A.     CONTRIBUTIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY IN DIFFERENT FIELDS

Psychology is a practicing science. Its theories and laws are evidence based. The scientific exercises are rigorous and the results are applied in various human development areas including education, workplace, health and social care by focusing on normal as well as ‘abnormal’ people of all ages, sex, race and caste of different setting and context. The contribution of psychology in almost all fields is enormous. The branches of psychology itself tell the profession and responsibilities of psychologies.

Psychological theories and models are widely used to understand, enhance and reshape human behaviour. For example, learning theory (LT) which includes instrumental learning and classical conditioning, is a body of theories that alerts us to the fact that much of our behaviour is habitual and arises out of rewards and punishments operating outside conscious awareness. The learning theories are widely used in educational sector, organizational behaviors, hospital setting, armed services, and so on. Similarly, other theories are also used to understand and reshape the behavior. For example, Judgment and decision making theory (JDM) is a body of theory that alerts us to biases in our judgments about the likelihood of things happening and the value we place on those outcomes. Among the myriads of contributions of psychology in different fields, below is an example of how motivational theories developed in psychology is used in Organizational setting.

Applications of Motivation in Organizational Settings: Some Examples

Newstorm (2007, p.133) has stated that money as reward can be applied to motivate the employee and ultimately help them to gain varieties of physiological and social needs. In relation to drive he writes that achievement-oriented employees maintain a symbolic scorecard in their minds by monitoring their total pay and comparing it with that of others. Their pay is a measure of their accomplishments. Money also relates to other drives, since people can use it to buy their way into expensive clubs (affiliation) and give them the capacity (power) to influence others, such as through political contributions.

Greenberg and Baron (2000, pp.136-137) write that the greatest value of need theories is their practical implications for management. Need theories indicate that managers can help their subordinates to become self-actualized and self-actualized employees are likely to work their maximum creative potential, so it makes sense to help people attain this state by helping them to meet their needs. To achieve this, the writers suggest that the organizations can help the employees to meet the following needs.

1.    Promote a Healthy Workforce

Some companies help to satisfy their employees' physiological needs by providing incentives to stay healthy. For example, Hershey Foods Corporation and Southern California Edison Company, among others, give insurance rebates to employees with healthy lifestyles and charge extra premiums to employees whose habits (e.g., smoking) put them at greater risk for health problems. To the extent as these incentives encourage employees to adopt healthier lifestyles the likelihood of satisfying their physiological needs is increased.

Companies also are interested in promoting their employees' mental health as well. Visits to psychotherapists can be very expensive and mental health professionals are not always available in remote locations. To meet this need, the psychological services company Wilson Banwell, which is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, provides a World Wide Web-based counseling service, PROACT. Wilson Banwell provides live, on-line "cybertherapy" sessions with one of 68 staff psychologists. It may not be the same as face-to-fact therapy, but patients generally like the service and their employers welcome the unique opportunities it affords.

2.    Provide Financial Security

Financial security is an important type of safety need and some companies are going beyond the more traditional forms of payroll savings and profit-sharing plans. Notably, Com-Corp Industries, which is an auto-parts manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio, found that its employees had serious financial difficulties when faced with sending children to college--leading the company to offer employees very low interest loans (only three percent annually for 10 years) for this purpose.

Financial security is the key aspect of job security, particularly in troubled economic times. To help soften the blow of layoffs, more and more organizations are providing outplacement services -- that is, assistance with securing new employment. In the most extensive of such programs, AT & T and Wang have provided extensive career counseling and job-search assistance to its laid-off employees. It certainly is more desirable not to be laid off at all, but knowing that such assistance is available, if needed, helps to reduce the negative emotional aspects of job insecurity.

3.    Opportunities to Socialize

To help satisfy its employees' social needs, IBM holds a "Family Day" picnic each spring near its Armonk, New York, headquarters. Some other companies also have incorporated social activities deep into the fabric of their cultures. For example, Odetics, Inc., the Anaheim, California, manufacturer of intelligence machine stems, not only has its own repertory theater troupe but also regular "theme" days (e.g., a "sock hop" in the company's cafeteria) and a standing "fun committee," which has organized events such as lunch-hour "employee Olympics," complete with goofy games.

Motivating Employees: Managerial Implications

Managers must realize that all motivation theories are not equally good nor equally useful. Managers cannot assume they understand employees' needs. They should recognize the variety of needs that motivate employee behavior and ask employees to better understand their needs. Individual employees differ in their needs, and managers have to be sensitive to ethnic, national, gender, and age differences in this regard. Employees with high needs for power must be given opportunities to exercise influence, and employees with high needs for achievement must be allowed to excel at work.

Managers should be aware that morally mature employees are more likely to be sensitive to inequities at work. At the same time, these employees are less likely to be selfish or self-centered and more likely to be concerned about equity issues for all employees. Morally matured employees will act ethically for the common good of all employees and the organization.

From the above example of how motivational theories can contribute in understanding the employee as well as to achieve the organizational goal we can understand the contribution psychological theories can make in society, organization and in individuals.