Industrial-Organizational Psychology's Recurring Identity Crises: It's a Values Issue!

Abstract

It's important to place the issues expressed by Ryan and Ford (2010) in historical perspective. Although they acknowledge some earlier expressions of concern, especially with respect to professional training (Naylor, 1971), I think it's fair to characterize the overall tenor of their essay as one of sounding the alarm: a new and unique impending identity crisis. However, as previously noted, “industrial-organizational psychology seems to be subject to recurring identity threats” (Lefkowitz, 2005, p. 18).