570 Occupational Health Psychology
presents an organizational health center model followed by
an OHP training model. A case of organizational transition is
presented next, followed by a discussion of future directions.
THE HISTORY OF OCCUPATIONAL
HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
Sauter and Hurrell (1999), Quick (1999a), and Quick,
Camara, et al. (1997) provide brief historical reviews of OHP
from its origins in the early twentieth century through the
close of the century. Many of the foundational concepts in
OHP emerge from research on the stress concept from its
framing by Walter B. Cannon in the early 1900s through
its elaboration in the 1990s. Quick, Quick, Nelson, and
Hurrell (1997) provide a comprehensive and historical view
of this body of knowledge. More recently, Barling and
Grif“ths (in press) provide a detailed discussion of the his-
tory of occupational health psychology. Their discussion of
the historical roots dates to the mid-nineteenth century (circa
1845) and covers the detailed descriptions by Friedrich
Engels of the physical and psychological health problems
suffered by workers from many different trades. At the outset
of the Industrial Revolution in England, Engels believed the
origins of these problems to be in the organization of work
and its associated social and environmental conditions.
In addition to the occupational health and organizational
stress initiatives described in these sources, there were initia-
tives early in the American twentieth century that drew atten-
tion to the importance of broader concerns with psychological
well-being and mental health. Adolf Meyer at Johns Hopkins
and William James at Harvard advanced the cause of mental
health, commonly known as mental hygiene, early in the
1900s throughout America (Winters, 1952). Their attention
initially focused on the burden of suffering associated with
depression and then broadened more generally to psycholog-
ical well-being and mental health. The “rst use of the term
preventive managementwas in Henry Elkind•s (1931) col-
lected volume on mental hygiene in industry, which applied
psychiatry and the mental hygiene national agenda to work-
place issues of industrial relations, human nature in organiza-
tions, management, and leadership.
Donald Laird (1929), as director of the Colgate Psycho-
logical Laboratory and with support from members of the
Central New York Section of the Taylor Society, developed a
series of essays applying psychological concepts and ideas to
industrial contexts at companies such as Ford Motor Com-
pany and Remington-Rand Company. He advanced the thesis
that every executive could become his or her own psycholo-
gist by enhancing personal development, reducing fatigue,
and improving morale. In addition, Laird founded the Indus-
trial Psychology Monthly.During this time, James brought
Hugo Münsterberg from Europe to head the Harvard Psycho-
logical Laboratory. Münsterberg later became president of
the American Psychological Association and concerned him-
self early in the century with industrial accidents and human
safety (Offermann & Gowing, 1990). A more contemporary
“gure, Richard Lowman (1993), sets forth a clinically useful
taxonomy of psychological work-related dysfunctions as a
guide to disentangle personality disorders, psychopathology,
and dysfunctions with their roots in the workplace.ECOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS OF OCCUPATIONAL
HEALTH PSYCHOLOGYWith roots in both the profession of psychology and the
public health notions of prevention, OHP has as a central
concern the design, creation, and maintenance of healthy
work environments. As early as 1961, Abraham Maslow
was calling for the de“nition and creation of healthy work
environments. Healthy work environments may be charac-
terized by high productivity, high employee satisfaction,
good safety records, low frequencies of disability claims and
union grievances, low absenteeism, low turnover, and the
absence of violence. Here we suggest that one framework
for OHP uses three key ecological dimensions as the basis
for action: the work environment, the individual, and the
work-family interface. Each ecological dimension includes
several key concepts of concern to OHP. After discussing
each of these dimensions separately, we address the concept
of goodness-of-“t.The Work EnvironmentThe health of a work environment may be in”uenced by a
broad range of occupational, psychological, organizational,
and work design demands or stressors (Cooper & Marshall,
1976; Hurrell & Murphy, 1992; Murphy & Cooper, 2000).
While not limited to the following elements, these include
(a) factors intrinsic to the job and its context, such as work-
load, pace, control, and the physical environment; (b) factors
related to the individual•s role in the organization, such as role
con”ict, ambiguity, and person-role con”ict; (c) factors con-
cerned with individual career development, such as job secu-
rity and advancement potential; (d) factors associated with
the individual•s relationships at work, such as social support,
participative management, and supervisory support; and (e)
factors related to organizational characteristics (e.g., commu-
nication, culture, and structure).