Humans are inherently social beings, and our need for social relationships is rooted in the quest for comfort, connection, and shared experiences. Social support encompasses the solace derived from a network of friends, family, colleagues, and others who stand by you during challenging times, acting as a shield against loneliness. Cobb (1976) defined social support as an individual’s perception that …
Interpersonal Skills as a Career Booster: A Social Psychological Perspective on Communication and Collaboration
In the world of career growth, interpersonal skills are like important strands that weave together the insights from social and organizational psychology with the realities of working with others. This article looks at how these skills are essential for building a successful career, not just nice-to-have qualities. They play a crucial role in helping people work well together, communicate effectively, …
Understanding Group Behavior for Team Success: Insights from Social Psychology
Group dynamics are crucial in every setting that involves the collaboration of people. Social psychology helps us decipher the corporate workplace in newfound ways and gives us an understanding of how people work. The synergy between organizational psychology and social psychology provides profound insights into how individuals interact within groups, and these interactions influence a team’s overall performance. Recently, working …
Mentorship and Coaching in the Workplace: Psychological Principles for Career Development
In the bustling corridors of a renowned corporation, a young, ambitious professional found himself at a career crossroads. Despite his hard work and dedication, his path to advancement seemed obscured, like a sailor lost in a foggy sea. Enter a seasoned executive with a wealth of experience and a keen eye for potential. Recognizing the young professional’s dilemma, she offered …
Resilience Training in Organizations: Learning to Thrive in Challenging Environments.
When Covid-19 pandemic hit us hard, posing significant health, economic, and social challenges, many companies across globe recommended their employees to take up the HBR online course on “Ernest Shackleton and his historic Endurance expedition”. Well, who is this Ernest Shackleton and how can his expedition help us with the unprecedented issues we faced with COVID-19? To understand this, let …
The Role of Social Influence in Organizational Change: Strategies for Effective Adaptation and Learning
The process of social influence in organizations involves the demonstration of particular behavioral tactics and strategies by individuals to influence behavioral outcomes controlled by others in ways that maximize positive outcomes for the influencer and minimize negative outcomes. Social influence processes have a significant impact on organizational change. From an organizational development perspective, organizational change is “a set of Behavioral …
Emotional Education: Proactive Strategies for Socio-emotional Development
Knowledge is power; remains true, but the power of emotional intelligence is equally significant. In the fast-paced world we inhabit, nurturing the socioemotional development of our youth has never been more vital. Emotional education is a foundational pillar in the modern educational landscape. It goes beyond traditional academic subjects, recognizing that the ability to understand and manage emotions is a …
Pop Psychology is Not Psychology: The rise and danger of unscientific
concepts in the name of Psychology
In today’s digital age, where a simple online search can yield millions of results on any topic, discerning fact from fiction has become more challenging than ever. Psychology, a rigorous academic discipline rooted in empirical research, isn’t immune to this flood of misinformation. With the rise of “pop psychology”—a blend of oversimplified psychological concepts, catchy headlines, and dubious self-help advice—it’s …
Diversity by Design: Proactively Building Inclusive Workspaces
‘If you do not intentionally, deliberately and proactively include, you will unintentionally exclude’. Jean- Baptiste. Embracing Diversity Beyond Demographics Diversity and inclusion extend far beyond the mere demographic composition of a workforce. They are about recognizing the individuality of each person and understanding that work ethics and styles are as diverse as the people themselves. While the discourse in the …
Feedback Forward: Using Constructive Criticism to Proactively Enhance
Performance
Feedback plays an important role in motivating and improving employee’s performance. However, feedback too often leaves employees feeling defeated and disheartened as it purely focuses on the past actions. Through their study, researchers found that people often don’t learn from feedback as it threatens their ego. During the study, participants were segregated into two groups and responded to factual questions …