An Essay About Work Psychology and the Psychology of Working

Forward

Howard Weiss spent his career thinking and writing about the psychological experience of work. His formulations of affective events theory and person-centric work psychology represent sea changes within the field, and since those writings, he continued to deeply contemplate the directions psychology needs to take to better understand the contribution of “work and working” to the human experience. He saw the current paper as his final opus—a culmination of his conclusions about “what is missing” within the field of psychology and a set of ideas with which new bright scholars could push the field forward. Upon being diagnosed with cancer in late 2022 and realizing he may not live long enough to complete this paper, he asked the second author to ensure its completion and publication. He died in February 2023. The second author invited the third author, who had worked closely with Howard on earlier work on person-centric work psychology, to join him in shaping years’ worth of Howard’s notes, missives, and working drafts into a paper that could aid scholars in bringing his theoretical ideas to reality. The second and third author have attempted to do justice to Howard’s ideas and vision, adding and editing using their best judgment. Essential to emphasize, though, is that these ideas are primarily Howard’s, and any positive reactions or reflections about the paper owe to him reading about, reflecting upon, and writing down these themes over many years. Similarly, any errors or confusion about these ideas should be attributed to us.

Abstract

Despite the ubiquity of work and its importance for both individual well-being and societal functioning, the psychology of work remains a relatively small field within psychology that has not fulfilled its potential for individual, organizational, or societal impact. This is a result of industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology (and related fields) almost exclusively relying on a third-person, work-centric perspective. This perspective has its roots in I-O psychology’s initial aims of maximizing human efficiency/productivity and organizational profitability—labeled herein as the “Munsterberg Project.” Although there are now important tributaries flowing from the Munsterberg project that go well beyond financial concerns (e.g., research on occupational health and safety, employee well-being, diversity, work–family issues, among many others), they largely remain embedded in this traditional paradigm. This essay calls for a supplementation of this perspective with a person-centric, first-person study of the experience (i.e., phenomenology) of working. Such a perspective prioritizes humans as creators. Leveraging historical and philosophical arguments, the deficiencies of the traditional paradigm are highlighted, and a first-person perspective is called for that can yield novel insights that will ultimately help the psychology of work take its rightful place among other fundamental psychologies inherent to social and organization science.

Commentaries due June 19, 2026