07269 - Psychology of Organisations

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student knows the main concepts and theoretical approaches developed by the discipline to analyse the interdependencies between individual, job tasks and the social and organizational context of work.

Course contents

Main topics covered by the course:

- Research and intervention methods in Work and Organizational Psychology

- Changes in the modern world of work and their psychosocial implications

- The latent functions of work and the meaning of work

- Work motivation

- Job satisfaction

- Job analysis

- Personnel selection

- Groups, leadership, hierarchies, and power in organizations

- Stress at work, psychosocial risk factors and stress-related outcomes

- Personality at work

- Health and safety at work

- Preventive interventions in organizations to protect workers health and well-being

All the topics will be presented by discussing the most important theories and models developed by the discipline and by examining relevant empirical evidence.

Readings/Bibliography

Sarchielli, G., e Fraccaroli, F. (2017). Introduzione alla psicologia del lavoro. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Balducci, C. (2015). Gestire lo stress nelle organizzazioni. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Further material: powerpoint slides of topics presented during the course.

Teaching methods

The main method will be the traditional lecture. Furthermore, a group project will be carried out as well as in-class discussions based on articles from work psychology journals. As for the group project, which is optional, this may also be an empirical project consisting of the collection and analysis of data and the presentation of the main results during a lecture.

Assessment methods

Written examination based on approximately 25 questions, of which 1/5 are open ended questions and 4/5 are multiple choice questions. Open ended questions require to write a small portion of text within the available space. Multiple choice questions are composed of five different response alternatives. The examination assigns a maximum of 32 points. To obtain 30 plus lode a total of 32/32 must be obtained. The time available for the examination is one hour and a half (i.e., 75 minutes). For students who will carry out the (optional) group project, this will contribute to the final score with a maximum of 6 points - in this case, the written examination will assign a maximum of 26 points. Foreign students (e.g., Erasmus students) are highly recommended to contact the lecturer to discuss the possibility of undertaking an oral examination.

Students with disabilities (e.g., learning disablities) are invited to contact the lecturer to explore the possibility of a different assessment method that considers their personal difficulties.

Given the situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, students will be assessed through filling in an online questionnaire with multiple choice and open ended questions. Web platforms provided by UniBO will be used. More information will be given soon in the news section of my personal web pages. Foreign students will be assessed through an oral examination done via Teams, Skype, or Zoom. Please contact the lecturer to schedule the exam: cristian.balducci3@unibo.it 

Teaching tools

At the beginning of the course the slides will be available for download from the platform Insegnamenti online.

Office hours

See the website of Cristian Balducci