PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS IN ORGANIZATIONS - AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE

Throughout the 20th century, managers and policy makers have relied on psychological interventions to help solve organizational problems. Ye t, the results of these interventions rarely meet expectations. One re ason may be that some of the perspectives used in thinking about inter ventions are at odds with how interventions and organizations function . This article argues that applied psychologists may benefit from an e volutionary perspective. Although it holds an important place in basic psychology and organization theory, an evolutionary perspective is ne arly absent in applied psychology. It views the development and use of social technologies as part of sociocultural evolution-driven by vari ation, selection, and retention. This article provides a framework for theory and research on an evolutionary perspective in applied psychol ogy and suggests implications for practice. Key concepts in the design of interventions include uncertainty variation. and conflict.