Industrial psychology - Definition and Overview

Industrial psychology is the psychology that deals with the workplace, focusing on both the workers and the organizations that employ them. Industrial psychologists (also known as organizational psychologists) are concerned with training employees, improving working conditions, and developing criteria for selecting employees, such as creating a new management structure or designing a different questionaire for applicants. In the UK Industrial Psychology has come to be known as 'Occupational Psychology', in Europe 'Work Psychology' is an often used title; business or organizational psychology are other realated terms. There is a great deal of debate about the so called 'scientist - practitioner divide' in this field; with academics being accused of becoming irrelevant to the real world, and, conversely, practioners being accused of being no more than 'servants of power'.