From Then to Now: The Development of Industrial-Organizational Psychology in the United States

This article reviews the development of industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology in the United States since its beginnings at about the turn of the century. The history is divided into periods, within which are described topics, roles, and forces, with the goal of explaining as well as describing developments. Among the conclusions are that I-O psychology is a dynamic field that has been making contributions both to the science of behavior and to industrial society and that those contributions have been underestimated by some and possibly overestimated by others. Among the problems still facing the field is the disjunction between science and practice. However, in principle, that and other bipolarities can be made complementary.