Work and Organizational Psychology

Code:

LPSI205

Acronym:

PTO

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Psychology

Instance: 2025/2026 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Psychology
Course/CS Responsible:	First degree in Psychology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LPSIC	178	Official Curricular Structure	2	-	6	54	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

It is intended that students develop general knowledge about Work and Organizational Psychology as a discipline and professional field.

Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of this course students should know/be able to:
- Know and understand the specific project of work psychology, its epistemological foundations and relationships with activity ergonomics, and
the keyconcepts of this approach;
- Understand the different points of view on the "same reality", as a principle of action-transformation oriented to the improvement of working conditions;
- Know the discipline and professional field of Organizational Psychology and its object of study;
- Know and understand the different theories about organizations, applying meta-knowledge of the relationships between theories and their framework.

Working method

Presencial

Program

I. Work Psychology

1. The relations between work and employment: categories of analysis and forms of configuration.
2. The project shared between psychology of work and activity ergonomics: concepts and methodologies of analysis privileged.
3. The contribution of work psychology in the conceptualization and analysis in several areas:
3.1. Risk analysis, prevention of work accidents and promotion of health in and by work;
3.2. Vocational training and improvement of working conditions;
3.3. Local development projects.

II. The Psychology of Organizations

1. Scope, historical development and relevance
2. The concept of Organization and its dimensions
3. Models on organizations
3.1. Systematization of theories of organizations
4. New organizational forms
4.1. Features and implications

Mandatory literature

Clot, Y.; A função psicológica do trabalho, Editora Vozes, 2006
Dejours, Ch. ; O fator humano (5ª edição), Fundação Getúlio Vargas,, 2005
Guérin, F., Laville, A., Daniellou, F., Duraffourg, J., & Kerguelen, A.; Compreender o trabalho para transformá-lo: a prática da ergonomia, Editora Edgard Blücher, 2001
Ones, D. S., Anderson, N., Viswesvaran, C., & Sinangil, H. K. ; The SAGE Handbook of Industrial, Work & Organizational Psychology, Sage, 2018
Revista do Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa; Análise Social. ISBN: ISSN 0003-2573
Revista da Faculdade de psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto; Revista Laboreal. ISBN: https://journals.openedition.org/laboreal/
Shafritz, J.M. & J. Steven Ott, J.S., & Jang, Y. S. (Editors); Classics of organization theory (7th Ed) , Wadsworth, Inc, 2011

Teaching methods and learning activities

This course is organized in theoretical and theoretical-practical classes that include:
- Exposition of theoretical frameworks;
- Analysis and discussion of texts;
- Presentation and discussion of practical cases.

keywords

Social sciences > Psychological sciences > Psychology > Applied psychology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Exame	70,00
Trabalho de campo	30,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	98,00
Frequência das aulas	54,00
Trabalho de campo	10,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

The theoretical-practical classes are subject to the verification of attendance.

Calculation formula of final grade

In the assessment of this CU the following components are weighted:

a) completing, in group, of 2 practical exercises (one for the Work Psychology’s module and one for the Organizational Psychology’s module) - the two exercises and their presentation in class are mandatory;

b) final exam.

Description of the practical exercises:

In two TP classes the students, organised in groups, will have around 10 minutes to present the exercise carried out in each of the sub-modules of the course, with reference, in particular, to a characterisation of: (i) the worker who was selected to be interviewed; (ii) his/her working and employment conditions in the situation under analysis; (iii) his/her organizational context and how he/she fit into this context; and (iv) the function performed in systemic terms. In each practical exercise, the group must answer a research question defined in advance by the teaching team, following a guideline that translates into a progressive analysis that is coherent with the content of the classes.

Each practical exercise will be assessed on a scale of 20 points. The following criteria will be used to assess the pratical exercise component: clarification of the criteria applied to select the worker and the work situation to be analyzed; appropriation and use of key concepts; critical positioning in relation to the determinants of the work and employment situation analyzed; the format and structure of the presentation; and the appropriation and mastery of the work carried out by all members of the group.

The final assessment is obtained by weighting the assessment components listed above with the following weight, respectively: a) 30% and b) 70%.

Failure to complete an assessment component will result in a classification of 0 points for that component, with a minimum classification of 8 for each component.

To be approved in this course, the student must obtain a final classification of at least 10 out of 20 (point 2, Art. 4 of the FPCEUP General Regulations for Student Assessment).

Appeals are limited to components that by their nature are repeatable, and in the case of this course, appeals are limited to the exam.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

• Students who by law are exempted from verification of the conditions of attendance, if unable to participate in TP classes, may choose to take only the final exam, which will be weighted 100% in the final grade.


• Students with special educational needs should contact the UC regent at the beginning of the semester.

Classification improvement

The improvement of classification is possible through a new exam.
Students may request to improve their classification only once, up to two seasons subsequent to the season in which they obtained approval and in which the curricular unit has an exam.