Perspectives on Business Psychology

By Lesley Jennings. My interest in Psychology initially arose as a result of my upbringing and the life that I led as a young adult. I grew up in a small town on the West Coast of Scotland, where discussions about the human condition were a daily occurrence. At the age of 21, I accepted a role in the Senior Leadership Team of a tourism company, living and working across Europe. It was my belief th

By Erica Farmer.We are realising that AI adoption will not succeed through tools and training alone. Human skills are the unlock, but only when the right psychology is in place: agency, curiosity, critical thinking and the safety to experiment and challenge, with it being OK to occasionally get things wrong.For ABP Members: This is an article overview of learnings shared in the ABP Event: AI Pract

By Miguelle James. Abstract:Psychological safety is often confused with the absence of discomfort. Drawing on Business Psychology research, this article examines how silence, power dynamics and the avoidance of difficult conversations undermine workplace trust and accountability. It argues that genuine workplace safety is not defined by the absence of challenge, but by how organisations enable and

Developed by The ABP Membership Team. Business Psychologists create value in many different ways, from helping individuals thrive to shaping organisations and advancing the profession itself. This article explores the many forms that impact can take, showing how different career paths can all contribute to improving working lives through the thoughtful application of psychology. One of the most ex

By Dr Suhair Mereish. Conflict is inevitable in construction.In any construction project, owners and contractors, or contractors and their subcontractors, must align their resources within agreed schedules and budgets. Yet each party operates with its own commercial interests, and it is precisely this divergence of priorities that creates the conditions for conflict. Thus, conflicts can range from

By Stephen Russell. I was working on a contested management buyout, and the principals were debating their path to regulatory approval. An analyst raised a detail that bore directly on the timetable. He was heard – people looked up, someone nodded – but then the conversation moved on as though nothing had been said. I let it go to see whether anyone would return to it. When nobody did, and the dec

By Dr Liz Wall. From Taking a Break to Preventing the Need for Recovery In my last article for the Association for Business Psychology in August, I wrote about the benefits of taking a break. So, I decided to take my own advice. That pause reminded me how important recovery is. But it also prompted a broader question: what if we could prevent some of the workplace stress that makes recovery so nec

By Dr Jen Spencer. This is the second in a two-part series on neurodivergent professionals and the hidden cost of appearing fine at work. The first article in this series argued that psychological safety is not only something a team creates. For neurodivergent professionals, years of learning which traits are met with acceptance can produce a self-imposed unsafety that persists even in genuinely s

Developed by The ABP Membership Team. Business Psychology is a remarkably diverse profession, with practitioners working across many roles, sectors and specialisms. So what connects them all? This article explores the shared principles that unite Business Psychologists and the professional approach that underpins meaningful, evidence-based practice and lasting organisational impact. If you have be

By Chrysovalantis 'Chrys' Gerokonstantis. Understanding individual differences without reducing people to labels. Two leaders may face the same demanding situation yet respond very differently. One becomes more cautious, another more controlling, while a third appears relatively unaffected. Personality can help us understand some of these differences, but it is only part of the picture. Depression

By Ursula Clidière and Anne Calleja. A Short Vignette Maya, a senior project lead, is still delivering every milestone after a demanding promotion. Her sponsor sees a capable professional who needs to delegate more. Yet Maya is sleeping poorly, preparing late into the night, checking messages repeatedly, and replaying conversations for hours. She interprets minor revisions as evidence that she is

By Dr Dawn H Nicholson. I first conceived of The Biz Psych Cup back in 2019. At the time, I was completing my PhD, having pivoted into Higher Education from my corporate roles 6 years previously. I offered it to my (then) university when I applied for my academic role. Even back then, I was convinced that the best way to get students to understand Business Psychology and its application to the wor

By Danny Wareham. For over a century we've searched for better leaders. Danny Wareham asks, “What if we've been searching in the wrong place?” Leadership has traditionally been viewed through the lens of the individual. Organisations identify high-potential employees, invest in leadership development programmes and seek to cultivate the knowledge, behaviours and capabilities that distinguish effec

Developed by The ABP Membership Team. Once people realise there is no single route into Business Psychology, a new question often emerges: where could I fit? The profession offers a remarkable range of opportunities, each drawing on different interests and strengths. This article explores how following your curiosity can help you find your own place in Business Psychology. Once people discover Bus

By Shameen Mehta. Modern organisations are increasingly realising that mental health is not merely a personal issue to be managed outside of office hours. Business Psychology provides the empirical framework to understand how workplace structures directly impact psychological wellbeing. By fostering awareness and actively preventing stress, companies can transform environments that drain employees

By Dr Jen Spencer. This is the first in a two-part series on neurodivergent professionals and the hidden cost of appearing fine at work, every day, in workplaces that consider them dependable. Masking, sometimes called camouflaging, is the conscious or unconscious suppression of natural neurodivergent traits to meet neurotypical workplace norms. It is a learned strategy, not a fixed trait, shaped

By Saurabh Rana and Clodagh O'Reilly. An interesting discussion around a recent PMaps assessment case study prompted a broader question: in our enthusiasm to adopt AI, are we sometimes starting in the wrong place?AI is difficult to avoid in conversations about the future of work.In recruitment alone, candidates are using generative AI to write CVs, applications and responses to assessment question

From The ABP Membership Team, with Angus Robinson.For our new series 'Careers in Business Psychology', The ABP Membership Team invites practitioners to share their career path – how they ended up where they are today – as a helpful resource for anyone who may be interested in exploring a career in Business Psychology. For this article, Angus Robinson answered The ABP Membership Team’s questions, e

By Paula Brockwell. Most organisations are not short of culture data. They have engagement scores, listening group themes, exit interview feedback, wellbeing results, values comments and action plans. Often, they have more than enough information to know that something is not quite working. The difficulty comes next. When leaders ask, “So what do we actually change?”, the answer is often less clea

By Adrian Furnham. I am bilingual. I can speak two languages: “Academic Psycho-babble” and “Consultant Speak”. Neither language is superior, but both are very useful. How did I become bilingual?I am still a full-time academic and have been since 1979: U of Oxford (1979-1981); UCL (1981-2018), Norwegian Business School (2009-now). I publish books and papers; give lectures and supervise students.I a