Abstract
Social psychological theory has made a number of important contributions to how we think about organisational life, from the way in which work is designed to the relationship between managers and employees. This chapter outlines a number of concerns that social psychology has been uncritically accepted without interrogating some important assumptions. We present how critical perspectives on the application of social psychology to work raise some important issues for scholars. Starting with a review of existing critiques, we explore how labour process and social theory can be used to as a basis to develop new lines of research in critical social psychology. The final section reports on the recent popularity of positive psychology and its psychologisation of workplace problems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Alvesson, M., Bridgman, T., & Willmott, H. (2011). Introduction. In M. Alvesson, T. Bridgman, & H. Willmott (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of critical management studies (pp. 1–26). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Ashforth, B. E., & Mael, F. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization. Academy of Management Review, 14, 20–39.
Augier, M., & March, J. G. (2007). The pursuit of relevance in management education. California Management Review, 49(3), 129–146.
Augoustinos, M. (1999). Ideology, false consciousness and psychology. Theory & Psychology, 9(3), 295–312.
Bauman, Z. (2000). Liquid modernity. Oxford: Polity Press.
Bauman, Z. (2007). Consuming life. Oxford: Polity Press.
Binkley, S. (2014). Happiness as enterprise: An essay on neoliberal life. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Blackler, F., & Brown, C. A. (1978). Organizational psychology: Good intentions and false promises. Human Relations, 31, 333–351.
Boltanski, L., & Chiapello, S. (2006). The new spirit of capitalism. London: Verso.
Bourdieu, P. (1999). Acts of resistance: Against the tyranny of the market. New York: New Press.
Bourdieu, P. (2000). The weight of the world: Social suffering in contemporary society. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Braverman, H. (1976). Labor and monopoly capital: The degradation of work in the twentieth century. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Briggs-Myers, I., & Myers, P. B. (1995). Gifts differing: Understanding personality type (2nd ed.). Mountain View, CA: CPP.
Cameron, K. S., Dutton, J. E., & Quinn, R. E. (2003). Foundations of positive organizational scholarship. In J. E. Dutton, R. E. Quinn, & K. S. Cameron (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline (pp. 3–13). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Chattopadhyay, P., Tluchowska, M., & George, E. (2004). Identifying the ingroup: A closer look at the influence of demographic dissimilarity on employee social identity. Academy of Management Review, 29, 180–202.
Chomsky, N. (1999). Profits over people: Neoliberalism and the global order. New York: Seven Stories Press.
Clegg, S., & Baumeler, C. (2010). From iron cages to liquid modernity in organizational analysis. Organizational Studies, 31(12), 1713–1733.
Clegg, S., & Baumeler, C. (2014). Liquid modernity, the owl of Minerva and technologies of the emotional self. In J. Kociatkiewicz & M. Kostera (Eds.), Liquid organization: Zygmunt Bauman and organization theory (pp. 104–150). London: Routledge.
Condor, S. (1996). Social identity and time. In W. P. Robinson (Ed.), Social groups and identities: Developing the legacy of Henri Tajfel (pp. 285–315). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinman.
Couch, C. (2011). The strange non-death of neoliberalism. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
Coupland, D. (1991). Generation X: Tales for an accelerated culture. New York: St Martins Press.
Cushman, P. (1995). Constructing the self, constructing America: A cultural history of psychotherapy. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
Dashtipour, P. (2012). Social identity in question: Construction, subjectivity and critique. London: Routledge.
Dashtipour, P. (2015). Social psychology: A commentary of organizational research. In I. Parker (Ed.), Handbook of critical psychology (pp. 79–87). London: Routledge.
Davies, W. (2014). The limits of neoliberalism: Authority, sovereignty and the logic of competition. London: Sage.
Dean, M. (2010). Governmentality: Power and rule in modern society (2nd ed.). London: Sage.
Elms, A. C. (1975). The crisis of confidence in social psychology. American Psychologist, 30(10), 967–976.
Erington, A., & Bubna-Litic, D. (2015). Management by textbook: The role of text books in developing critical thinking. Journal of Management Education, 39(6), 774–800.
Fineman, S. (2000). Commodifying the emotionally intelligent. In S. Fineman (Ed.), Emotions in organizations (2nd ed., pp. 101–115). London: Sage.
Fineman, S. (2004). Getting the measure of emotion—And the cautionary tale of emotional intelligence. Human Relations, 57(6), 719–740.
Fineman, S. (2006a). On being positive: Concerns and counterpoints. Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 270–291.
Fineman, S. (2006b). Accentuating the positive? Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 306–308.
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish (A. Sheridan, Trans.). London: Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1988). Technologies of the self. In L. H. Martin, H. Gutman, & P. H. Hutton (Eds.), Technologies of the self (pp. 16–50). Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
Foucault, M. (1991). Governmentality. In G. Burchill, C. Gordon, & P. Miller (Eds.), The Foucault effect: Studies in governmentality (pp. 87–104). London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Fredrickson, B., & Losada, M. F. (2005). Positive affect and the complex dynamics of human flourishing. American Psychologist, 60, 678–686.
Fromm, E. (1947/2003). Man for himself: An inquiry into the psychology of ethics. London: Routledge.
Fromm, E. (1956/1991). The sane society. London: Routledge.
Fromm, E. (1962/2009). Beyond the chains of illusion: My encounter with Marx and Freud. New York: Continuum.
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Gorz, A. (1999). Reclaiming work: Beyond the wage-based society (C. Turner, Trans.). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Grey, C., & Willmott, H. (2005). Introduction. In C. Grey & H. Willmott (Eds.), Critical management studies: A reader (pp. 1–20). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Grugulis, I. (2007). The human side of skills and knowledge. In S. Bolton & M. Houlihan (Eds.), Searching for the human in human resource management (pp. 61–80). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Haslam, A. S., & van Dick, R. (2011). A social identity approach to workplace stress. In D. De Cremer, R. van Dick, & K. J. Murnighan (Eds.), Social psychology and organizations (pp. 325–352). New York: Routledge.
Haslam, A. S., van Knippenberg, D., Platow, M. J., & Ellemers, N. (Eds.). (2003). Social identity at work: Developing theory for organizational practice. New York: Psychology Press.
Hepburn, A. (2003). An introduction to critical social psychology. London: Sage.
Hogg, M. A., & Terry, D. J. (Eds.). (2003). Social identity processes in organizational contexts. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
Hollway, W. (1991). Work psychology and organizational behaviour: Managing the individual at work. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hollway, W. (1998). Fitting work: Psychological assessment in organizations. In J. Henriques, W. Hollway, C. Urwin, C. Venn, & V. Walkerdine (Eds.), Changing the subject: Psychology, social regulation and subjectivity (Rev ed., pp. 26–59). London: Routledge.
Hughes, J. (2005). Bringing emotions to work: Emotional intelligence, employee resistance and the reinvention of character. Work, Employment & Society, 19(3), 603–625.
Huszczo, G. E., Wiggins, J. G., & Currie, J. S. (1984). The relationship between psychology and organized labor: Past, present and future. American Psychologist, 39, 432–440.
Ingleby, D. (1991/2002). Forward. In E. Fromm (Ed.), The sane society (pp. xiv–xxv). London: Routledge.
Islam, G., & Zyphur, M. (2009). Concepts and directions in critical industrial/organizational psychology. In D. Fox, I. Prilleltensky, & S. Austin (Eds.), Critical psychology: An introduction (2nd ed., pp. 110–125). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Jenkins, R. (2014). Social identity (4th ed.). London: Routledge.
Lasch, C. (1979). The culture of narcissism: American life in an age of diminishing expectations. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Lemke, T. (2001). The birth of bio-politics: Michael Foucault’s lectures at the College de France on neo-liberal governmentality. Economy and Society, 30(2), 190–207.
Mandel, E., & Novack, G. (1970). The Marxist theory of alienation. New York: Pathfinder.
Manne, A. (2014). The life of I: The new culture of narcissism. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
Marshall, H., & Wetherell, M. (1989). Talking about career and gender identities: A discourse analysis perspective. In S. Skevington & D. Baker (Eds.), The social identity of women (pp. 106–129). London: Sage.
McDonald, M., & Bubna-Litic, D. (2012). Applied social psychology: A critical theoretical perspective. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6(12), 853–864.
McDonald, M., & O’Callaghan, J. (2008). Positive psychology: A Foucauldian critique. The Humanistic Psychologist, 36(2), 127–142.
McDonald, M., & Wearing, S. (2013). Social psychology and theories of consumer culture: A political economy inquiry. London: Routledge.
McDonald, M., Wearing, S., & Ponting, J. (2008). Narcissism and neoliberalism: Work, leisure and alienation in an era of consumption. Loisir et Societe (Society and Leisure), 30(1), 489–510.
Mills, W. C. (1959/2000). The sociological imagination. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pancer, S. M. (1997). Social psychology: The crisis continues. In D. Fox & I. Prilleltensky (Eds.), Critical psychology: An introduction (pp. 150–165). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Parker, I. (1989). The crisis in social psychology: How to end it. London: Routledge, Kegan & Paul.
Parker, I. (1997). Group identity and individuality in times of crisis: Psychoanalytical reflections on social psychological knowledge. Human Relations, 50(2), 183–196.
Parker, I. (2007). Revolution in psychology: Alienation to emancipation. Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press.
Pfeffer, J., & Fong, C. T. (2002). The end of business schools? Less success than meets the eye. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 1(1), 78–95.
Prasad, A., & Prasad, P. (1993). Reconceptulazing alienation in management inquiry: Critical organizational scholarship and workplace empowerment. Journal of Management Inquiry, 2, 169–183.
Prilleltensky, I., Nelson, G., & Geoffrey, B. (2002). Doing psychology critically: Making a difference in diverse settings. London: Palgrave.
Ritzer, G. (2014). The McDonaldization of society (8th ed.). Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press.
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational behaviour (14th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.
Roberts, L. M. (2006). Shifting the lens on organizational life: The added value of positive scholarship. Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 292–305.
Rose, N. (1996). Identity, genealogy, history. In P. du Gay, J. Evans, & P. Redman (Eds.), Identity: A reader (pp. 311–324). London: Sage.
Rose, N. (1998). Inventing ourselves: Psychology, power and personhood. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Saad-Filho, A., & Johnston, D. (Eds.). (2005). Neoliberalism: A critical reader. London: Pluto Press.
Sandal, M. (2013). What money can’t buy: The moral limits of markets. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Schiffmann, R., & Wicklund, R. A. (1992). The minimal group paradigm and its minimal psychology. Theory & Psychology, 2, 29–50.
Schor, J. (1999). The overspent American: Upscaling, downshifting, and the new consumer. New York: Basic Books.
Stainton-Rogers, W. (2011). Social psychology (2nd ed.). Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.
Steffy, B. D., & Grimes, A. J. (1992). Personnel/organizational psychology: A critique of the discipline. In M. Alvesson & H. Willmott (Eds.), Critical management studies (pp. 181–201). London: Sage.
Tadajewski, M., Maclaran, P., Parsons, E., & Parker, M. (2011). Key concepts in critical management studies. London: Sage.
Taylor, E. (2001). A reply to Seligman on positive psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 41(1), 13–29.
Thompson, P. (2003). Disconnected capitalism: Or why employers can’t keep their side of the bargain. Work, Employment & Society, 17(2), 359–378.
Vecchio, R. P. (2006). Organizational behaviour. Mason, OH: Thomson South Western.
Vinchur, A. J., & Koppes, L. L. (2010). A historical survey of research and practice in industrial and organizational psychology. In S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology: Building and developing the organization (Vol. 1, pp. 3–36). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Walsh, M., & Bahnisch, M. (2002). Political subjects, workplaces and subjectivities. In V. Walkerdine (Ed.), Challenging subjects: Critical psychology for a new millennium (pp. 23–38). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave.
Wearing, M. J., & Hughes, M. (2014). On fluidity and flow in the networked space of human service organizations: Understanding liquidity and organized welfare praxis. In J. Kociatkiewicz & M. Kostera (Eds.), Liquid organization: Zygmunt Bauman and organization theory (pp. 120–139). London: Routledge.
Weber, M. (1922/1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Wetherell, M. (1996). Constructing social identities: The individual/social binary in Henri Tajfel’s social psychology. In W. P. Robinson (Ed.), Social groups and identities: Developing the legacy of Henri Tajfel (pp. 269–284). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinman.
Willig, C. (2013). Introducing qualitative research in psychology (3rd ed.). Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.
Wooffitt, R. (2005). Conversation analysis and discourse analysis: A comparative and critical introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Zickar, M. J. (2001). Using personality inventories to identify thugs and agitators: Applied psychology’s contribution to the war against labor. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 59, 149–164.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
McDonald, M., Bubna-Litic, D. (2017). Critical Organisational Psychology. In: Gough, B. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Social Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51018-1_29
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51018-1_29
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-51017-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51018-1
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)