, has over 9,000 members as of January 2018.

Photo source: SIOP, used with permission.

Industrial Psychology

As the name “industrial-organizational” suggests, I-O psychology has often been viewed as a field with two distinct, though related, components. The industrial half of I-O Psychology, which is sometimes referred to as personnel psychology , focuses on the analysis of jobs; recruitment, selection, and training of employees; and evaluation of performance in the workplace. Industrial psychology is a close partner of human resource (HR) management in organizations, with industrial psychologists supplying the technical and legal expertise to create and evaluate the personnel systems that HR managers use on a daily basis. To this end, the major areas of research and practice that fall within industrial psychology include job analysis, recruitment and selection, performance appraisal, and training.

Job Analysis

Before we can hire people, before we can assess their performance, before we can decide on their salaries, before we can train them – before we can do virtually anything to affect a job, we must first understand what a job consists of. What tasks does it include? What skills does the job require? Where does the job fit within the organization? Job analysis helps I-O psychologists answer these questions (Sanchez & Levine, 2012). Because of its importance for making further decisions about jobs, many I-O psychologists begin their consulting work with a job analysis.

Generally speaking, a job analysis can fall into one of two categories: work-oriented or worker-oriented (Brannick, Levine, Morgeson, & Brannick, 2007). Work-oriented job analysis focuses on the job itself, and involves developing a list of tasks that the job involves. For example, a retail store sales clerk might assist customers in finding merchandise, answer customer questions, use a cash register to take money and make change, bag the merchandise, and thank the customer, among other responsibilities.  If we put this all together, it produces a job description that we can later use to identify training needs and the valuable behaviors that we should reward.

On the other hand, worker-oriented job analysis focuses on identifying the qualities needed by an employee to successfully perform the job in question. Traditionally, I-O psychologists have tried to identify several key characteristics of employees, including their knowledge (things they know), their skills (such as skill at persuading others), and their abilities (more stable traits they possess, like mathematical ability), often referred to as the “KSAs” required to perform the job. Returning to the example of our retail sales clerk, we might find that they need to be friendly, detail-oriented, reliable, and have the ability to learn about the merchandise the store has in stock. This information is crucial to developing a selection system that identifies job applicants with the right qualifications to be successful.

The process of completing a work- or worker-oriented job analysis procedure is actually quite similar. In each case, I-O consultants typically interview current employees and supervisors, or ask them to complete surveys, to gather information about the job. The consultants then use this information to write the task or KSA statements that describe the job.

Recruitment, Selection, & Placement

Once I-O psychologists understand what a job entails, and the requirements that are necessary to do the job, they can use this information to assist an organization in a wide variety of ways. Generally, this information will be used to aid the hiring process in an organization–quality job analysis information can help with this process in a variety of ways.

The hiring process actually begins with recruitment—before people can be hired into an organization, they must first apply for an open position. Recruitment refers to the process of attracting people to submit applications for open positions within an organization. Today, recruitment often takes advantage of technology, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and internet job boards like Indeed.com and Monster.com. In their attempts to recruit people to apply for a job opening, organizations will typically describe the requirements of the position, including educational requirements, and the main tasks and responsibilities associated with the position. Organizations may also attempt to describe aspects of the culture of the organization, such as the feel of the work environment, or the values or mission of the company. An organization that describes itself as “fast-paced” or “competitive” is likely to attract rather different applicants than an organization that advertises “teamwork” and “cooperation.”

Once an organization has recruited an applicant pool, the organization must decide how to assess the applicants, and the formal hiring process begins. The process used to evaluate job candidates and decide which ones to hire is typically referred to as personnel selection .  Personnel selection is one of the oldest topics in I-O psychology, dating back to the very roots of the field at the start of the 20 th century (Farr & Tippins, 2010; Ployhart, Schmitt, & Tippins, 2017). Selection usually involves administering a series of instruments, such as tests or interviews, to job applicants; the instruments are often scored and combined with other information, such as letters of recommendation, to help employers select the best applicant(s). The selection instruments an organization uses are commonly referred to as predictors , and helping organizations develop effective predictors are one of the most common roles that I-O consultants engage in. Common predictors that I-O psychologists help develop include tests of various qualities (such as intelligence, personality and other traits), and interviews (Cascio & Aguinis, 2011).  Determining the right combination of predictors to give applicants for a given job is a central topic for consultants that assist with personnel selection, and involves the consideration of many factors, including cost, time, legality, validity, reliability, practicality, and acceptance in the business world. Selection often occurs in multiple stages. During the initial stage, it is common for applicants to participate in some initial screening assessments to “weed out” unqualified applicants.  Following this, subsequent stages in the selection process attempt to select the optimal candidate from the qualified applicants that remain after screening.

What predictors do the best job of helping organizations choose qualified applicants? One of the most consistent findings in I-O psychology, based on decades of research, is that general mental ability , or intelligence, is the single most effective predictor of job performance in nearly all jobs, and especially complex jobs (Schmidt & Hunter, 2004). One of the reasons this is the case is that general mental ability helps predict a person’s ability to learn new information and skills, a critical component of success in virtually any job.

Beyond general mental ability tests, many other predictors have been found to be effective for predicting employee success as well. Personality tests , such as those measuring the Big 5 traits, have also been found to successfully predict which applicants will make effective employees. In particular, the Big 5 trait conscientiousness has been found to predict performance in a wide variety of jobs. This is not surprising, given that people high in this trait are typically hard-working, reliable, and organized, all traits that should lead to success in most jobs (Barrick, Mount, & Judge, 2001). Additional predictors, such as simulations and work samples, can be used to successfully assess a person’s ability to handle actual job-related tasks in realistic settings (Scott & Reynolds, 2010).

What about interviews? Interviews have long been used by organizations to help make hiring decisions, and they remain one of the most commonly-used predictors in organizations today (Posthuma, Morgeson, & Campion, 2002). Interviews can be written to evaluate a variety of applicant characteristics and qualifications (Landy & Conte, 2010). Research on the effectiveness of interviews is mixed. Most interviews used in organizations tend to be fairly flexible conversations, where the interviewer is free to ask an applicant a wide variety of different questions. Each applicant may be asked different questions, and the questions may not be directly related to the job the applicant is applying for. These interviews are typically known as unstructured interviews , and, despite their prevalence, they are not very effective predictors for evaluating applicants. One reason for this is that the information gained from one applicant’s interview might be quite different from the information gained from another applicant’s interview, thus making it difficult to compare “apples to apples.”

Fortunately, interviews can be improved by making the interview process more structured . Strategies for structuring an interview include deciding on a consistent list of questions that will be asked of all applicants, ensuring that the questions are related to the content of the job, and using a scoring system to evaluate applicants’ responses. Structured interviews that have these features are much more effective at predicting which applicants will be successful in a given job (Huffcutt, Conway, Roth, & Stone, 2001). I-O consultants often help organizations to design and implement structured interviews to improve the organization’s selection process. Unfortunately, many organizations continue to rely on traditional unstructured interviews, which are much more prone to errors and subjective evaluations of job applicants. This divide between the predictors that I-O psychologists know are effective, and the predictors that many organizations utilize, remains an important concern for many I-O psychologists today.

Evaluating and Managing Worker Performance

Once employees are hired and placed into their roles in an organization, it is typically necessary to assess their performance to see how well they are performing in their new role. Evaluating how well employees perform their jobs, and documenting this performance, is important for a variety of reasons. Certainly, performance information is often used to make decisions about whether and when to promote, train, re-assign, or terminate employees; it can also be used for decisions about compensation, bonuses, and other rewards. If an employee’s performance is lacking, the gap between how he or she is performing, compared to the ideal, might be addressed by training (or re-training) the needed knowledge, skills, or abilities. Performance appraisal can also be used to give employees feedback, and help employees learn about their strengths and weaknesses–thus, another goal of performance appraisal is general employee development.

Performance appraisals are often conducted on a recurring schedule—once or twice a year is common. The review itself is typically structured around the employee’s primary tasks and responsibilities, such that the supervisor provides a summary of the employee and their performance. The appraisal will often involve making ratings on numeric scales corresponding with specific aspects of performance, as well as comments and/or illustrative critical incidents to communicate to the employee how well they are performing on each aspect of the job. Critical incidents are specific behaviors the employee has engaged in—they are used to illustrate good or bad performance and often supplement numeric performance ratings. Feedback and critical incidents from other coworkers may be gathered by the supervisor with the goal of basing the performance appraisal on complete information.

One variant of performance appraisal that has become popular in recent years is 360-degree appraisal, which seeks to gather feedback from multiple sources that the person being evaluated interacts with, such as subordinates, peers, supervisors, clients/customers, and others.  Self-appraisal, provided by the employee him- or herself, may also be included. The goal of this process is to provide employees with a more well-rounded sense of how they’re performing.

Numeric performance ratings are a common part of a performance appraisal.  For example, an employee may be rated on dependability on a scale of one to five, with anchors ranging from unacceptable (1), to average (3), to superior (5). Employees are often rated in the context of how other members of their team or work group are performing. Other rating approaches involve making direct comparisons between employees within a unit, such as ranking all employees, or comparing them two at a time and deciding which of the two is the superior performer. When using any numeric rating method, organizations need to be aware of the biases that raters may unknowingly exhibit. One risk is that all raters will not use a rating scale the same way—for instance, some might provide more generous, or harsher, ratings regardless of how the employee is performing. Such errors can lead to biases in the appraisal process, and impact the fairness of a performance appraisal system; fortunately, rater training can help avoid some of these issues.

What kinds of employee performance are typically assessed in organizations? In many cases, the answer to this question is determined by the type of organization the employee works in—effective performance for an employee who makes electric motors in a factory is likely to be very different from an employee who creates apps for your phone. For legal reasons, it is important for an organization to avoid assessing people based on irrelevant characteristics, such as their age, gender, or race. Here again, I-O consultants often help organizations design performance appraisal systems that focus on core aspects of job performance, and avoid evaluating irrelevant characteristics. For many jobs, the main focus of performance appraisal is on task performance —that is, how effectively an employee performs the key requirements of their job. However, many organizations are also concerned with additional behaviors that employees may engage in outside of their job responsibilities. These “extra” behaviors can be positive or negative in nature. Positive behaviors are typically referred to as organizational citizenship behaviors , or OCBs, and may include actions such as bringing donuts or bagels to an early morning meeting, staying late to assist a coworker with a project, or speaking positively about the organization to outsiders. Negative behaviors, often called counterproductive work behaviors , or CWBs, range from fairly minor actions, such as being rude to a coworker from time to time, to more serious, criminal activities such as theft, sabotage, or arson. As you would expect, employees who enjoy their work are more likely to engage in OCBs, while dissatisfied employees are likely to engage in CWBs. Thus, if organizations want to promote OCBs, and prevent CWBs, it is important for them to consider their employees’ thoughts and feelings about their workplace.

Training & Development

Over time, it often becomes necessary for employees to learn new knowledge or skills, to enhance their job performance and keep pace with changes in their occupation. I-O psychology intersects with cognitive psychology and learning theories in the domain of training and development , which focuses on increasing employees’ knowledge, skills, and abilities. Like many other organizational processes, training is, in part, based on job/task/work analysis to determine the elements of a job that a person requires training to do. The training process often begins with a training needs analysis, which is an analysis of the organization, tasks, and person that results in objectives for training (Arthur, Bennett, Edens, & Bell, 2003). Principles of learning and cognition serve as the basis for designing training and development interventions. Basic principles about memory, perception, judgment, and learning include cognitive biases, primacy and recency, interferences, decision-making, and developments. These are relevant to determining how best to convey information about how and when to engage in various work behaviors, and how to assess how well training has accomplished its goals.

What topics do organizations commonly use training for? Some training is motivated by legal considerations, such as diversity and sexual harassment training. With diversity training, employees are typically educated on the benefits of diversity, and provided with suggestions for acting with sensitivity in a diverse workplace. Sexual harassment and discrimination, which are typically prohibited both by law and organizational policies, can also be addressed via training. Employees may be educated on key terms and ideas related to harassment, practice identifying situations in which harassment may occur, and discuss appropriate courses of action for reporting and preventing harassment.

Other types of training are prompted when employers require employees to possess a particular area of knowledge, skill, or ability to meet organizational needs. If an organization wants to avoid training, they may look to hire employees that already have those KSAs that they desire (a selection approach). Alternatively, they may use help current employees develop those KSAs (a training approach). The decision between these approaches is driven by several considerations, including cost, timing, other available resources, and staffing goals. For example, for employers do not wish to increase the size of their workforce, training may be a more attractive option. In addition, the expected trainability of a knowledge, skill, or ability and skill level of current personnel might be taken into account. Consider the likelihood of successfully teaching someone a specific skill, such as typing, using a cash register, or engaging in successful customer service interactions, compared to the more difficult challenge of improving a person’s mathematical abilities or extraversion.

In organizations today, training can occur in a wide variety of formats. Training often occurs with a face-to-face instructor , but many organizations today are relying on remote or distance training, mediated by communication technology, and self-paced training. In addition, employers are generally motivated to understand whether their resources devoted to training are achieving key training objectives. Consequently, many employee trainings are followed, either immediately or after a delay, with some form of evaluation. Some evaluations focus on how much of the training content was understood and retained by the trainee, while others focus on how well that information transfers to on-the-job behaviors, how well the trainee feels about the training process, and what the outcomes for the organization are (Kirkpatrick, 1959). For the individual, training can be considered in terms of impact on career development and advancement in the organization.

Organizational Psychology

The organizational half of I-O Psychology is broadly concerned with the social and psychological context of the workplace. Organizational psychology focuses on many different levels of workplace phenomena, including micro, within-person experiences, like attitudes and emotions; meso, small group dynamics like teamwork and interpersonal discrimination; and macro, organization-wide factors, such as leadership and organizational culture. Overall, organizational psychology helps us understand the experience and consequences of working life in modern organizations. Major areas of study within organizational psychology include employee attitudes, worker health and safety, motivation, and teamwork and leadership.

Employee Attitudes

I-O psychologists are often concerned with the attitudes employees hold about their work.  Several attitudes have been the focus of extensive research over the past several decades, and the importance of employee attitudes has been demonstrated by their ability to predict whether employees will exert less effort at work, engage in CWBs, or even leave the organization altogether.

Job satisfaction , which refers to an employee’s overall evaluation of their job, is the most fundamental attitude studied in I-O psychology (Judge & Klinger, 2007).  When a worker has positive feelings and thoughts about his or her job, positive outcome are likely. These outcomes include performing their job at a high level, feeling motivated, and being inclined to do extrarole behaviors that are helpful but aren’t explicitly required as part of the job. Job satisfaction is often measured using scales, which include questions with a range of numeric response options with either images or phrases as anchors (e.g., 1 = very dissatisfied to 5 = very satisfied). While job satisfaction can be measured using a single question, a more nuanced understanding of satisfaction can be achieved using multi-item scales that ask the respondent about various aspects of a job (e.g., pay, autonomy, coworkers). Measuring satisfaction in this way can help I-O consultants get a more detailed understanding of which aspects of their jobs employees like and dislike the most.

Another attitude important for understanding work behavior is organizational commitment , or an individual’s psychological attachment to an organization (Meyer & Allen, 1991).  Researchers studying the nature of organizational commitment have identified three types of commitment. Affective commitment reflects an emotional connection an employee may feel with their organization. Employees with high affective commitment may feel as though they are a “part of a family” with their organization. Continuance commitment reflects commitment that is based on a lack of available alternative employment options. Employees with high continuance commitment may stay at their current job because of poor job prospects in their area, or because they lack necessary education or training to make themselves competitive for other job opportunities. Finally, normative commitment is driven by employees’ sense of obligation to their organization. For instance, if a company gives an employee their first job after graduating from college, or has invested resources in an employee in the form or training or development, the employee may feel obligated to stay with the organization to “pay back” these investments. Overall, strong ties have been found between organizational commitment and turnover, or leaving one’s organization.

Employees’ attitudes about an organization may also be based on how fairly they feel they are treated.   Organizational justice theory suggests that employees pay attention to the fairness of how they’re treated in several ways.  The various types and subtypes of justice focus on how outcomes or results are distributed across employees, the fairness of organizational procedures or decision rules, and the nature of interactions among organizational members.  For example, an employee may feel that the process of performance appraisal is fair (procedural justice), but that it did not result in a sufficient pay raise (distributive justice).

What can an organization do to improve their employees’ attitudes? Unfortunately, psychological research on attitudes in general suggests that attitude change is often quite difficult. A basic principle of attitudes is that once an attitude or belief is held, it serves as an anchor around which new information is judged. Thus, once an employee begins to evaluate their workplace negatively, they may seek out and focus on additional information that supports this attitude.

Worker Health & Safety

Occupational health is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the health and safety of people at work, and has become the subject of much research in I-O psychology. Jobs place a variety of demands on workers, and these demands can lead to the experience of stress, which may be followed by various negative outcomes such as effects on the physical and mental health of employees (Beehr, 1995; Jex, 1998; Tetrick & Quick, 2011). Occupational health research examines internal and external sources of occupational stress, as well as ways to decrease worker stress and methods for preventing stress. Evidence suggests that organizations should be concerned with occupational health, as consistent exposure to stressful working conditions can impact not only employees, but also organizational effectiveness: studies have estimated that billions of dollars are lost from the U.S. economy due to occupational stress, based on the assumption that stress plays a role in negative outcomes such as increased medical, legal, and insurance costs, higher rates of absenteeism and turnover, diminished productivity, and increased occupational accidents (e.g., Goldin, 2004).

While I-O psychologists have contributed to the study of occupational stress, the occupational stress literature consists of important contributions from multiple perspectives, including medical (focusing on the contribution of stress in the workplace to employee health and illness), clinical/counseling (which focuses on the impact of stressful working conditions on mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression), engineering psychology (which focuses on stressors originating from the physical work environment), and organizational psychology . Organizational psychology focuses heavily on cognitive appraisal (the process by which employees perceive the work environment and decide whether it is stressful), as well on sources of stress that are social in nature (e.g., are sourced from interactions with others). Recently, these four approaches have joined into one field known as occupational health psychology (OHP; Barling & Griffiths, 2011). OHP is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on using psychological theories and methodology to enhance health, safety, and well-being for individuals and organizations.

Another focus within the field of OHP is employee safety, usually with regard to preventing accidents and injuries in the workplace. Research has examined workplace safety outcomes in relation with both situational factors in the work environment (e.g., physical hazards such as heat and noise; Jex, Swanson, & Grubb, 2013) and personal factors in the employee (e.g., personality traits; Clarke & Robertson, 2008). Most models of employee safety posit that certain factors influence the experience of accidents and injuries through an effect on the safety performance of the employee (i.e., employees being compliant with safety procedures and notifying others in the organization about safety concerns; Griffin & Neal, 2000). Most studies have found moderate to strong relationships between different types of safety performance and the experience of workplace accidents (Jiang, Yu, Li, & Li, 2010). Moreover, the safety climate of a work unit and/or organization is predictive of safety performance, which has been linked to workplace accidents (Zohar, 2011). Safety climate refers to whether the employees in a company share similar perceptions of policies and procedures regarding workplace safety, such as rules regarding the use of safety equipment. A recent review of the injury and accident prevalence literature suggested that thousands of American workers die each year from injuries sustained in the workplace; however, prevalence rates are far worse in countries that do not have government oversight of labor practices: over two million individuals worldwide die each year as a result of injuries suffered in the work environment (Kaplan & Tetrick, 2011). In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the government agency established to assure safe and healthful working conditions by setting and enforcing standards and providing training, outreach, education, and assistance to US organizations. Most private employers are responsible for ensuring that OSHA standards are met, and employers concerned with worker health and well-being seek to maintain safe working conditions and offer channels for addressing issues as they arise.

Understanding employee motivation –the forces that direct employees’ behaviors at work–has a long history in I-O psychology. The study of motivation in I-O psychology can be traced back to studies by Hugo Munsterberg , who studied motivation issues for employees working at knitting mills (Landy & Conte, 2004). He saw that employees were working 12-hour days, and working 6 days a week.  With some modifications (i.e., having kittens play with balls of yarn on the factory floor), Munsterberg was able to influence the satisfaction and alertness of the employees.

Some of the basic motivational questions that I-O psychologists study include what needs elicit action for individuals, what traits impact the engagement of behaviors, and how the environment (space and individuals) influences the motivation and behaviors of people.  While the study of work motivation is continually evolving, there are several seminal theories that have informed our understanding of motivation.

One of the most well-supported theories of motivation in I-O psychology is goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990). This theory emphasizes that goals can influence employees in a variety of ways. For instance, goals can influence the direction of actions; Goals can also affect the effort that employees put forth to those actions; In addition to these benefits, goals can increase employee persistence, and motivate them to choose more effective strategies for attaining those goals. Goals that tend to provide the benefits just described tend to share some key characteristics. Specifically, goals that are specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART) are typically more effective than goals that lack these qualities (Locke & Latham, 2002).

Despite the popularity of goal-setting theory, several other motivation theories have received attention, and research support, from I-O psychologists. Expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964) suggests that employees are unlikely to be motivated unless they can provide affirmative answers to three questions. The first question involves asking whether employee effort will lead to performance (instrumentality). If an employees feels that working hard will not result in success on the job, they are likely to have low motivation. If an employee decides that their effort will actually result in a sufficient level of performance, they must then evaluate whether their performance is likely to be rewarded or recognized in satisfactory ways (expectancy). In some workplaces, employees may feel that their strong performance goes unrecognized–if this pattern persists over time, they are likely to lose motivation. Finally, the third questions associated with expectancy theory concerns whether an employee values the rewards they are able to receive (valence). If an organization rewards its employees with public “employee of the month” ceremonies, but an employee would prefer a cash reward rather than public recognition, they may find their motivation limited.

The job characteristics theory (Hackman & Oldham, 1976) takes a rather different approach to motivation. This theory suggests that several key features of job themselves can also influence the motivation level of employees. For example, autonomy , or the freedom that employees have to choose how their work is done (or at least certain elements of it) typically has a positive effect on motivation. Doing work that allows employees to use a variety of different skills and abilities (task variety), and performing work that feels important to other peoples’ lives (task significance) can also generate higher levels of motivation. Finally, receiving feedback , such as from supervisors and peers, can improve motivation for many employees.

In many organizations today, work is often conducted in the context of a group or team. Teams are defined as two or more individuals who share one or more common goals, and interact to perform activities that are relevant to the organization. Teams are influenced by a wide variety of social dynamics. As an example, consider Susie who just graduated medical school and has started her intern year in a department that emphasizes teamwork. Her role in the interdisciplinary team is that of the physician, which she feels comfortable doing as she graduated with honors from her university. What she is concerned about is how to function effectively in the team. She personally likes to do things on her own, so she is uncertain how this part of her job will actually go, especially since she knows the intern year is a very stressful one and she knows that two of the other team members have reputations of being really difficult to work with.

Some of the concerns that Susie has are ones that I-O psychologists try to grapple with as consultants and researchers. Many topics that originated in social psychology are relevant to the study of teams. For instance, many people have a tendency to work with less intensity when they are in a group, compared to when they are by themselves, which social psychologists refer to as social loafing (see Latané, Williams, & Harkins, 1979). Managers can help avoid social loafing in their work groups by making sure that each employee knows what they are responsible for.

Management and Leadership

A natural sister topic of teams concerns the individuals tasked with facilitating teams— leaders . While there are many definitions of leadership, the common elements of the definitions are influence and guidance of others towards a goal. Over time, I-O psychologists have studied management and leadership from several different perspectives. In the 1920s and 1930s, early leadership research focused on the trait approach , which centers on the idea that leaders possess certain traits (e.g., ambition, dominance, extroversion, height) that non-leaders do not possess.  However, this approach did not prove to be productive, as research did not show consistent relationships among the traits. Undeterred, I-O psychologists re-focused their attempts to understand leadership by looking for specific behaviors that successful leaders might engage in. Fleishman and Harris (1962) defined leadership using two dimensions, consideration (concern for the individual’s needs) and initiating structure (organizes and defines activities). This approach proved to be more successful, and the legacy of this work can be seen in more modern research on transactional and transformational leadership (Bass, 1985).

I-O psychologists have a unique place as researchers and consultants when informing the greater population as to the practice of leadership. With changing workforce practices, such as the utilization of temporary workers, teleworking, virtual teams, increasing diversity in the workforce and other existing ambiguous boundaries that modern jobs hold, I-O psychologists are prepared to contribute to our understanding of leadership and how we best develop and coach the leaders of today and tomorrow.

A significant portion of I-O research focuses on management and human relations. Douglas McGregor (1960) combined scientific management (a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes workflows with the main objective of improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity) and human relations into the notion of leadership behavior. His theory lays out two different styles called Theory X and Theory Y. In the  Theory X  approach to management, managers assume that most people dislike work and are not innately self-directed. Theory X managers perceive employees as people who prefer to be led and told which tasks to perform and when. Their employees have to be watched carefully to be sure that they work hard enough to fulfill the organization’s goals. Theory X workplaces will often have employees punch a clock when arriving and leaving the workplace: Tardiness is punished. Supervisors, not employees, determine whether an employee needs to stay late, and even this decision would require someone higher up in the command chain to approve the extra hours. Theory X supervisors will ignore employees’ suggestions for improved efficiency and reprimand employees for speaking out of order. These supervisors blame efficiency failures on individual employees rather than the systems or policies in place. Managerial goals are achieved through a system of punishments and threats rather than enticements and rewards. Managers are suspicious of employees’ motivations and always suspect selfish motivations for their behavior at work (e.g., being paid is their sole motivation for working).

In the  Theory Y  approach, on the other hand, managers assume that most people seek inner satisfaction and fulfillment from their work. Employees function better under leadership that allows them to participate in, and provide input about, setting their personal and work goals. In Theory Y workplaces, employees participate in decisions about prioritizing tasks; they may belong to teams that, once given a goal, decide themselves how it will be accomplished. In such a workplace, employees are able to provide input on matters of efficiency and safety. One example of Theroy Y in action is the policy of Toyota production lines that allows any employee to stop the entire line if a defect or other issue appears, so that the defect can be fixed and its cause remedied (Toyota Motor Manufacturing, 2013). A Theory Y workplace will also meaningfully consult employees on any changes to the work process or management system. In addition, the organization will encourage employees to contribute their own ideas. McGregor (1960) characterized Theory X as the traditional method of management used in the United States. He agued that a Theory Y approach was needed to improve organizational output and the wellbeing of individuals.  Table summarizes how these two management approaches differ.

Another management style was described by Donald Clifton, who focused his research on how an organization can best use an individual’s strengths, an approach he called strengths-based management . He and his colleagues interviewed 8,000 managers and concluded that it is important to focus on a person’s strengths, not their weaknesses. A strength is a particular enduring talent possessed by an individual that allows her to provide consistent, near-perfect performance in tasks involving that talent. Clifton argued that our strengths provide the greatest opportunity for growth (Buckingham & Clifton, 2001). An example of a strength is public speaking or the ability to plan a successful event. The strengths-based approach is very popular although its effect on organization performance is not well-studied. However, Kaiser & Overfield (2011) found that managers often neglected improving their weaknesses and overused their strengths, both of which interfered with performance.

Leadership is an important element of management. Leadership styles have been of major interest within I-O research, and researchers have proposed numerous theories of leadership. Bass (1985) popularized and developed the concepts of transactional leadership versus transformational leadership styles. In  transactional leadership , the focus is on supervision and organizational goals, which are achieved through a system of rewards and punishments (i.e., transactions). Transactional leaders maintain the status quo: They are managers. This is in contrast to the transformational leader. People who have  transformational leadership  possess four attributes to varying degrees: They are charismatic (highly liked role models), inspirational (optimistic about goal attainment), intellectually stimulating (encourage critical thinking and problem solving), and considerate (Bass, Avolio, & Atwater, 1996).

As women increasingly take on leadership roles in corporations, questions have arisen as to whether there are differences in leadership styles between men and women (Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, & van Engen, 2003). Eagly & Johnson (1990) conducted a meta-analysis to examine gender and leadership style. They found, to a slight but significant degree, that women tend to practice an interpersonal style of leadership (i.e., she focuses on the morale and welfare of the employees) and men practice a task-oriented style (i.e., he focuses on accomplishing tasks). However, the differences were less pronounced when one looked only at organizational studies and excluded laboratory experiments or surveys that did not involve actual organizational leaders. Larger gender-related differences were observed when leadership style was categorized as democratic or autocratic, and these differences were consistent across all types of studies. The authors suggest that similarities between the genders in leadership styles are attributable to genders needing to conform the organization’s culture; additionally, they propose that gender-related differences reflect inherent differences in the strengths each gender brings to bear on leadership practice. In another meta-analysis of leadership style, Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, & van Engen (2003) found that women tended to exhibit the characteristics of transformational leaders, while men were more likely to be transactional leaders. However, the differences are not absolute; for example, women were found to use methods of reward for performance more often than men, which is a component of transactional leadership. The differences they found were relatively small. As Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, & van Engen (2003) point out, research shows that transformational leadership approaches are more effective than transactional approaches, although individual leaders typically exhibit elements of both approaches.

Work-Family Balance

Many people juggle the demands of work life with the demands of their home life, whether it be caring for children or taking care of an elderly parent; this is known as  work-family balance . We might commonly think about work interfering with family, but it is also the case that family responsibilities may conflict with work obligations (Carlson, Kacmar, & Williams, 2000). Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) first identified three sources of work–family conflicts:

• time devoted to work makes it difficult to fulfill requirements of family, or vice versa,
• strain from participation in work makes it difficult to fulfill requirements of family, or vice versa, and
• specific behaviors required by work make it difficult to fulfill the requirements of family, or vice versa.

Women often have greater responsibility for family demands, including home care, child care, and caring for aging parents, yet men in the United States are increasingly assuming a greater share of domestic responsibilities. However, research has documented that women report greater levels of stress from work–family conflict (Gyllensten & Palmer, 2005).

There are many ways to decrease work–family conflict and improve people’s job satisfaction (Posig & Kickul, 2004). These include support in the home, which can take various forms: emotional (listening), practical (help with chores). Workplace support can include understanding supervisors, flextime, leave with pay, and telecommuting. Flextime usually involves a requirement of core hours spent in the workplace around which the employee may schedule his arrival and departure from work to meet family demands.  Telecommuting  involves employees working at home and setting their own hours, which allows them to work during different parts of the day, and to spend part of the day with their family. Recall that Yahoo! had a policy of allowing employees to telecommute and then rescinded the policy. There are also organizations that have onsite daycare centers, and some companies even have onsite fitness centers and health clinics. In a study of the effectiveness of different coping methods, Lapierre & Allen (2006) found practical support from home more important than emotional support. They also found that immediate-supervisor support for a worker significantly reduced work–family conflict through such mechanisms as allowing an employee the flexibility needed to fulfill family obligations. In contrast, flextime did not help with coping and telecommuting actually made things worse, perhaps reflecting the fact that being at home intensifies the conflict between work and family because with the employee in the home, the demands of family are more evident.

Posig & Kickul (2004) identify exemplar corporations with policies designed to reduce work–family conflict. Examples include IBM’s policy of three years of job-guaranteed leave after the birth of a child, Lucent Technologies offer of one year’s childbirth leave at half pay, and SC Johnson’s program of concierge services for daytime errands.

Link to Learning:  Glassdoor  is a website that posts job satisfaction reviews for different careers and organizations. Use this site to research possible careers and/or organizations that interest you.

Organizational Culture

Each company and organization has an organizational culture.  Organizational culture  encompasses the values, visions, hierarchies, norms, and interactions among its employees. It is how an organization is run, how it operates, and how it makes decisions—the industry in which the organization participates may have an influence. Different departments within one company can develop their own subculture within the organization’s culture. Ostroff, Kinicki, and Tamkins (2003) identify three layers in organizational culture: observable artifacts, espoused values, and basic assumptions. Observable artifacts are the symbols, language (jargon, slang, and humor), narratives (stories and legends), and practices (rituals) that represent the underlying cultural assumptions. Espoused values are concepts or beliefs that the management or the entire organization endorses. They are the rules that allow employees to know which actions they should take in different situations and which information they should adhere to. These basic assumptions generally are unobservable and unquestioned. Researchers have developed survey instruments to measure organizational culture.

With the workforce being a global marketplace, your company may have a supplier in Korea and another in Honduras and have employees in the United States, China, and South Africa. You may have coworkers of different religious, ethnic, or racial backgrounds than yourself. Your coworkers may be from different places around the globe. Many workplaces offer diversity training to help everyone involved bridge and understand cultural differences.  Diversity training  educates participants about cultural differences with the goal of improving teamwork. There is always the potential for prejudice between members of two groups, but the evidence suggests that simply working together, particularly if the conditions of work are set carefully that such prejudice can be reduced or eliminated. Pettigrew and Tropp (2006) conducted a meta-analysis to examine the question of whether contact between groups reduced prejudice between those groups. They found that there was a moderate but significant effect. They also found that, as previously theorized, the effect was enhanced when the two groups met under conditions in which they have equal standing, common goals, cooperation between the groups, and especially support on the part of the institution or authorities for the contact.

One well-recognized negative aspect of organizational culture is a culture of  harassment , including sexual harassment. Most organizations of any size have developed sexual harassment policies that define sexual harassment (or harassment in general) and the procedures the organization has set in place to prevent and address it when it does occur. Thus, in most jobs you have held, you were probably made aware of the company’s sexual harassment policy and procedures, and may have received training related to the policy. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (n.d.) provides the following description of  sexual harassment :

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. (par. 2)

One form of sexual harassment is called quid pro quo. Quid pro quo means you give something to get something, and it refers to a situation in which organizational rewards are offered in exchange for sexual favors. Quid pro quo harassment is often between an employee and a person with greater power in the organization. For example, a supervisor might request an action, such as a kiss or a touch, in exchange for a promotion, a positive performance review, or a pay raise. Another form of sexual harassment is the threat of withholding a reward if a sexual request is refused. Hostile environment sexual harassment is another type of workplace harassment. In this situation, an employee experiences conditions in the workplace that are considered hostile or intimidating. For example, a work environment that allows offensive language or jokes or displays sexually explicit images. Isolated occurrences of these events do not constitute harassment, but a pattern of repeated occurrences does. In addition to violating organizational policies against sexual harassment, these forms of harassment are illegal.

Harassment does not have to be sexual; it may be related to any of the protected classes in the statutes regulated by the EEOC: race, national origin, religion, or age.

Violence in the Workplace

In the summer of August 1986, a part-time postal worker with a troubled work history walked into the Edmond, Oklahoma, post office and shot and killed 15 people, including himself. From his action, the term “going postal” was coined, describing a troubled employee who engages in extreme violence.

Workplace violence is one aspect of workplace safety that I-O psychologists study.  Workplace violence  is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening, disruptive behavior that occurs at the workplace. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide (Occupational Safety & Health Administration, 2014).

There are different targets of workplace violence: a person could commit violence against coworkers, supervisors, or property. Warning signs often precede such actions: intimidating behavior, threats, sabotaging equipment, or radical changes in a coworker’s behavior. Often there is intimidation and then escalation that leads to even further escalation. It is important for employees to involve their immediate supervisor if they ever feel intimidated or unsafe.

Murder is the second leading cause of death in the workplace. It is also the primary cause of death for women in the workplace. Every year there are nearly two million workers who are physically assaulted or threatened with assault. Many are murdered in domestic violence situations by boyfriends or husbands who chose the woman’s workplace to commit their crimes.

There are many risk factors for workplace violence that can be committed by leaders, employees, and even customers. A significant risk factor is the feeling of being treated unfairly, unjustly, or disrespectfully, and may become more serious when combined with other individual factors like personality and history, environmental stressors, and lack of community. In a research experiment, Greenberg (1993) examined the reactions of students who were given pay for a task. In one group, the students were given extensive explanations for the pay rate. In the second group, the students were given a curt uninformative explanation. The students were made to believe the supervisor would not know how much money the student withdrew for payment. The rate of stealing (taking more pay than they were told they deserved) was higher in the group who had been given the limited explanation. This is a demonstration of the importance of procedural justice in organizations. Procedural justice  refers to the fairness of the processes by which outcomes are determined in conflicts with or among employees.

In another study by Greenberg & Barling (1999), they found a history of aggression and amount of alcohol consumed to be accurate predictors of workplace violence against a coworker. Aggression against a supervisor was predicted if a worker felt unfairly treated or untrusted. Job security and alcohol consumption predicted aggression against a subordinate. To understand and predict workplace violence, Greenberg & Barling (1999) emphasize the importance of considering the employee target of aggression or violence and characteristics of both the workplace characteristics and the aggressive or violent person.

As you can see, I-O psychologists are concerned with a wide variety of topics related to the performance and well-being of both employees and their organizations. Some topics, such as recruitment, selection, and performance appraisal, have been important from the start, while others, such as worker attitudes, stress, and motivation, have increased in importance in recent years. Today, while it is still possible to make a distinction between “I” and “O” topics within this field, there is greater recognition that these areas represent two sides of the same coin, and that both sides can have a substantial influence on one another. As work continues to become more complex and subject to global and technological pressures, I-O psychologists will become increasingly important for helping both workers and organizations weather these changes.

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Home > Academic Units > SPFC > IOP Dissertations

Industrial-Organizational Psychology Dissertations

The Seattle Pacific University Department of Industrial-Organizational Psychology offers both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology.

This series contains successfully defended doctoral dissertations.

Dissertations from 2024 2024

Effects of Advertising Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) on Female Applicants’ Intentions to Pursue Employment Through Perceived Organizational Support , Jamie Crites

Dissertations from 2023 2023

The psychometric evaluation of decent work in India , Jadvir K. Gill

Implicit Trait Policies and Situational Judgment Tests: How Personality Shapes Judgments of Effective Behavior , Alexander Edward Johnson

An Investigation of the Impact of Prosocial Action on Psychological Resilience in Female Volunteer Maskmakers During COVID-19 , Linda D. Montano

To make or buy: How does strategic team selection and shared leadership strategy interact to impact NBA team effectiveness? , Brandon Purvis

Dissertations from 2022 2022

“Intended Between a Man and a Woman”: Examining the LGBTQ Campus Climate of a Non-Affirming Free Methodist University , Justin Cospito

Adverse Work Experiences and the Impact on Workplace Psychological Well Being, Workplace Psychological Distress, Employee Engagement, Turnover Intention, and Work State Conscientiousness , Nicole J. DeKay

Managing One’s Anxiety When Work Narratives Misalign , Shannon Eric Ford and Shannon Ford

The HERO in you: The impact of psychological capital training and perceived leadership on follower psychological capital development and burnout , Alifiya Khericha

CoachMotivation: Leveraging Motivational Interviewing Methodology to Increase Emotion Regulation Ability in the Workplace , Michael R. Nelson

Effects of Pay Transparency on Application Intentions through Fairness Perceptions and Organizational Attractiveness: Diversifying the Workforce by Effectively Recruiting Younger Women , Phi Phan-Armaneous

The space between stress and reaction: A three-way interaction of active coping, psychological stress, and applied mindfulness in the prediction of sustainable resilience , Kait M. Rohlfing PhD

A Quantitative Comparison of Employee Engagement Antecedents , Kirby White

Dissertations from 2021 2021

RAD Managers: Strategic Coaching for Managers and Leaders , Audrey Mika Kinase Kolb

Can Gender Pronouns in Interview Questions Work as Nudges? , Fei Lu

Catalytic Resilience Practices: Exploring the Effects of Resilience and Resilience Practices through Physical Exercise , Mackenzie Ruether

Dissertations from 2020 2020

Softening Resistance Toward Diversity Initiatives: The Role of Mindfulness in Mitigating Emotional White Fragility , Vatia P. Caldwell

When Proenvironmental Behavior Crosses Contexts: Exploring the Moderating Effects of Central Participation at Work on the Work-Home Interface , Bryn E.D. Chighizola

Developing Adaptive Performance: The Power of Experiences and a Strategic Network of Support , Joseph D. Landers Jr.

Purposeful Investment in Others: The Power of a Character of Service , Kayla M. Logan

Developmental Experiences Impacting Leadership Differentiation in Emerging Adults , Gabrielle E. Metzler

Fighting dirty in an era of corporate dominance: Exploring personality as a moderator of the impact of dangerous organizational misconduct on whistleblowing intentions , Keith Andrew Price

CoachMotivation: Developing Transformational Leadership by Increasing Effective Communication Skills in the Workplace , Megan L. Schuller

The Relationship Between Authentic Leadership and Resilience, Moderated by Coping Skills , Alice E. Stark

Building and Sustaining Hope in the Face of Failure: Understanding the Role of Strategic Social Support , Kira K. Wenzel PhD

Dissertations from 2019 2019

Exploring the Buffering Effects of Holding Behaviors on the Negative Consequences of Workplace Discrimination for People of Color , Heather A. Kohlman Olsen

Employee Engagement Around the World: Predictors, Cultural Differences, and Business Outcomes , Amanda Munsterteiger

Dissertations from 2018 2018

Ignatian Spirituality in Vocational Career Development: An Experimental Study of Emerging Adults , Scott Campanario

Narrative Leadership: Exploring the Concept of Time in Leader Storytelling , Helen H. Chung Dr.

Vulnerability in Leadership: The Power of the Courage to Descend , Stephanie O. Lopez

An Exploratory Study Examining a Transformational Salesperson Model Mediated by Salesperson Theory-of-Mind , Philip (Tony) A. Pizelo Dr.

Dissertations from 2017 2017

Developing Conviction in Women Leaders: The Role of Unique Work and Life Experiences , McKendree J. Hickory

The Role of Organizational Buy-in in Employee Retention , Serena Hsia

The Psychometric Evaluation of a Personality Selection Tool , James R. Longabaugh

Approaching Stressful Situations with Purpose: Strategies for Emotional Regulation in Sensitive People , Amy D. Nagley

Validation of the Transformative Work in Society Index: Christianity, Work, and Economics Integration , John R. Terrill

Seeking Quality Mentors: Exploring Program Design Characteristics to Increase an Individual’s Likelihood to Participate as a Mentor , Kristen Voetmann

Predicting Employee Performance Using Text Data from Resumes , Joshua D. Weaver

College for The Sake of What? Promoting the Development of Wholly Educated Students , Michael P. Yoder

Dissertations from 2016 2016

Am I a Good Leader? How Variations in Introversion/Extraversion Impact Leaders’ Core Self-Evaluations , Marisa N. Bossen

Dissertations from 2015 2015

The Development of Job-Based Psychological Ownership , Robert B. Bullock

Generational Differences in the Interaction between Valuing Leisure and Having Work-Life Balance on Altruistic and Conscientious Behaviors , Sandeep Kaur Chahil

Obtaining Sponsorship in Organizations by Developing Trust through Outside of Work Socialization , Katie Kirkpatrick-Husk

Managing Work and Life: The Impact of Framing , Hilary G. Roche

Men and Women in Engineering: Professional Identity and Factors Influencing Workforce Retention , Caitlin Hawkinson Wasilewski

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• Three Columns

Psychology Master’s Theses Abstracts Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Psychology master’s theses abstracts industrial/organizational psychology.

Click on authors’ names below for abstracts (lists goes back to 1999/2000)   

Summer 2021

Lyman, Kyle    Work to Live, or Live to Work?  Work-Life Programs and Career Consequences: The Role of Supervisor Perception  

Summer 2019  

Rehmann, Catherine     Benevolent Sexism in the Workplace: The Impact on Affect, Behavior, Cognition, and Performance   

Fall 2018  

Cheban, Yuliya         The Impact of Cultural Resilience on Affect and Performance in Organizational Settings     

Summer 2018    

Oleman, Whitney      The Effect of Leadership Development Interventions on Engineering Program Alumni     

Spring 2018    

Kautz, Brian      The Self-Correcting Workplace: The Impacts of Continuance Commitment and Job Autonomy on the Relationship between Job Dissatisfaction and Creativity      

Fall 2016    

Gergis, Christina    Perceived Effectiveness of the O*NET Skills Search Tool in Identifying Potential Occupations for Individuals with High Functioning Autism    

Good, Stephanie     Expanding the Typical Employment Options for High-Functioning Individuals on the Autism Spectrum using Occupational Interest Theory and a Web-Based Job Search Tool     

Spring 2016

DeYoung, Mindy Does Giving Contingent Rewards Improve Training Effectiveness and Change Professional Social Website Behaviors

Odom, Brianna Helping or Hurting?  The Effects of Manipulated Levels of Sexism on Third Party Perceptions of Interviewee Hireability and Managerial Potential

Summer 2015

Gentz, Rachel The Effect of Non-Engaging vs Engaging Training Methods on the Acceptance of Sexual Harassment Myths

Kim, Eugene           Displays of Counterproductive Work Behaviors on Facebook: An Observation of Possible Predictors Including Mood, Stress, and Gender     

Manderson, Cameron        Life Stress, Work Stress, and Job Performance: Does Conscientiousness Make a Difference?

Solhjou, Maryam       The Effects of Cognitive interventions on Well-Being in the Workplace

Quigley, Jennifer Let’s Work: Employment Experiences of Adults with Developmental Disabilities

Tucker, Kvon The Effects of Ethnic Identity, Ethnicity and Ethnic Identifiers on Job Suitability Ratings

Summer 2014

Galleta, John Andrew            From Injustice to Retaliation: The Mediating Role of Identity Threat     

Smith, Matthew      Employment Affect of Working Adults with Developmental Disabilities      

Spring 2014

Kruk, Allix        The Impact of Theoretical-Based Training Method of Performance on Training Professional Social Networking Use

Nam, Sophia      Do You Agree with This Critique?  An Analysis of the Impacts of Feedback, Feedback Acceptance, and Fairness Perceptions of Performance      

Ramirez, Cinthia      Perceived Efficacy of the O*Net Skills Search Tool Among Individuals with High Functioning Autism      

Herrera, Ariel Alexander   Workplace Retaliation in Groups: The Impact of Narcissism and Referent Status 

Summer 2013

El-Ahraf, Hadeel   Effects of Rater Ethnicity and Acculturation on Ratings of Middle Eastern Resumes

Spring 2013

Garman, Anya Increasing the Effectiveness of Sexual Harassment Prevention through Learner Engagement

Nguyen, Quoc Tim   Modeling Completion at a Community College

Winter 2013

Fisher, Catherine “Tina” Increasing Organizationzal Commitment by Inducing P-O Fit Through Organizational Values Awareness Training

Kim, Joan A Longitudinal Study on the Relationship between Workplace Harassment and Cyberloafing

Kuls, Michaela Single-Item vs. Multiple-Item: An Examination of Validity and the Impact of Mood in Measuring Construct

Low, Sze Zen Workplace Harassment and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: A Daily Diary Investigaton

Tietze, Brandon Developing an Automated Task-Based Minimum Qualification System to Lower Erroneous Rejection and Adverse Impact

Summer 2012

Eslamian, Sanaz Using Social Media to Increase Employment Changes among College Students

Jurica, Michelle Napping in the Workplace as an Invisible Stigma: The Moderating Roles of Raters’ Nap Habit, Work Ethic, and Organizational Policy

Smith, Jenni The Work Expectations of Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

Valle, Carlos The Effectiveness of Employment Interview Coaching: A Meta-Analysis 

Wahl, Stephanie Future Employment of Individuals with a Developmental Disability: Parent Expectations 

Spring 2012

Charboneau, Norma He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: A Look at Ambivalent Sexism and its Impact on Peer Evaluations of Interviewee Competency and Likability

Luu, Lap The Counteractive Effects of Moods on Organizational Retaliation Behavior in Reaction to Injustice in the Workplace 

Spicer, Rana Motivating Volunteers and Increasing Satisfaction 

Cool, Michael Increasing Survey Response Rates Through Appeals, Pre-Notices, and Reminders

Stokely, Rebekah Preceived Effectiveness of Interview Coaching Workshops: An Investigation of Differences in Workshop Content and Brevity

Tekonen, Hanna The Impact of Item Type on Faking Overt Integrity Items

Spring 2011

Arenales, Milady Case Managers’ Employment Expectations for Adults with Developmental Disabilities

Mills, Lindsey Emotional Labor and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Trait Rumination

McAbee, Samuel The Impact of Manipulated Fairness Perceptions on the Measurement of Organizational Justice

Castiglione, Abigail Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Role of Employee Support Policies, Envy, and Narcissism

Palacios, Jr, Jorge Job Role Ambiguity as a Mediator Between Workplace Communication and Positive Work Outcomes

Saedi, Brandon Training College Students to Increase Employment Opportunity Using Social Networking Websites

Summer 2010

Kato, Nami Psychological Acculturation, Organizational Socialization and Organizational Commitment: The Case of Japanese Brazilians Working in Japan

Linke, John Perceived Parental Support as a Predictor of Vietnamese American Academic Achievement

Miller, David Outcomes of Psychological Contract Breach and Violation

Nabity, Jeffrey The Bystander Approach to Sexual Harassment Training: Considering a New Perspective

Walters, Sarah Ethnicity, Job Experience, and Interview Ratings

Spring 2010

Maguin, Jennifer A Meta-Analysis of Interpersonal Trust and Team Performance

Norton, Sharon The Effects of Leadership-Efficacy and Personality on Reactions to Stress

Ahnefeld, Karoline The Development and Validation of a Nonviolent Communication Situational Judgment Test (NVC-SJT) for the Workplace

del Carmen Lopez, Maria Effects of Training Intervention on Hiring Discrimination and Rater Prejudice

Summer 2009

Kurtis, Kimberly Minority College Student Attitudes Towards the Geological Sciences: Unearthing Barriers to Enrollment

Ledford-Yang, Tiffanie Culture and Preferred Workplace Conflict Resolution Strategies

Sarkissian, Lara An Examination of Course-Level Factors Contributing to Student Success

Winter 2009

Venegas, Jennifer Effectiveness of an Intervention to Increase Employees’ Awareness of Frequency and Seriousness of Cyberloafing

Dickson, Jennifer Reality in Recruitment: Realistic Job Previews and Individual Differences

Ruleford, Mallory Effects of Class Size and Enrollment Growth Incentives on Faculty Performance

Wada, Akane Retaliation Behavior in the Group Context: Responses to Perceived Justice

Summer 2008

Abulhusn, Karla A. The Effects of Exposure, Cognitive Ability and Interview Self-Efficacy on Employment Interview Performance

Lurie, Sarah B. The Morning Commute: The Moderating Effects of Locus of Control and Organizational Commitment on Employees’ Perceived Commuting Strain

Tzschatzsch, Annika The Effects of Organizational, Supervisor and Coworker Support on Perceived Job Stress and Attitudinal Outcomes

Spring 2008

Escobedo, Matthew Applicant Anxiety and Selection Interview Performance: A Meta-Analysis

Ha, Truc Mai The Fluctuating Bandwidth of Change Management: Factors that Impact Employee Resistance to Workplace Technology

Lewis, Margaret Classroom Intervention to Facilitate Students’ Questions

Ahdoot, Joseph Email Overload: Information Overload and Other Negative Effects of Email Communication

Rivera, Steve A. Identifying an Optimal Job Analysis Method for Synthetic Validation Studies

Smith, Whitney E. Interviewee Perceptions of Structured and Unstructured Interview Questions

Summer 2007

Davis, Kimberly Anne A Meta-Analysis on the Relationship Between Measures of Commute Span and Strain

Spring 2007

Mensinger, Meggan S. An Investigation into the Impact of Organizational Variables on the Impostor Phenomenon

Summer 2006

Leung, Lisa Using Perfectionism, Impostor Phenomenon and Occupational Field to Predict Job Burnout

Spring 2006

Long, Ryan How Personality and Rewards Interact to Impact Performance and Satisfaction

O’Connor, Brendan The Effects of Awareness of Test Process and Competencies Assessed on Applicant Interview Performance

Aguilar, Steven Performance Effects of Gender, Extraversion, and Need for Achievement on Boredom Proneness

Bailey, Wendi A Comparison of Corporate Reputation as Perceived by Internal and External Stakeholders

Olson, Kristin Performance Feedback: The Impact of Personality and Communication Mediumon Recipient Satisfaction and Fairness Perceptions

Summer 2005 

Wright, W. Douglass Casual Attributions and Interactional Justice as Moderators of the Relationship Between Perceived Psychological Contract Breach and Critical Employee Outcomes

Spring 2005

Costello, Kim The Influence of Team Design Characteristics and Personality Traitson Short-Term Film Productions’ Effectiveness

Hammond, Kandice Learning Styles, Self-Efficacy, and Training Delivery: Investigating Factors That Enhance Learning

Winter 2005

St. Clair, Alta Characterizations Ascribed to Male Executives, Female Executives and the Ideal Executive

Kaminski, Kelly An Examination of Applicant Preparation for Assessment Centers

Summer 2004

Bastian, Briana Work/Family Benefits Preferences: Assessing Differences by Gender and Ethnic Minority Status

Chan, Linda The Effects of Ethnic Diversity of LMX, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment

Croker, Rosee The Effect of Leadership Style on Employee Work Ethic

Spring 2004

Furumoto, Akira The Effect of Use of Impression Management on the Performance Rating of Affirmative Action Beneficiaries

Nguyen, Angela-Minhtu The Mediational Role of Mentoring in the Acculturation-Career Satisfaction Relationship for Asian/Pacific Islander American Faculty

Piffero, Alysia Range Restriction of Ratings: The Impact of Rater Differences

Wolf, Ilan Extrinsic Motivation as a Moderator of Gender Role Stereotypes and Career Choice

Stevens, Christopher Perceptions of the Work Environment: Role of Negative Affectivity and Spiritual Beliefs

Spring 2003

Dourigan, Allison Examining Sources of Validity, Adverse Impact, and Procedural Justice in an Assessment Center

Nielsen, Kristin The Effects of Gender-Role Congruent and Gender-Role Incongruent Leaders on Personnel Rater Perceptions

Yu, Janie Test-Taking Motivation and Impression Management on Overt Integrity Tests and Subtests

Summer 2002

Grimes, Catherine Socialization of Newcomers: An Investigation of Tactic Use and Related Outcomes

Herst, DiAnn More than an Apple a Day: The Effects of Personal Characteristics and Coping Strategies on Teacher Stress and Burnout

Vasconcellos, Chad The Moderating Effects of Self-Esteem and Locus of Control on the Relationship between Objective Job Characteristics and Perceived Job Characteristics

Spring 2002

Moore, Andrew The Heritability of Sexual Orientation and Occupational Choice

Scheinoha, Tricia Examining Individual Differences in Pay Structures and Pay Satisfaction

Thomas, Kristy The Relationship of Generation X Work Values to Job Involvement and Organizational Commitment

Winter 2002

White, Duane Emotional Intelligence and Self-Monitoring: Determiners of Influence Tactic Choice

Mineghino, Mary Ann An Empirical Study of the Relationship Between Role Stress and Empowerment in Front-Line Managers and Workers

Summer 2001

Dolden, Stacy An Examination of the Moderating Role of Perceived Support for Innovation on Leader-Member Exchange, Team-Member Exchange, and Individual Level Work Outcomes

Doss, Sangeeta A Service Quality Comparison Between Electronic Banking Users and Nonusers

Hoffman, Lori Perceived System Knowledge and Its Relationship to Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Spring 2001

Heinbuch, Danielle Educational Assistance and Organizational Commitment Influencing Turnover Intentions

Jankowski, Rebecca Sex Stereotypes in Transformational and Transactional Leadership Ratings

Lonergan, Dale The Interaction of Trainee Perceived Expectations of Themselves and the Trainer on Learning and Reaction to Training (Self-Efficacy and the Reverse Pygmalion Effect)

Primicias, Wesley Studying Ethnic Differences in Socialization, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment

Timmons, Sarah Computerphobia and Computer-Associated Stress in the Workplace

Summer 2000

Arnoldus, Michael Effects of Locus of Control and Type A Behavior on Selecting of Conflict Handling Styles

DeMaci, Christopher Feng Shui and Psychology: Situational and Individual Predictors of Dominance

Gulak, Lori Compressed Workweeks, Commuting, and Life and Job Satisfaction

Mallery, Faith An Investigation of Need for Achievement and Self-Monitoring on Feedback-Seeking Strategies

Pasanen, Sanna Emotional Intelligence, Conscientiousness and Integrity as Predictors of Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Sterling, Hillary The Influence of Gender and Career Salience on College Students’ Desire for Work/Life Benefits

Spring 2000

Dickerson, Andra Risk Perceptions and Y2K Readiness

Howard, Lara The Effects of Age and Intrinsic Motivation on the Probability of Career Change

Mosconi, Victor Personality Differences in Stress Coping Strategies

Newlon, Candace Effects of Procedural Justice and Self-Efficacy on Acceptance of Merit Pay

Winter 2000

Allen, Donald The Influence of Environment on Job Interview Ratings with Potential Moderation by Personality Variables

Flaxman, Gary Work-Family Conflict as a Mediator between Family Responsive Policies and Job Outcomes

Mendez, Margarita Leader-Member Exchange as Moderator of the Job Dissatisfaction-Communication Response Relationship

Menges, Michele Interactional Justice as a Mediator between Emotional Intelligence and Work-Related Attitudes

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Home » Blog » Dissertation » Topics » Psychology » Industrial-Organizational Psychology » 80 Industrial-Organizational Psychology Research Topics

80 Industrial-Organizational Psychology Research Topics

FacebookXEmailWhatsAppRedditPinterestLinkedInAre you a student searching for research topics in Industrial-Organizational Psychology for your undergraduate, master’s, or doctoral thesis or dissertation? Look no further! This blog post will provide you with a comprehensive list of research topics covering a wide range of areas within this fascinating discipline. Whether you are interested in employee motivation, leadership styles, […]

Are you a student searching for research topics in Industrial-Organizational Psychology for your undergraduate, master’s, or doctoral thesis or dissertation? Look no further! This blog post will provide you with a comprehensive list of research topics covering a wide range of areas within this fascinating discipline. Whether you are interested in employee motivation, leadership styles, organizational culture, or workplace diversity, we have you covered. So, if you’re ready to embark on your research journey, keep reading for inspiration on potential research topics and areas of interest.

Industrial-Organizational Psychology, also known as I-O Psychology, is the scientific study of human behaviour in organizations and the workplace. Synonyms for this field include organizational psychology, work psychology, and business psychology. It focuses on improving the well-being and performance of employees, as well as enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of organizations through research, topics, and evidence-based practices. Now, let’s dive into the exciting world of Industrial-Organizational Psychology research topics!

A List Of Potential Research Topics In Industrial-Organizational Psychology:

• Investigating the effects of workplace diversity on team creativity and innovation.
• Examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on remote work adoption in UK organizations.
• Examining the role of virtual leadership in sustaining team productivity and cohesion in a post-pandemic world.
• A critical analysis of the literature on the effects of workplace bullying and harassment on employee mental health.
• Assessing the long-term effects of remote work on employee well-being and job performance post-COVID.
• Examining the relationship between employee well-being and absenteeism.
• Assessing the influence of remote team collaboration tools on post-COVID work dynamics.
• Assessing the impact of organizational socialization on new employee integration.
• Examining the role of UK government policies in promoting employee well-being and work-life balance.
• Investigating the role of job crafting in enhancing employee job fit and satisfaction.
• Examining the role of emotional intelligence in leadership and team dynamics.
• Analyzing the effectiveness of training and development programs in enhancing employee skills.
• Investigating the role of mindfulness in reducing workplace stress and burnout.
• Analyzing the relationship between workplace diversity and organizational performance.
• Assessing the effects of work-related stress on employee health and productivity.
• Exploring the implications of workplace bullying and harassment on employee mental health.
• Exploring the relationship between employee creativity and organizational innovation.
• Investigating the relationship between job insecurity and employee job performance.
• Exploring the implications of gig work on employee job security and benefits.
• Analyzing the role of self-regulation in employee time management and productivity.
• Analyzing the effects of cross-cultural differences on global leadership effectiveness.
• An in-depth examination of the role of emotional intelligence in leadership effectiveness.
• Examining the role of leadership styles in employee motivation and job satisfaction.
• Exploring the implications of AI and automation on job design and employee adaptation.
• Assessing the effectiveness of flexible work arrangements in promoting work-life balance.
• Assessing the impact of leadership coaching on leadership self-efficacy.
• Assessing the effectiveness of performance appraisal systems in enhancing employee performance.
• Assessing the relationship between pandemic-induced stress and employee mental health outcomes.
• Exploring the influence of organizational justice on employee trust and commitment.
• Investigating the role of diversity and inclusion initiatives in reducing workplace discrimination.
• Exploring the influence of UK-specific cultural factors on leadership styles and team dynamics.
• Exploring the relationship between employee engagement and customer satisfaction.
• Assessing the impact of employee recognition programs on job satisfaction.
• The influence of leadership styles on employee motivation in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Social Psychology .
• Investigating the factors influencing employee job turnover intentions.
• Analyzing the effects of hybrid work arrangements on employee work-life balance and engagement.
• Exploring the relationship between employee engagement and organizational performance.
• Investigating the effects of workplace incivility on employee job satisfaction.
• Analyzing the role of personality assessment in talent selection and development.
• Assessing the gig economy’s impact on UK labour rights and worker protections.
• Investigating the psychosocial factors affecting work-life balance among healthcare professionals.
• Analyzing the role of cross-cultural training in international assignments.
• A systematic review of the literature on the effectiveness of performance appraisal systems.
• Examining the influence of personality traits on leadership effectiveness.
• Exploring the influence of organizational change on employee resistance and adaptation.
• Analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on organizational crisis management and resilience strategies.
• Investigating the effects of workplace conflict resolution strategies on team cohesion.
• Assessing the impact of technology on job automation and workforce skill requirements.
• Analyzing the effects of job design and job crafting on employee job satisfaction.
• Analyzing the role of emotional labour in customer service interactions.
• Examining the impact of leadership development programs on succession planning.
• Examining the role of human resource management practices in talent acquisition and retention.
• Assessing the relationship between employee motivation and goal-setting strategies.
• Investigating the role of job resources in mitigating job stress and burnout.
• Analyzing the role of UK-based technology startups in shaping the future of work.
• Analyzing the impact of Brexit on talent migration and workforce diversity in the UK.
• Examining the impact of social media use on employee productivity and distractions.
• Exploring the impact of employee involvement in decision-making on organizational performance.
• A comprehensive synthesis of research on the effects of job design on employee job satisfaction.
• Investigating the role of vaccination policies in shaping employee attitudes and behaviours in the workplace.
• Exploring the implications of UK workplace mental health initiatives on employee well-being outcomes.
• Exploring the influence of technology on virtual team collaboration.
• Exploring the implications of remote leadership on team cohesion and performance.
• Examining the psychological factors affecting performance in workplace teams in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Sports Psychology.
• Examining the relationship between job demands and employee performance.
• Examining the influence of job crafting on employee career development.
• A critical literature review on the relationship between workplace diversity and organizational performance.
• Investigating the effects of pandemic-induced job insecurity on employee job satisfaction and loyalty.
• Examining the impact of COVID-19 on organizational culture and employee well-being.
• Investigating the effectiveness of UK-based diversity and inclusion initiatives in reducing workplace discrimination.
• Exploring the influence of organizational culture on employee engagement and retention.
• An overview of the factors influencing employee job turnover intentions: A literature review.
• Assessing the effectiveness of feedback and performance coaching in employee development.
• The role of school climate in teacher job satisfaction in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and School Psychology .
• Analyzing the role of team dynamics in innovation and problem-solving within organizations.
• Investigating the effects of UK labour market trends on talent acquisition and retention strategies.
• Investigating the impact of remote work on employee well-being and productivity.
• Examining the influence of job autonomy on employee job satisfaction.
• A comprehensive review of the impact of leadership styles on employee motivation and performance.
• An in-depth examination of the implications of remote leadership on team cohesion and performance.

In conclusion, Industrial-Organizational Psychology offers a plethora of intriguing research topics for undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral-level students. Whether you are passionate about employee engagement, leadership development, or organizational culture, there are numerous opportunities to explore and contribute to this dynamic field. So, pick a topic that resonates with you, conduct thorough research, and contribute to the world of I-O Psychology. Good luck with your dissertation research!

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Psychology Research Guide

I/o industrial or organizational psychology.

I/O, Industrial, Organizational or Industrial-Organizational Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior in organizations and work situations. I/O Psychologists study individual, group, and organizational behavior and use this knowledge to improve workplace problems. Before you explore the database below to find evidence for your project, you may find it helpful to learn more about this area of psychology. The following resources can help you narrow your topic, learn about the language used to describe psychology topics, and get you up to speed on the major advancements in this field.

• Potential Topics: APA Spotlight Articles I/O Psychology This link opens in a new window
• Learn more about Industrial and Organizational Psychology on the American Psychological Association's website

I/O Psychology Databases

Research in I/O psychology utilizes core psychology resources, as well as resources in business, human resources, and sociology. You may find it helpful to search the following databases for your I/o topics or research questions, in addition to the core resources listed on the home page.

I/O Psychology Subject Headings

You may find it helpful to take advantage of predefined subjects or subject headings in Shapiro Databases. These subjects are applied to articles and books by expert catalogers to help you find materials on your topic.

• Learn more about Subject Searching

Consider using databases to perform subject searches, or incorporating words from applicable subjects into your keyword searches. Here are some I/O subjects to consider:

• Industrial & Organizational Psychology
• Management & Management Training
• Occupational Interests & Guidance
• Organizational Behavior
• Personnel Attitudes & Job Satisfaction
• Personnel Evaluation & Job Performance
• Personnel Management & Selection & Training
• Professional Education & Training
• Working Conditions & Industrial Safety

I/O Example Search

Not sure what you want to research exactly, but want to get a feel for the resources available? Try the following search in any of the databases listed above:

(Industrial OR Organizational OR I/O) AND Psych*

There isn't just one accepted word for this area of psychology, so we use OR boolean operators to tell the database any of the listed terms are relevant to our search. We use parenthesis to organize our search, and we stem or truncate the word psychology with the asterisk to tell the database that any ending of the word, as long as the letters psych are at the beginning of the word, will do. This way, the word psychological and other related terms will also be included.

• Learn more about Boolean Operators/Boolean Searching

I/O Psychology Organization Websites

• Alliance for Organizational Psychology This link opens in a new window Founded in 1991, EAWOP is an open network of I/O psychology groups. Their website includes publications and resources.
• Harvard Business Review Blog - Psychology This link opens in a new window Current articles from the HBR Blog on psychology in business.
• Occupational Information Network (O*NET) This link opens in a new window O*NET is a regularly updated database of occupational characteristics and worker requirements information across the U.S. economy. It describes occupations in terms of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required as well as how the work is performed in terms of tasks, work activities, and other descriptors. It is made available by the United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration.
• Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology (SIOP) This link opens in a new window Membership organization for I-O psychologists. SIOP is a division of the American Psychological Association and an organizational affiliate of the Association for Psychological Science.
• SIOP-SHRM White Papers The SHRM-SIOP Science of HR white paper series provides practitioner-oriented reviews of evidence-based HR practices written by leading researchers and practitioners in the field of I-O psychology and HR.
• << Previous: Forensic Psychology
• Next: Mental Health >>

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Chair of Work and Organizational Psychology

Master thesis, master theses at the chair of work and organizational psychology.

We welcome MTEC-students (MSc and MAS) to write their Master's thesis in our research group. Thesis topics can be chosen from the list of currently offered topics below, but can also be individually defined based on students' interests together with the tutor and supervising research assistant. Often, theses in our group are written in close cooperation with companies. To provide ideas on possible topics, see also the overview of past theses supervised in our group below.

Theses can generally be written in German or English.

Our aim is to support students in investigating concepts from work and organizational psychology (leadership, team dynamics, work design, creativity, career management, to name a few) in relation to broader questions in the management of organizations, such as improved work flows, resource and project management, risk management or organizational change. In preparation for the thesis, MSc students are required and MAS-students strongly encouraged to take the following three courses: HRM Leading Teams, Work Design and Organizational Change, Empirical Methods in Management. Additional courses to build the proper knowledge base for the particular field of the thesis are to be discussed with the tutor. Further formal requirements by the department are found by following these links: MSc-thesis ; Download MAS-thesis (PDF, 42 KB) vertical_align_bottom .

We are also happy to supervise BSc and MSc-theses by students from other departments at ETH and other universities, if the topics can be linked to on-going research in our group. All details regarding the duration of work and other administrative details should be clarified with the corresponding institution by the student.

Current Master Thesis Topics

For the topic of “New Technologies at Work” exemplary subject areas in which theses can be conducted are:

• Design: E.g., How can technologies be designed in a human-centered way?
• Employee attitudes and reactions: E.g., How do employees perceive and react to novel technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, in work contexts
• Implementation: E.g., How can technologies best be implemented to enhance employee well-being and productivity?
• Decision-making: E.g., How are organizational decision-making processes and outcomes impacted by decision-support systems?
• The Relationship between Unethical Behaviors and Creativity (Federico Magni) - see detailed description Download here (PDF, 120 KB) vertical_align_bottom
• Measuring Creativity in Organizations (Federico Magni) - see detailed description Download here (PDF, 110 KB) vertical_align_bottom

Please see the descriptions of the group’s ongoing projects in this area here . Interested students should bring in their own ideas for specific research questions and potentially practice partners.  

Examples of formerly supervised theses

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5 The Thesis Process in Industrial-Organizational Master’s Programs

• Published: September 2020
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This chapter covers the thesis process in industrial-organizational master’s programs. A master’s thesis project can be a key learning opportunity for students. Whether or not they intend to pursue a PhD, or ever conduct formal research after completing their master’s degree, students gain valuable competencies from completing a thesis, including project management skills, research skills, written and oral communication skills, critical thinking, and ethical behavior. Thesis projects are not without challenges, however. This chapter offers advice and observations based both on the research literature and the authors’ 35+ years of combined experience mentoring master’s theses. Topics addressed include feasible and appropriate projects, collaborations with organizations, navigating the Institutional Review Board process, and on-time thesis completion.

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Theses and Dissertations (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

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• Work engagement and organisational commitment at a private distance learning institution in South Africa  Mushaninga, Yvonne ( 2023-10-09 ) Organisations are increasingly concerned about employees’ work engagement and organisational commitment due to the influence of the two constructs on important organisational outcomes. A question that is also pertinent is ...
• Employees turnover intentions : experiences of employees at a basic education public entity  Selesho, Refilwe Argentina ( 2021-06-14 ) The study was a qualitative research study and was based within the interpretive research paradigm. Participants were selected by means of convenience sampling which was guided by the availability and willingness of ...
• Investigating employee’s experiences of the pay-for-performance system within the banking sector in Limpopo Province  Nkoana, Mautswa Elizabeth ( 2022-12-04 ) This study aimed to explore the employee’s experiences with the pay-for-performance system within a banking institution in Polokwane, Limpopo province branches. The study was a qualitative research study and was based on ...
• Ethical leadership, group learning behaviour and group cohesion in the energy sector: a psycho-social model  Motabologa, Reneilwe Mathabo ( 2023-01 ) Orientation: At present, it is essential for organisations to have a sound ethical context which will enable the organisation to achieve sustainability, and to maintain a positive corporate image. For these reasons, ethical ...
• Exploring links between gender, dwelling and career interests among black emerging adults  Matjie, Mokgata Allen Tshepo ( 2018-07 ) The objectives of the research were (1) to establish the theoretical and empirical relationship between gender, dwelling and the career interests of young African emerging adults; and (2) to determine whether gender and ...
• A qualitative study of perceptions of recruiters when hiring persons with criminal record  Motlhanke, Ponatshego Palesa ( 2023-06 ) The intention of this study was to explore recruiters’ perceptions when hiring persons with a criminal record. Recruiters are the gatekeepers and champions of the recruitment process and therefore play an integral part in ...
• The relationship between psychological career resources and organisational commitment in a parastatal institution in Botswana  Rangel, Malebogo Rosemary ( 2023-05 ) The general aims of this research study were to: (1) Establish if a relationship existed between psychological career resources (PCR) and organisational commitment amongst employees in a parastatal institution in Botswana, ...
• The association between psychosocial career preoccupations and psychological career resources  Govender, Ashlin ( 2020-01 ) The study explored the association between psychological career resources and psychosocial career preoccupations. The participants comprised a convenience sample of N = 314 individuals of varying race, age, gender and ...
• The relationship between employability, career adaptability, and psychological capital amongst non-degreed youth at an educational institution  Van Vuuren, Jean ( 2022-12 ) The world of work is advancing and dominated by the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and ever-faster technological developments. Employability, rather than just finding employment, is required today. ...
• A staff retention model for state-owned enterprises in South Africa  Maphanga, Christinah Hlamalane ( 2023-06-14 ) The aim of this quantitative study was to develop a model of staff retention for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in South Africa. The literature review phase explored the concept of staff retention, the measurement of staff ...
• The validation of a big data analytics capability scale for the South African context  Naicker, Renee ( 2023-01 ) Literature confirms that few organisations have managed to enhance organisational performance through big data analytics capabilities (BDAC). Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to design and validate a BDAC ...
• Work-related sense of coherence, job satisfaction and job embeddedness in an engineering and construction organisation in Africa  Egling, Zoe Edith-Ann ( 2022-01-24 ) The overarching aim of this research study was to determine the nature of the relationship between Work-related Sense of Coherence (Work-SoC) and job satisfaction and job embeddedness and whether Work-SoC can predict job ...
• Exploring managers’ perceived effectiveness of interventions aimed at eradicating workplace bullying  Singo, Azwihangwisi Alfred ( 2023-01 ) The general aim of this research was to explore managers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of interventions aimed at eradicating workplace bullying, and to obtain recommendations as to how such interventions might be ...
• The Black African educators' work-life balance: a hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry  Mloyi, Wellington ( 2022-04 ) The purpose of this study was to explore the work-life balance (WLB) of Black African high school educators in an African context. African high school educators are confronted with multifarious and unique work-life ...
• Use of human resource information systems in the measurement of non-financial organisational success factors  Bonehill, Jason Frederick ( 2022-06 ) Orientation: Organisations make use of human resource information systems (HRISs) to store data and assist with the processing of employee and other related information. This data can be a great source of information ...
• The relationship between employee well-being and organisational effectiveness in a bond origination company in South Africa  Van der Merwe, Chryssa ( 2022-08 ) The well-being of employees influenced the way in which they performed and ultimately impacted the effectiveness of an organisation. The interdependent and mutually beneficial relationship between an organisation and its ...
• Investigating the relationship between career adaptability, career anchors and organizational commitment  Baldeo, Ronika ( 2022-02 ) The aim of this study was to (1) to investigate the relationship between career adaptability (measured by the Career Adaptability Scale), career anchors (measured by the Career Orientations Inventory) and organisational ...
• Exploring the perceived effectiveness of a governmental performance management system  Mashiane, Patricia Cisky ( 2022-01 ) This study explored the perceived effectiveness of a governmental performance management system, through the lived experiences of employees and line managers within the different phases of the performance management ...
• The relationship between organisational culture and organisational effectiveness at a South African food retailer  Fourie, Stefan Steyn ( 2022-07 ) This research investigated the relationship between organisational culture (OC) and organisational effectiveness (OE) in a South African food retailer. In a highly competitive food retail sector, a well-managed OC can ...
• The relationship between authentic leadership and a high-performance culture  Ramoroalo, Shakes Reason ( 2022-07 ) The aim of this quantitative study was to determine the relationship between Authentic Leadership (AL) and a High-Performance Culture (HPC) in an alcohol beverage company in the South African Fast-Moving Consumer Goods ...

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Organizational Behavior Research Paper Topics

This page provides a comprehensive list of 100 organizational behavior research paper topics that are divided into 10 categories, each containing 10 topics. These categories include communication and teamwork, organizational culture and climate, employee motivation and engagement, organizational leadership, diversity and inclusion, organizational communication, employee well-being and work-life balance, organizational change, human resource management, and organizational ethics and corporate social responsibility. In addition to the list of topics, the page also provides expert advice on how to choose a research topic and how to write an organizational behavior research paper. Finally, students can take advantage of iResearchNet’s writing services to order a custom organizational behavior research paper on any topic. With this page, students will be able to explore the wide range of topics in organizational behavior and excel in their academic pursuits.

Organizational Behavior Topics Guide

Organizational behavior is an important field of study that focuses on how individuals and groups behave in organizations. It is a multidisciplinary field that draws on insights from psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, and management. Understanding organizational behavior is crucial for individuals who are interested in careers in management, human resources, or organizational development. Research papers are an important aspect of studying organizational behavior, as they allow students to explore various aspects of this field in-depth.

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The purpose of this page is to provide students with a comprehensive list of organizational behavior research paper topics that will help them choose a topic for their research paper. The page is divided into 10 categories, each containing 10 topics. The categories include communication and teamwork, organizational culture and climate, employee motivation and engagement, organizational leadership, diversity and inclusion, organizational communication, employee well-being and work-life balance, organizational change, human resource management, and organizational ethics and corporate social responsibility. By providing a wide range of topics, students can find one that aligns with their interests and career goals.

100 Organizational Behavior Research Paper Topics

Communication and Teamwork

1. Communication barriers in the workplace 2. Interpersonal communication and conflict resolution 3. The effects of technology on communication and teamwork 4. Cultural diversity and communication in global organizations 5. Communication strategies for effective leadership 6. Group dynamics and team performance 7. Decision-making processes in teams 8. Motivation and satisfaction in team-based work environments 9. Leadership styles and their impact on team effectiveness 10. Team training and development programs

Organizational Culture and Climate

1. The impact of organizational culture on employee behavior 2. The role of leadership in shaping organizational culture 3. Organizational change and resistance to change 4. Organizational culture and innovation 5. Ethical climates in organizations 6. Managing cultural diversity in organizations 7. The impact of organizational culture on employee well-being 8. Measuring and assessing organizational culture 9. The relationship between organizational culture and performance 10. The impact of organizational climate on employee motivation and job satisfaction

Employee Motivation and Engagement

1. Theories of employee motivation and their application in the workplace 2. The role of incentives and rewards in employee motivation 3. The impact of job design on employee motivation and engagement 4. The relationship between job satisfaction and employee motivation 5. Employee engagement and its impact on organizational performance 6. Employee empowerment and motivation 7. The role of leadership in employee motivation and engagement 8. The impact of organizational culture on employee motivation 9. Employee motivation and retention strategies 10. Employee motivation and its impact on organizational change

Organizational Leadership

1. Theories of leadership and their application in the workplace 2. Transformational leadership and its impact on organizational performance 3. Authentic leadership and its impact on organizational culture 4. Situational leadership and its effectiveness in different contexts 5. Servant leadership and its impact on employee well-being 6. The relationship between leadership and employee motivation 7. The impact of gender and cultural diversity on leadership 8. The role of emotional intelligence in leadership 9. The impact of leadership on organizational change 10. Developing effective leadership skills

Diversity and Inclusion

1. Defining diversity and inclusion in the workplace 2. The business case for diversity and inclusion 3. The relationship between diversity and innovation 4. Overcoming diversity challenges in global organizations 5. Managing diversity and inclusion through leadership 6. The impact of cultural diversity on team performance 7. Addressing diversity and inclusion in performance evaluations 8. The role of diversity and inclusion in employee retention 9. The impact of diversity and inclusion on organizational culture 10. Strategies for developing and implementing effective diversity and inclusion initiatives

Organizational Communication

1. The impact of communication on organizational effectiveness 2. Organizational communication strategies 3. Internal communication and its impact on employee engagement 4. The role of communication in change management 5. The impact of technology on organizational communication 6. The relationship between communication and organizational culture 7. The impact of communication on employee motivation and satisfaction 8. The role of nonverbal communication in organizational behavior 9. The impact of communication on organizational reputation 10. The role of feedback in organizational communication

Employee Well-being and Work-Life Balance

1. The impact of work-life balance on employee well-being 2. The relationship between stress and employee performance 3. Mental health in the workplace 4. Workplace wellness programs 5. The role of leadership in promoting employee well-being 6. The impact of job demands and resources on employee well-being 7. The impact of work schedule flexibility on employee well-being 8. The impact of job security on employee well-being 9. Burnout and its impact on employee well-being 10. Developing effective work-life balance policies

  Organizational Change

1. Theories of organizational change 2. Managing resistance to change 3. The role of leadership in organizational change 4. The impact of organizational culture on change management 5. The role of communication in change management 6. The impact of technology on organizational change 7. The impact of organizational change on employee motivation and satisfaction 8. The role of employee involvement in change management 9. Change management strategies for global organizations 10. The impact of organizational change on organizational performance

Human Resource Management

1. Recruitment and selection strategies 2. Performance management and appraisal 3. Training and development programs 4. The impact of compensation and benefits on employee motivation 5. The role of HR in promoting diversity and inclusion 6. The impact of technology on HRM 7. The impact of employee turnover on organizational performance 8. Employee retention strategies 9. HR metrics and analytics 10. HR strategy and its impact on organizational performance

Organizational Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

1. The importance of ethical behavior in organizations 2. Ethical decision-making processes in organizations 3. The impact of corporate social responsibility on organizational performance 4. The relationship between ethics and organizational culture 5. Ethical leadership and its impact on employee behavior 6. The role of codes of ethics in organizations 7. The impact of social media on organizational ethics 8. The impact of globalization on organizational ethics 9. The role of stakeholders in promoting ethical behavior 10. Developing ethical organizational policies

Choosing an Organizational Behavior Topic

Choosing a research topic can be a daunting task, especially when there are so many organizational behavior research paper topics to choose from. The key to choosing a successful topic is to select one that is relevant, interesting, and manageable. In this section, we provide expert advice on how to choose an organizational behavior research paper topic that will help students succeed in their academic pursuits.

The importance of choosing a relevant and interesting topic

The first step in choosing an organizational behavior research paper topic is to select a relevant and interesting topic. A relevant topic is one that aligns with the course curriculum and the student’s area of interest. An interesting topic is one that is engaging and will hold the student’s attention throughout the research and writing process. Choosing a relevant and interesting topic is important because it will make the research and writing process more enjoyable and fulfilling.

Tips for choosing a topic that aligns with the student’s interests and career goals

To choose a topic that aligns with the student’s interests and career goals, it is important to consider what topics are relevant to the student’s area of study and future career aspirations. Students should consider their personal interests, as well as the interests of potential employers. They should also consider the latest trends and developments in the field of organizational behavior, and choose a topic that is timely and relevant.

How to narrow down a broad topic into a manageable research question

Once a broad topic has been selected, it is important to narrow it down into a manageable research question. This can be done by breaking the topic down into smaller, more manageable sub-topics. Students should consider the scope of the topic and the available resources, and choose a research question that is focused and manageable.

Examples of how to brainstorm ideas for research topics

Brainstorming is an effective way to generate ideas for research topics. Students can start by listing the topics that interest them and then narrowing down the list to the most relevant and interesting topics. They can also read academic journals and textbooks to identify current trends and issues in organizational behavior. Finally, they can talk to their instructors or peers to get ideas and feedback.

How to conduct preliminary research

Before choosing a research topic, it is important to conduct preliminary research to ensure that the topic is feasible and has enough available resources. Students can start by conducting a literature review to identify the latest research on the topic. They can also use online databases and search engines to find relevant articles and publications. Finally, they can consult with their instructors or academic advisors to get advice on the available resources and potential research topics.

Choosing the right organizational behavior research paper topic is essential for success in academic pursuits. By following these expert tips and advice, students can choose a relevant and interesting topic, narrow it down into a manageable research question, and conduct preliminary research to ensure the topic is feasible and has enough available resources.

How to Write an Organizational Behavior Research Paper

Once a research topic has been chosen, the next step is to write the research paper. Writing an organizational behavior research paper can be a challenging task, but with the right guidance and strategies, it can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience. In this section, we provide expert advice on how to write an organizational behavior research paper.

The structure and format of a research paper

The structure and format of an organizational behavior research paper should follow the standard guidelines for academic research papers. It should include an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, and discussion sections. The introduction should provide an overview of the research topic and the purpose of the study. The literature review should summarize the relevant research on the topic. The methodology section should describe the research design, sample, and data collection methods. The results section should present the findings of the study, and the discussion section should interpret the results and provide conclusions and recommendations.

How to conduct research and gather sources

To conduct research and gather sources for an organizational behavior research paper, students should start by conducting a literature review. This involves searching for relevant articles and publications on the research topic. Students can use online databases, search engines, and academic journals to find relevant sources. They should also consider the credibility and relevance of the sources they choose, and use a variety of sources to support their arguments.

How to organize and outline the paper

Organizing and outlining an organizational behavior research paper is an important step in the writing process. Students should start by creating an outline that includes the major sections of the paper and the key points they want to make in each section. They should then organize their sources and research findings according to the outline. This will help them write a clear and coherent paper.

How to write an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, and discussion sections

Each section of an organizational behavior research paper has a specific purpose and format. The introduction should provide an overview of the research topic and the purpose of the study. The literature review should summarize the relevant research on the topic. The methodology section should describe the research design, sample, and data collection methods. The results section should present the findings of the study, and the discussion section should interpret the results and provide conclusions and recommendations. Students should use clear and concise language and support their arguments with relevant sources and research findings.

How to properly cite sources and format the paper

Properly citing sources and formatting the paper is essential for academic integrity and professionalism. Students should follow the guidelines for the appropriate citation style, such as APA or MLA. They should also ensure that the paper is formatted according to the guidelines provided by their instructor or academic institution. This includes proper margins, headings, and references.

How to revise and edit the paper for clarity and coherence

Revising and editing the organizational behavior research paper is an important step in the writing process. Students should read the paper carefully and revise it for clarity, coherence, and organization. They should also check for spelling and grammar errors and ensure that the paper meets the requirements and guidelines provided by their instructor or academic institution.

Writing an organizational behavior research paper can be a challenging task, but with the right guidance and strategies, it can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience. By following these expert tips and advice, students can write a high-quality research paper that meets the academic standards and expectations.

Order Custom Organizational Behavior Research Papers from iResearchNet

Organizational behavior research is a dynamic and challenging field, and writing a research paper on the topic can be daunting. However, with the right guidance, strategies, and support, students can succeed in their academic pursuits and contribute to the ongoing discourse in the field.

We have provided a comprehensive list of organizational behavior research paper topics and expert advice on how to choose a topic, conduct research, and write a high-quality research paper. Additionally, iResearchNet offers writing services that provide customized solutions to students who need expert help with their organizational behavior research papers.

If you’re struggling to choose a topic, conduct research, or write your organizational behavior research paper, iResearchNet’s writing services can help. Our team of experienced writers can provide personalized assistance on any topic, ensuring that your paper meets the highest standards of quality. We offer flexible pricing, timely delivery, and a money-back guarantee, so you can trust us to provide the support you need to succeed.

Don’t let the challenges of writing an organizational behavior research paper hold you back. With the right tools and support, you can excel in your academic pursuits and make a valuable contribution to the field of organizational behavior. Contact iResearchNet today to get started!

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The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is pleased to announce its seventh annual Top 10 Workplace Trends list. Based on member surveys, these are the issues that will have the most impact on the workplace in 2020. 

For the first time, there is a tie between two of the topics; at #9 on the list – “Virtual working spaces” and ”Meaning and purposeful work.” Newly trending topics include workforce health and well-being, and meaning and purposeful work. The entries in SIOP’s Top 10 list are broad, complex issues posing difficult challenges to the business world and modern society, so it’s no surprise that many other trends have appeared on previous lists. 

Industrial-organizational psychologists study workplace issues of critical relevance to business, including talent management, coaching, assessment, selection, training, organizational development, performance, and work–life balance. I-O psychologists can help all kinds of organizations, including for-profit, nonprofit and government, grappling with these issues find solutions that are right for their organizations and their staff.

To create this list, SIOP asked its members for their predictions based on their expertise as well as interactions with clients and colleagues. After the responses were compiled, members selected the top 10 issues organizations are likely to face in 2020. Nearly 1,000 members responded, and here’s what they had to say:

10. Data visualization and communication

First appearing on the list of top trends in 2019, the need to visualize and communicate the results of data analysis remains a global business priority. Making sense of the massive amounts of data available to organizations is a necessary step in making sound, data-driven decisions. The volume and velocity at which data are collected by organizations can be overwhelming. Organizations will need to find ways to creatively yet simply present data to stakeholders to effectively communicate the core messages of each data analysis and leverage the power of the data.

How I-O psychologists can help 

The ability to create and communicate clear, visually compelling data-driven arguments, is an essential data science skill. As a data-driven profession, I-O psychologists can help organizations and their leaders effectively use data to make human capital decisions and communicate with managers, board members, and the public about human capital topics that are central to organizational success. 

In a short presentation at the 2019 SIOP Annual Conference, Dr. Tina Burke shared evidence-based advice on effectively communicating about complex subjects .  The SHRM-SIOP White Paper authored by Dr. Evan Sinar , Data Visualization: Get Visual to Drive HR’s Impact and Influence , was created expressly to help use visualization techniques in representing HR data.

9-TIE! Virtual working spaces

Virtual coworking space can help limit workplace distractions while creating a sense of community for employees. In virtual coworking space, employees can join multiple chatrooms with coworkers (some work related, some common interests), see what meetings others are attending, and work on projects together. Virtual coworking comes at a low cost for employers and provides employees with flexibility, but they do have disadvantages. For instance, it is more difficult to foster employee engagement, and a lack of engagement can spiral into a lack of commitment, employee burnout, and attrition.  

I-O psychologists have found many methods of optimizing the remote work experience over the last several years. Some of them are simple procedural “hacks” such as conducting video meetings to increase accountability, engagement, and professionalism. Other, more substantive interventions include mapping career development paths to guide training and development for virtual employees.

SIOP has published resources on several aspects of remote work, including a 2014 White Paper on Telecommuting by Dr. Kristen Shockley, which provides a readily accessible grounding in the psychological impacts of remote work. Some resources linked to other trends higher on this list are also relevant here.

9-TIE! Meaning and purposeful work

A newcomer on the 2020 Top 10 WorkplaceTrends list, “meaning and purposeful work” reflects the shift in how people view work in the context of their lives. Finding meaning is a basic psychological need, and people are increasingly seeking to fill that need through their work. They seek work that is aligned with their values and supports their sense of life purpose. People are no longer viewing work as a means to an end but rather a way of life; they want to do something they believe will contribute to the world and fulfill them. Organizations will need to rethink their human capital strategy in order to evolve along with the mindset of their employees.

Meaning and purpose are connected to organizational culture and inclusion. Creating an inclusive, values-driven organizational culture thus one key element of business success. I-O psychologists can help organizations by helping with job design (also job sculpting, job crafting), selecting employees that share the same values with the organization, and training managers to help their employees find meaning and purpose as work. 

The white paper, Getting Engaged: Top Tips for an Engaged Workforce , by Dr. Allison Gabriel and Dr. Andrew Bennett reviews the organizational importance of employee engagement and provides tips for achieving it. Also, see resources linked to diversity and inclusion in the discussion of Trend #2, below. 

8. Workforce health and well-being

Stress and insecurity aggravated by the technology-mediated pressure to be “always on” contribute to rising rates of employee burnout. Business leaders are finding that burnout is not only harmful to employee health but also costly and detrimental to organizations. If organizations want to retain their top performers, they need to think not only about the employees’ well-being at work but also consider how the employees’ work life can affect their personal life in both positive and negative ways. 

In addition to the business case for worker health, there are strong ethical mandates for businesses to consider worker well-being (e.g., the UN Sustainable Development Goals and understanding of health as a human right). 

                How I-O psychologists can help 

I-O psychologists can help organizations that strive to balance ethical and practical considerations in developing employee benefits packages that will stand out to talented individuals in the job market. They can also assist in designing well-being programs and initiatives to keep employees healthy and happy. 

SIOP offers several resources relevant to this topic including a short overview video from the 2019 SIOP Conference by Dr. Tammy Allen , and these white papers: A Marathon, Not a Sprint: The Benefits of Taking Time to Recover from Work Demands by Dr. Charlotte Fritz and Dr. Allison M. Ellis , Work-Life Balance by Dr. Alison Rife and Dr. Rosalie Hall. Find more resources under the Worker Well Being tab on the SIOP White Papers web page.

7. Algorithmic selection – validity, bias, and applicant reactions

Algorithmic hiring is a growing trend in employee selection. Algorithms in employee selection use a formula to combine test scores into an overall candidate score, as opposed to using judgment or intuition to combine them. Algorithms can also be applied to arrive at a score for a specific assessment method, such as using artificial intelligence (AI) to score résumés instead of having recruiters evaluate them. In other types of AI assessments, candidates might be asked to play custom-built games to test their reaction time or speed. 

However, many practitioners have expressed concerns about validity and bias in algorithmic selection, as well as how applicants respond to more structured selection practices.  Although using formulas to combine test scores is more valid and less biased than judgmental combinations of scores, many questions remain about AI methods.

As algorithmic selection is used more often, and more data become available, I-O psychologists can help organizations be better prepared to navigate the complex issues and concerns about validity and bias in algorithmic selection, as well as applicant response to structured selection practices. 

In a SIOP White Paper, Dr. Neil Morelli discusses algorithms derived from artificial intelligence and their use in talent and selection assessment. Jon Willford discusses how human judgments and decisions can be enhanced with data from predictive algorithms. Also, for more information, see the recent SIOP White Paper: “Recent Trends in Pre-Employment Assessment” by Jessica M. Walker and Dr. Don Moretti .

6. Automation of jobs and tasks

Rapid increases in the sophistication of automation technology are, along with artificial intelligence, driving growing concern over the extent to which automation will disrupt the workforce. This is not a new concern, having returned with each new evolutionary phase in technology. But it is on the minds of many today and should be the subject of considered thought for educators, workforce planners, and business leaders in all sectors.

As jobs are increasingly automated, new jobs will emerge. These new jobs will require a 21st-century skill set that is in high demand already. Organizations view a growing skills shortage as one of their top concerns.

How I-O psychologists can help

Drawing on decades of theoretical and applied work, I-O psychologists are uniquely suited to help organizations conduct work analysis and forecast future human capital needs. They are also well-positioned to help organizations develop methods to aid workers to adapt to technology-enabled changes in work and the workplace.  

See Dr. Tara Behrend’s short video presentation on the topic from the 2019 SIOP Annual Conference. SIOP’s recent Organizational Frontiers book, Workforce Readiness and the Future of Work , which Dr. Behrend co-edited with Dr. Fred Oswald and Dr. Lori Foster , offers a more comprehensive treatment of the many forces shaping the future of work.

5. The changing nature of work 

Moore’s law defines the exponential growth of computing power, and that pace is driving the rapid changes in how people work. This is the fourth year in a row that the changing nature of work on the SIOP Top 10 Workplace Trends list, moving up two spots from last year.  As organizations embrace new and evolving technologies including social media communications, cloud-based collaboration tools, artificial intelligence, automation, and the digitization of work, our traditional notions of the workplace continue to evolve. 

Employee attitudes and expectations are also shifting  (e.g., see Trend #9) and require organizations to rethink their strategies for attracting and retaining employees. Organizations will also need to create agile policies and processes in order to respond to continuous change in a timely manner if they want to maintain a competitive edge.

I-O psychologists can help organizations properly transition into using these technologies while avoiding pitfalls related to cybersecurity and ethical concerns that can arise with the adoption of new technology-enabled work processes. I-Os can also help organizations develop the ability to cope with the increasing rate of change by building organizational and worker agility. 

The new SIOP webinar video on Performance Management 2.O by Dr. Alan Colquitt and the white paper, Agility and Agile: An Introduction for People, Teams, and Organizations by Dr. Ben Baran and Dr. Scott Bible are two useful resources for helping organizations adapt. 

4. Working with big data

Organizations continue to expand their capabilities for collecting large amounts of data from a multitude of sources (including people’s social media activity, digital work activities or purchase behavior, and other disparate information) at a rapid pace. The sheer amount of data available to organizations provides an unprecedented opportunity to explain and predict organizational outcomes.

But as several recent news stories and regulatory changes illustrate, the collection and use of big data in poorly designed systems can also create big risks. Using big data to inform employee selection may have unforeseen legal repercussions for organizations, for example, when analyses are conducted by those without a background in organizational psychology or statistics. Collecting data from employees and applicants also raises concerns over privacy intrusion in data collection. Big data analytics will only become more prevalent in organizations, and it is up to business leaders to ensure that they are protecting their organizations’ interests by behaving ethically and responsibly.

                How I-O psychologists can help

I-O psychologists can leverage their unique blend of expertise in psychological theory, research methods, statistics, and labor laws to ensure big data analytics are conducted responsibly, accurately, and effectively by organizations. I-O psychologists have unique expertise in understanding human behavior in organizations that aids in both data management and analysis.

Big Data at Work: Lessons From the Field , by Dr. Alexis Fink , Dr. Rick Guzzo , and Dr. Sara Roberts provides a nontechnical introduction and guidance on this topic

3. “Gig economy” – contract work

The gig economy is here, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Estimates range from 10.1% of America’s workforce (2017; Bureau of Labor Statistics) to 36% (2017; 35% in 2019; Upwork & Freelancers Union). Three major questions business leaders will need to tackle concerning the growing gig economy relate to recruitment and selection, the relationship between the organization and its workers, and regulatory issues. 

First, do current recruitment and selection best practices generalize to hiring and contracting gig workers? Leaders may need to revisit and revise their current hiring practices and systems for this labor supply. Second, how is the client–gig worker relationship different from the employer–employee relationship? What implications does this have for whether and how organizations invest in, retain, and develop their gig workers? Finally, what are the legal hotspots (e.g., compliance) of gig work that organizations and gig workers must understand and how do these impact the work itself?

I-O psychologists can help answer these questions and assist organizations navigating this complex and challenging shift from the traditional day job to contract work. In addition, they can aid organizations in developing a way to increase employee engagement and organizational commitment amongst gig workers. 

Resources  

Dr. William Macey offers an overview of the scope and impact of the gig economy in this short video from the  2019 SIOP Annual Conference.  In T he Gig Economy: An Overview and Set of Recommendations for Practice , Dr. Emily Campion addresses five of the most pressing questions on the topic, while focusing on practices supporting gig workers’ productivity.

2. Diversity, inclusion, and equity

Diversity, inclusion, and equity continue to be top considerations in the workplace, with an increasing focus on inclusion and equity. The #MeToo movement is just one recent example of how these concerns can move from the workplace into the headlines, underscoring the need for organizations to create diverse, inclusive workplace cultures.

Continued efforts to advance representation of women and historically underrepresented ethnic groups, particularly in leadership, are increasingly joined by inclusion and equity considerations of LGBTQI employees, renewed attention to age and ageism, global diversity and immigration, and integration of workers with disabilities, including invisible disabilities and mental health. Extending workplace inclusion and removing barriers for neurodiverse individuals is a growing imperative.

The public increasingly scrutinizes equity in organizations, including pay gaps, income inequality, executive pay, and minimum wage. Improvements in workplace equity may also enhance employer brands and the ability to attract and retain talent.   

I-O psychologists can help organizations focus on inclusivity, identify exclusionary practices, design training on unconscious biases, and examine possible biases and effects on diversity and equal opportunity. 

McKenzie Preston and Dr. Sumona De Graaf highlight business benefits in the white paper, Benefits of Socioeconomic Diversity to Organizations: How Organizations Can Promote and Benefit From Socioeconomic Diversity . Dr. Kizzy Dominguez shares insights from practice and statistics about diversity, inclusion, and equality in this short video from the 2019 SIOP Conference

And the #1 trend this year…

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning

Artificial intelligence and machine learning continue to be the number one workplace trend for the year 2020. More and more employers are exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in personnel decisions such as hiring, retirement planning and benefits enrollment, and many other areas.

Though the use of AI in HR is still in the early stages, AI has immense potential to change how organizations make personnel decisions through the use of predictive analytics and metrics for talent acquisition, training and development, and compensation. 

In hiring, AI can predict the likelihood of success on the job as well as the risk of turnover. AI could be used to offer personalized recommendations for training/career development as well as suggest which employees should be assigned to specific teams for higher team performance. 

I-O psychologists are helping organizations use artificial intelligence and machine learning to increase effectiveness and efficiency by evaluating new methods of workflow, streamlining processes, improving customer experiences, and automating operations based on predictive intelligence. 

For more information, see this recent SIOP White Paper: Artificial Intelligence in Talent Assessment and Selection by Dr. Neil Morelli .  Dr. Dan Putka provided an introduction to AI and machine learning at the 2019 Annual Conference. In addition to definitions and use cases, Dr. Putka contextualizes the role of I-O psychology in relation to engineering and other data sciences in HR applications. See the video here .

Using I-O Psychology to Solve Business Challenges

SIOP members are I-O psychologists who work in business, government and academia. Several act as consultants, and you can find an expert to help with your organization’s workforce challenges by selecting a topic from the dropdown consultant service list in the SIOP Consultant Locator .

Learn more about practical business applications of I-O psychology in the SIOP Hot Topics White Papers. In-depth coverage of several of the fundamental human issues organizations face today are addressed in the SIOP Organizational Frontiers Book Series. Browse the catalog here.

Read previous Top 10 Trends lists here and find short videos on the 2019 trends, including an expert discussion of each trend and a brief overview of all the trends, here .

This year’s Top Ten Workplace Trends list was coordinated by the Media Subcommittee of SIOP’s Visibility Committee based on two online surveys sent to approximately 8,000 SIOP members from October of 2019 to December of 2019. Committee members include Nikki Blacksmith , Chair; Amanda Woller , Chair in Training; Andrew Pepper , Media Chair; Dan Eisen , Survey Analysis Coordinator Thanks to these volunteer writers for helping create the report: Nicholas Baldwin, Emily Campion, Nick Howald, Uma Iyer, Jaclyn Jensen, Ludmila Praslova, Jerel Slaughter, Tilman Sheets, and Laura Tate .

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A list of excellent dissertation topics in organizational psychology.

A very specific niche in psychology is the study of human behavior in workplace settings, called organization psychology. It deals with how psychological principles and theories work with how an organization is set up and how people interact with one another. There are a number of excellent topics that make for great dissertations in this field. Here are a few suggestions for your consideration:

• Limits of Online Searches and How Personal Information is Used

Now that so much information can be easily shared and altered, how should businesses and other authorities use personal information that is found online.

• How the Internet Affects Recruitment and Selection Processes

Discuss the ways in which the internet has affected the way business will hire its employees. Consider social media, professional profiles, online record checks, etc.

• The Virtual Workplace and the Effects of Globalization

How has globalization affected the way business owners have embraced and even promoted the virtual workplace (i.e., outsourcing)?

• Coaching Strategies and Presence in the Workplace

More and more organizations are inviting work coaches to spend more time in the office to train its employees. How effective is this strategy in improving employees’ production?

• Employee Development and the New Super Worker

How are companies trying to cut costs by training single employees to do more than ever before? What are the perceived long-term effects of this?

• How Organizational Innovation Drives Economy

Finding new ways to be productive in the workspace changes more than just a company’s profits; it creates a new sort of economy with the tools and new niches that are needed to fill these innovations.

• Technology-Based Training Over Hands-On Training

Gone are the days where new workers learned from experts within a company. Now new employees take self-paced courses from the luxury of their home or office space. Is this as effective or efficient?

• Social Media and the Electronic Platform

Tweet, blog, share, post… these are all terms that have taken over the business world as traditional forms of spreading a brand or company message have become less effective. How is this affecting workers?

• Employee Health and Organization Profit

Companies can’t deny that a healthy employee is more productive and will lead to greater profit. How are companies incorporating programs that promote better health from it’s workers?

• How Blending Life and Work Affects Production

More people are bringing the two together in order to get more done. But is it having the opposite effect and actually causing less production?

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Organisational Psychology Library Guide: Theses and Dissertations

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Accessing theses and dissertations

The Libraries hold all UCT masters and doctoral theses. Honours theses are kept by the academic departments to which they were submitted.

Finding theses and dissertations outside UCT

• Current and Completed Research South African research projects in economics, science, humanities and includes masters and doctoral theses from South African Universities and technikons, as well as research works from government, non-government and private sectors.
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations The Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination and preservation of electronic analogues to the traditional paper-based theses and dissertations.
• Nexus Database System Provided by the National Research Foundation, Nexus includes databases of: Current and Completed Research Projects in the Humanities and Social Sciences; Professional Associations; Forthcoming Conferences; Periodicals’ Submission Requirements; Research Organisations; Research Networking; Research Methodology Courses; and Women in Research. The database of Current and Completed Research Projects requires a password – please contact the Chancellor Oppenheimer Library on 021 650 3703/4 or the Law Library on 021 650 2708/9.
• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses With more than 2 million entries, PQD&T is the single, central, authoritative resource for information about doctoral dissertations and master's theses. Dissertations published from 1980 forward include 350- word abstracts written by the author. Master's theses published from 1988 forward include 150-word abstracts. Titles available as native or image PDF formats include free twenty-four page previews.
• Union Catalogue of Theses and Dissertations (UCTD) Bibliographic records of theses and dissertations at Master and Doctorate level submitted to universities in SA since 1918. Updated annually.
• WorldCat Dissertations and Theses This database provides access to the dissertations and theses available university libraries worldwide. Many theses are available electronically, at no charge, directly from the publishing institution. For theses that are not available electronically, UCT users should request a loan via our   Interlibrary Loans  Department. Normally the issuing institution will lend a hard copy, but microfiche copies may be supplied.

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General information.

If you are interested in writing your thesis at our professorship, please contact our staff directly.

We will be happy to discuss current topics with you. There is also the possibility to write your thesis with existing data.

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Current topics proposed by our professorship can also be found in the institute-wide VC course "Final Theses in Psychology".

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100 Psychology Thesis Topics for 2023

Students know the importance of developing great psychology dissertation topics for a graduate assignment. However, many don’t have the time to brainstorm ideas that meet the requirements their professors expect. We’ve done a lot of the heavy lifting and have put together a list of 100 psychology thesis topics suitable for several situations. Feel free to pick a topic and start writing your thesis proposal .

General Psychology Topics for High School

• Give five top reasons why you would want to become a psychologist.
• What kind of influence has psychology research had in other sciences?
• Why are teenagers at higher risk of developing an eating disorder?
• How are phobias developed in children under the age of twelve?
• In what ways did Pavlov’s conditioning experiment contribute to our understanding of addiction therapy?

Child Psychology Research Paper Topics

• What are the major differences between psychiatry and psychology?
• Discuss mental tools that can be used to determine when children are lying to adults.
• What were the ethical complications involve 12d in the Little Albert Experiment?
• What does research suggest is the origin of intelligence in children?
• How does emotional intelligence in children affect their learning abilities?

Cognitive Psychology Topics

• How did Alan Turing’s suggestion that the brain is an organized machine lead to computers?
• Do the “seven chunks of information” still hold through in research?
• Can we develop working memory to retain greater long-term memory?
• Can a person that has been convicted of a felony charge change into a law-abiding citizen?
• How can cognitive therapy be used to help patients suffering from emotional disorders?

Developmental Psychology Topics

• How do our perceptions of our experiences affect development in teenagers?
• What are the four levels of development and which is most important in children?
• Can a moral judgment be taught to toddlers who have latent reasoning skills?
• How are our personalities developed through the influence of others?
• Are children naturally beholden to one parent or the other?

Social Psychology Topics for College Students

• How are a person’s original opinions influenced by the opinions of larger groups?
• What psychological effects does spending too much time on social media have?
• How do social psychologists deal with aggression and violence in young adults?
• What impact has social psychology had on our understanding of online bullying?
• How do family dynamics change when a member of the immediate family dies?

Sports Psychology Research Topics

• Does aging have a bigger impact on retired athletes’ mental health than head trauma?
• How is mental health affected by long recovery schedules for serious body injuries?
• How does neuro-linguistic programming in professional athletes affect performance?
• How do professional athletes mentally prepare for competitions?
• How have approaches to sports training and preparation been affected by developments in psychology?

Controversial Topics in Psychology

• How did the Milgram Obedience Experiments of the 1960s help us understand how we view authority figures?
• How did the Stanford Experiment help further our knowledge of situational variables on human behavior?
• How did Harlow’s experiments of affection (especially the lack of affection) lead to advancements in child development theories?
• Does the implementation of capital punishment on sex offenders prevent them from committing a crime?
• What is the link between criminal acts and teenagers that were bullied?

Health Psychology Topics for College Students

• What impact do regular exercise and healthy eating have on mental health in young adults?
• How have the media’s depictions of body ideals have negatively impacted how young adults see themselves?
• What are the most effective strategies for getting people to develop healthy eating habits?
• What can local governments do to help people maintain mental health after a disaster?
• How do stress management techniques help people cope with difficult situations in the workplace?

More Controversial Psychology Topics

• What did the “lost in a mall” study lead to a better understanding of how memories are formed and stored?
• Why was were the Voodoo Correlation studies of the 1960s so controversial and what did they reveal about human behavior?
• What did showing a lack of affection in infants reveal about the need to nurture one’s young?
• What did the Kirsch Anti-Depressant reveal about the impact that harmless placebos have on humans?
• What are the potential risks of taking part in multiple health studies throughout a given year?

Great Educational Psychology Topics

• How can different technologies help students perform better at school?
• Does working in a small group help students retain more information?
• How does physical activity help students perform better on standardized tests?
• What psychological factors should teachers consider as they develop each year’s curriculum?
• In what ways do psychologists help develop confidence in students with learning disabilities?

Excellent Cultural Psychology Topics

• What are some of the most difficult cultural situations young people face?
• In what ways does developing culture roots with one’s family positively impact social behavior?
• What stresses do young people feel when they return to their native countries?
• What impact does cultural learning have on students in elementary school?
• How does family support help young people cope with difficult decisions?

Psychology Topics to Write About

• Why are adolescents more at risk of developing some type of eating disorder?
• What are the negative effects of insomnia in patients being treated in a medical facility?
• In what ways does group therapy positively impact a patient’s ability to overcome addiction?
• Why should therapists refrain from prescribing ADHD medications to children?
• What are the most effective ways of treating PTSD without using prescription medication?

Abnormal Psychology Topics

• What are the psychological effects of telling either a truth or a lie among young adults?
• What are the major causes of borderline personality disorder in teenagers?
• In what ways does the level of insanity change in patients under specific treatment?
• Why are some people more prone to suffer from personality disorders?
• Can the Oedipus complex first introduced by Freud be used in treatment today?

Developmental Psychology Research Topics

• What role does television media play in promoting violence in adults?
• What are the major psychological characteristics in a child prone to aggression?
• What are the major factors in sociopathic behavior among youth?
• What are some traditional ways of parenting that have been proven ineffective?
• What environmental factors increase the chances of child abuse by a parent?

Biological Psychology Topics

• How are cognitive diseases related to the development of certain disorders?
• How are our perceptions of the world around us affecting the way we behave?
• Can alcohol addiction and other drug-related dependencies be tied to genetics?
• Does biology prevent humans from experiencing a pure sense of free will?
• In what ways does functionalism play into biological psychology?

More Sports Psychology Topics

• What are the negative effects on the mind of exercising to lose weight?
• How is having a network of supporters important for athletic performance?
• How does the attention of PHDs affect the way people feel about sports?
• What impact do sports role models have on a youth’s development?
• Is the NCAA giving an adequate education to its student-athletes?
• What are the most effective ways of dealing with school bullying?
• What are the major causes of psychopathic tendencies in teenagers?
• How does our modern society deal with gender roles?
• What are the key characteristics that improve the abilities to learn a new language?
• Do children require a good foundation to excel academically?

Forensic Psychology Topics

• How can psychology be used to identify and put suspects on trial for certain crimes?
• How has forensic psychology assisted in the way we look at death penalty cases?
• Can psychotic disorders be reevaluated as a result of better psych understanding?
• Should mental diseases be considered in capital punishment cases?
• How would you evaluate the mitigating effects of capital cases in people?

What did you think of our list of psychology thesis topics? Our professional dissertation writers keep our list of ideas up-to-date so that students are always pushing the envelope of research in every discipline. Check back for new general psychology topics or contact us to have a list custom-made for a specific research project.

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Top and Latest 150+ Psychology Dissertation Topics 2024

Tom Baldwin - Jan 22, 2024

Choosing the right psychology dissertation topics are crucial for successful researches. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore a diverse range of dissertation topics across various fields of psychology. Whether you’re interested in cognitive psychology, clinical psychology, developmental psychology, or any other subfield, you’re sure to find inspiration for your dissertation.

Ready to unlock the treasure chest of potential topics? Here’s a curated selection of over 150 dissertation ideas, categorized for your convenience:

Table of Contents

Psychology dissertation topics: cognitive psychology.

Cognitive psychology delves into the intricacies of how we think, remember, learn, perceive, solve problems, and use language. Here are 15 dissertation topics to consider:

• The Role of Working Memory in Decision-Making
• Cognitive Processes Behind Creativity
• Neural Correlates of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• The Impact of Sleep on Cognitive Performance
• The Psychology of Learning and Memory in Different Age Groups
• Cognitive Biases in Decision-Making
• Language Development in Bilingual Children
• The Influence of Emotion on Cognitive Processing
• Neural Plasticity and Cognitive Rehabilitation
• Cognitive Aspects of Human-Computer Interaction
• The Relationship Between Music and Cognitive Abilities
• Cognitive Aging and Memory Decline
• The Role of Executive Functions in Academic Achievement
• Neuroimaging Studies of Cognitive Processes
• Cognitive Factors in the Perception of Time

Clinical Psychology:

Clinical psychology focuses on diagnosing and treating mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. Here are 15 dissertation topics in this field:

• Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Treating Depression
• The Impact of Early Intervention on Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Psychosocial Factors in Chronic Pain Management
• Personality Disorders and Criminal Behavior
• Integrating Technology in Mental Health Interventions
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on PTSD Treatment
• The Role of Attachment in Therapeutic Relationships
• Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Anxiety Disorders
• Therapeutic Applications of Virtual Reality in Exposure Therapy
• Cultural Sensitivity in Eating Disorder Treatment
• Group Therapy for Substance Abuse Recovery
• Neurobiological Basis of Schizophrenia and Treatment Approaches
• The Influence of Therapist Characteristics on Treatment Outcomes
• Telehealth in Mental Health Services
• Factors Affecting Adherence to Psychotherapy

Developmental Psychology:

Developmental psychology studies human development across the lifespan. Here are 15 dissertation topics in this field:

• Parental Influences on Childhood Attachment Patterns
• Effects of Early Childhood Education on Cognitive Development
• Identity Development in Adolescence
• Parenting Styles and Academic Achievement
• The Role of Sibling Relationships in Social Development
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Adolescence
• Developmental Trajectories of Moral Reasoning
• Influence of Technology on Social Development in Children
• The Impact of Childhood Trauma on Adult Relationships
• Gender Identity Development in Children
• Attachment Theory and Peer Relationships
• Cognitive and Social Development in Late Adulthood
• The Influence of Culture on Parent-Child Interactions
• Environmental Factors in Early Childhood Development
• Developmental Changes in Emotional Regulation

Social Psychology:

Social psychology explores how individuals think, feel, and behave in social contexts. Here are 15 dissertation topics in this field:

• Social Media and Body Image Perception
• The Psychology of Group Conformity
• Stereotype Threat in Academic Settings
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Prejudice and Discrimination
• Impact of Social Support on Mental Health
• The Role of Empathy in Prosocial Behavior
• Social Influence in Decision-Making
• Cultural Variations in the Perception of Happiness
• Attitudes and Behaviors in Online Communities
• Effects of Social Comparison on Well-Being
• The Psychology of Online Dating and Relationship Formation
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Aggression
• Social Identity Theory and its Application in Society
• The Impact of Social Media on Interpersonal Relationships
• The Psychology of Altruism and Volunteerism

Personality Psychology:

Personality psychology investigates the patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make individuals unique. Here are 15 dissertation topics in this field:

• Longitudinal Study of Personality Development in Adulthood
• The Relationship Between Personality and Career Choice
• Cultural Influences on Personality Traits
• Personality Factors in Resilience and Coping
• The Role of Personality in Romantic Relationships
• Personality Disorders and Their Impact on Daily Functioning
• Influence of Genetics on Personality Traits
• Personality and Leadership Styles in Organizational Settings
• Cultural Perspectives on the Self and Identity
• The Role of Personality in Health Behaviors
• Personality Traits and Online Behavior
• Development of Personality in Early Childhood
• Personality and Decision-Making Styles
• Influence of Culture on Narcissism
• Personality Factors in Coping with Stress

Abnormal Psychology:

Abnormal psychology studies unusual or unhealthy behavior and mental disorders. Here are 15 dissertation topics in this field:

• Cultural Variations in the Perception of Mental Health Stigma
• The Role of Childhood Trauma in the Development of Mental Disorders
• Neurobiological Factors in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Psychosocial Factors in the Onset of Eating Disorders
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Anxiety Disorders
• The Psychology of Addictive Behaviors
• Factors Influencing Treatment Adherence in Mental Health
• Abnormal Psychology and Criminal Behavior
• Impact of Social Isolation on Mental Health
• The Role of Stigma in Help-Seeking Behaviors
• Cultural Differences in the Experience of Grief and Loss
• Cognitive and Emotional Aspects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• The Influence of Culture on Somatization Disorders
• Abnormal Psychology and Sleep Disorders
• Therapeutic Benefits of Animal-Assisted Therapy in Mental Health

Biopsychology:

Biopsychology explores the biological basis of behavior and mental processes. Here are 15 dissertation topics in this field:

• The Impact of Hormones on Mood Regulation
• Neuroplasticity and Recovery from Brain Injury
• Genetics and the Predisposition of Mental Disorders
• The Role of the Endocannabinoid System in Stress Response
• Biological Basis of Addiction and Treatment Approaches
• Neurotransmitter Imbalances in Mood Disorders
• Brain Imaging Studies of Cognitive Processes
• The Influence of Genetics on Cognitive Abilities
• Psychophysiological Responses to Stress
• Hormonal Changes in Perimenopausal Mental Health
• Impact of Exercise on Brain Health
• Genetic Markers of Resilience to Trauma
• Neurobiology of Psychopathy
• The Relationship Between Gut Microbiota and Mental Health
• Epigenetic Influences on Behavioral Traits

Health Psychology:

Health psychology examines the relationship between psychological factors and physical health. Here are 15 dissertation topics in this field:

• The Impact of Stress on Immune Function
• Health Beliefs and Preventive Health Behaviors
• Cultural Perspectives on Health-Seeking Behaviors
• Emotional Influences on Cardiovascular Health
• The Role of Mind-Body Interventions in Chronic Illness
• Health Psychology and Motivation for Healthy Lifestyle Choices
• The Influence of Social Support on Health Outcomes
• Cultural Differences in Coping with Chronic Illness
• Behavioral Interventions for Smoking Cessation
• The Psychology of Sleep and its Impact on Physical Health
• Health Promotion in Diverse Populations
• Factors Affecting Adherence to Medical Treatments
• The Role of Psychological Factors in Weight Management
• Cultural Perspectives on Mental Health in the Context of Physical Illness

Organizational Psychology:

Organizational psychology applies psychological principles to the workplace. Here are 15 dissertation topics in this field:

• Employee Motivation in the Era of Remote Work
• Leadership Styles and Team Dynamics
• Organizational Culture and Employee Well-Being
• The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership
• Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace
• Job Satisfaction and Burnout in High-Stress Environments
• Team Building and Communication in Virtual Teams
• Psychological Factors in Employee Engagement
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Organizational Behavior
• Human Resource Management and Talent Development
• Work-Life Balance and Employee Productivity
• The Influence of Organizational Climate on Job Performance
• The Psychology of Organizational Change
• Employee Resilience and Coping with Workplace Stress
• Organizational Psychology and the Future of Work

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Forensic Psychology:

Forensic psychology uses psychological knowledge in legal settings. Here are 15 dissertation topics in this field:

• Psychological Profiling and Criminal Investigations
• The Role of Eyewitness Testimony in Legal Proceedings
• The Psychology of False Confessions
• Evaluating Competency to Stand Trial
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Juvenile Delinquency
• Forensic Psychology and Risk Assessment
• The Use of Technology in Forensic Mental Health Assessments
• The Influence of Media on Perceptions of Criminal Behavior
• Psychological Factors in Eyewitness Identification Accuracy
• Therapeutic Approaches for Offender Rehabilitation
• The Impact of Pretrial Publicity on Jury Decision-Making
• Forensic Psychology and the Insanity Defense
• The Role of Psychopathy in Criminal Behavior
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Criminal Profiling
• Ethical Considerations in Forensic Psychology Practice

Charting Your Course – How to Choose a Winning Dissertation Topic

Navigating the vast landscape of psychology can be exhilarating, but without a compass, you might end up lost in the undergrowth of obscure theories and irrelevant data. Here’s how to pick your perfect topic:

Choose Thorough Your line of Expertise

What sparks your curiosity in the world of psychology? Is it the intricate dance of memory, the complex tapestry of social interactions, or the deep well of human emotions?

Choose a topic that genuinely excites you, because passion fuels the long hours of research and analysis.

Align with Your Strengths:

Play to your natural talents . Are you a meticulous data analyst or a charismatic interviewer?

Find a topic that allows you to leverage your skills and make the most of your strengths.

Consider Feasibility:

Don’t set your sights on Mars when you have limited access to a telescope. Pick a topic with accessible data, manageable research methods, and realistic timelines.

Remember, quality trumps quantity, so a focused, achievable study is always better than a sprawling epic doomed to remain unfinished.

Consult Your Supervisor:

Your academic advisor is your Yoda in this journey. Discuss your interests, skills, and potential topics to receive valuable guidance and avoid venturing into dissertation dead ends.

Setting Blocks for Your Dissertation – What Should Be Included?

Now that you have your topic, it’s time to lay the foundation for your dissertation. Think of it as building a magnificent fortress of knowledge:

Your Research Question(s):

This is the driving force of your study. Craft clear, concise questions that are specific, feasible, and relevant to your chosen topic.

Literature Review:

Immerse yourself in existing research, building a strong foundation of knowledge on your topic. Identify any gaps, unanswered questions, or potential contradictions that your study can address.

Methodology:

Choose the right tools for the job! Will you conduct experiments, surveys, or interviews? Ensure your methods are rigorous, ethical, and aligned with your research questions.

The Tower of Analysis:

Data Analysis is where your findings take shape. Utilize appropriate statistical tools to interpret your data and draw meaningful conclusions.

Discussion and Conclusion:

Tie everything together! Discuss your findings in the context of existing research, highlight the implications of your study, and propose future avenues for exploration.

Can I customize these dissertation topics to suit my specific interests?

Absolutely! These topics serve as a starting point. Feel free to modify them based on your unique interests, ensuring a personalized and engaging research journey.

Is it essential to consult with my academic advisor before finalizing my dissertation topic?

Yes, your academic advisor plays a crucial role. Discussing your interests, skills, and potential topics with them provides valuable guidance and helps avoid potential pitfalls.

How do I ensure the feasibility of my chosen dissertation topic?

Consider the availability of accessible data, manageable research methods, and realistic timelines. Opt for a focused study that you can realistically complete with high quality.

What role does my dissertation play in the field of psychology?

Your dissertation is not just a document; it’s your intellectual legacy. It contributes to the body of knowledge in psychology, showcasing your dedication to advancing the field and leaving a lasting impact.

Your dissertation is more than just a paper; it represents your intellectual footprint in a rapidly changing field. Choosing your dissertation topic is more than just picking a path; it is the foundation of your intellectual legacy in psychology.

Whether you’re fascinated by cognitive challenges, untangling mental health mysteries, or deciphering organizational complexities, this rich trove of topics opens the door to transformative exploration.

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101 Examples of Dissertation Research Topics for Psychology Students

The journey of a psychology student culminates in the challenging task of selecting a dissertation topic . The decision you make at this point will set the stage for your academic and professional trajectory.

This momentous project is not just a rite of passage but an opportunity to delve deeply into a niche area of interest, contribute to a body of knowledge, and possibly even ignite a career-long pursuit. With the vast expanse of psychology stretching from the neural synapses of the brain to the complex social interactions of communities, the challenge lies not in finding a topic, but in narrowing down the multitude of possibilities!

In this article, we present an expansive list of dissertation topics for psychology students.

The ideas provided are designed to encourage exploration of both traditional and avant-garde topics, reflecting the current trends and enduring questions that shape the evolving landscape of psychological research. From the psychological impacts of digital detox to the cognitive rehabilitation techniques for stroke survivors, these topics are designed to accommodate various interests and academic pursuits. They cater not only to a comprehensive academic challenge but also to the practical implications that such research can have on individuals, systems, and societies.

As you take a look at these suggestions, it’s important that you consider not only what interests you but also what excites you. The best dissertation topic is one that you can commit to with passion and curiosity, one that promises a journey of discovery replete with challenges and rewards.

Before we present the list of dissertation ideas for psychology students, let’s take a look at what makes a good dissertation research topic.

What Makes a Good Dissertation Research Topic for Psychology Students?

A good psychology research topic should meet several key criteria to ensure it is valuable, feasible, and has the potential to contribute to the field. Here’s an overview of the characteristics that make a research topic stand out:

• Relevance : The topic should address current issues or gaps in the field of psychology. It needs to be pertinent to contemporary debates, practices, or policies. Relevance also means that the research could have practical applications or implications, potentially informing practitioners, policymakers, or the general public.
• Originality : A good research topic brings a new perspective to a known issue or explores an understudied area. The aim is to contribute original knowledge or insights rather than replicating past studies without adding substantial value.
• Specificity : Broad topics can be overwhelming and impractical to tackle within the constraints of a typical research timeline and budget. A well-defined and focused research question allows for a more thorough and in-depth study.
• Clarity : The topic should be framed in a way that is understandable and clear. This means avoiding jargon when unnecessary and defining key terms. A clearly articulated research question guides the methodology and helps maintain focus throughout the project.
• Feasibility : This involves considering the researcher’s access to subjects, resources, and data. The research should be achievable within the given time frame and with available resources. Feasibility also concerns the ethical considerations and approval processes required for conducting research.
• Interest : A researcher’s personal interest and passion for a topic can significantly influence the quality of the research. It’s beneficial if the topic resonates with the researcher’s own scholarly interests and curiosities.
• Scope for Scientific Method : Good psychology research topics should allow for systematic investigation through accepted scientific methods. This includes the potential for hypothesis testing, operationalization of variables, and the use of statistical analysis to draw conclusions.
• Ethical Soundness : Psychology research often involves human subjects, which necessitates careful ethical consideration. A good topic should conform to ethical standards, ensuring the privacy, consent, and welfare of participants.
• Implications : Lastly, a good research topic should have clear theoretical, practical, or clinical implications. It should contribute to a greater understanding of the human mind and behavior, potentially leading to better psychological interventions or therapies.

While selecting a research topic for your dissertation is important, you should never overlook the importance of the writing and editing process. Dissertation proofreading services can help you refine your final draft and ensure it presents you in the best possible light.

101 Psychology Dissertation Ideas

• The Role of Social Media in Adolescent Mental Health: Investigate how different levels of social media use affect mood disorders in adolescents.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Depression: Analyze the efficacy of CBT interventions in treating depression among various age groups.
• Neuroplasticity and Rehabilitation After Brain Injuries: Study how different rehabilitation techniques can affect the brain’s plasticity and recovery trajectory post-injury.
• The Psychology of Pandemics: Explore the long-term psychological impact of pandemics on different populations, focusing on coping mechanisms and resilience.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder in Adulthood: Examine the challenges and support systems available for adults with autism, including employment, social relationships, and healthcare.
• Sleep Patterns and Academic Performance: Investigate the correlation between sleep quality and academic success in college students.
• The Impact of Parenting Styles on Child Development: Analyze how different parenting styles affect a child’s emotional, social, and cognitive development.
• Workplace Psychology and Employee Well-being: Explore the effects of workplace culture on mental health and job satisfaction.
• Memory and Aging: Study the patterns of cognitive decline in memory with aging and the effectiveness of interventions to slow down this process.
• The Influence of Cultural Background on Psychological Treatment Outcomes: Research how cultural beliefs and practices affect the efficacy of psychological treatments for mental health issues.
• Psychological Resilience in First Responders: Investigate the coping strategies used by first responders to manage stress and trauma-related to their line of work.
• The Effect of Nature on Mental Health: Examine how regular exposure to natural environments influences psychological well-being and stress levels.
• Intergenerational Trauma and Healing: Study patterns of trauma transmission in families and communities and the effectiveness of interventions aimed at breaking these cycles.
• The Psychology of Fake News: Explore the cognitive biases that contribute to the belief in and spread of misinformation, and strategies for critical thinking promotion.
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Chronic Pain: Evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation practices in managing chronic pain and improving quality of life.
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Grief and Mourning: Research how different cultures process and express grief and the implications for counseling practices.
• The Impact of Bilingualism on Cognitive Development: Investigate how learning and using multiple languages from an early age affects cognitive abilities and neural plasticity.
• Social Isolation and Cognitive Function in the Elderly: Examine the long-term cognitive effects of social isolation in senior populations and potential interventions.
• Attachment Styles and Romantic Relationships: Study how early attachment patterns influence adult romantic relationships, including partner selection and relationship satisfaction.
• Cyberpsychology and Identity Formation: Investigate how online environments and social networks contribute to or disrupt the process of identity formation in adolescents and young adults.
• Emotional Regulation in High-Stress Professions: Study strategies and their effectiveness in managing emotional responses in professions such as surgery, law enforcement, or air traffic control.
• Virtual Reality as a Tool for Phobia Treatment: Explore the use of VR environments in the systematic desensitization of individuals with specific phobias.
• Influence of Dietary Patterns on Children’s Behavioral Disorders: Investigate the relationship between nutritional choices and behavioral outcomes in children with ADHD or autism spectrum disorders.
• Psychological Impacts of Climate Change: Examine the effects of climate change on mental health, including anxiety, depression, and feelings of loss or grief.
• The Role of Art Therapy in Treating PTSD: Evaluate the efficacy of art therapy interventions for veterans or victims of violence suffering from PTSD.
• Gender Identity Development in Adolescence: Research the factors that influence gender identity and expression during the critical developmental stage of adolescence.
• Cognitive Dissonance and Consumer Behavior: Study how cognitive dissonance affects purchasing decisions and brand loyalty in the retail sector.
• Psychology of Pain Management: Investigate the role of psychological factors in the perception of pain and the effectiveness of psychological pain management techniques compared to pharmacological treatments.
• Social Perception in Online vs. Face-to-Face Interactions: Compare the accuracy of social perception and formation of first impressions in online settings versus in-person encounters.
• The Impact of Social Support on Recovery from Substance Abuse: Explore how different types and sources of social support contribute to the recovery process from drug and alcohol addiction.
• Effects of Microaggressions on Workplace Performance: Investigate how subtle forms of discrimination impact employees’ job satisfaction and productivity.
• The Psychology of Financial Decision-Making in Young Adults: Explore how psychological factors influence financial literacy and decision-making in the transition to adulthood.
• The Role of Pet Ownership in Managing Chronic Mental Illness: Examine the therapeutic benefits of pet ownership for individuals with chronic mental health conditions.
• Mindfulness Interventions in Elementary Education: Study the effects of mindfulness practices on attention and emotional regulation in young children.
• Narrative Identity and Life Transitions: Analyze how personal storytelling and narrative identity evolve during major life transitions, such as retirement or career change.
• Cultural Competence in Psychotherapy: Evaluate the importance of cultural competence in therapeutic practices and client outcomes.
• Psychological Impact of Body Image Portrayed in Social Media: Explore the effects of social media on body image dissatisfaction and the development of eating disorders.
• Eco-Anxiety and Environmental Activism: Examine the psychological effects of climate change concerns on environmental activism behaviors.
• Psychological Processes in Extreme Sports: Study risk assessment, decision-making, and flow states in athletes who participate in extreme sports.
• The Effect of Music Therapy on Cognitive Decline in Dementia Patients: Research the impact of music therapy sessions on the progression of cognitive symptoms in dementia.
• Social Cognition in Virtual Teams: Evaluate how individuals understand and operate within teams that interact exclusively through digital means.
• Attachment Patterns and Social Media Usage: Investigate the connection between attachment styles and usage patterns of social media platforms.
• Psychological Safety and Learning in Academic Settings: Explore the concept of psychological safety and its impact on students’ willingness to engage in learning activities.
• Humor and Coping Mechanisms in Stressful Occupations: Analyze the role of humor as a coping strategy for professionals in high-stress fields like emergency medicine.
• Impact of Sleep Hygiene Education on Student Performance: Evaluate the effectiveness of sleep education programs in improving the sleep quality and academic performance of university students.
• Color Psychology in Marketing and Branding: Study how color influences consumer perceptions and behaviors towards products and brands.
• The Role of Psychological Flexibility in Chronic Pain Management: Explore how acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) can aid individuals with chronic pain in improving their quality of life.
• Cyberbullying and Self-esteem in Adolescents: Examine the long-term effects of cyberbullying on self-esteem and identity formation during adolescence.
• Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Resolution: Investigate how emotional intelligence skills facilitate conflict resolution in personal and professional relationships.
• Digital Detox and Psychological Well-Being: Examine the psychological effects of taking regular breaks from digital devices.
• Stress Resilience in Space Exploration: Study psychological resilience strategies for astronauts during long-duration space missions.
• Language Acquisition in Mixed-Language Households: Explore how children in bilingual homes acquire and separate languages cognitively.
• The Role of Play in Child Development: Investigate different play therapies and their impact on developmental disorders in children.
• Implicit Bias and Decision Making in Jury Deliberations: Examine how implicit biases can influence the decision-making process in legal settings.
• Cognitive Effects of Chronic Sleep Deprivation: Research the long-term cognitive impacts of chronic sleep deprivation in adults.
• The Psychology of Superstitions in Sports: Study the role and impact of superstitious behaviors on athletes’ performance.
• The Mental Health Effects of Urban vs. Rural Living: Compare the prevalence and types of mental health issues in urban versus rural populations.
• Psychological Outcomes of Genetic Testing: Explore the emotional and psychological impact of undergoing genetic testing for diseases.
• Intergenerational Effects of Historical Trauma: Investigate the psychological effects across generations within communities that have experienced historical trauma.
• The Impact of Social Comparisons on Self-Esteem: Examine how individuals’ self-esteem is affected by comparisons made on social media platforms.
• Emotion Recognition and AI Interactions: Study how humans perceive and react to emotional expressions by artificial intelligences and robots.
• Personality Development in Space Colonies: Speculate on how living in space colonies might affect personality development and social dynamics.
• The Effect of Parental Leave on Child Psychological Development: Research the long-term effects of various lengths and types of parental leave on children.
• Sensory Processing Disorders and Educational Outcomes: Examine the impact of sensory processing disorders on children’s educational achievements.
• The Influence of Scent on Memory Recall: Explore the connection between olfactory cues and the accuracy or vividness of memory recall.
• Peer Influence on Risky Behavior in Adolescence: Analyze how peer groups can impact the decision-making process in teenagers regarding risky behaviors.
• The Effect of Minimalism on Mental Health: Study the psychological impact of adopting a minimalist lifestyle in a consumer-driven society.
• Psychological Mechanisms of Radicalization: Investigate the cognitive and emotional pathways that lead individuals to adopt radical ideologies.
• Multitasking and Cognitive Load: Investigate the limits of cognitive load and its impact on multitasking efficiency.
• Psychological Effects of Long-Term Spaceflight: Explore the mental challenges astronauts face during extended missions.
• Therapeutic Effects of Creative Writing: Study how creative writing can be used as a therapeutic tool for emotional expression.
• Psychology of Religious Extremism: Examine the factors that contribute to religious extremism from a psychological perspective.
• Mental Health Implications of Climate Migration: Research the psychological impact of relocating due to climate change.
• Social Psychology of Urbanization: Explore how urban living influences social behavior and community dynamics.
• Gestures and Language Development in Children: Investigate the role of gestural communication in early language acquisition.
• Technology Addiction and Family Dynamics: Study the impact of technology addiction on interpersonal relationships within families.
• Psychology of Solitude: Examine the effects of solitude on mental health and personal growth.
• Cognitive Rehabilitation Techniques for Stroke Survivors: Explore effective cognitive rehabilitation methods for post-stroke recovery.
• Impact of Prenatal Exposure to Music on Infant Development: Research the long-term developmental effects of prenatal music exposure.
• Psychological Impacts of Participatory Art: Study how engagement with participatory art can affect psychological well-being.
• Neuroethics of Brain-Computer Interfaces: Delve into the ethical implications of using BCIs in neurology and psychiatry.
• Empathy Development in Virtual Reality Training: Investigate how VR can be used to enhance empathy in professional training programs.
• Social Media and Collective Memory Formation: Examine how social media platforms influence the formation of collective memories.
• Psychological Aspects of Cosmetic Surgery: Research the motivations and outcomes of cosmetic surgery from a psychological standpoint.
• Personality Traits and Online Dating Success: Analyze how different personality traits affect success in online dating.
• Psychological Strategies in Competitive Esports: Study the mental techniques used by esports players to enhance performance.
• Attachment Security and Pet Ownership: Explore the connection between attachment styles and the bond with pets.
• Psychological Effects of Autonomous Vehicles: Investigate how trust and control issues impact the acceptance of self-driving cars.
• Mental Health Services in Rural Communities: Examine the challenges and effectiveness of delivering mental health care in rural areas.
• Cross-Cultural Communication in Global Teams: Research the psychological barriers and facilitators of communication in international teams.
• Psychology of Sustainable Behavior: Study the motivators and deterrents of engaging in environmentally sustainable behaviors.
• Impact of Witnessing Parental Conflict on Children: Investigate the long-term effects of exposure to parental conflict during childhood.
• Sleep Disorders and Emotional Regulation: Examine the relationship between sleep quality and the ability to regulate emotions.
• Trauma-Informed Practices in Education: Explore the implementation and outcomes of trauma-informed approaches in schools.
• Psychology of Menu Design: Analyze how menu layout and choice architecture influence dining decisions.
• Motivational Factors in Crowdfunding: Investigate what psychological factors motivate people to contribute to crowdfunding campaigns.
• Perception of Time in Different Cultures: Research how the cultural background affects the perception and value of time.
• Psychological Resilience in Extreme Athletes: Study the mental toughness and resilience strategies of athletes in extreme sports.
• Influence of Indoor Plants on Mood and Productivity: Explore the psychological benefits of having plants in indoor workspaces.

Each of these topics has a broad range of literature to draw from and the potential to contribute new knowledge or insights to the field of psychology. It’s important to refine these ideas further to create a specific, researchable question that can be addressed within the scope of a dissertation.

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Psychology Dissertation Topics

Published by Carmen Troy at January 10th, 2023 , Revised On October 5, 2023

Introduction

Psychology entails the study of mental processes and behaviour. Over the last several years, the demand for psychology graduates has continuously risen due to the growing number of people with psychic problems.

As a psychology student, you can explore one of the many areas of psychology as part of your dissertation project. You can specialize in industrial physiology, mental health, behavioural psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, personality psychology, social psychology, biological psychology, and psychosocial psychology.

While there are many topic options for psychology students, make sure that you choose one where there is a gap in the literature and more work needs to be done.

To help you get started with brainstorming for psychology topic ideas, we have developed a list of the latest topics that can be used for writing your psychology dissertation.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting  a brief research proposal  from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an  introduction  to the topic,  research question ,  aim and objectives ,  literature review  along with the proposed  methodology  of research to be conducted.  Let us know  if you need any help in getting started.

Check our  dissertation examples  to get an idea of  how to structure your dissertation .

Review the full list of  dissertation topics for 2022 here.

2022 Psychology Research Topics

Impact of automation in the manufacturing sector on employee distress and happiness in the uk- an exploratory study finding the psychoeconomic factors.

Research Aim: This study intends to find the impact of automation in the manufacturing sector on employee distress and happiness in the UK. It will explore the moderating Psychoeconomic (Psychological and Economic) factors affected by the increasing automation in the manufacturing industry, affecting the employees’ distress and happiness levels. Furthermore, it will examine the strategies implemented by the manufacturing companies to prevent their employees from the anxiety and unhappiness induced by automation after the technological revolution.

Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive Performance Among Adults Working from Home during COVID-19 in the UK

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the impact of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance among adults working from home during COVID-19 in the UK. It will identify how sleep deprivation during COVID-19 affected various mental abilities of employees who were forced to work from home. It will also see how these abilities affect the employees’ productivity during COVID-19. Additionally, it will show the policies adopted by the companies to prevent their employees from working overtime to have a proper sleep. And how does it improve their cognitive performance and productivity?

Effects of Bad Incidents on the Children’s Intelligence- A Critical Assessment through a Clinical Psychology Lens

Research Aim: This research shows the effects of bad incidents on children’s intelligence. It will use a clinical psychology lens to show how clinicians see the relationship between bad incidents in childhood and their impact on children’s intelligence in later life. And in which was these incidents shape the intelligence of children while growing up. Furthermore, it will present a wide range of clinical procedures to overcome the lingering effects of bad incidents on children’s intelligence in later life.

Impact of Marriage Satisfaction on Job Performance in High-Stress Jobs- A Case of Individuals Working in Investment Firms in the UK

Research Aim: This research analyses the impact of marriage satisfaction on job performance in high-stress jobs. It will use investment firms in the UK as a case study to analyse how marriage satisfaction affects the performance of men and women working in these high-stress jobs such as trading and investments. Moreover, it will explore various psychological parts of the job affected by the problems in a marriage. Lastly, it will recommend ways to offset the bad effects of unstable marriage to improve job performance.

The Role of Educational-Psychological Counseling in Career Selection among Immigrant Children in the UK

Research Aim: This research investigates the role of educational-psychological counselling in career selection among immigrant children in the UK. It will show how educational-psychological counselling different aspects of their academic life and help them decide what to pursue in later life. It will also show how this counselling can help them believe that despite coming from outside of the UK, they still have a chance to succeed.

Covid-19 Psychology Research Topics

Topic 1: impacts of coronavirus on the mental health of various age groups.

Research Aim: This study will reveal the impacts of coronavirus on the mental health of various age groups

Topic 2: Mental health and psychological resilience during COVID-19

Research Aim: Social distancing has made people isolated and affected their mental health. This study will highlight various measures to overcome the stress and mental health of people during coronavirus.

Topic 3: The mental health of children and families during COVID-19

Research Aim: This study will address the challenging situations faced by children and families during lockdown due to COVID-19. It will also discuss various ways to overcome the fear of disease and staying positive.

Topic 4: Mental wellbeing of patients during Coronavirus pandemic

Research Aim: This study will focus on the measures taken by the hospital management, government, and families, to ensure the mental wellbeing of patients, especially COVID-19 patients.

Psychology Dissertation Topics for 2021

Topic 1: kids and their relatives with cancer: psychological challenges.

Research Aim: In cancer diagnoses and therapies, children often don’t know what happens. Many have psychosocial problems, including rage, terror, depression, disturbing their sleep, inexpiable guilt, and panic. Therefore, this study identifies and treats the child and its family members’ psychological issues.

Topic 2: Hematopoietic device reaction in ophthalmology patient’s radiation therapy

Research Aim: This research is based on the analysis of hematopoietic devices’ reactions to ophthalmology’s radiation.

Topic 3: Psychological effects of cyberbullying Vs. physical bullying: A counter study

Research Aim: This research will focus on the effects of cyberbullying and physical bullying and their consequences on the victim’s mental health. The most significant part is the counter effects on our society’s environment and human behaviour, particularly youth.

Topic 4: Whether or not predictive processing is a theory of perceptual consciousness?

Research Aim: This research aims to identify: whether or not predictive processing is a theory of perceptual consciousness?

Topic 5: Importance of communication in a relationship

Research Aim: This research aims to address the importance of communication in relationships and the communication gap consequences.

Topic 6: Eating and personality disorders

Research Aim: This research aims to focus on eating and personality disorders

Topic 7: Analysis of teaching, assessment, and evaluation of students and learning differences

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse teaching methods, assessment, and evaluation systems of students and their learning differences

Topic 8: Social and psychological effects of virtual networks

Research Aim: This research aims to study the social and psychological effects of virtual networks

Topic 9: The role of media in provoking aggression

Research Aim: This research aims to address the role of media and in provoking aggression among people

Topic 1: Assessing the advantages and disadvantages of positive reinforcement in special education

Research Aim: The strength and importance of praise in the workplace can have a significant impact on employees and move them from apathy to more happiness and satisfaction. Positive reinforcement motivates and encourages people for their respective tasks. This research aims to assess the advantages and disadvantages of positive reinforcement in special education.

Topic 2: Assessing the relationship between depression and anxiety from the perspective of student academic performance

Research Aim: Emotional disturbance is considered to be a psychological element that can lead to the deterioration of the daily activities of students. Since academic achievements are an integral dimension of students’ lives, depression, anxiety, and other emotional disturbance might lead to poor academic performance. Therefore, this research aims to assess the relationship between depression and anxiety on student academic performance.

Topic 3: How cognitive behaviour therapy helps in dealing with depressed adolescents

Research Aim: Cognitive behavioural theory is regarded as a well-established therapy for depression and other various mental illnesses in children and adolescents. It might be because CBT can reduce suicidal behaviour and thoughts amongst adolescents. The main purpose of this research is to identify how cognitive behaviour therapy can help in dealing with depressed adolescents.

Topic 4: Analysing the psychological impact of bullying on children’s personality and development

Research Aim: Any public humiliation can result in a child’s misconceptions, confusion and misunderstanding about their own personality and the surrounding world. Public humiliation can damage the psychology of children and hinder their overall physical and mental development. The key purpose of this study is to analyse the psychological impact of bullying on children’s personalities and development.

Topic 5: Assessing the impact of psychological pricing on consumer purchase intention

Research Aim: Psychological pricing, also known as charm pricing and price ending, is a market pricing strategy in which certain prices can have a psychological impact on consumers. This strategy also includes a slightly less than a round number, e.g. 2.99, which could incline consumers to make purchase decisions in favour of the seller. Hence, this research aims to assess the impact of psychological pricing on consumer purchase intention.

Topic 6: Borderline Personality Disorder and Self-Cutting Behaviors – Are they Inter Related?

Research Aim: Borderline Personality Disorder is a mental health disorder that impacts the thinking process of an individual. This disorder impacts the way you think and feel about yourself and others. Relationships are unstable. There are extreme emotions and distorted self-image when a person is suffering from a borderline personality disorder. This research will discuss this disorder in detail and evaluate whether self-cutting behaviours are a result of this disorder or not.

Topic 7: Depression and its risk factors – How can it be prevented?

Research Aim: Depression is a psychological issue that needs immediate attention. There are a lot of factors that lead to depression. This research will talk about the various risk factors that contribute to depression in an individual. The research will also discuss ways and strategies through which depression can be managed and eliminated in some cases. Case studies will be a part of this research.

Topic 8: Childhood trauma and its long-lasting impacts on individuals in adulthood

Research Aim: This research will talk about an important issue i.e. childhood trauma. This includes emotional and physical trauma that a child had experienced in his childhood. This research will discuss whether this trauma will impact the individual further in his life or not. If an adult’s future life is likely to be affected by childhood trauma, then in what ways will it change the individual, and how will it shape his personality? All these questions will be answered with this research.

Organisational Psychology Dissertation Topics

The role of industrial psychologists, also known as organisational psychologists, is to apply the principles of psychology to marketing, sales, management, administration, and human resources problems that organizations face.

Typical tasks that organisational psychologists perform include but are not limited to organisational development and analysis, training and development, employee evaluation and selection, policymaking, and more. The following dissertation topics are developed with respect to organisational psychology:

Topic 1: Research in industrial and organisational psychology from 1980 to 2015: Changes, choices, and trends

Research Aim: This research will compare the choices, trends, and changes in industrial and organisational psychology. The years compared will be 1990-2000, 2001-2010, and 2011-2020.

Topic 2: Computerized adaptive testing in industrial and organisational psychology

Research Aim: This research will explore the advanced technique i.e. computerized adaptive testing in organisational and industrial psychology.

Topic 3: Leader-member exchange as a moderating variable in the relationship between well-being and job security

Research Aim: This research will analyse the leader-member exchange as a variable that moderates the relationship between job security and well-being.

Topic 4: Intelligent leadership and leadership competencies – Developing a leadership framework for intelligent organizations

Research Aim: This research will understand the leadership competencies and intelligent leadership by analysing a leadership framework for intelligent organisations.

Topic 5: Burnout amongst executive staff: What are the main predictors? A review of literature from the UK and Europe.

Research Aim: This research will talk about the most pressing issue at workplaces right now, i.e. burnout, The study will include predictors of burnout by analysing literature from Europe and the UK.

Topic 6: Interior design and Industrial psychology – Investigating the role of employees' reward and motivation in shaping up the look of the factory or office

Research Aim: This research will understand the role of employee reward and motivation in shaping up workplaces with a focus on how interior design can create a working environment for employees that enhance their motivation levels.

Topic 7: Investigating the impact of strategic business partnering for business organisations – A case study of any UK based company

Research Aim: This research will talk about the impact of strategic business partnering for business organisations. You can provide us with the name of the company you would want to base your research on.

Topic 8: Social science strategies for managing diversity: Industrial and organisational opportunities to enhance inclusion

Research Aim: This research will interrogate an extremely important issue of psychology, i.e., diversity and inclusion at the workplace. The study will be conducted with respect to social science strategies.

Topic 9: Studying Influencing Factors in Effective Training Programs in Organisations

Research Aim: This research will talk about the various psychological factors that influence training programs organised by companies.

Topic 10: To understand international branding in light of the concept of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand international branding in light of the concept of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. The research will be descriptive in nature and make use of secondary data.

How Can ResearchProspect Help?

ResearchProspect writers can send several custom topic ideas to your email address. Once you have chosen a topic that suits your needs and interests, you can order for our dissertation outline service which will include a brief introduction to the topic, research questions , literature review , methodology , expected results , and conclusion . The dissertation outline will enable you to review the quality of our work before placing the order for our full dissertation writing service !

Clinical Psychology Dissertation Topics

Clinical psychology can be defined as integrating clinical knowledge, theory, and science to understand and prevent psychologically based dysfunction and distress. Another aim of this branch of psychology is to promote personal development and behavioural well-being.

Clinical psychologists’ job responsibilities include conducting research, teaching, drug and alcohol treatment, assessing disorders, testifying legal settings, and creating and managing programs to prevent and treat social problems.

A well-written dissertation in this area of psychology can help students to fetch a high academic grade. Here are some interesting topics in this area:

Topic 1: Which clinical and demographic factors predict poor insight in individuals with obsessions and compulsions?

Research Aim: This research will discuss the clinical and demographic factors that predict poor insight within individuals with compulsions and obsessions.

Topic 2: Anger beliefs and behaviour; An Investigation of associations with Hypomania in a non-clinical sample

Research Aim: This research will investigate anger, behaviour, and beliefs concerning hypomania in a non-clinical sample.

Topic 3: Clinical psychologists’ experiences of accessing personal therapy during training: A narrative analysis

Research Aim: This research will discuss clinical psychologists’ experiences of accessing personal therapy during training. This will be a narrative analysis.

Topic 4: Exploring body image and identity in people who have had a heart or lung transplant

Research Aim: This research will help explore the identity and body image of people who have had a heart or a lung transplant. All related issues will be discussed in this study.

Topic 5: Psychosocial adjustment to renal failure and consequent dialysis

Research Aim: This research will explore psychosocial adjustment required during renal failure. The study will also discuss dialysis, which will result due to renal failure.

Topic 6: Experiences of psychosocial formulation within a bio-psychosocial model of care for psychosis

Research Aim: This research will talk about psychosocial formulation experiences within a bio-psychosocial model of care for psychosis.

Topic 7: Experiences and their association with eating behaviour in adulthood

Research Aim: This research will investigate the relationship between individual experiences and eating behaviour in adulthood. The study will furthermore present suggestions as to how these conditions can be improved.

Topic 8: Barriers to communicating about sexual dysfunction following heart trauma

Research Aim: This research will talk about an important issue i.e. sexual dysfunction. However, the study will be conducted concerning the issue being developed due to heart trauma.

Topic 9: Validation of a new scale assessing the use of strategies to change another person’s mood or emotional state

Research Aim: This research will investigate and try to validate a new scale that will be used to assess strategies for changing another person’s emotional state or mood.

Topic 10: Examining Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) within a cognitive framework

Research Aim: This research will investigate an important psychology issue, i.e. depression. Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) will be assessed with a cognitive framework.

Also Read: Construction Engineering Dissertation Topics

Cognitive Psychology Dissertation Topics

Cognitive Psychology can be defined as the study of mental processes such as thinking, creativity, problem solving, perception, memory, language use, and attention through neuropsychology, computer modeling, and experimentation.

Cognitive psychologists are primarily responsible for investigating how the human brain absorbs and interprets information at micro and macro levels. This area of psychology is broad. Therefore you will have many topic options to choose from. Please see below some titles if you are looking to base your dissertation on the field of cognitive psychology.

Topic 1: Adolescent perceptions and beliefs of proactive-reactive aggression explored through the social information processing model of aggression

Research Aim: This research will talk about various perceptions and beliefs of adolescents with respect to proactive-reactive aggression. These will be explored through the social information processing model of aggression.

Topic 2: Analyzing how cognitive flexibility is influenced by emotions

Research Aim: This research will analyze how emotions influence the cognitive flexibility of individuals.

Topic 3: Tractable cognition: The role of complexity theory in cognitive psychology

Research Aim: This research will discuss tractable cognition. The study will discuss the role of complexity theory in cognitive psychology.

Topic 4: Conflict monitoring across sensory modalities

Research Aim: This research will discuss conflict monitoring during sensory modalities. The study will talk about various conflict monitoring methods.

Topic 5: Familiarity and its effect on facial expression recognition?

Research Aim: This research will discuss the concept of familiarity and its impact on facial expression recognition.

Topic 6: Investigating the relationship between cognitive vulnerability and depression

Research Aim: This research will investigate the relationship between depression and cognitive vulnerability.

Topic 7: Effectiveness of mindfulness training on ratings of perceived stress, mindfulness, and well-being of adolescents enrolled in an international baccalaureate diploma program

Research Aim: This research will discuss the effectiveness of mindfulness training on ratings of well-being and perceived stress of adolescents. The participants of this research will be international baccalaureate diploma students.

Topic 8: Assessing the development of implicit intergroup cognition in relation to in-groups and out-groups: social learning or pre-specified?

Research Aim: This research will assess the development of implicit intergroup cognition with respect to out-groups and in-groups. The study will conclude whether this development classifies as social learning or is pre-specified.

Topic 9: Assessing the relationship between impaired social cognition, emotion, and anxiety disorders.

Research Aim: This research will discuss the relationship between emotion, anxiety disorders, and impaired social cognition.

Topic 10: Investigating the relationship between episodic memory and emotional memory

Research Aim: This research will investigate the relationship between emotional memory and episodic memory and the underlying causes.

Also Read : Project Management Dissertation Topics

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• Social Psychology Dissertation Topics

This branch of psychology has gained tremendous importance in the world of academia in recent times. Essentially, it deals with social interactions, including their influence on the individuals and their origin.

According to Baron, Byrne, and Sulls (1989), “the scientific field seeks to understand the nature and causes of individual behaviour in social situations.”

Therefore, it will not be wrong to say that social psychology primarily investigates how human behaviour can influence other people and the surrounding social environment. Some relevant social psychology dissertation topics are listed below:

Topic 1: Cognitive, affective, and social psychological correlates of psychopathic personality traits in offenders and non-offenders

Research Aim: This research will address cognitive, affective, and social psychological correlations of psychopathic personality traits in offenders and non-offenders.

Topic 2: A social-psychological exploration of word-of-mouth traveller information in the digital age

Research Aim: This research will explore the word of mouth exchange of traveller information in today’s age with a social-psychological perspective.

Topic 3: Investigating the concept of contemporary social and cultural psychology

Research Aim: This research will investigate the concept of contemporary social and cultural psychology.

Topic 4: Methods for social psychological research: fundamental qualitative and fundamental quantitative methods.

Research Aim: This will be an interesting study. The research will explore two major social psychological research methods; fundamental qualitative method and fundamental quantitative method.

Topic 5: The impact of gender mistakes on various individual attitudes and behaviours that contribute to gender inequality

Research Aim: This research will explore the impact of gender issues on different individual attitudes and behaviours. Moreover, the study will assess their impact and contribution to increasing gender inequality.

Topic 6: Personality, passion, self-esteem and psychological well-being among junior elite athletes in the UK

Research Aim: This research will study the psychological well-being of junior athletes in the UK. This includes assessing their personality, passion, and self-esteem.

Topic 7: Mad, bad, or dangerous? Assessing changing social attitudes to mental illness through a study of magazine and TV advertising.

Research Aim: This research will assess the changing social attitudes to mental illness by studying TV and magazine advertising. The study will focus on the impact of these advertisements on the mental health of the audience.

Topic 8: Use of images of women in corporate website branding – The role of gender, marketing, and internet presence

Research Aim: This research will assess the use of women’s images in website branding. The study will evaluate and analyze the role of gender, marketing, and internet presence.

Topic 9: How the use of music can help to reduce crime rate – A quantitative study of underground tube stations in London

Research Aim: The study will focus on an ignored socio-psychological aspect i.e. music. The research will assess how music helps to reduce the crime rate. A quantitative study covering underground tube stations will be conducted.

Topic 10: The enduring legacy of cognitive dissonance

Research Aim: This research will talk about the history of cognitive dissonance. It will also discuss its enduring legacy.

Also Read: Sociology Dissertation Topics

Abnormal Psychology Dissertation Topics

The abnormal patterns of thoughts, emotions, and behaviour that may lead to mental disorders are studied under the abnormal psychology branch of psychology. But what is an abnormality, and who decides what abnormal behaviour is? Historically, societies have been quick to observe and tag individuals as abnormal when they encounter situations that they could not understand.

Abnormal psychologists are responsible for identifying the human characteristics that deviate from the norm. This branch of psychology can interest students who wish to explore unusual human behaviour and unusual conditions. Following topics on abnormal psychology can help to ease the dissertation topic selection process for your thesis project:

Topic 1: Assessing and Investigating the concepts of abnormality and mental health

Research Aim: This research will discuss the basics of abnormality and mental health. The literature review will cover the various mental health conditions and what leads them to these issues.

Topic 2: A neuropsychological investigation of frontal brain asymmetry in depression with comorbid anxiety

Research Aim: This research will investigate a neuropsychological issue, i.e., frontal brain asymmetry in depression with comorbid anxiety.

Topic 3: What is the relationship between children’s home routines and treatment for ADHD? A study of the literature

Research Aim: This research will talk about a common yet ignored issue, ADHD. The study will explore the relationship between children’s home routines and treatment procedures.

Topic 4: Investigating the relationship between depression and diet – A qualitative study of how the Mediterranean diet can help to lower depression levels

Research Aim: This research will investigate an interesting relationship – depression and diet. The study will also explore how the Mediterranean diet can help reduce levels of depression.

Topic 5: Promoting mental health and psychological wellbeing in children: A socio-cultural activity theory analysis of professional contributions and learning in a multidisciplinary team

Research Aim: This research will aim to promote mental health and psychological wellbeing in children. The study will be based on a socio-cultural activity theory analysis of professional contributions and learning in a multidisciplinary team.

Topic 6: A critical inquiry into the views of professionals working with families, parents, and children.

Research Aim: This research will help conduct a critical inquiry into the views of professionals working with parents, families, and children.

Topic 7: Exploring ways of managing stress and coping with poor mental health

Research Aim: This research will help to explore stress and coping issues amongst individuals with poor mental health.

Topic 8: The role of positive irrational beliefs in mental health & wellbeing

Research Aim: This research will talk about the positive role of irrational beliefs associated with mental health and wellbeing.

Topic 9: To understand and establish the relationship between social media websites and self-harm in adolescent females

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand and establish the relationship between social media websites and self-harm in adolescent females.

Topic 10: A biographical narrative study exploring mental ill-health through the life course

Research Aim: This will be a biographical narrative study that will explore the mental illness issues that may cause difficulties to lead the course of life.

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Developmental and Educational Psychology Dissertation Topics

According to Kendra Cherry (2001), “Educational psychology involves the study of how people learn, including topics such as student outcomes, the instructional process, individual differences in learning, gifted learners and learning disabilities.” This branch of psychology considers not only the learning process but also the social and emotional aspects of development.

Developmental and educational psychologists are responsible for designing professional development programmes, evaluating programmes and interventions, designing training programmes, consulting with groups and individuals, counselling, designing effective treatment programmes, assessing developmental learning and behavioural problems among individuals, diagnosing disabilities and disorders, and identifying and clarifying problems.

Here’s a list of developmental and educational psychology dissertation topics for you to choose from:

Topic 1: Investigating parents’ concerns with a child’s development: A Case Study

Research Aim: This research will investigate concerns of parents related to child development. A specific case will be examined in this research.

Topic 2: To examine the parent-child relationship issues

Research Aim: This research will explore the issues related to the parent-child bond. Solutions will also be provided as to how these should be tackled.

Topic 3: Managing a child’s difficult temperament or behaviour

Research Aim: This research will help parents understand how they can manage a child who has a difficult temperament.

Topic 4: How educational psychologists can assist a child with disabilities

Research Aim: This research will explore how educational psychologists help in assisting disabled children.

Topic 5: Exploring the causes of sibling rivalries in the family: Studying How These can Be Tackled.

Research Aim: This research will talk explores the causes behind sibling rivalries in families and will also suggest how these can be controlled.

Topic 6: Problems parents, teachers, and children may face in the transition from early childhood to school years

Research Aim: This study will explore issues and problems parents, teachers, and children face in the transition from early childhood to school years.

Topic 7: Exploring the impact of consultation on educational psychology service users, including pupils, teachers, and parents

Research Aim: This research will explore the impacts of consultation on educational psychology services which include pupils, teachers, and parents.

Topic 8: The development of the theory of mind in deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing preschool children

Research Aim: This research will talk about the developmental theory of mind in deaf people, hard of hearing, and hearing of preschool children.

Topic 9: Cultural differences and perceptions of autism among school psychologists

Research Aim: This research will talk about the cultural differences and perceptions of autism amongst school psychologists.

Topic 10: High school special education teachers’ use of positive behaviour: Effects of a behaviour prompting routine on specific praise rates

Research Aim: This research will discuss the use of positive behaviour by high school special education teachers. Furthermore, the dissertation will also study the impact of behaviour that prompts a routine for specific praise rates.

Related Links:

• Cognitive psychology dissertationtopics
• Educational psychology dissertation topics
• Clinical psychology dissertation topics
• Counselling psychology dissertation topics
• Forensic-psychology-dissertation-topics
• Criminal Psychology Dissertation Ideas
• Sports Psychology Dissertation Ideas
• Neuro Psychology Dissertation Ideas
• Consumer Psychology Dissertation Ideas

Important Notes:

As a psychology student looking to get good grades, it is essential to develop new ideas and experiment with existing psychology theories – i.e., to add value and interest to your research topic.

Psychology is vast and interrelated with so many other academic disciplines. That is why it is imperative to create a psychology dissertation topic that is particular, sound, and actually solves a practical problem that may be rampant in the field.

We can’t stress how important it is to develop a logical research topic based on your entire research. There are several significant downfalls to getting your topic wrong; your supervisor may not be interested in working on it, the topic has no academic creditability, the research may not make logical sense, and there is a possibility that the study is not viable.

This impacts your time and efforts in writing your dissertation as you may end up in the cycle of rejection at the initial stage of the dissertation. That is why we recommend reviewing existing research to develop a topic, taking advice from your supervisor, and even asking for help in this particular stage of your dissertation.

Keeping our advice in mind while developing a research topic will allow you to pick one of the best psychology dissertation topics that fulfil your requirement of writing a research paper and adds to the body of knowledge.

Therefore, it is recommended that when finalizing your dissertation topic, you read recently published literature to identify gaps in the research that you may help fill.

Remember- dissertation topics need to be unique, solve an identified problem, be logical, and be practically implemented. Please look at some of our sample psychology dissertation topics to get an idea for your own dissertation.

How to Structure your Psychology Dissertation

A well-structured dissertation can help students to achieve a high overall academic grade.

• A Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Declaration
• Abstract: A summary of the research completed
• Table of Contents
• Introduction : This chapter includes the project rationale, research background, key research aims and objectives, and the research problems. An outline of the structure of a dissertation can also be added to this chapter.
• Literature Review : This chapter presents relevant theories and frameworks by analyzing published and unpublished literature on the chosen research topic to address research questions . The purpose is to highlight and discuss the selected research area’s relative weaknesses and strengths while identifying any research gaps. Break down the topic and key terms that can positively impact your dissertation and your tutor.
• Methodology : The data collection and analysis methods and techniques employed by the researcher are presented in the Methodology chapter, which usually includes research design , research philosophy, research limitations, code of conduct, ethical consideration, data collection methods, and data analysis strategy .
• Findings and Analysis : Findings of the research are analyzed in detail under the Findings and Analysis chapter. All key findings/results are outlined in this chapter without interpreting the data or drawing any conclusions. It can be useful to include graphs, charts, and tables in this chapter to identify meaningful trends and relationships.
• Discussion and Conclusion : The researcher presents his interpretation of the results in this chapter and states whether the research hypothesis has been verified or not. An essential aspect of this section is establishing the link between the results and evidence from the literature. Recommendations with regards to the implications of the findings and directions for the future may also be provided. Finally, a summary of the overall research, along with final judgments, opinions, and comments, must be included in the form of suggestions for improvement.
• References : Make sure to complete this following your University’s requirements
• Bibliography
• Appendices : Any additional information, diagrams, and graphs used to complete the dissertation but not part of the dissertation should be included in the Appendices chapter. Essentially, the purpose is to expand the information/data.

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Home > School, College, or Department > CLAS > Psychology > Dissertations and Theses

Psychology Dissertations and Theses

Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.

Individual and Structural Contributors to Implicit and Explicit Anti-Muslim Bias in the United States , Aeleah M. Granger

It Takes a Village: An Examination of Social Relationships and Mental Health , Em Francis Trubits

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Examining Factors Impacting the Service Needs of Unhoused Women , Holly Brott

Main, Mediated, and Moderated Effects of Participating in an After-School Social and Emotional Learning Program on Young Children's Development of Social-Emotional Skills , Amy L. Cordier

Who Puts the "Support" in Supportive Housing? The Impact of Housing Staff on Resident's Well-Being, and the Potential Moderating Role of Self-Determination , Kenna Estell Dickard

Motivation to Collaborate: A Qualitative Exploration of the Perspectives of Service Providers on an Alternative First Response Program , Desiree' J. DuBoise

Tell Me, Do You Feel It Too? A Meta-analysis of Dyadic Emotional Contagion in the Workplace , Stefanie Fox

Left on "Read" and All Alone: Instigated Cyber Incivility, Shame, and Experienced Ostracism at Work , Alison Lucia Hunt

Exploring Associations between Military Identity and Well-being Outcomes among Post-9/11 Veterans after Separation , James David Lee

Experiences of People with Serious Mental Illness Seeking Services at Community Mental Health Centers During the COVID-19 Pandemic , Emily Leickly

Why So Serious? Using the Belongingness Need Tenet from the Self-Determination Theory to Examine Workplace Humor and Its Outcomes , Katharine Lucille McMahon

Stress-Reduction from Positive Support: Impacts of Receiving Partner Capitalization Support on Veteran Stress/Work Stress , MaryAnn Dona Samson

Diversity in Recruitment: The Role of Realistic Website Job Previews for Racial and Ethnic Minority Applicants , Jennifer Saucedo

Antecedents of FSSB: Evaluating the Demographic Basis of Support , Erika Ann Schemmel

A Daily Investigation of the Recovery Paradox: Examining the Dynamic Interplay of Workload, Recovery Experiences, and Microbreaks , Morgan Rose Taylor

Not on the Menu: Customer Sexual Harassment in the Restaurant Industry , Fernanda Wolburg Martinez

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Model.Disclose(): Examination of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Disclosure at Work , Timothy Allen Carsey

Transforming Learning Communities, Transforming Ourselves: A Qualitative Investigation of Identity Processes in a Participatory Action Research-themed Undergraduate Course , Julia Sara Dancis

Clarifying and Measuring Inclusive Leadership , Kelly Mason Hamilton

Intersections of Masculinity, Culturally Relevant Factors, and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Among Asian American Men , Jason Z. Kyler-Yano

Sleeping to Support: An Examination of the Relationship Between Leader Sleep and Positive Support Behaviors , Jordyn Jan Leslie

Work-Related IPV Among Latinos: Exploring the Roles of Fatherhood Status, Gendered Expectations, and Support for Intimate Partner's Employment , Adrian Luis Manriquez

Masculinity Instability and Ideologies as Predictors of IPV Perpetration: The Mediating Role of Relationship Power , Emma Christine Marioles O'Connor

The Benefits of Social Support on Health and Well-Being in Military Populations: Examining Mechanisms, Source of Support, and the Reach of a Workplace Well-Being Intervention , AnnaMarie Sophia O'Neill

Do Motives Matter? The Role of Motivation in Shaping the Impact of Mindfulness Training on Teachers' Psychological Distress and Wellbeing , Cristi N. Pinela

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

The Longitudinal Effects of a Family and Sleep Supportive Intervention on Service Member Anger and Resilience , Shalene Joyce Allen

Drug Conviction and Employment Restriction: Experiences of Employees with Drug-Related Criminal Histories , Liana Bernard

Sustaining Boys' Motivation Over the Transition to Middle School: Can Interpersonal Resources Protect Boys from Engagement Declines Across Sixth Grade? , Brandy Anne Brennan

Returning to Rejection: Outcomes and Boundary Conditions of Mental Illness Stereotypes , Stefanie Fox

Guarding Against Strain: The Moderating Role of Nonwork Experiences in the Relationship Between Work-Related Hypervigilance and Strain in Correctional Officers , Samantha Getzen

Anti-Muslim Bias: Investigating Individual Differences, Threat Perceptions, and Emotions in Islamophobic Policy Support , Aeleah M. Granger

Black Children's Development of Self-Regulation within Stressful Contexts of Parenting: Investigating Potential Buffering Effects of a Kindergarten Social-Emotional Learning Program , Eli Labinger

"Like I Was an Actual Researcher": Participation and Identity Trajectories of Underrepresented Minority and First-Generation STEM Students in Research Training Communities of Practice , Jennifer Lynn Lindwall

Claiming Miscommunication to Justify Rape: The Role of Liking the Perpetrator , Alyssa Marie Glace Maryn

An "I" for an "I" : A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Instigated and Reciprocal Incivility , Lauren Sarah Park

Parenting and Children's Academic Coping as a Dynamic System: Feedforward, Feedback, and Mediators of Changes Across the School Year , Kristen Elizabeth Raine

Does Experiencing Spousal Support and Strain Impact the Quality of Family-Based Support that Supervisors Provide to Employees? , Joseph Alvin Sherwood

"B-ing Flexible" : Examining Creativity in Bisexual Employees , Megan Jane Snoeyink

Exploring the Relationships Between Community Experiences and Well-Being among Youth Experiencing Homelessness , Katricia Stewart

Mothers' Drinking Motives , Sheila Kathleen Umemoto

An Examination of Nurses' Schedule Characteristics, Recovery from Work, and Well-Being , Sarah Elizabeth Van Dyck

Preventing Sexual Violence Through Understanding Perceptions of Sexual Offenders , Judith G. Zatkin

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Examining Employee Needs at Work and Home: a Self-Determination Theory Perspective , Dana Anuhea Auten

Trajectories, Time Windows, and Alternative Pathways of Engagement: Motivational Resources Underlying Academic Development during Middle School , Heather Anne Brule

Examining Mindfulness Training for Teachers: Theoretical and Methodological Extensions of Intervention Effectiveness , Jaiya Rae Choles

Detecting Reinforcement Patterns in the Stream of Naturalistic Observations of Social Interactions , James Lamar DeLaney 3rd

An Investigation of the Temporal Relationship Between Agitation and Sleep Disturbances , Emily Catherine Denning

Peers' Academic Coping as a Resource for Academic Engagement and Motivational Resilience in the First Year of Middle School , Daniel Lee Grimes

Home Resources Supporting Workplace Resources: an Investigation of Moderated Intervention Effects From the Study for Employment Retention of Veterans (SERVe) , Sarah Nielsen Haverly

"It Puts a Face to All the Knowledge We've Gotten" : a Program of Research on Intimate Partner Violence Surrogate Impact Panels , Kate Louise Sackett Kerrigan

A Daily Examination of Anger and Alcohol Use Among Post-9/11 Veterans , James David Lee

An Examination of Daily Family-Supportive Supervisor Behaviors, Perceived Supervisor Responsiveness and Job Satisfaction , Luke Daniel Mahoney

Nurse Can't Even: the Immediate Impact of Incivility on Affect, Well-being, and Behavior , Katharine Lucille McMahon

Perceptions of Police Use of Force at the Intersection of Race and Pregnancy , Emma Elizabeth Lee Money

The Impact of Paternal Caregivers for Youth Who Commit Sexual Offenses , Miranda Hope Sitney

Human Energy in the Workplace: an Investigation of Daily Energy Management Strategies, Job Stressors and Employee Outcomes , Morgan Rose Taylor

Individual and Community Supports that Impact Community Inclusion and Recovery for Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses , Rachel Elizabeth Terry

Investigating Sexual Fantasy and Sexual Behavior in Adolescent Offenders , Hayley Lauren Tews

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Integrating Work Ability into the Organizational Science Literature: Advancing Theory and Developing the Nomological Network , Grant Brady

Family Linked Workplace Resources and Contextual Factors as Important Predictors of Job and Individual Well-being for Employees and Families , Jacquelyn Marie Brady

The Role of Teacher Autonomy Support Across the Transition to Middle School: its Components, Reach, and Developmental Effects , Julia Sara Dancis

Does X Mark the Applicant? Assessing Reactions to Gender Non-Binary Job Seekers , Kelly Mason Hamilton

Urbanicity as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Stigma and Well-being Outcomes for Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses , Emily Leickly

The Relationship Between Undergraduate Research Training Programs and Motivational Resources for Underrepresented Minority Students in STEM: Program Participation, Self-efficacy, a Sense of Belonging, and Academic Performance , Jennifer Lindwall

Perceived Partner Responsiveness, Sleep and Pain: a Dyadic Study of Military-Connected Couples , AnnaMarie Sophia O'Neill

Recruitment Marketing: How Do Wellness and Work-Life Benefits Influence Employer Image Perceptions, Organizational Attraction, and Job Pursuit Intentions? , Amy Christine Pytlovany

The Combined Effects of Parent and Teacher Involvement on the Development of Adolescents' Academic Engagement , Nicolette Paige Rickert

Examining the Development and Classroom Dynamics of Student Disaffection Over Multiple Time Periods: Short-term Episodes and Long-term Trajectories , Emily Anne Saxton

Drinking on a Work Night: a Comparison of Day and Person-Level Associations with Workplace Outcomes , Brittnie Renae Shepherd

Development and Validation of the Workplace Mental Illness Stigma Scale (W-MISS) , Nicholas Anthony Smith

Relational Thriving in Context: Examining the Roles of Gratitude, Affectionate Touch, and Positive Affective Variability in Health and Well-Being , Alicia Rochelle Starkey

Preventing Child Sexual Abuse and Juvenile Offending Through Parental Monitoring , Kelly E. Stewart

"To Call or Not to Call?" The Impact of Supervisor Training on Call Center Employee Attitudes and Well-Being , Whitney Elan Schneider Vogel

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

The Impact of Leader Race and Gender on Perceptions of Organizations in Response to Corporate Error , Nicolas Derek Brown

Impacts of Mindfulness Training on Mechanisms Underlying Stress Reduction in Teachers: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial , Jaiya Rae Choles

Student Motivation Profiles as a Diagnostic Tool to Help Teachers Provide Targeted Support , Cailin Tricia Currie

Insufficient Effort Responding on Mturk Surveys: Evidence-Based Quality Control for Organizational Research , Lee Cyr

Affirmative Consent Endorsement and Peer Norms Supporting Sexual Violence Among Vulnerable Students on College Campuses , Alyssa Marie Glace

Gendered Partner-Ideals, Relationship Satisfaction, and Intimate Partner Violence , Sylvia Marie Ferguson Kidder

Organizational Calling and Safety: the Role of Workload and Supervisor Support , Layla Rhiannon Mansfield

Bystander Intervention to Prevent Campus Sexual Violence: the Role of Sense of Community, Peer Norms, and Administrative Responding , Erin Christine McConnell

Benevolent Sexism and Racial Stereotypes: Targets, Functions, and Consequences , Jean Marie McMahon

Perceived Overqualification and Withdrawal Among Seasonal Workers: Would Work Motivation Make a Difference? , Anthony Duy Nguyen

Differential Well-Being in Response to Incivility and Surface Acting among Nurses as a Function of Race , Lauren Sarah Park

Financial Strain and the Work-Home Interface: a Test of the Work-Home Resources Model from the Study for Employment Retention of Veterans (SERVe) , MacKenna Laine Perry

Neighbor Perceptions of Psychiatric Supportive Housing : the Role of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors , Amy Leigh Shearer

The Role of Caregiver Disruption in the Development of Juvenile Sexual Offenders , Miranda Sitney

Intrapersonal and Social-Contextual Factors Related to Psychological Well-being among Youth Experiencing Homelessness , Katricia Stewart

Age-based Differences in the Usefulness of Resources: a Multi-Study Investigation of Work and Well-being Outcomes , Lale Muazzez Yaldiz

Pathways to Kindergarten Growth: Synthesizing Theories of the Kindergarten Transition to Support Children's Development , Rita Yelverton

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

The Force of Manhood: the Consequences of Masculinity Threat on Police Officer Use of Force , Aurelia Terese Alston

Supervisor Mindfulness and Its Association with Leader-Member Exchange , Dana Anuhea Auten

Combat Experiences, Iso-strain, and Sleep Quality Affect Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress among Working Post-9/11 Veterans , Gilbert Patrick Brady Jr.

A Study of Shame-proneness, Drinking Behaviors, and Workplace Role Ambiguity Among a Sample of Student Workers , Sarah Nielsen Haverly

Intraminority Support For and Participation In Race-Based Collective Action Movements: an Intersectional Perspective , Jaboa Shawntaé Lake

Patients and Nurses and Doctors Oh My!: Nurse Retention from a Multi-Foci Aggression Perspective , Kevin Oliver Novak

Intimate Partner Violence Impact Panels for Batterer Intervention: a Mixed-Methods Evaluation of a Restorative Justice Process , Kate Louise Sackett

Investigating the Relationship Between Supervisor Status and the Modus Operandi of Juvenile Sexual Offenders: a Routine Activity Theory Perspective , Kelly E. Stewart

The Influence of Sense of Community on the Relationship Between Community Participation and Recovery for Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses , Rachel Elizabeth Terry

Profiles of School Readiness and Implications for Children's Development of Academic, Social, and Engagement Skills , Elizabeth Jane Tremaine

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Individual Differences Topics

Individuals differ from one another behaviorally in myriad ways. Differential psychology, the scientific study of these individual differences, provides an organizational structure for this vast array of psychological attributes. By examining broad behavioral patterns and using systematic assessments of relatively stable personal attributes, differential psychology allows longitudinal forecasting of a variety of important life outcomes. Because much of the research in this area focuses particular attention on predicting long-term life outcomes, and because work is such a large and important feature of adult life, the relationships between many commonly investigated individual difference constructs and various aspects of work behavior (e.g., educational-vocational choice, acquisition of job-related knowledge, job performance, job satisfaction and tenure) are well understood. Read more about  Individual Differences .

Individual Differences Research Topics

• Affective Traits
• Big Five Traits of Personality
• Biographical Data
• Cognitive Abilities
• Cognitive Ability Tests
• Computer Assessment
• Core Self-Evaluations
• Emotional Intelligence
• Employment Interview
• Genetics and I-O Psychology
• Gravitational Hypothesis
• Impression Management
• Individual Assessment
• Integrity Testing
• Job Knowledge Testing
• Letters of Recommendation
• Locus of Control
• Machiavellianism
• Motivational Traits
• Need for Achievement, Power, and Affiliation
• Optimism and Pessimism
• Personality
• Personality Assessment
• Physical Performance Assessment
• Practical Intelligence
• Protestant Work Ethic
• Self-Esteem
• Situational Judgment Tests
• Standardized Testing
• Stereotype Threat
• Trainability and Adaptability
• Type A and Type B Personalities
• Work Samples
• Work Values

Individual differences attributes and the constellations they form differentially attune people to contrasting educational-vocational opportunities (affordances for learning and work). From an individual’s perspective, an appreciation of one’s cognitive abilities, preferences, and personality provide invaluable insight for directing one’s career development in personally rewarding ways. From an organizational perspective, one may use this information—available through measures of individual differences—to estimate the likelihood of desirable work behavior (e.g., citizenship, job performance, satisfaction, and tenure). Creating optimal niches for personal development and satisfaction (for the individual) and meeting the environment’s goals and demands (for the organization) may be achieved simultaneously using an individual differences approach.

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• Industrial-Organizational Psychology Topics

Workplace Dynamics

Thriving workforces use the appreciative feedback model, the five essential elements to retain top talent and cultivate success..

Posted April 10, 2024 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

• More than half of employees quit due to poor managers, costing up to 200 percent of salary to replace them.
• Appreciative feedback improves engagement, reduces staff turnover, strengthens manager-employee relationships.
• It involves identifying peoples strengths, providing constructive feedback, actively listening with empathy.
• Managers also need to encourage participation, be consistent in their feedback and follow-through on promises.

People don't leave organizations, they leave managers. And the data backs this up. Numerous studies have shown that a poor manager-employee relationship is one of the top reasons talented employees leave their jobs. Two recent studies by Gallup and DDI showed that a staggering 50 percent of employees report quitting a job due to their manager at some point in their career .

This revolving door of talent is more than an inconvenience, it comes at a huge cost to organizations. Researchers suggest when you factor in lost productivity , recruitment, onboarding, and training costs, the price tag for replacing a single employee can range from 50 percent to 200 percent of their annual salary. For high-skilled, specialized roles, it can be even higher!

What's the solution for organizations struggling to retain their best people? As simple as it sounds, the key is providing genuine and appreciative feedback. This strengths-based approach to performance management is quickly becoming a must-have tool kit for managers, especially when engaging with the newer generation of workers who place a premium on authentic, strengths-based feedback and recognition.

What Is Appreciative Feedback?

Appreciative feedback is a deliberate communication strategy employed by leaders, it focuses on intentionally recognising, and acknowledging an employee's strengths. It offers helpful and constructive feedback and suggestions for improving performance. Leaders who provide appreciative feedback actively listen to and empathize with their employees’ concerns, encourage open participation, provide feedback consistently, and follow through on promises.

The Five Key Components of Appreciative Feedback

Appreciative feedback model has five core elements:

• Strengths Identification : Effective leaders possess the keen ability to pinpoint and celebrate the unique talents of each team member. They empower employees to lean into their natural gifts and achieve greater success, by providing specific, personalized feedback that highlights strengths.
• Constructive Feedback : The best managers strike a delicate balance; they deliver honest, growth-oriented feedback while ensuring a positive, encouraging tone. This approach helps employees feel valued and motivates them to improve, rather than becoming defensive or demotivated.
• Active Listening and Empathy : Truly transformative leaders don't just talk at their team, they listen intently, seeking to understand their employees' perspectives and concerns. By responding with compassion and emotional intelligence , they foster an environment of trust and psychological safety.
• Encouraging Participation : Great managers actively solicit input from their team members, making them feel heard and respected. This open, collaborative approach sparks innovation , strengthens interpersonal bonds, and cultivates a sense of shared ownership.
• Consistency and Follow-Through : Appreciative feedback is not a one-time event, but an ongoing commitment. Effective leaders follow up on previous discussions, creating accountability and momentum for continued growth and improvement. They are consistent in their feedback and follow through on their promises.

The Profound Impact of Appreciative Feedback

When these five elements are present, the benefits for both employees and the organization, as a whole, are substantial. When leaders provide appreciative feedback, research shows that:

• It Improves Employee Engagement and Motivation . Appreciative feedback is a powerful driver of employee engagement. When people feel their strengths are recognized and their contributions are valued, they're far more likely to be excited about their work and committed to the organization's success. This engaged, motivated workforce is less prone to burnout and more resilient when faced with challenges.
• It Enhances Performance and Productivity. Appreciative feedback doesn't just make people feel good, it also leads to tangible performance improvements. Employees who receive regular, constructive input are three times more likely to be high performers. By honing in on what people do best and providing clear, actionable guidance on leveraging those talents, managers give their teams the tools they need to excel. This in turn boosts overall team and organizational productivity.
• It Creates Stronger Interpersonal Connections. The active listening and empathy components of appreciative feedback help build trusting, and authentic relationships between managers and their reports. When people feel heard and understood, a sense of psychological safety is fostered, which encourages open, honest communication. This strengthens teamwork and collaboration across the organization.
• It E nhances Retention and Reduces Staff Turnover. Perhaps most importantly, appreciative feedback is a powerful antidote to the scourge of employee turnover. Gallup’s research shows that employees who do not feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to say they'll quit in the next year. Conversely, organizations that excel at providing regular, appreciative feedback see as high as 30 percent lower turnover rates. When people feel valued, appreciated, and supported by their manager, they're far less likely to seek greener pastures elsewhere. Retaining top talent is critical, not just because of the astronomical costs of replacing staff, but for maintaining organizational knowledge, relationships, and momentum.
• It Creates a More Positive, Thriving Organizational Culture. The ripple effects of appreciative feedback extend beyond the individual employee level. When this strengths-based approach to performance management is consistently modeled by leadership , it helps shape an organizational culture characterized by positivity, resilience , and a genuine sense of camaraderie. This rising-tide-lifts-all-boats dynamic benefits the entire enterprise.

Of course, creating an appreciative feedback culture doesn't happen overnight. It requires a concerted effort from managers at all levels to develop the necessary skills and make it a core part of their leadership toolkit. But the payoff is well worth it.

Organizations that get this right enjoy significant competitive advantages. They attract and retain top talent, unlock higher levels of productivity and engagement, and foster a thriving, innovative culture primed for long-term success.

If you're looking to future-proof your business and eliminate the scourge of employee turnover, start by equipping your managers with the tools of appreciative feedback. It's the secret sauce that transforms good teams into great ones.

Aguinis, H., Gottfredson, R. K., & Joo, H. (2012). Delivering effective performance feedback: The strengths-based approach. Business Horizons , 55 (2), 105-111.

Bakker, A. B., Albrecht, S. L., & Leiter, M. P. (2011). Key questions regarding work engagement. European journal of work and organizational psychology , 20 (1), 4-28.

Bouskila-Yam, O., & Kluger, A. N. (2011). Strength-based performance appraisal and goal setting. Human Resource Management Review , 21 (2), 137-147.

Clifton, D. O., & Harter, J. K. (2003). Investing in strengths. In K. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R. E. Quinn (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline (pp. 111-121). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. 3

Johnson, S. L. (2021). A Case Study of Building Leaders' Experiences with Strengths-Based Coaching and Feedback (Doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri-Columbia).

Grammer, H. F., & Bernhardt, A. (2021). Positive Performance Reviews Using Strengths‐Based Goal Setting. Positive Organizational Psychology Interventions: Design and Evaluation , 65-105.

van Zyl, L. E., & Veldsman, D. (2023). The Psychometric Properties of the Psychological Work Immersion Scale: An ESEM vs ICM-CFA Approach. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology , 1-36.

Llewellyn E. van Zyl, Ph.D. , is a professor of positive psychology at the Optentia Research Unit within the North-West University and is attached to the Eindhoven University of Technology.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Prevalence and related factors of sleep quality among chinese undergraduates in jiangsu province: multiple models' analysis.

• 1 Key Laboratory of Human Genetics and Environmental Medicine, School of Public Health, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
• 2 Department of Respiratory Diseases, The Affiliated Huai'an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, The Second People's Hospital of Huai'an, Huai'an, Jiangsu, China
• 3 Department of Dermatology, The Affiliated Huai'an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, The Second People's Hospital of Huai'an, Huai'an, Jiangsu, China
• 4 Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
• 5 Center for Medical Statistics and Data Analysis, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China

Background and aims: In China, a significant number of undergraduates are experiencing poor sleep quality. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence of poor sleep quality and identify associated factors among undergraduates in Jiangsu Province, China.

Methods: A total of 8,457 participants were collected in 2022 using whole-group convenience sampling. The factors studied included basic demographics, family and social support, personal lifestyles, physical and mental health, mobile phone addiction index (MPAI), and the Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep quality. Four models, including weighted multiple linear regression, binary logistic regression, weighted linear mixed model, and logistic regression with random effects, were applied to identify associated factors for sleep quality.

Results: Of the 8,457 participants analyzed, 26.64% (2,253) were classified into the poor sleep quality group with a PSQI score >7. No significant relationship was found between sleep quality and gender, native place, economic level of family, physical exercise, dormitory light, dormitory hygiene, and amativeness matter. Risk factors for sleep quality identified by the four models included lower CD-RISC, higher MPAI, fourth grade or above, smoking, drinking, greater academic pressure, greater employment pressure, roommate sleeping late, noisy dormitory, poorer physical health status, poorer mental health status, and psychological counseling.

Conclusions: These findings provide valuable insights for university administrators, enabling them to better understand the risk factors associated with poor sleep quality in undergraduates. By identifying these factors, administrators can provide targeted intervention measures and counseling programs to improve students' sleep quality.

Introduction

Sleep is a fundamental physiological process that is essential for our overall health. It is also important for our cognitive, emotional, and physical systems ( Baranwal et al., 2023 ). In recent years, sleep quality has declined among undergraduates and received attention from the public and academics ( Wang et al., 2016 ; Ahmed et al., 2020 ; Li Y. et al., 2020 ). Unfortunately, a significant number of undergraduates are experiencing poor sleep quality. In some provinces of China, the proportion of undergraduates with poor sleep quality has crossed more than 30.0%; for example, the proportions in Jilin, Guizhou, and Hong Kong were 33.8%, 53.7%, and 57.5%, respectively ( Suen et al., 2008 ; Li Y. et al., 2020 ; Zhou et al., 2022 ). Sleep quality among undergraduate students has also been poor in other countries such as Ethiopia (57.5%) and India (51.0%) ( Lemma et al., 2012 ; Ghrouz et al., 2019 ). Some studies focusing on medical students also found a high prevalence of poor sleep quality−52.4% in Greece during COVID-19 ( Eleftheriou et al., 2021 ), 76.0% in Saudi Arabia ( Almojali et al., 2017 ), and 27.8% in Inner Mongolia Medical University of China ( Wang et al., 2016 ). In Jiangsu Province, the status of sleep quality among undergraduates is still unknown, and it would be very interesting to investigate the prevalence of poor quality and identify the associated factors in this population.

Research has indicated that sleep deprivation can lead to metabolic disorders and negative effects, such as increased metabolite levels, which can lead to poor memory, poor concentration, lower academic performance, and emotional fluctuations ( Durmer and Dinges, 2005 ; Curcio et al., 2006 ; Basner et al., 2013 ; Davies et al., 2014 ; Lo et al., 2016 ; St-Onge, 2017 ; Gerhardsson et al., 2019 ; Vaccaro et al., 2020 ). In addition, poor sleep quality can also increase the risk of developing mental health problems such as anxiety and depression ( Almojali et al., 2017 ; Shao et al., 2020 ). Given the importance of sleep in maintaining wellbeing, it is essential to understand the factors that contribute to poor sleep quality among undergraduates. Additionally, it is also imperative to identify potential solutions to improve their sleep habits and reduce the negative effects.

Some studies have shown that sleep quality among Chinese undergraduates was a result of various factors. A cross-sectional study reported a few risk factors such as poor academic performance, interpersonal relationship, skipping breakfast, and higher grades ( Wang et al., 2016 ). Another study found that being a freshman, alcohol use, gambling, exercising for more than 30 min a week on <1 day, satisfaction with parental love, and harmonious relationship with classmates were risk factors, while no learning pressure, never having self-injurious behaviors, and harmonious family relationship were protective factors ( Li Y. et al., 2020 ). A gender-specific study in China identified some risk factors for poor sleep quality that were related to weak physical condition and smoking in males, while noisy dormitory, skipping breakfast, drinking coffee, playing games, bad physical condition, and severe academic stress led to poor sleep quality in females ( Zhou et al., 2022 ). A cluster randomized-controlled trial in China showed that good dormitory sleep environments could maintain good sleep quality ( Li et al., 2022 ). In addition, the use of electronic products was also related to poor sleep quality ( Demirci et al., 2015 ; Li L. et al., 2020 ). For example, using mobile phones, computers, and other electronic products at night could affect the regulation of the sleep clock, prolong the time to fall asleep, and shorten sleep time. Besides, there is a significant amount of similar research evaluating related factors for sleep quality ( Nyer et al., 2013 ; Bi et al., 2022 ; Peltz and Rogge, 2022 ; Xian et al., 2022 ). In summary, these factors that are associated with undergraduates' sleep quality can be classified into the following categories: demographics, personal lifestyle, family support, social support, dormitory environment, physical health, and mental health.

Because of the significant social and cultural diversity between different regions in China, previous findings may not fully represent the overall sleep characteristics of the Chinese population, especially undergraduates. Thus, our study not only aimed to examine the prevalence of poor sleep among undergraduates but also provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors that contribute to poor sleep quality among undergraduates in Jiangsu Province, China. The factors examined in this study also included mobile phone addiction and psychological resilience. By enhancing our understanding of these variables, this study may also help to develop effective strategies to improve sleep quality and ultimately promote undergraduates' life quality in China.

Special attention should be paid to the four statistical methods we utilized in association analysis. Except for the usual models of multiple linear regression and binary logistic regression, two mixed effect models were adopted such as linear mixed model and logistic random effect model. All these models are variations of the generalized linear mixed model ( Bolker et al., 2009 ; Stroup, 2013 ). The mixed model is also known as the hierarchical model and contains both fixed and random effects. The random effects model represents the variability between different conditions or blocks, and they are incorporated into the model to account for the correlation between observations. In the present study, the four regression models were conducted with standard diagnostics, ensuring more accurate parameters and p -values. Various studies have utilized regression models to identify risk factors associated with poor sleep quality, but few strictly performed regression diagnostics, which can potentially result in biased results.

Participants and explanatory variables

A whole-group convenience sampling was performed in universities of Jiangsu Province using an electronic questionnaire on the Wenjuanxing platform ( www.wjx.cn ) from October to November 2022. We distributed the link and QR code of the questionnaire to the undergraduates via university teachers and a WeChat group. The questionnaire contained survey instructions explaining the online survey's purpose and significance. Each undergraduate took the survey voluntarily and had the option to withdraw at any moment. The confidentiality of data and student personal information was guaranteed. To ensure the quality and accuracy of data collection, the questionnaire was pre-tested to validate question effectiveness and comprehensibility. The sample size was thoroughly calculated based on the expected prevalence rate of sleep disorders among college students, according to the sample size calculation formula: n = z α 2 × p q / d 2 . When the significance level is α = 0.05, z α = 1.96. Let p be the expected prevalence rate and q = 1− p . Based on the preliminary survey results of this study, the estimated detection rate of sleep disorders among undergraduates is p = 16%. The allowable error is d = 0.1 × p . The estimated sample size needed for the survey is 2017 individuals.

A total of 8,587 undergraduates attended the questionnaire voluntarily, among which 130 participants with incomplete information were excluded, leading to a response rate of 98.49%. So, the final sample consisted of 8,457 participants (5,917 females and 2,540 males). Participants were all students living on campuses and enrolled in 14 majors, including literature, history, philosophy, law, economics, management, education, science, engineering, agronomy, military, art, medicine, and others.

The questions in the questionnaire were organized into continuous, categorical, and ordinal variables (see Table 1 ). In categorical and ordinal variables, some values were merged to avoid extremely small sample sizes in some subgroups. Participants who never smoked were classified as not smoking and those who smoked occasionally or often were classified as smoking. Participants who had never drunk alcohol were classified as not drinking, and those who drank alcohol occasionally or often were classified as drinking.

Table 1 . The prevalence of poor sleep quality across basic demographic characteristics.

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) ( Buysse et al., 1989 ; Chen et al., 1999 ) was adopted to assess the sleep quality of undergraduates by translating it into a Chinese version. PSQI includes 19 self-rated questions, and only the first 18 entries are used to calculate scores. These questions can be grouped into seven dimensions that can evaluate sleep quality in the last month, including subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction. The final PSQI score was calculated by summing the scores from these seven dimensions. The total score ranges from 0 to 21 (0–3 for each component), with higher values indicating poor sleep quality. A final PSQI score of more than 7 indicates poor sleep quality and a score of <7 represents good sleep quality. For the PSQI conducted in this study, Cronbach's alpha was 0.877.

Mobile phone addiction index

The mobile phone addiction index (MPAI) ( Bianchi and Phillips, 2005 ), which was already translated into Chinese and validated for the Chinese population ( Li L. et al., 2020 ), was used to evaluate mobile phone addiction. The MPAI consists of 17 items quantifying four dimensions, including the inability to control craving, withdrawal and escape, anxiety and feeling lost, and productivity loss. Scores range from 1 (not at all) to 5 (always) for each item. The higher total scores indicate a higher level of mobile phone addiction. The Cronbach's alpha for the MPAI of the present study was 0.925.

Connor-Davidson resilience scale

The present study employed the Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC) ( Connor and Davidson, 2003 ) to measure the psychological resilience of undergraduates, which reflects how the participants felt over the last month. This scale has been employed in various populations and has also been translated into Chinese ( Xu et al., 2022 ). The CD-RISC consists of 25 items, and each item's score ranges from 0 to 4, representing not true at all, rarely true, sometimes true, usually true, and true almost all the time, respectively. The final CD-RISC score was obtained by summing each score of the items, which ranged from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater resilience. The Cronbach's alpha for the CD-RISC of the present study was 0.969.

Statistical analysis

The software R version 4.3.0 was used for statistical analysis. Extreme values of continuous variables were identified by the interquartile range (IQR) method. The upper and lower fences were defined as Q 3+2 IQR and Q 1 − 2 IQR . Values below (resp., above) the lower (resp., upper) fence were replaced with the lower (resp., upper) fence. For continuous variables, their central and variation trends were described by mean and standard deviation (SD), i.e., x ¯ ± s , and the means between two (resp., or more) groups were compared by t -test (resp. ANOVA) when homoscedasticity was satisfied, otherwise, Welch's t -test (resp., Welch's ANOVA) was employed. A post-hoc test was performed using Tukey's method when homoscedasticity was satisfied; otherwise, the Games-Howell test was performed. In this study, homoscedasticity was measured using Levene's test. The categorical and ordinal variables were described by frequency and constituent ratio, and the differences between groups were compared by Chi-square test. The significant level was set as 0.05.

Statistical models

Multiple linear regression model.

The associated factors for undergraduate sleep quality were identified using a linear regression model with the continuous variable PSQI score as the dependent variable, other variables as explanatory variables, and ordinal variables as continuous. The standard regression diagnostics ( Kabacoff, 2015 ) were processed after the multiple linear regression model (MLR) was implemented with the following steps: (a) Samples containing extreme values, including outliers, high leverage points, and influential points were removed. The outliers were detected if the Bonferroni adjusted p -value of the corresponding absolute studentized residuals was significant; the high leverage points were identified via the hat statistics; the influential points were determined by Cook's distance. In our model, 497 samples were removed in this step. (b) The independence of residuals was checked using the Durbin–Watson's test. In our model, independence was satisfied. (c) Multicollinearity between explanatory variables was detected through variance inflation factor (VIF). In our model, the VIF values of BMI, weight (kg), and height (cm) were all more than 4, which indicated that multicollinearity exists. Hence, weight and height were removed since BMI contains information about both. (d) The normality and homoscedasticity of residuals were checked. Our detection indicated that homoscedasticity was not satisfied. Therefore, weighted MLR was utilized to solve the heteroscedasticity problem, with weights inversely proportional to the variance of the dependent variable. The absolute values of the residuals were regressed against the fitted values, and the resulting fitted values were squared to provide the desired estimate of the variance. (e) The linearity between dependent variables and explanatory variables was checked. The performance of linearity, homoscedasticity, normality, and extreme values after diagnostics is shown in Supplementary Figure S1 . Visual inspection did not reveal any obvious deviations from linearity or normality. It is noteworthy that non-normality is less likely to be a problem when other assumptions are met since Aitken's theorem shows that the regression coefficients obtained from weighted MLR are also the best linear unbiased estimator without the assumption of normality ( Hansen, 2022 ). The linear trend test for a continuous variable was performed by transforming it into a four-valued ordinal variable by quartiles in the weighted MLR model.

Binary logistic regression model

Odds ratios (ORs) of factors associated with poor sleep quality were performed using a binary logistic regression model (BLR). The dependent variable was set as good (coded as 0) and poor (coded as 1) sleep quality based on whether the PSQI score was <7, and other variables were treated in the same way as MLR. The diagnostics ( Kabacoff, 2015 ) were processed with the following steps: (a) Extreme values were detected by the same method as MLR and 408 samples were removed. (b) Multicollinearity was detected by VIF, and weight and height were also excluded. (c) The independence of observations was performed using Durbin–Watson's test, and this assumption was satisfied. (d) The linearity between the log odds and explanatory variables was checked by regressing the log odds against the explanatory variables. The performance of linearity and extreme values after diagnostics is shown in Supplementary Figure S2 . (e) Overdispersion and events per variable (EPV) were checked ( Peduzzi et al., 1996 ). Overdispersion was accessed by the Chi-square test, but it did not exist in our model. There were 28 explanatory variables, including dummy variables, 1,897 samples with good sleep quality, and 6,152 samples with poor sleep quality. Thus, the EPV principle was satisfied. The ratio of these two outcome events was ~1:3; therefore, it can be considered as approximately balanced data. The linear trend test was performed in the same way as the aforementioned method.

Linear mixed model

The linear mixed model (LMM) is an extension of the MLR to allow both fixed and random effects, and it is particularly used in hierarchical analysis ( Stroup, 2013 ). The package “lmerTest” was adopted to implement LMM. In LMM, the continuous variable PSQI served as the dependent variable. The candidate random effect terms were checked by the likelihood ratio test. As random effects, we had intercepts for grade, smoking, drinking, physical health status, mental health status, academic pressure, employment pressure, and psychological counseling, as well as random slopes for the effect of relationship with classmates among academic pressure and employment pressure. Other variables, excluding weight and height due to multicollinearity, were set as fixed effects. No outliers were detected, and the homoscedasticity was violated. Therefore, the weighted LMM was adopted, and the weights were determined in the same way as the weighted MLR. The independence was checked using Durbin–Watson's test, and the results were satisfied. The performance of linearity, homoscedasticity, normality, and extreme values after diagnostics is shown in Supplementary Figure S3 . Visual inspection did not reveal any obvious deviations from linearity or normality.

Logistic regression with random effects

The logistic regression with random effects model (LRRE) is a type of generalized linear mixed model. The dependent variable was set as BLR. We had random intercepts for grade, smoking, drinking, physical health status, mental health status, academic pressure, employment pressure, and psychological counseling, as well as random slopes for the effect of the relationship with classmates against employment pressure and academic pressure. Other variables, excluding weight and height due to multicollinearity, were set as fixed effects. A likelihood ratio test was performed to check the significance of random effects. No outliers were detected. Independency, linearity, and overdispersion were checked in the same way as BLR, and all assumptions were satisfied. The performance of linearity after diagnostics is shown in Supplementary Figure S4 .

Prevalence of poor sleep quality

The Cronbach's alpha for the questionnaire of this study was 0.911, which indicates the internal consistency of the questionnaire was good. The sample consisted of 69.97% male and 30.03% female. Out of the 8,457 undergraduates, 6,204 (73.36%) reported having good sleep quality while 2,253 (26.64%) experienced poor sleep quality, based on the PQSI threshold value of 7. The mean PSQI score of all participants was 5.64 ± 3.60. The prevalence of poor sleep quality in undergraduates is shown in Table 1 , and the PSQI score across different characteristics is shown in Supplementary Table S1 . There was no significant difference between male (5,917) and female (2,540) students in height, weight, BMI, medical major, and non-medical major in terms of PSQI score or sleep quality. Older students and those in higher grades had a higher prevalence of poor sleep quality compared with their counterparts who were younger and in lower grades. The prevalence of poor sleep quality among students from rural areas, only-child families, and fathers with low education levels was nearly 30% higher than among students from urban areas, having siblings and fathers with high education levels. Although the PSQI scores of the three levels of mothers' education were significantly different via Welch's ANOVA, the post hoc result did not show the difference, and the constituent ratios between students with good and poor sleep quality were not significantly different. Approximately 80% of the students with either good or poor sleep quality belonged to families with medium economic levels. Similarly, more than 70% of the students with good or poor sleep quality reported a monthly living expense between 1,000 to 2,000 CNY. In terms of dormitory and personal lifestyle, the constituent ratios between students with good and poor sleep quality were all significantly different, and the corresponding PSQI scores were also significantly different. The worse these parameters were, the higher the prevalence of poor sleep quality.

Undergraduates with poor sleep quality had higher PSQI scores across all seven components compared to those with good sleep quality. The mean PSQI score for undergraduates with poor sleep quality was 10.41, which was significantly higher than their counterparts with good quality sleep ( p < 0.001). The mean scores of CD-RISC and its three components for students with poor sleep quality were all significantly lower than those with good sleep quality ( p < 0.001). The MPAI situation was the opposite.

Results of weighted MLR and BLR

The Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) of MLR and weighted MLR were 38,170.2 and 38,103.3, respectively, which indicates that weighted MLR improved the bias caused by heteroscedasticity in MLR. Table 2 presents the factors associated with PSQI scores, which were identified by weighted MLR, and the risk factors for poor sleep quality identified through BLR. The variables age, MPAI, grade, smoking, drinking, academic pressure, employment pressure, relationship with classmates, roommate sleeping late, noisy dormitory, physical health status, mental health status, and psychological counseling exhibited significant positive associations with the PSQI scores. On the other hand, BMI, CD-RISC, medical major, and father's education level demonstrated significant negative correlations with the PSQI scores. Barring BMI and relationship with classmates, the association between all other factors and PSQI was linear.

Table 2 . Risk factors for sleep quality identified by weighted MLR and BLR.

The results of BLR showed that students with higher BMI (OR = 0.959, p < 0.001), CD-RISC (OR = 0.986, p < 0.001), and father's education level (OR = 0.777, p < 0.001), had a decreased risk of poor sleep quality. Students with higher MPAI (OR = 1.036, p < 0.001), higher grades (OR = 1.178, p = 0.003), higher mother's education level (OR = 1.214, p = 0.002), greater academic pressure (OR = 1.177, p = 0.012), greater employment pressure (OR = 1.226, p < 0.001), worse physical health status (OR = 1.331, p < 0.001), and worse mental health status (OR = 2.028, p < 0.001) had an increased risk of poor sleep quality. Students who majored in medicine (OR = 0.675, p < 0.001) and were the only child in the family (OR = 0.811, p = 0.002) had a lower risk of poor sleep quality than those who did not major in medicine and were not the only child in the family. Smoking (OR = 1.568, p < 0.001), drinking (OR = 1.255, p < 0.001), and receiving psychological counseling (OR = 1.383, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with poor sleep quality. Roommates sleeping late (OR = 1.141, p = 0.049) and noisy dormitory (OR = 1.543, p < 0.001) were shown to be risk factors for poor sleep quality. The OR of mental health status was the highest, followed by smoking, noisy dormitory, psychological counseling, physical health status, and drinking. The sorted ORs of significant factors for undergraduate poor sleep quality can be found in Figure 1 . Linear trend test showed that MPAI had both significant linear and quadratic trends with respect to poor sleep quality, but no substantial distinction was observed between the two trends on visual inspection (see Supplementary Figure S4 ). Besides, there was also no linear trend between grade and poor sleep quality ( p = 0.104). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of BLR can be found in Supplementary Figure S5 , and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.776.

Figure 1 . Sorted ORs of significant factors for undergraduate poor sleep quality. The gray vertical solid line represents OR =1, and the short black horizontal solid line represents 95% CIs of ORs. Symbol * denotes p < 0.05, ** denotes p < 0.01, and *** denotes p < 0.001. (A) Comes from the results of BLR. (B) Comes results of LRRE.

Results of weighted LMM and LRRE

The AICs of LMM and weighted LMM were 43,857.1 and 43,554.2, respectively, which indicates that weighted LMM improved the bias caused by heteroscedasticity in LMM. Table 3 shows fixed and random effects of associated PSQI score factors identified by weighted LMM and related factors for poor sleep quality identified by LRRE. The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of the two models were 0.123 and 0.130, suggesting that 12.3% and 13.0% of the total variation in the responses were explained by subgroups. The fixed effects of age ( b = 0.142, p = 0.002) and MPAI ( b = 0.043, p < 0.001) exhibited a significant positive association with respect to PSQI scores, while the fixed effect of CD-RISC was the opposite ( b = −0.016, p < 0.001). Students with a roommate sleeping late ( b = 0.303, p < 0.001) and in a noisy dormitory ( b = 0.582, p < 0.001) had significantly higher PSQI scores at an average level compared to those without a roommate sleeping late and in a noisy dormitory. Except for age, all significant continuous factors displayed a linear trend with the PSQI score. However, an analysis of the trend graph between age and PSQI score revealed that the quadratic trend was approximately close to linearity (see Supplementary Figure S6 ). The random effects of weighted LMM explained 15.62% of the total variation. The detailed random effect values of weighted LMM can be found in Figure 2 . For random intercepts, being in the second and fourth grades, having poor mental and physical health status, receiving psychological counseling, smoking, and drinking had the effect of increasing PSQI scores. The random slopes of relationships with classmates varied across the three levels of employment pressure and academic pressure. However, the random effects of the relationship with classmates and employment pressure were not significant. In the subgroup of students without academic pressure, the intercept was −1.200, and the slope of the relationship with classmates was 0.812, suggesting that a poor relationship with classmates had a positive effect on increasing PSQI scores. In the subgroups of students with normal and great academic pressure, the intercepts were 0.496 and 0.704, respectively, indicating that these two subgroups had higher average PSQI scores compared to the subgroups of students without academic pressure. However, the slopes of relationship with classmates across the two subgroups were −0.458 and −0.353, demonstrating that a harmonious relationship with classmates had a positive effect on increasing the PSQI scores.

Table 3 . Fixed and random effects of factors for sleep quality by weighted LMM and LRRE.

Figure 2 . Random effects of weighted LMM. The red and blue solid dots represent negative and positive effects on PSQI scores, respectively. The short horizontal solid lines represent 95% CI.

For the fixed effect results of LRRE, higher BMI (OR = 0.983, p = 0.022) and CD-RISC (OR = 0.992, p < 0.001) had a decreased risk of poor sleep quality. On the contrary, students with higher MPAI (OR = 1.024, p < 0.001) and mother's education level (OR = 1.159, p = 0.007) had an increased risk of poor sleep quality. Being the only child was a protective factor of poor sleep quality compared to not being the only child (OR = 0.88, p = 0.034). All significant continuous factors had a linear trend with respect to poor sleep quality. A higher risk was also found for students with roommates sleeping late (OR = 1.149, p = 0.022) and noisy dormitories (OR = 1.405, p < 0.001). These results are consistent with previous BLR results. In fixed effects, noisy dormitory had the highest OR, followed by mother's education level and roommates sleeping late. The sorted ORs can be found in Figure 1 . The random effects explained 20.65% of the total variation when the dataset was fitted by LRRE and their ORs, which can be found in Figure 3 . It was found that the variability in students' relationships with classmates (random slopes) did not significantly differ across the three levels of employment pressure and academic pressure. This suggests that students' relationships with classmates were consistent regardless of the degree of pressure experienced. The effects of most random intercepts were consistent with the corresponding counterpart of weighted LMM. Being in the second and fourth grades, experiencing “great” and “not having” employment pressure, poor and normal levels of mental health status, poor physical health status, receiving psychological counseling, smoking, and drinking had a positive effect on poor sleep quality. The ROC curve of LRRE can be found in Supplementary Figure S7 , and the AUC was 0.720.

Figure 3 . ORs for random effects of LREE. The red and blue solid dots represent ORs that are <1 and >1, respectively. The short horizontal solid lines represent 95% CI.

This study investigated the prevalence and associated factors of sleep quality among undergraduates in Jiangsu Province, China. The results showed a mean PSQI score of 5.64 ± 3.60 and a prevalence of poor sleep quality of 26.64%, which is consistent with another study on medical college students in China, which showed the prevalence was 27.80% ( Wang et al., 2016 ) but lower than the results obtained in Ethiopia (55.8%) and Taiwan (33.80%) ( Kang and Chen, 2009 ; Lemma et al., 2012 ).

No significant association was found between gender and sleep quality through demographics and the four regression models. Similar results were reported in previous studies ( Lund et al., 2010 ; Wang et al., 2016 ; Li Y. et al., 2020 ). The study also found no significant correlation between sleep quality and native place, family economic level, physical exercise, dormitory light, dormitory hygiene, and amativeness matter through the four regression models. Previous studies ( Lund et al., 2010 ; Wang et al., 2016 ; Li Y. et al., 2020 ) also reported that there was no association between sleep quality and family economic level, physical exercise, and amativeness matter. Some studies showed that sleep quality might be influenced by native places ( Tang et al., 2017 ), but their cutoff values of PSQI score was not seven, and the population was not undergraduates. Our study found that there is no significant correlation between sleep quality and dormitory light brightness or dormitory hygiene; these factors were included in the cluster randomized-controlled trial described in research ( Li et al., 2022 ) to explore comprehensive environmental influences on sleep quality. The rationale for this inclusion is based on the hypothesis that environmental factors, beyond personal habits or demographic characteristics, have a significant impact on sleep quality. Although our findings and the intervention in the cited study did not demonstrate a direct impact of these factors on sleep quality, including them in the analysis will help to provide a holistic view of the environmental influences on sleep.

Since the dependent variable PSQI score in weighted MLR and weighted LMM was continuous, while the dependent variable in BLR and LRRE was dichotomous, the associated factors identified by the two types of models may differ. For example, age was significantly positively associated with PSQI score in weighted MLR and weighted LMM but was not significant in BLR and LRRE. Being the only child and mother's education level were significant in BLR and LRRE but were not in weighted MLR and weighted LMM. This may be because age can affect the PSQI score, but it has a limited impact on PSQI in the bounded range ( Basner et al., 2013 ; Demirci et al., 2015 ).

In the present study, the BLR and LRRE models identified significant associations between only child status and mother's education level with sleep quality. The effects of these factors appeared to be amplified in the dichotomous models (BLR and LRRE) than in the other models, suggesting that these variables may have a more sensitive response to categorical sleep quality measures. This phenomenon may reflect the complex relationship between these sociodemographic characteristics and individuals' daily behavioral patterns. Specifically, students who are the only child may receive more attention and resources within the family and also be subject to higher expectations and pressures from their parents, both of which may affect sleep quality.

Higher levels of maternal education may also imply better cognitive stimulation and family economic conditions, which indirectly affect the child's sleep status. On the other hand, these significant differences may be related to the family's socio-economic status and cultural background, which also affect undergraduates' performance in school or social activities and stress levels, and ultimately affect sleep quality. There was a difference in sleep quality between the only child and non-only child subgroups (see Table 1 ), but the difference in PSQI score was small (see Supplementary Table S1 ), resulting in the linear model not identifying it after adjusting for other factors. The same situation also applies to the mother's education level, in which the three levels had no difference in the PSQI score. BMI and the father's education levels were not significant in the weighted LMM but were significant in the other three models.

Relationship with classmates was significant in weighted MLR and had significant random slopes in weighted LMM but was not significant in BLR and LRRE. Some inconsistencies between weighted MLR and weighted LMM, BLR, and LRRE may be due to the different samples included. Three kinds of extreme values were removed from the weighted MLR and BLR, while LMM and LRRE had relatively few methods to detect extreme values. Weighted LMM and LRRE contained all samples since no extreme values were found in the diagnostic step.

The four regression models identified several common risk factors for sleep quality, including lower CD-RISC, higher MPAI, being in fourth grade or above, smoking, drinking, greater academic pressure, having no or great employment pressure, roommate sleeping late, noisy dormitory, poorer physical health status, poorer mental health status, and psychological counseling. Most of these results are consistent with previous studies. CD-RISC ( Bianchi and Phillips, 2005 ) measured the psychological resilience of undergraduates, and its negative association with CD-RISC was also reported by previous studies ( Li and Guo, 2023 ; Xie et al., 2023 ). A higher MPAI represents a higher level of mobile phone addiction. Mobile phone overuse may disrupt the sleep process and lead to depression. Furthermore, long-term exposure to blue light and electromagnetic fields emitted from the screen may affect melatonin levels and contribute to poor sleep quality ( Demirci et al., 2015 ). However, newer models of cell phones currently have the ability to turn off blue light, and this study did not investigate the condition with blue light turned off, so this finding may have limitations. A gender-specific study ( Zhou et al., 2022 ) found that smoking was a risk factor for poor sleep quality among males, and noisy dormitory and academic pressure were risk factors for poor sleep quality among females. A study on college students of Jilin Province ( Li Y. et al., 2020 ) found that drinking, academic pressure, and relationships with classmates were risk factors for poor sleep quality. A study on medical students ( Shao et al., 2020 ) showed that students with greater employment pressure had more anxiety symptoms, which may affect their sleep quality. A cluster randomized-controlled trial in China ( Li et al., 2022 ) showed that intervening with the sleep schedule of roommates can obtain a good sleep quality for them, suggesting that our findings of roommates sleeping late as a risk factor for poor sleep quality are consistent with it. However, there were some studies that considered low physical activity via the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form anxiety and depression scores via the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale as negative factors for sleep quality ( Ghrouz et al., 2019 ). Another study ( Nyer et al., 2013 ) found that students with depressive symptoms and sleep disturbance endorsed significantly more intense and frequent anxiety and poorer cognitive and physical functioning.

Being in a higher grade was a risk factor for sleep quality in weighted MLR and BLR, but only the random effects of being in the second grade and fourth grade or above were found to be positive in weighted LMM and GLMM, and the random effects of being in the first and third grades were negative. This may be due to the greater pressure faced by students in fourth grade or above, such as postgraduate entrance exams, employment, internships, and graduation thesis issues. Similarly, second grade was the year with the greatest learning pressure, and in addition to regular studies, they also needed to participate in various competitions and innovation training programs. The first grade was still in a transitional adaptation period from high school to college, while the third grade was a comfortable period after adapting to college life. The students in third grade were able to cope easily with previous pressure, and there was no new pressure similar to those in the fourth grade.

In the weighted LMM result, the slope of the relationship with classmates was positive, i.e., 0.812, in the subgroup of having no academic pressure, indicating that a poorer relationship with classmates meant a higher PSQI score. The corresponding slopes were negative, i.e., −0.458 and −0.353, in the subgroups of normal and great academic pressure, respectively, indicating that a poorer relationship with classmates meant a lower PSQI score. This may be because students who have good relationships with classmates need to spend more time dealing with communication or other issues between classmates, resulting in less rest time and high pressure. We recognize that this interpretation is speculative and based on observations from the current data set. Therefore, more comprehensive research is necessary to explore and test this hypothesis. Therefore, we call for further research to explore the complexity of the interplay between social stress, social relationships, and sleep quality.

In the weighted LMM result, the random intercept of having no employment pressure was 0.086, and its corresponding OR in the LRRE result was more than 1, which indicates that having no employment pressure had the effect of increasing the risk of poor sleep quality. This may be caused by the fact that the sample size of students with poor sleep quality and having no employment pressure was extremely low, i.e., 286. Thus, the model may not show the true effect of having no employment pressure. Another reason may be the random slopes of relationships with classmates, whose random effects were not significant.

The associated factors for sleep quality identified in various studies may differ, primarily due to several reasons. Firstly, the survey population and hierarchical structure may vary. Differences in population, region, and composition can yield diverse outcomes. Secondly, the included independent variables may differ; the same variable may have different values. Thirdly, the interaction between variables can lead to discrepancies in results. Furthermore, different models can yield different results. Even when analyzing data using the same model, different researchers may obtain distinct results due to differences in the operational methods of the model. The first two conditions are difficult to control, but we can try to avoid differences in results through standardized operations.

In the present study, four models were utilized to examine the factors associated with sleep quality. To ensure the robustness of the outcomes, we carried out rigorous diagnostics for all four models. After diagnostics, all four models obtained the best linear unbiased estimators (BLUE) or best linear unbiased predictions (BLUP) according to Gauss-Markov's theorem and Atkin's theorem ( Hansen, 2022 ). Regression diagnostics are an important step that has been overlooked by many researchers. Standard diagnostics ensure more accurate parameter estimation and p -values and ultimately improve the overall quality of the analysis. Without diagnostics, some biased results for regression models will be obtained and reported. In the weighted MLR (resp., BLR) model, we found that other levels will increase or decrease PSQI scores (resp., risk of poor sleep quality) relative to the reference level. However, we can obtain detailed effect values of each level through LMM and LRRE. To our knowledge, previous studies have not shown similar results.

Limitations

There are several limitations in the present study. Firstly, the present study selected as many candidate influencing factors as possible for sleep quality, such as family support, social support, personal lifestyle, physical health, mental health, mobile phone addiction, and psychological resilience. However, considering the length of the questionnaire, there were still some potential factors that were not included, such as coffee drinks, depression, and habits. Secondly, this study was cross-sectional, which precluded the establishment of definitive conclusions regarding the direction of causality between sleep quality and risk factors. Further, longitudinal studies are needed to investigate the causal relationships. Thirdly, all questionnaires were self-reported, highlighting the inherent limitations of self-reported measures. Lastly, there were no strict exclusion criteria in this study, which may have resulted in self-selection bias. This means that participants with anxiety and depression are characteristics that are likely to interact with the outcome under investigation, or alternatively, they may have been more likely to participate since the topic is relevant to them.

This study examined the prevalence of risk factors associated with poor sleep quality among undergraduates in Jiangsu Province, China. Our results showed a considerable prevalence of poor sleep quality among this group, with students in higher grades exhibiting a higher likelihood of experiencing poor sleep quality. The study also identified modifiable factors that correlate with poor sleep quality, including psychological resilience, mobile phone addiction, smoking, drinking, and poorer physical health. In response to the factors associated with poor sleep quality identified in our study, we advocate for university administrators to deploy systematic educational programs and interventions tailored to enhance sleep quality among students. These initiatives should directly target modifiable risk factors such as mental health status, academic and employment pressures, and suboptimal dormitory conditions. Specifically, proposed interventions include organizing workshops and seminars on sleep hygiene to educate students about the importance of good sleep practices and the physiological underpinnings of sleep. University administrators should also offer mental health services that provide counseling and stress management strategies. They should facilitate sessions on academic and time management skills to mitigate the impact of academic and employment pressures and improve dormitory living conditions through the establishment of quiet hours and better noise insulation to foster a more sleep-conducive environment. These recommendations illustrate a thoughtfully considered approach to ameliorate the sleep-related challenges faced by university students. University administrators can provide adequate psychological counseling for students to alleviate their pressures and set appropriate dormitory conventions to address dormitory-related issues.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/ Supplementary material , further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding authors.

Ethics statement

The studies involving humans were approved by Ethics Committee of Xuzhou Medical University. The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author contributions

BH: Methodology, Writing—review & editing. WS: Data curation, Funding acquisition, Writing—review & editing. YW: Writing—review & editing. QW: Data curation, Investigation, Writing—review & editing. JL: Writing—review & editing. XX: Writing—review & editing. YH: Writing—review & editing. LX: Data curation, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Writing—original draft. DY: Conceptualization, Writing—review & editing.

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 12001470), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant number 2020M671607), and the Science and Technology Development Fund project of the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University (grant number XYFY202245). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1343186/full#supplementary-material

Supplementary Table S1. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores of undergraduates with different characteristics.

Supplementary Figure S1. The performance of linearity, homoscedasticity, extreme values, and normality after diagnostics for weighted multiple linear regression model.

Supplementary Figure S2. The performance of linearity and extreme values after diagnostics for binary logistic regression model.

Supplementary Figure S3. The performance of linearity, homoscedasticity, extreme values, and normality after diagnostics for the weighted linear mixed model.

Supplementary Figure S4. The performance of linearity after diagnostics for logistic regression with random effects model.

Supplementary Figure S5. The linear and quadratic trend between MPAI and PSQI score in weighted multiple linear regression.

Supplementary Figure S6. ROC curve of binary logistic regression model.

Supplementary Figure S7. The linear and quadratic trend between age and PSQI score in weighted linear mixed model.

Supplementary Figure S8. ROC curve of logistic regression with random effects model.

Abbreviations

PSQI, Pittsburgh sleep quality index; MPAI, mobile phone addiction index; CD-RISC, Connor-Davidson resilience scale; IQR, interquartile range; CI, confidence intervals; SD, standard deviation; ANOVA, analysis of variance; VIF, variance inflation factor; EPV, events per variable; BMI, body mass index; OR, odds ratios; MLR, multiple linear regression model; BLR, binary logistic regression model; LMM, linear mixed model; LRRE, logistic regression with random effects; AIC, Akaike Information Criterion; AUC, area under curve; ICC, intraclass correlation coefficient; BLUE, best linear unbiased estimator; BLUP, best linear unbiased prediction.

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Keywords: sleep quality, undergraduates, risk factors, Connor-Davidson resilience scale, mobile phone addiction index, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

Citation: Hu B, Shen W, Wang Y, Wu Q, Li J, Xu X, Han Y, Xiao L and Yin D (2024) Prevalence and related factors of sleep quality among Chinese undergraduates in Jiangsu Province: multiple models' analysis. Front. Psychol. 15:1343186. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1343186

Received: 23 November 2023; Accepted: 22 March 2024; Published: 10 April 2024.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2024 Hu, Shen, Wang, Wu, Li, Xu, Han, Xiao and Yin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Dehui Yin, yindh16@xzhmu.edu.cn ; Lishun Xiao, xiaolishun@xzhmu.edu.cn

† These authors have contributed equally to this work and share first authorship

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Colorado State University

College of natural sciences, department of psychology, i/o 2023 fall newsletter, greetings from the industrial/organizational psychology program, at colorado state university, message from the program coordinator.

Dr. Gwen Fisher

Greetings from Fort Collins, Colorado! This past fall we welcomed THREE new faculty to the I-O psychology doctoral program: Assistant Professors Kim French and Keaton Fletcher, who joined us after starting their academic careers as faculty at Georgia Tech, and Professor Bryan Dik, who has been an outstanding colleague in the Counseling Psychology program since 2005. Bryan, with his research and teaching in vocational psychology and meaningfulness of work, is a terrific addition. We are also thrilled to welcome two outstanding new graduate students to CSU: Kesea Nutter and Danielle West! Please read on to learn more about Bryan, Kesea, and Danielle! We couldn’t be more thrilled for our I-O psychology program.

Pictured left:

Faculty, students, and our esteemed

faculty emeritus, Dr. George Thornton, at the Annual I-O

Psychology Program Fall Banquet in

November 2023.

Pictured (from left to right):

Current faculty with several new faces! Dr. Keaton Fletcher, Dr. Kim French,

Dr. Danielle Gardner, Dr. Josh Prasad,

Dr. Bryan Dik,

Dr. Alyssa Gibbons, and Dr. Gwen Fisher.

As you read on, you will see that some of our advanced students recently presented doctoral candidacy portfolios. Now in lieu of an empirical comprehensive project that students complete after their master’s thesis and before the doctoral dissertation, students reflect on their graduate training experiences, compose a document summarizing their development, and present to the CSU I-O psychology program. The competencies emphasized in this process include research skills, data management and analysis, communication with multiple audiences, ethics, DEIJ (diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice), leadership, collaboration, and self-awareness. We are also excited to have connected with The Aldridge Group, a consulting firm now based in Fort Collins. Last summer, many of our students obtained internships at organizations including The Aldridge Group, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Amtrak, and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. If you are looking to hire an intern or know of other internship or post-graduate work opportunities, let us know!

As we look ahead to the annual Society for I-O Psychology (SIOP) conference this spring in Chicago (April 17-20), please save the date for a CSU get-together on Thursday evening, April 18. Details about our CSU gathering and lots of exciting sessions and presentations involving CSU I-O faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students will be forthcoming this spring. In the meantime, please read on!

Meet Dr. Bryan Dik

Bryan Dik Personal Introduction

“I grew up mostly in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with my parents and two younger sisters. Not far from that is Grand Rapids, where I earned a B.A. in psychology (minor in religion and theology) from Calvin University. I didn’t have a clear sense of what to do after graduating but I was a good student and enjoyed most parts of academic life, so I applied to grad programs. Why not, right? Somehow I landed at the University of Minnesota, where I studied under Dr. Jo-Ida Hansen. She is a prominent counseling/vocational psychologist who directed the Center for Interest Measurement Research and led two revisions of the Strong Interest Inventory. Most of my research as a graduate student was on vocational interests, although I ran my first study on work as a calling—a collaboration with Mike Steger, interestingly—the year before I finished.

I was fortunate to join the faculty at CSU in 2005, charged with teaching the vocational psychology course within the counseling program and training students to facilitate career assessment and counseling. Early on, I launched a program of research on meaningful work and especially work as a calling. Soon many others became interested in these topics—mostly within organizational behavior, it turns out. Recognizing that the “blue ocean” for that work lies within management, org. behavior, and I- O, and also recognizing that workplace well-being fits squarely within occupational health psychology, I found myself gravitating toward I-O. I’m not the first vocational psychologist to align with an I-O program; it has happened at Michigan State and Illinois, for example. So when the opportunity emerged to join, it was an easy decision because it is a natural fit.

I am married to my wife Amy, a social worker by training who is currently the director of youth ministry at our church. We have four boys: Eli (age 19, a sophomore at CSU), Silas (17), Abram (15), and Jasper (12).”

“What are some of your hobbies and interests outside of work?”

“Although it sounds ridiculous, with a family of six I do a lot of laundry, which helps me justify watching really good TV—you know, while I fold. I am a fairly obsessive sports fan, and love mowing the lawn (seriously, ask me about it). I have some latent artistic interests I hope to develop further one day; when in college I considered an art major, and I spent two years as chief writer for a now-defunct music magazine. Most of our energy goes toward keeping up with our boys, currently. I also serve on the leadership board (i.e., council) at our family’s church.”

“What are your research interests and some of your previous research projects?”

“Although most of my research has targeted calling and meaningful work, I’m looking to expand that into some adjacent topics. Some recent projects include international collaborations that systematically review various aspects of the positive psychology literature. I also helped review and critique the most recent generation of research on workplace spirituality in a paper forthcoming in Annual Review of Org Psychology and Org Behavior. The intersection of faith and work is a lifelong interest of mine and I have plans to dig into this topic a bit deeper, building on some of the future directions we highlight in that review. And I’ve been testing career development interventions on-and-off for a long time.”

“Anything else you would like alumni, faculty, and current students to know?”

“Some of you ask about the PathwayU story, so I can share that briefly. I began collaborating with Dr. Kurt Kraiger, then part of the I-O faculty at CSU, in 2009. We obtained a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and used it to develop and test (via a randomized controlled trial) an online career assessment system with students in the community college system in Colorado. That project evolved into jobZology, a company that Kurt and I co-founded along with two entrepreneurs, Travis Hevelone and Eric Leftwich, in 2012.

After lots of pivots involving leadership consulting, the development of a hiring tool we called TalentAim, and a pretty cool employee engagement dashboard, we decided to narrow our focus back where we started—the online career assessment system. We tore it down and rebuilt it at least twice, rebranded it PathwayU, and started selling site licenses to colleges and universities. By summer 2023 PathwayU was used in 165 schools across the country, prompting a San Francisco company called PeopleGrove to acquire jobZology. Although the four founders are still involved, we’ve turned over the keys. Yet PathwayU has entered an exciting stage with a company eager to invest in elevating it to the next level. It took 11 years to accomplish what we originally set out to complete in 1-3, but we learned so much along the way—including that persistence pays off.”

Meet the new 2023 Cohort!

Kesea Nutter

Kesea Nutter, M.S. (she/her) is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Industrial- Organizational Psychology program. Kesea is from Cincinnati, Ohio. She received her B.S. in Psychology from Xavier University and her M.S. in Industrial- Organizational Psychology from Northern Kentucky University. Kesea’s current research interest are diversity, equity, and inclusion in talent management, reducing bias in machine learning, and advanced statistical techniques. In her free time, Kesea enjoys exploring Fort Collins many kid friendly activities with her toddler, Khloe, as well as reading, traveling, and going to concerts.

Danielle West

Danielle West is a first-year Ph.D. student in CSU’s Industrial-Organizational Psychology program. She is from Gainesville, Florida, and got her Bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida. Her current research interests include diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, with specific focuses on employee experiences and well-being, as well as work-family balance and topics related to recovery. During her free time, Danielle enjoys reading, watching sitcoms, and trying (probably unsuccessfully) to bake.

I-O Program Work Updates

PhD Earned:

Javier Ospina

“What Motivates Healthcare Workers? Using Latent Profile Analysis to Understand Healthcare Workers’ Motives and their Relationships with Work Outcomes”

Jacqueline Wong

“Reflections on Turnover Amidst Turmoil: A Qualitative Exploration of the ‘Great Resignation’”

Doctoral Candidacy Portfolio Presentations:

Julia Beckel

Annika Benson  Chloe Goldman  Roz Stoa

Comprehensive Exams Passed:

Brittany Lynner

Special Awards:

Hannah Finch

College of Natural Sciences Teaching & Mentoring Award

Dr. Javier Ospina, Dr, Jacqueline Wong, Kesea Nutter, Annika Benson, Chloe Goldman, Roz Stoa, and Brittany Lynner, who each recently either defended their dissertation, thesis or passed the program’s comprehensive exam. Congratulations!

Theses Defended:

“The Impact of Employee Identity Safety Cues on Applicant Attraction when Comparing Multiple Organizations”

Rachel Perpich

“Perceptions of Supportive Organizational Practices and Well-being among LGBQ+ Employees.”

IOPAC Community Service

Pictured below (from left to right):

Ryan Lizerbram, Shelby Davis, Hannah Finch, Brittany Lynner, Danielle West, Kesea Nutter, and Chloe Goldman.

This fall, members of the Industrial- Organizational Psychology Association of Colorado (IOPAC), the CSU I-O psychology graduate student organization, went out into the greater Fort Collins community to help out our neighbors in need. Members of IOPAC volunteered at the Food Bank of Larimer County through Ram$ for Change, a program dedicated to offering service opportunities for CSU student organizations.

I-O Lab Updates

Annika Benson, Dr. Josh Prasad, Kelsie

Colley, Hannah Finch, and Brittany Lynner

during their axe-throwing lab social!

Members of the Fisher Lab include I-O grad students Becca Clancy, Chloe Goldman, James Kunz, Roz Stoa, Rachel Perpich, Brittany Lynner and Ryan Lizerbram, CSU alumni Nick Kelley and Ashli Casey, and undergraduate students Olivia Detry, Tony Ramirez, Emmalee Diederichs, and Morgan Wright. Our research investigates a variety of topics and measurement issues in occupational health psychology. Our group conducted a study to investigate job demands, job resources, job crafting behaviors, and burnout among occupational therapists. Results from this study and a scale validation study about perceived organizational support for work life balance were recently presented at the Work, Stress and Health conference. There are a variety of student-led projects underway, including a longitudinal study of loneliness and belonging among graduate students, email incivility, the science/practice gap in HR and OHP knowledge, creativity and flow at work in relation to worker well-being, and organizational perceptions among LQBQ+ workers. As Gwen’s two-year term as SOHP President comes to an end, she is excited to have more time available for research!

Researching Identity & Stigma in Employment (RISE) Lab

The RISE lab continues to move forward research centered around identity, marginalization, and stigmatization at work. Current research projects focus on identity disclosure complexities, employee authenticity and autonomy, and identity management and expression. We’ve recently welcomed a new graduate member to the team (Danielle West), in addition to two wonderful undergraduate assistants (Joselle Gyamfi and Jade Loerzel). Multiple graduate members within our lab recently presented research at the Work, Stress and Health conference, and every graduate student submitted proposed sessions for the upcoming SIOP conference in April, so we’re excited to continue communicating our work broadly!

The Prasad Lab includes Kelsie Colley, Hannah Finch, Annika Benson, Brittany Lynner, and we welcomed Kesea Nutter as our newest graduate student member. Brittany Lynner defended her thesis examining the experience of burnout among academic affairs professionals and how their relationship with their supervisor may help. Annika Benson also recently attained doctoral candidate status by passing the comprehensive exam process. It has been a productive year for the lab with accomplishments including Hannah winning a College of Natural Sciences Teaching and Mentoring Award, Brittany and Annika participating in the P&G IO Business Challenge, and Kelsie presenting at Zoomtopia. Our research continues to focus on promoting neurodiversity through evaluating online asynchronous video interviews, authenticity at work, and applications of machine learning in talent management. We also continue to support the NSF-funded Rocky Mountain Alliance for Minority Participation in STEM, where Josh serves as a co-Principal Investigator.

Alumni Spotlights & JKL Scholarship

Dr. Jaclyn Menendez

Jaclyn (pictured right) is the Chief I/O Psychologist for Pinsight, a talent assessment company specializing in virtual assessment centers. In this role, Jaclyn leads the research and product development of Pinsight’s selection and development tools. Pinsight is headquartered in Denver and Jaclyn works remotely from Fort Collins. In her spare time, she enjoys rock climbing, cycling, craft beer, and serving as a board member on the city’s Disability Advisory Board.

Dr. Kyla Holcombe

Kyla (pictured left) is a Senior Consultant on the People Insights Team at BetterUp, where she works with enterprise organizations to achieve their goals through evidence-based coaching and behavior change strategies. In this role, she collaborates with field teams to build partnerships, helps inform product development, and speaks on topics including leadership development, employee experience, well-being, and inclusion and belonging. Kyla works remotely from her home in West Denver, where she lives with her two kids, two fur-babies, and band-directing husband. Kyla loves getting outdoors, crushing a Peloton ride, and any excuse for party-planning.

Dr. Lauren Wallace

Lauren (pictured right) is a People Analytics Manager at Google, focused on Performance Management. She leads a team of researchers focused on evolving the performance management process to support ongoing career development and progression. Lauren lives in Denver and works from Google’s office in Boulder, CO. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, pottery, and serving on Denver Kids’ Young Professionals Council.

JKL Work- Life Balance Scholarshi p

“The JKL scholarship was created to encourage graduate students to invest in their own well-being and the well-being of each other. We know from the research, as well as our lived experiences, that well-being is foundational to being the best versions of ourselves. We were lucky to have a fantastic support system, but even then, it’s not always easy to ask for help or remember to take time for yourself outside of school. We are so grateful for the journey we experienced together in the program, and we wanted to keep that feeling alive for future cohorts. We hope this fund makes the journey a little bit easier (and a little extra fun!).”

Congratulations to Kinjal Chheda, our 2023 JKL Work-Life Balance Scholarship Recipient!

If you would like to make a donation to support CSU I-O psychology events or scholarships, please contact the Program Coordinator at g [email protected] .

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