Duality Of I/O Psychology

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The duality of I/O psychology has been a complex concept in its own. The extent to which I/O psychologists should be subject to the same licensing requirements as clinical psychologists such as the passing of The Examination for the Professional Practice of Psychologists is debatable depending on if the psychologist is working with Industrial aspects or Organizational aspects. On the Industrial side tasks such as developing work-life balance, job analyses and training & development focus more on quantitative methods such as tests that measure for specific Knowledge Skills and Abilities (KSAOs) necessary for the occupation. The Organizational side rather deals with creating performance appraisals, coaching and organizational development & change. Being that the organizational side works overall on performance and may have a direct effect on individuals it may better fall under the current licensure requirements for passing the EPPP than the industrial side (Howard & Lowman, 1985). Another argument made was the extent of requirements and demands held for I/O psychologists that are bypassed by regular managers and corporate employees with neither a psychological nor I/O background or formal training.
The lack of proper guidelines is not an uncommon issue amongst many types of organizations. However, the fact that I/O psychology stems from a well-established association and is governed by their own professional association Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology SIOP, it is troubling that amongst these professional organizations it has taken this long to properly address the issue as well as provide parameters set to control for more legal and licensure concerns. Given, the original standards presented by the APA were ...

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... project scopes and durations to fit within a two month span. In the same manner having to prematurely end a project poses a major threat as well.
In similar efforts a professional certification was also developed to include I/O psychologists. The Certification of Professional Qualification (CPQ) seeks to create cross state access to licensed I/O psychologists who obtained their degree through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). According to Blanton (2003), “this process would allow those working outside of the mental health arena to use the ABPP to facilitate mobility” (p. 478). While this seems like a strong option for I/O psychologists the certification is not as widely sought after as expected. Many practitioners still seek other methods to legally practice and the APA along with SIOP do not require this certification of I/O psychologists.

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