Within the world of psychology are many different fields. Each field specializes on a particular branch of psychology such as clinical, cognitive, developmental, sports, abnormal, forensic, industrial-organizational, and social psychology just to name a few. After reading up on the very interesting differences between the branches, I found industrial-organizational psychology to be the most intriguing. The main goal in industrial-organizational psychology (or I/O psychology for short) is to maximize performance in the work place. An I-O psychologist evaluates the productivity of a workplace and how the employees' attitudes and behaviors influence the success (or lack of success) in a business. An I-O psychologist does not only focus on how employees affect their workplace, but also how the workplace affects the performance and behavior of the employees. The main focus of an industrial-organizational psychologist is to observe employee behavior in their work environment and to then teach employees how to improve performance and meet company standards all while being content with their jobs.
I feel that this particular branch is the most interesting because it includes the branch of social psychology. I find social psychology interesting because it centers its attention on factors such as group interaction, social perception, and prejudices. Industrial-organization psychology takes it a step further and uses these studies to make the most out of a workplace. I have always been very intrigued by getting to know and understand people. I find it interesting how people from different upbringings, social views, personalities, and personal goals all come together to work in cooperation with one another.
As someone who plans to work in the field of public relations, I feel that having some knowledge of industrial-organizational psychology would be extremely beneficial to my future career. Like psychology, public relations also has a variety of subfields.
