psychology_Sons_(2003)

Confluence of Dynamic Forces 375

in industry were published during the 1930s (Katzell & Austin,
1992; McGehee & Thayer, 1961). The social aspects of indus-
trial psychology began to emerge as industrial psychologists
developed an interest in improving an individual’s well-being
at work. According to Viteles (1932), “They [psychologists]
have definitely accepted the viewpoint that industrial practices
are to be judged not only by the criterion of economic return,
but in terms of their effects on human beings” (p. 25).
The Minnesota Employment Stabilization Research Insti-
tute (MESRI) was established in 1931 to study the psycholog-
ical and economics effects of unemployment (e.g., Paterson,
1932). The idea that individual differences could be shown by
special aptitude tests, not just intelligence tests, was formu-
lated; thus, aptitude tests (e.g., the Minnesota Clerical Test and
the Minnesota Paper Form Board) were designed. A Minnesota
perspective was created, which eventually developed into a
theory of work adjustment (Dawis & Lofquist, 1984).
The U.S. Employment Service (USES), founded in
1917, was renewed with the Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933
(Lowenberg & Conrad, 1998). Along with the Minnesota In-
stitute, this program tried to eliminate the crevasses between
the unemployed and the few available jobs. The USES is
known for developing the General Aptitude Test Battery
(GATB) and completing the first large-scale systematic
analysis of jobs, the Dictionary of Occupational Titles,pub-
lished in 1939. This project moved I-O psychologists further
toward realizing the importance of matching individual abil-
ity profiles with different job requirements (Lowenberg &
Conrad, 1998). Various methods were used to achieve this
match, such as selection and placement, vocational guidance,
and a combination of processes called differential job place-
ment (Dunnette, 1966).
A few early research studies on attitudes and morale were
conducted during this time (e.g., Hoppock, 1935), and the
measurement of attitudes was improved by the scaling
techniques of Thurstone (1927) and Likert (1932). Attitude
surveys and structured interviews were popular tools for man-
agement consulting (Houser, 1938). Kurt Lewin, a researcher
at the University of Iowa Child Welfare Research Station from
1935 to 1944, commenced research on various psychological
aspects of work such as leadership, productivity, satisfaction,
group dynamics, employee participation, and resistance to
change (Katzell & Austin, 1992).
During the depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s
reform programs provided a favorable climate for organized
labor; thus, corporate America had to respond to new labor
laws and the growing muscle of unions. According to
Gillespie (1988),

The calm of the 1920s and early 1930s had been shattered by the

militancy of new industrial unions of mass-production workers

and industrial relations had been reshaped by New Deal legisla-

tion that protected workers’ rights to organize and bargain

collectively with their employers. Personnel management flour-

ished in this environment, and a function that had previously

been the responsibility of middle managers was transformed

overnight into the province of executives; henceforth, no man-

agerial decisions could be made without considering their impact

on labor relations. (p. 132)

Early efforts to minimize the distance between labor and

management were made by psychologists employed by the

Scott Company in 1919 and 1920, and some I-O psycholo-

gists were concerned with the labor-relations movement dur-

ing the 1930s and after World War II (Gordon & Burt, 1981).

The relationship between I-O psychology and labor unions

has been described as one of mutual indifference, however

(e.g., Gordon & Burt, 1981). One explanation for psychol-

ogists’ limited involvement is that I-O psychologists are

perceived as being aligned with management (Baritz, 1960;

Gordon & Burt, 1991). APA Division 14 (now SIOP) past

president (1970–1971) Herbert H. Meyer who worked nu-

merous years in industry, offered another perspective:

Unions have a vested interest in maintaining an adversarial rela-

tionship between workers and management. Thus instead of

being cooperative and committed to organizational goals, union

members are inclined to regard management as the enemy. And,

incidentally, in unionized plants, I have found that managers are

inclined to regard union employees as the enemy—a rather poor

situation in which to engender cooperation and commitment....

[T]he desire of many progressive companies to stay non-union

because of the costly work rules often associated with unionism

provided for many opportunities for the employment of I/O psy-

chologists. (Herbert H. Meyer, personal communication, July 20,

2000)

Unions are important in I-O psychology’s history because

they affected organizations’ structures, policies, and the man-

agement of employees. Thus, the impact of labor unions on the

development of I-O psychology needs further investigation.

The emphasis on employee welfare during the depression

led to the development of personnel counseling as a popular

organizational intervention for helping employees solve

personal problems. Once viewed as the “new industrial psy-

chology” (Cantor, 1945), personnel counseling programs dis-

appeared from the domain of applied psychology and were

dropped by several organizations by the 1960s (Highhouse,

1999). Highhouse suggested that industrial psychologists

may have distanced themselves from personnel counseling

because of poorly trained counselors employed by organiza-

tions. Reasons for the decline of personnel counseling pro-

grams include the questionable effectiveness of the programs

and the lack of managerial support for programs addressing