Application of Psychological Concepts to become an effective and adaptive modern worker

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POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
GRADUATE SCHOOL
MASTER IN PSYCHOLOGY
Towards a Healthier Mind: the Effects of the Application
of Psychological Thoughts and Concepts on creating a
more Positive Attitude of Employees towards Work
By Joshua J. Batalla - IP
2014

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Table of Contents
 Introduction 2
 Hypothesis 3
 Significance of the Study 3
 Definitions of Terms 4
 Discussions 5 - 6
 Summary 7
 Reference 7
Introduction
A meaningful life includes meaningful work, a lot of times people tend to focus on the
personal lives of the individual to explain certain behavioral patterns. But let us face it, we spend
majority of our waking times at work and most of the thinking processes, strong emotions that
we felt and bonds we have created took place in the work environment. After 8 hours of
strenuous work it will depend on your day outcome your emotions for the consequent scenarios
that would took place. This is called the “spillover effect”. It is important to explore why do
some people became more successful than others, why do some people tend to manage stress
much more efficiently and why do some people tend to develop more social cohesiveness than
others being in the same environment with them. There must be something different on the way
they think, feel and act. Renowned psychologist invested countless number of hours conducting
experiments to test their hypothesis, some experience near death scenarios only for them to
discover where people draw out their strengths to carry on. Assimilating their theories into the
industrial setting tend to improve the efficacy, emotional resiliency and advancement toward
growth and the need for self-actualization of the employees.

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Hypothesis
“There is strong correlation between the education of psychological thought in creating a more
resilient, objective and creative workforce”
Significance of the Study
This is study is useful with people in all walks of life from students, teachers, entrepreneurs and
professional workers. Its intended audience is people with no background in psychological
concepts, those who are struggling with work and those who wants to advancement in their
careers.

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Definitions of terms
Work - An activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a
purpose or result
Job - An unfulfilling but necessary way to make money
Career - An opportunity to advance from one position to a better position
Calling - A fulfilling and socially useful activity
Existential-Humanistic Approaches
– Is a term applied to the work of certain late 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who,
despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking
begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling,
living human individual.
Cognitive Behavioral Approaches
– Is a psychotherapeutic approach that addresses dysfunctional emotions,
maladaptive behaviors and cognitive processes and contents through a number of goal-oriented,
explicit systematic procedures.
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
– Application of Psychological Concepts for the betterment of human dignity in the
workplace

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Main Discussion:
“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is but rather must recognize that it
is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by
answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible. “
– Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for meaning
The principle above is an excerpt from Viktor Frankl’s best-selling book. When asked how he
felt in regards of the success of his book Frankl expressed his sadness that a lot of people seems
at lost with meaning about their lives. I would like to tell you the story of the life of Mr. Viktor
Frankl at the tender age of 16, he gave his first public lecture, “On the meaning of life.” At a
young age, Frankl had become convinced that the human spirit is what makes us unique and the
reducing life and human nature to “nothing but” along the lines of many existentialist
philosophers and psychiatrist of his time denied or discounted any such spirit. He became a very
successful neurologist and psychiatrist. His theory was developed in the academe but was further
confirmed by his experiences in the war, in the holocaust. His whole family was sent to a
concentration camp in Prague. This was the beginning of three dark years of imprisonment
during which Frankl lost his wife, Tilly, his parents and his brothers to the horrors of the Nazi
prison camp. He nearly died from typhoid fever and kept himself going by reconstructing his
manuscript on bits of paper stolen from the camp office. How could he – every possession lost,
every value destroyed, suffering from hunger , cold and brutality, hourly expecting extermination
– how could he find a life worth preserving. He survived because he has found meaning, as well
as others who were with him in the concentration camp.
Surely the amount of responsibility and pressure that we have in our work doesn’t compare to
what frankl and his colleagues experienced in the Nazi concentration camp. but it made him
survive the most extreme environment surely it could be applied in the workplace. Below are the
list of principles that makes up the Existential approaches:
1. We are free to choose our attitude toward everything that happens to us
2. We can realize our will to meaning by making a conscious, authentic commitment to
meaningful values and goals
3. We can find meaning in all life’s moments
4. We can learn to see how we work against ourselves and can learn to avoid thwarting our
intentions
5. We can look at ourselves in a distance to gain insight and perspective as well as to laugh
at ourselves
6. We can shift our focus of attention when we are coping with difficult situations
7. We can reach beyond ourselves and make a difference in the world.
“Between the stimulus and response there is a space. The freedom to choose how we would
respond, on that response lies our growth and happiness”.

6. An existential approach doesn’t limit human potential. As long as you give meaning with
whatever you are doing everything is possible. In life you only gain may it be bad or good event
there is a meaning attached into it, the only time you lost something is when you fail to recognize
that meaning. Existential Theories can provide individuals meaning in their work
Cognitive Behavioral therapy is the contemporary form of behavior therapy it gives emphasis on
the role of cognition in all mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and
communicating. CBT has been used globally in treatment of depression and anxiety. Feeling of
sadness is very common in the workplace due to its high pressure environment. Mr. Aaron T.
Beck is the key proponent of CBT he is renowned psychiatrist specializing in treatment of
depressed patients. The best thing about CBT is that same as with existential approaches it is anti
– deterministic. Mr. Beck has been in a lot of trials in which he managed to overcome
cognitively.
Below are the major assumptions of cognitive behavior therapy:
1. An organism needs to process information in an adaptive way in order to survive
2. Psychological distress is the ultimate consequence of the interaction of innate, biological,
developmental and environmental factors
3. It is our cognitions which include our thoughts and beliefs and the manner in which we
perceive a situation, that are the basis for what we believe, how we act and how we feel.
4. The cognitive model proposes that dysfunctional thinking is common among
psychological conflicts
He asserted that people exhibit dysfunctional thoughts that are not necessarily proven. If it
remained unchecked it will become and individuals core life principle. It will become deeply
incorporated to the individual life that he will accept it as a general truth.
It assumes that our thinking colors our feelings between the even and our response lies the mind.
Self-blaming and overgeneralized explanation of bad events are often integral part of the vicious
cycle of depression. The depressed person interprets a suggestion as criticism, disagreement as a
dislike, praise as flattery, friendliness as pity. Ruminating on such thoughts sustains negative
thinking.
The cognitive model is depicted below; it shows how the core principle affects the way the
individual viewed certain scenarios:
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7. If such thinking patterns can be learned, then surely they can be replaced. Cognitive behavioral
therapy promotes education to impart the way dysfunctional thinking affects our lives it may the
goal of CBT is for people became wary of the thoughts that automatically came in their mind and
devised a way to have a more healthier way of thinking. Cognitive behavioral theories can
help align the individuals thinking toward their goals
This concept had been tested to be effective on several levels of the society, it has provided
treatment in the clinical settings and it provided support in the societal setting. It could also
provide insight and growth in the industrial setting. Organizations is the convergence of people
with similar goals, thus psychological care must also be present in the workplace.
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Conclusions
We have seen the importance of work in or lives, it sustains our needs thus it is inevitable that
we feel the pressure that came along with it. The growing technological advances in the
workplace also adds up with the stress levels as manager counts to the last minute the amount of
work you have done, how you have spent the companies time and how you waste your time. The
workplace also becomes the rendezvous point of different individuals with varying viewpoints
thus conflict is also inevitable. By applying the methods of the existentialist we have learned to
that everything that is happening in our lives has meaning and we only gain from it. From the
concepts of CBT we have drawn out that there are thoughts that are no necessarily true but it
incapacitates us and tend to inhibit us in achieving our true potential. Thus by applying this
concepts we can have a more healthier mind and a more positive attitude towards our work.
Recommendations
The researcher recommends a more extensive study of the theoretical concepts mentioned in this
term paper. To know but not to do is not knowing at all. So the best way for the reader to
assimilate the information provided in this paper is to live it through they will see significant
changes in their lives.
Published Books References:
David G. Myers, Psychology 10th Edition, 2013
Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for meaning, 1984
Alex Pattakos, Prisoners of our Thoughts, 2010
Michael G. Aamodt, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, 2010
Gerald Corey, Theory and Practice of counseling and psychotherapy, 2009
Jess Feist, Theories of Personality, 2008