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Morris S. Viteles (1898–1996)

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American Psychologist
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Albert S. Thompson
Albert S. Thompson
Albert S. Thompson
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Abstract

Memorializes M. S. Viteles, who played a major role in the development of psychology: as a pioneer in industrial psychology and vocational guidance; through his long career as a scientist and practitioner both here and abroad; and as a teacher and mentor of several generations of psychologists.
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OBITUARIES
Morris S. Viteles (1898-1996)
Morris Simon Viteles, who was 98 years and 9 months old,
died on December 7, 1996, at Medford Leas, a New Jersey
retirement community. He was an important participant in
the development of psychology as a science and as a
profession.
Born on March 21, 1898, in a Russian village, he
migrated with his parents and siblings to England in the fall
of 1898 and moved in 1904 to the United States. He com-
pleted elementary schooling in Philadelphia in six years
and Central High School in four years. After a year at the
Philadelphia School of Pedagogy, he entered the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania, where he received his Bachelor of
Arts degree in 1918 and his Doctor of Philosophy degree
in psychology in 1921, at the age of 23.
During his long career, Viteles served in several sig-
nificant roles. He can rightfully be called a pioneer because
his contributions came early in the history of the voca-
tional guidance movement and in the development of indus-
trial psychology. Upon completion of undergraduate study
at the University of Pennsylvania (as a history major with a
minor in psychology), he accepted an assistantship in the
psychology department. As a graduate student in psychol-
ogy, he was exposed to Lightner Witmer's clinical psy-
chology and to Edwin Twitmyer's approach to experimen-
tal psychology, and he became interested in individual dif-
ferences and their measurement in relation to job perfor-
mance and career development. In 1926, he established the
first university-based vocational guidance program. In 1937,
he and Franklin J. Keller, then principal of the Vocational
High School in New York City, published Vocational Guid-
ance Throughout the World, which provided a compre-
hensive survey of the methods and accomplishments of the
vocational guidance movement not only in the United States
but also in Europe, Australia, South Africa, and Asia.
Due to early consulting experiences with the Milwau-
kee Electric and Light Company and the Philadelphia Elec-
tric Company, industrial psychology gradually replaced vo-
cational guidance as his primary interest. His consulting
led to the formulation of the Job Psychograph, which was
used to identify the abilities required in job settings and
which led to the grouping of occupations into job families
and to the occupational codes used in the Dictionary of
Occupational Titles, published by the U.S. Employment
Service (U.S.E.S.). Viteles served on the Technical Board
of the U.S.E.S. during that developmental period.
The event that most justifies his being called a pioneer
was the publication, written in 1932 at the age of 34, of
Industrial Psychology, which not only established him as a
leader in the field but helped to define this newly develop-
ing field. It provided a comprehensive summary of indus-
trial psychology both in the United States and Europe and
had, as its objective, "showing the genesis, the problems,
the settings, the knowledge, and the accomplishments of
this newer application of psychology." Frequently referred
to as the "bible" of industrial psychology, it was supple-
mented in 1953 by the 500-page Motivation and Morale
in Industry, a definitive work on this increasingly impor-
tant aspect of industrial psychology.
Although his entire academic career was spent at the
University of Pennsylvania, Viteles became involved in a
wide variety of activities including teaching, research, and
consulting in both private industry and government set-
tings, and participated in professional activities both in the
United States and abroad. Long before the 1949 APA Boul-
der Conference espoused the concept of the integrated
role of scientist and practitioner as the model for psy-
chologists, Viteles not only exemplified the role but vigor-
ously promoted it. From articles in the 1920s on selection
research and in an article entitled "Validating the Clinical
Method in Vocational Guidance" to a 1972 article on "Psy-
chology today-Fact or Foible" in the American Psycholo-
gist, Viteles consistently and persistently insisted on the
need for psychologists to base their practice on sound
research and validation.
Viteles legitimately played the dual role of academi-
cian and practitioner. By agreement with the university, he
served as Director of Training and Personnel Research for
the Philadelphia Electric Company from 1927 to 1964. He
was also an active consultant with the Yellow Cab Company
from 1927 to 1965 and with the Bell Telephone Company
from 1951 to 1984. As explained in his 1967 autobiogra-
phy, Reminiscences of an Academic Moonlighter, he car-
ried out both roles with equal diligence and devotion.
During World War II, Viteles became extensively
involved in activities related to the war effort. These activi-
ties included research about the effects of environmental
conditions on the performance of personnel on naval ves-
sels, criteria for evaluating student flight performance for
the National Research Council Committee on Selection
and Training of Aircraft Pilots, chairmanship of the Medi-
cal Aviation Section of the U.S. Navy, and consulting roles
in a variety of projects for the National Defense Research
Committee of the Office of Scientific Research and
Development.
Throughout his career, the outcomes of his consulting
roles were not treated as in-house information or used for
personal benefit but were shared with the profession. In
addition to publishing articles in psychology journals, he
published in journals such as the Journal of Personnel
Research, Annals of the Academy of Political and Social
Science, Society for the Advancement of Management,
and journals of the industry in which he was consulting. In
October 1998
•
American Psychologist
Copyright 1998 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 0003-066X/98/$2.00
Vol. 53, No. 10, 1153-1154
1153
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The Early Years of Industrial and Organizational Psychology
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A History of Personnel Selection and Assessment
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This chapter surveys the history of psychology applied to personnel selection and assessment, decade by decade, from approximately 1900 until the present. We begin with contextual factors that led to an applied psychology, along with measurement and statistical innovations that made scientific personnel selection feasible. Among the topics covered are the initial selection forays by psychologists in the early 1900s, the influence of the Carnegie Institute of Technology program, the impact of events such as World War I and II and the Civil Rights Movement on selection research and practice, and the evolution of validation and utility procedures. Finally, we reflect on the more than 100 years of research and practice by psychologists involved in personnel selection and assessment.
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A History of Industrial and Organizational Psychology
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  • Sep 2012
This chapter is a historical overview of the evolution of industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology both in the United States and abroad, from the late nineteenth century to its current incarnation as a complex, wide-ranging scientific and applied discipline. Contextual background is integrated with the development of science and practice from a chronological perspective, partitioning this history into seven somewhat arbitrary time periods. Following a discussion of pre-1900 precursors, we discuss the genesis of the field from 1900 to 1914, when dynamic cultural, economic, and other external forces influenced early efforts in areas such as advertising, fatigue, and selection. Industrial psychology became established from 1915 through 1919, due in large part to the work of the Division of Applied Psychology at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and to psychologists' efforts in World War I. The period of 1920 to 1939 included the influential Hawthorne Studies and the maturation of industrial psychology, while 1940 to 1959 saw considerable expansion during World War II and its aftermath. This expansion continued during the period of 1960 to 1979, with "industrial" psychology now "industrial-organizational" psychology. We close with an overview of developments from 1980 to the present day.
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A historical survey of research and practice in industrial and organizational psychology
Article
  • Jan 2011
The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the history of industrial–organizational (I/O) psychology. Like Ferguson (1962–1965), we emphasize the importance of the Carnegie Institute of Technology’s applied psychology program and concentrate on early developments in the field. Unlike Baritz (1960), we offer an insider's rather than an outsider's perspective. We attempt a comprehensive history in the manner of Hilgard (1987) and Katzell and Austin (1992); however, like the earlier treatments by Viteles (1932) and McCollom (1968), we also examine historical developments outside the United States. In addition, we fold in a brief history of the related field of organizational behavior (OB). And although we emphasize a number of substantive areas such as employee selection and motivation, we do not take the explicitly topical approach of Koppes (2007). To cover this expansive history in a single chapter, by necessity we had to be selective in deciding what material to include and what aspects to emphasize. It is not possible in a single chapter to do justice to all of the relevant worldwide research, practice, organizations, and contributing individuals, let alone the associated scientific, social, political, and economic contexts that influenced this history. We have therefore limited the scope of the chapter in the following ways. As is appropriate for a handbook chapter, we emphasize broad trends, familiar, agreed-upon historical landmarks, and the synthesis of the large body of existing historical scholarship. Although we do not assume prior knowledge of the field’s history, we do assume the reader has a working knowledge of I/O psychology. We have decided to devote more space and detail to origins and early developments than to more recent history. For both industrial psychology and organizational psychology, we begin with a broad overview and then cover a few selected areas in greater detail, focusing for the most part on the first half of the 20th century but also examining interesting and relevant later developments. Our coverage of industrial psychology begins with late 19th century work on advertising and on fatigue, followed by the contributions of the Division of Applied Psychology at CIT and the impact of World War I on industrial psychology. We then turn to the early history of psychologists in industry and consulting, as well as professional institutes and organizations. Next, we discuss the history of psychology applied to employee selection, performance appraisal, and training. On the organizational psychology and OB side, we look at the evolution of interest in worker welfare, examine the influential Hawthorne studies, and discuss the history of the human relations movement. This is followed by histories of psychology’s efforts in leadership, employee motivation, and job satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
View
Obituary: Morris S. Viteles (1898-1996)
Article
  • Oct 1998
Memorializes M. S. Viteles, who played a major role in the development of psychology: as a pioneer in industrial psychology and vocational guidance; through his long career as a scientist and practitioner both here and abroad; and as a teacher and mentor of several generations of psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
View