"Psychology is the science that studies the behavior, mental processes and personality of man, considering individually, throughout his life and in his quest to give it a meaning that allows him to transcend beyond himself" (Zepeda, 2003). As the human factor is the main and most complex "raw material" within an organization, the relationship between the two social sciences becomes intimate. Within the same science whose etymological root means "study of the soul" there is a specific field of action that approximates our objective of this text: organizational psychology, however this paper aims to go beyond applied psychology in the departments HR where it occupies a decisive place in the selection and training of human resources,to provide a perspective to the question What is the relationship of administrative science to psychology?
CONTENT
Psychology and administration are two closely related sciences since throughout the history of management development, the need to understand people's behavior in order to manage them has always been fundamental, pioneers of administration such as George Elton Mayo had as a profession Main psychology and from their knowledge in this science provided the foundations of the school of human relations in which the employee can not be interpreted as a gear of a mechanism, however prior to May's work there were two important facts derived from fatigue problems, of working conditions to which workers had been exposed under the rationalization of work by Frederick Taylor, Hugo Münsterberg, professor of psychology at Harvard,in 1913 he published a work entitled Psychology and Industrial efficiency; In 1920 CS Myers, former director of the Cambridge Psychology Laboratory, founded the National Institute of Industrial Psychology as a private institution in England and as a result of this the British government promoted the foundation of the "Industrial Health Research Board" (Brown, 1998).
Since the appearance of the school of human relations, many authors have contributed regarding the importance of psychology in organizations or industrial psychology as it is also called, regardless of the administrative current to which they belong or have formulated: Lewin and the bases of the study of leadership, Maslow and his works on motivation, Likert and his theory of group integration where the leadership must exercise a leading role, McGregor and his theories "X" and "Y", Ouchi and his theory "Z", McClelland and his theory about Human competences (Bermúdez, 2006), Bertalanffy when conceiving organizations as open systems, sensitive to change and their relationship with organizational psychology,Chandler and Woodward with the contingency theory that contain a strong humanistic approach and affirm that there is nothing absolute in the principles of administration (Medina & Avila, 2002).
Although the work of these researchers is oriented to the entire organization, many of their studies weigh one of the stages of the administrative process: management, which involves commanding, influencing and motivating employees to carry out specific tasks and convincing the organizational group. to achieve the objectives arising from the steps of planning and organizing the administrative process. (Stoner & Edward, 1996).
The psychology of reflexes and instincts.
One of the paradigms of psychology that has even been transferred to neuroscience is the enigma that represents human behavior, since although there are studies that describe different activities and mental processes at the neural level, the complexity of the reflexes and instincts that they lead the human being to motivate themselves or to make decisions are psychic phenomena that go beyond any border (Bermúdez, 2006).
In the field of classical psychology, the Russian Ivan Pavlov, who pioneered the relationship between psychology and neuroscience to eliminate the subjectivity of psychology, mentions that the acts are the consequence of conditioned reflexes that are otherwise trained, which become stimuli that are translate into an action that by nature would not generate any reaction, the resulting act can have reinforcing effects which increase the possibility of occurrence of a behavior, Skinner evidenced this mechanism with a rat, a lever and food, then Watson used it to obtain results on the learning of meaningless syllables (Zepeda, 2003), this effect has been intensively studied, even from it is derived the behavioral theory, which for some authors is the line that administrative theory has followed (Brown, 1998).
This principle of psychology is so basic that it is often forgotten by those who manage human resources who are overwhelmed by complying with indicators, reports and other demands of the productive systems, forget that people respond to stimuli, proactive action can be reinforced through reinforcing effects as simple as saying "well done" because we assume that it is your responsibility, instead of using this means to increase the probability of a behavior occurring.For all of the above, the administrator should not be oblivious to knowing and being able to employ psychology, since not only does it have a field of action in training and the selection of personnel, but it must also be a vehicle to direct the company to organizational development and quality. Total since the actions that the company takes to ensure the quality of its products is directly related to the way in which they are produced, transported or distributed and with it the human factor that is in charge of carrying out said activity, so the knowledge Psychology may be essential to generate a conscious commitment of these employees to achieve continuous improvement (Zepeda, 2003).They transport or distribute and with it the human factor that is in charge of carrying out this activity, so that the knowledge of psychology may be essential to generate a conscious commitment from these employees to achieve continuous improvement (Zepeda, 2003).They transport or distribute and with it the human factor that is in charge of carrying out this activity, so that the knowledge of psychology may be essential to generate a conscious commitment from these employees to achieve continuous improvement (Zepeda, 2003).
Psychology and direction.
"Management is a specialty that deals with issues related to time and human relations that arise in organizations" (Stoner & Edward, 1996), for which the correct performance of managers to direct the company to the In achieving its goals, the work of management is not only to reach the first circle of collaborators, but also to ensure that the guidelines and information are correct and the same throughout the organization through an organizational value system which they are impacted by the ideologies of society and vice versa (López, 2000). Stoner divides management within the administrative process into 4 areas: motivation, leadership, teams and teamwork, communication and negotiation,which will be described below under the aspects that correspond to the science of knowledge of the behavior and mental processes of individuals.
Motivation.
Motivation is defined as the processes that affect the intensity, direction and persistence of the effort made by an individual to achieve a goal (Robbins & Judge, 2009), this process is not the only one that intervenes in the performance of the worker, The capacity, conditions and resources that the individual has are also essential. Researchers in the field assume that there is not a lot of motivation and that it should be properly dosed so that if managers know what moves people to perform better, it is possible to include work rewards (not necessarily monetary) within the strategic plans of the organization (Stoner & Edward, 1996).
For psychology, motivation is an extraordinarily complex area of opportunity, in which there are many positions and theories but none, even at the neural level, have been able to decipher the key that leads to human motivation, JP Chaplin mentions the following positions (Zepeda, 2003):
- State of internal tension in the individual, which awakens, maintains and directs the behavior towards a goal The conscious reason given by the individual to justify his behavior An unconscious reason for the behavior A disposition or attitude that guides the behavior A drive, understanding by this concept the primary motives whose body base is known.
Motivation is a psychic force that moves the will, as Albert Einstein said "There is a driving force more powerful than steam, electricity and atomic energy: the will" hence the interest from the 50's, already that the first theories of motivation described in the following table were formulated:
| Theory | Author | Postulate |
| Hierarchy of needs. | Abraham Maslow | There is a hierarchy of 5 needs - physiological, security, social, esteem and self-relationship. |
| Theory X and Y | Douglas McGregor | Theory X: Assumes that employees dislike work, are lazy, and must be forced to work.
Theory Y: Employees like work, they are creative and practice self-regulation. |
| Theory of the two factors | Frederick Herzberg | Intrinsic factors related to job satisfaction, extrinsic factors with dissatisfaction.
Hygiene factors, which reassure workers, such as supervision, policies and salary, if such factors are appropriate, people will not be dissatisfied. |
| Theory of needs | David McClelland | Need for achievement: Drive to get out, to fight for victory.
Need for power: It is the need for others to behave in ways that they would not have done for themselves. Need for affiliation: Desire to have close and friendly interpersonal relationships. |
McClelland's theory is the one that has the most support in research compared to the other three, but in counterpart the same author describes that the three needs are involuntary so they can be possessed without the individual himself being aware of them and by Therefore, they are not easy to measure, an expert is required that through a long and by default expensive process can measure the needs, for this reason there are few companies that invest resources for the application of this theory (Robbins & Judge, 2009).
From the perspective of psychology, there are contemporary theories among those with the greatest impact and documentary support: the theory of cognitive evaluation., which suggests that there are two types of rewards, intrinsic (internal) and extrinsic (external), when extrinsic rewards are used (such as salary or verbal recognition) have an effect on intrinsic motivation, for example a group of volunteers for the olympic games dedicated more than 25 hours a week to carry out their work, they found it simply fascinating, when they started receiving a monetary remuneration said volunteer doing the same job, he stopped seeing it as interesting, this may seem like a statement without logic however the studies of this theory support it, the worker upon receiving tangible extrinsic motivations come to put more interest in it than in the work they carry out (Robbins & Judge, 2009),that is why some organizations today choose to apply salary increase policies gradually and periodically, so that the employee does not lose interest in his work and continues to strive to achieve the “leveling” of his salary.
On the other hand, non-materialized verbal extrinsic rewards such as praise from the immediate boss positively impact intrinsic motivation by focusing the collaborator on his work and encouraging him to be better every day, finally this theory states that people who pursue goals for reasons intrinsic are more satisfied with their jobs (Robbins & Judge, 2009), which is why the manager should be concerned with persuading his subordinates to do their jobs out of conviction rather than obligation.
Leadership
Leadership and administration can be confused however the second implements the vision and strategy that leaders give, leadership is defined as "the ability to influence a group towards achieving a vision or setting goals", the source of this influence may be formal, that is, according to the hierarchy within an organization or sanctioned leadership, that is, the ability to influence independently of the organizational structure (Robbins & Judge, 2009).
The first concepts of leadership emphasized the characteristics of individuals that made them unique and allowed them to succeed in their roles, a more modern point of view speaks of the emergence of leaders according to the situational factors of the environment. The search for the qualities of the person that distinguish him as a leader were hampered by methodological problems (Coleman & Hammen, 1977). Twenty studies were carried out in the 70's, identifying almost 80 traits of a leader but only five of them. They were common in at least four studies, even in the early 90's there was wide variation between one study and another, it was until the appearance of the five-factor model of personality commonly called the Big Five model (Robbins & Judge, 2009),Its main characteristics are listed in illustration number 1.
Through this model, the qualities of a leader could be established with greater clarity, since most of the traits that had been studied and documented over time, however, this model is not absolute, for example studies indicate that leaders with high assertiveness, are less effective than those that were moderately so (García, 2011). As with motivation from the organizational perspective, there are quite a few theories, but almost all of them formulated in an Anglo-Saxon environment, so infomulticulturalism may be a factor that generates a bias in the validity of the model. Effective leaders generally rely on emotional supports to deliver their messages.
Model of the Big Five. Source: self made
The methods used by leaders to exert their influence and control depend on the characteristics of the leader, the group and the situation. From the perspective of classical psychology, there are three types of leaders: those who use the autocratic leadership method, the one who uses the democratic method and finally the one who exercises leadership by the laissez-faire method (Coleman & Hammen, 1977). Its main characteristics are described in the following table:
| Leader style | Leadership characteristics |
| Autocratic | Authoritarian leader, sets goals, controls activities with no group motivation, generally subordinates work optimally when the leader is present. |
| Democratic | Leader with openness to discuss and determine jointly commitments and work assignment, subordinates show interest and originality, work whether the leader is present or not |
| Laissez-faire | Leader is only kept in expectation, free groups to plan and assign work, generally if subordinates do not have self-discipline skills, efficiency and quality of work are low |
In general, it can be said that autocratic leadership can be efficient in solving immediate and temporary crisis situations, however, if it is used in situations where it is not required, it can generate adverse effects as it causes the gradual decrease of initiative and with it the adaptive capacity of the group or organization, on the other hand, the democratic leadership has a greater faculty to remain together with the group in the long term, since it causes an increase in creativity and the faculties so that the organization can be flexible and with They can face two main challenges, the first is to create conditions for the development of the company, with the available resources, and the other is to convince employees to coordinate efforts,for the use of resources and the achievement of goals according to changing needs (Gutiérrez, 2011).
Teams and teamwork
In order to take advantage of the talents and based on the competences of each member, to be able to compete more effectively and democratize the organization, the administration has taken work teams as a means of making operational decisions.
Often work groups can be confused with work teams and they are not the same (Robbins & Judge, 2009), in general work groups limit themselves to sharing information to make decisions about their object of responsibility, in such a way Thus, their performance as a whole is the sum of the individual contribution of each of the participants. A work team operates under a positive synergy, thus achieving that their performance is increased thanks to the contribution and experience of each of the participants. team members forming a structure that complements each other.
The four types of equipment. (Robbins & Judge, 2009)
There are four basic types of teams represented in illustration 2, their conformation is delimited according to the tasks, resources, objectives and type of organization from which it is intended to apply, regardless of the type of team, an opportunity area from the point of view There are two psychological aspects that intervene in the effectiveness of these organizational subsystems: the attention and the mental models of the team members, Attention has been defined in many ways, however Zepeda concludes in general terms as “the adjustment of the sensory organs and of the organism in general in which there is a clear and vivid awareness of certain stimuli or ideas, and which provokes a disposition for the action". Laberge points out that attention has three objectives that allow us to have three benefits at the same time: precision, referring to the selection of the stimulus; speed, to detect a stimulus and respond, for example in preparing action plans; and continuity, sustaining attention to external stimuli or maintaining behavior over time (Munar & Rosselló, 2014).
Effective teams have exact and common mental models, that is, knowledge and policies on how to carry out the work (Robbins & Judge, 2009), if the teams do not have these mental maps, they are likely to operate in a stressful environment which It will affect performance and a susceptibility to conflict will be formed, so the formation of work teams can not only be done unconsciously, but must first be reinforced by executing leadership to guide work teams towards the same path of knowledge and policies.
Communication and negotiation.
The communication process is capable of modifying values, behaviors, ideas and attitudes, one of the communication phenomena that has most interested psychologists is persuasion, this interest arises from studies on hypnosis where it is possible to intervene in the views of individuals (Zepeda, 2003).
Persuasion is normally defined as "human communication that is designed to influence others by modifying their beliefs, values or attitudes" (Simons, 1986), this communicative form is obtained according to Hybels and Weaver through three basic forms and combinable (Zepeda, 2003):
Word: It is based on the verifiable truthfulness within the reach of the receiver or presenting logical and reasonable arguments for the person to be persuaded.
Feelings: Through empathy orienting the person towards a proposal that seems to be the inevitable solution.
Moral: Through a moral authority based on the goodwill, judgment or social position of the persuader so as to be able to manage the desired change.
CONCLUSION
The relationship of administration with psychology is vast, there is a wealth of theories and models that its knowledge and application can enhance managerial skills, an administrator cannot ignore the formation and cultivation of Psychological science, at least through coarse existing literature. However, there are clear areas of opportunity where new aspects such as administrative engineering can address:
1.- There is a need to tropicalize many of the theories and methods since the idiosyncrasy of the Latin countries is completely different from that which is conceived in most of the psychological models.
2.- The design of mathematical models that help psychology to be able to analyze the phenomena that affect the administration objectively, through, for example, dynamic non-linear models.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Bermúdez, H. (2006). From an engineering of the soul to a "management" of the spirit? About the notion of psychology in administrative and organizational discourse. Cuadernos de Administración (35), 59-79 Brown, JA (1998). Social psychology in industry (Third ed.). Mexico DF: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Coleman, J., & Hammen, C. (1977). Contemporary psychology and effective behavior (First ed.). Mexico DF: Modern Manual. García, RM (2011). Transformational leadership and facilitating acceptance of organizational change. Psychological Thought, 9 (16), 41-54. Gutiérrez, EE (2011). Psychosocial characteristics of business leadership. Milestones of administrative economic sciences, 17 (49), 131-140 López, AC (2000). Organizational management and society. Open space, 9 (3), 433-453.Medina, MA, & Avila, VA(2002). Evolution of administrative theory. A view from organizational psychology. Cuban Journal of Psychology, 19 (2), 262-272.Munar, E., & Rosselló, J. (2014). Attention and perception. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.Robbins, S., & Judge, T. (2009). Organizational behavior (Thirteenth ed.). Mexico DF: Pearson Education. Simons, H. (1986). Persuasion: Understanding, Practice, and Analysis (Third ed.). McGraw-Hill.Stoner, JA, & Edward, FR (1996). Administration (Sixth ed.). Mexico DF: Prentice Hall, Zepeda, HF (2003). Introduction to psychology, a scientific humanistic vision (Second ed.). Mexico DF: Pearson Education.Attention and perception. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.Robbins, S., & Judge, T. (2009). Organizational behavior (Thirteenth ed.). Mexico DF: Pearson Education. Simons, H. (1986). Persuasion: Understanding, Practice, and Analysis (Third ed.). McGraw-Hill.Stoner, JA, & Edward, FR (1996). Administration (Sixth ed.). Mexico DF: Prentice Hall, Zepeda, HF (2003). Introduction to psychology, a scientific humanistic vision (Second ed.). Mexico DF: Pearson Education.Attention and perception. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.Robbins, S., & Judge, T. (2009). Organizational behavior (Thirteenth ed.). Mexico DF: Pearson Educación.Simons, H. (1986). Persuasion: Understanding, Practice, and Analysis (Third ed.). McGraw-Hill.Stoner, JA, & Edward, FR (1996). Administration (Sixth ed.). Mexico DF: Prentice Hall, Zepeda, HF (2003). Introduction to psychology, a scientific humanistic vision (Second ed.). Mexico DF: Pearson Education.Introduction to psychology, a scientific humanistic vision (Second ed.). Mexico DF: Pearson Education.Introduction to psychology, a scientific humanistic vision (Second ed.). Mexico DF: Pearson Education.
Psychological model initially proposed by Watson, who proposed the study of facts that could be objectively observed, shifting the focus of psychology from internal psychic processes to external behavior that is objectively observable (Coleman & Hammen, 1977).
Download the original file
