02523 - Psychology of Work

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students: know main constructs and theories useful to analyze interdependencies among the individual, the work activity, and the context of organized work. Moreover, students develop specific relational skills related to group functioning and work conflict management. In particular, they are able to understand and analyze the work situation, to choose methods and tools for research and intervention, based on specific features of the context.

Course contents

The course i s composed by two modules.

Module 1 (prof. Depolo) offer an overview on some of the main topics of the discipline, together with examples based on real situations.

Topics of this module:

1. Work performance
2. Work motivation
3. Attitudes and emotions at work
4. Leadership at work
5. Teams

Module 2 (prof. De Angelis) presents theoretical and applied features of basic topics in W/O Psychology, based on leading texts in the discipline, real national experiences, and research projects funded by the European Commission. Students are strongly encouraged to actively participate.

Topics of this module:

1. Stress and occupational health psychology
2. Safety at work and risk management
3. Interventions in organizations: from needs analysis to planning and implementation
4. Process monitoring and performance appraisal

Readings/Bibliography

The reference handbook is:

Truxillo, D.M., Bauer, T.N., Erdogan, B. (2020). Psicologia del lavoro e delle organizzazioni. Novara: UTET Università.

IMPORTANT: chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 12 are suggested for interested students, however thier contents will not be requested for the final evaluation

Other documents will be suggested by the teacher, and made available in the e-platform dedicated

Teaching methods

Work is based on lectures and guided discussions. Students are strongly encouraged to actively participate.

Main operational/professional topics, and most important intervention techniques are presented.

As a consequence, class attendance is strongly recommended in order to get the maximum from this modules: through active participation (questions, discussions, ...) students may start to develop the ability to apply and contextualize the acquired knowledge of constructs and theoretical approaches.

Assessment methods

The final examination will be a written test that will be presented in a closed-ended, and open-ended questions (six questions of each type) format. Duration: 50 minutes.

Questions aim to test whether students have acquired a basic knowledge in the three main areas above mentioned.

Open-ended questions:

• are formulated not to rely mainly in memorized notions, but rather on student’s ability to apply theories and models to concrete situations proposed;
• because of their greater difficulty, contribute four times more in average than the closed-ended ones to the final mark;
• are assessed against a mix of: a) precision (they require specific answers, not only to "talk about" the topic); b) adequate and proper terms; c) quality of comments/explanations, and (when requested) presence of adequate examples.

Closed-ended questions :

• come with three options to choose;
• every wrong answer pays 1/3 of what would be gained by a correct answer;
• no penalty for missing answers.

Students may at every moment decide to withdraw from the exam, without any penalty.

IMPORTANT: Please consider that on line registration to the exam list is mandatory (registration will be closed 7 days before the day of the exam)

EXCHANGE STUDENTS may answer open-ended questions in English, Spanish or French, upon previous agreement with the teacher

Teaching tools

Audiovisual tools. Other documents to be downloaded by students from the dedicated platform.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Depolo

See the website of Marco De Angelis