Published on 12 May 2022

What is Human Factor Psychology?

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Psychology studies behavior and different perspectives of people worldwide by their brain functioning process. Human factor psychology studies how people work and their experiences through the working environment and the technologies used.

The main goal of Human Factor Psychology is to ensure people are comfortable, convenient, efficient, and safe. For example, they are designing workplaces for maximum productivity or creating energy-efficient machines for the home. 

Human factors can help address complex issues such as fatigue management in pilots and mitigating errors in the medical industry from carelessness or oversight. Ultimately this field strives to promote well-being while improving overall performance and efficiency in day-to-day activities.

What Is Human Factor Psychology?

It is a psychological behavior observed in the working environment involving technologies. To elaborate, it is one of the overall bubbles for a psychological term which includes ergonomics, engineering, and psychology. It is a study to understand their engagement with the products, processes, and people. 

Existence Of The Human Factor Psychology

Human Factor Psychology seeks to identify these effects to develop strategies that optimize our potential. Consequently, it has been applied to many research areas, such as Education, business management, and marketing.

Human factor psychology began in the 1950s when the researcher started to learn about different things, and the foremost thing was to know about Safety. Airplane Safety was the first thing a human factor psychologist worked on. It was the main thing to be developed for the people to travel safely by having variations to the travel paths and the engineering produced for a better flight experience. 

It considers how our understanding of human behavior, motivation, and development can be improved by examining how our physical environment affects us. On a more practical level, it helps workers develop better Safety protocols as well as help create more effective work environments in workplaces around the world. 

Reason Behind The Existence Of Human Factor Psychology

During the 1950s, the main reason that made human factors psychology exist (the history of psychology) was the Safety of the airplane where the psychologist could work on the security of the people traveling and the usability of the tower where the staff could communicate with the pilot.

Human Factor Psychology Different From Other Psychology

Human factor psychology works on different observing patterns of the people related to the technical terms in the field. It even borrows different theories from universities. On the other hand, other psychology works on the views made by university scholars and with their reference for further studies on the field. 

The main reason to have a vast amount of research in human factor psychology is to eliminate ordinary people's problems, leading to a smooth flow of life.

Is Human Factors, Experimental Psychology?

They use the already observed experiments to experiment with reality with human factors. The researched topics are implemented to make it more progressive and improve its use. Human factor psychology is something wherein it is not related to any emotional or mental weaker health.

Factors That Relate To Human Factors In Psychology

  • The Job

It includes various forms of essential aspects in a field while working. It depends on the work pressures handled, the workplace environment, and viewing other displays in the working area. Every working station should be created according to the study of its territory and using different technologies.

  • The Individual

Each person includes their own set of skills and knowledge for the Company. Individuals deal with different perspectives and the risk ability in working for an administration, which can be complex.

  • The Organization

It includes different working styles depending on the work style, communication, leadership qualities, and the resources available in the workplace. Designing jobs is always overlooked but impacts an individual's or a group's behavior.

Human Factors and Ergonomics

Human factor psychology is the understanding of the communication of humans and their behavior to change accordingly with the workplace to eliminate the stress level. The observations vary the process according to the easy usability of the working life. In contrast, Ergonomics is related to having a healthy life for the people working for the system in an environment, traveling, and playing; this eventually can change the stress level to low, and people won't make many mistakes.

Ergonomics in psychology?

It is an individual study from person to person in a working environment about how an individual interacts with their occupation, workplace, products, and system. It is also known to be a subtopic of industrial and organizational psychology. It is made to increase productivity within the person and not have any unnatural limitations with their creative aspects.

Who Founded Ergonomics and What Was Its History?

Wojciech Jastrzębowski is a Polish scholar who came up with the idea of ergonomics globally. In 1857, it became known when Wojciech Jastrzębowski translated it into English. The translation of the Ergonomics Book from Polish to English was in 1997. Read more founder of psychology.

Accidents Caused by Human Factors

There are possibilities that there might be accidents that could cause due to human factors. Such as:

  • Absent Mindedness
  • Incompetence
  • Egoistic
  • Poor Understanding mindset
  • Carelessness
  • Forgetfulness
  • Illiteracy
  • Insufficient skills level
  • Lack of materials
  • Inefficient unity
  • Lack of focus
  • Pressure level

How To Prevent From Not Having Accidents?

It is essential to know the preventive measures. Whenever you follow preventive measures, there are fewer chances of going through the difficult phase.

  • Awareness
  • Enough training
  • Developing inner skills
  • Educating with proper inputs
  • Proper management
  • Frequently having a look

Difference Between Human Performance and Human Factors

Human Performance showcases how human Contributes to the system's performance and how people perform their work accordingly. In aviation, people are bound to be the reason for the problem and even solve the same risks. Whereas in terms of Human factors, it is known about all the relatable environments they are in; please learn about their limitations, skillsets, and work.

How Does Engineering Psychology Related To Human Factor Psychology?

The engineer also needs the required psychological skills to handle and enjoy the technology. Having a proper mindset to create any technology without knowing the actual reality is always challenging. People they are going to interact with, to which Human factors take place to build a possibility of making the minds clear with the happenings which can occur so that no mistakes are being made and used by people smoothly.

Aviation Safety With Human Factors

Human factors arrived for the benefits to airspace and the aviation industry. In which Company can address the whole of reality with others. It was to overcome the problems of air-based transport. Reducing human errors with technology has been built. Human factors are with a view of not having any issues and overall development to the system.

Why are Human factors Important?

Importance leads to not making mistakes yet doing good deeds for the world. Every human factor has its own set of losses and positive things that change with psychology. It makes it safer and efficiently works with the system. Removing the reality of negativeness from humans can lead to less work loss.

Recent Development in Human Factors

Human factors development is concerned with the understanding of interaction with humans. We are introducing new technologies in the field to have a better reality experience and educate to perform well in the work-life—proper research structure to improve human factors.

Examples of Human Factor Psychology

Human factor psychology is a field that looks at how people interact with their environment (self-concept psychology) and the various elements that can impact their behavior. It looks at psychological factors such as motivation, cognition, decision-making, emotions, stress levels, and personality traits, which can affect whether we make decisions quickly or sluggishly. 

In terms of human factor psychology in action, everyday activities like driving to work, interacting with colleagues and friends, or playing a sports game all have an element of psychology. 

When you drive to work, you need to be aware of road traffic rules and signals; when interacting with colleagues, it's essential to think about how your words will come across; when participating in a sports game, you must consider tactics as well as physical effort. 

These activities require some form of human factor psychology to be considered for successful outcomes.

Bottom Line From Practical Anxiety Solutions

Human factor psychology is about understanding how humans interact with their environment and how those interactions impact their performance. It looks at how an individual's physical, cognitive, and social characteristics affect how they interact with their environment, leading to improved or decreased performance in a particular task. 

The bottom line is considering human factor psychology when making decisions related to technology, ergonomics, Safety, etc. We can take measures to improve the quality of user experience. This can also lead to savings in resources such as time and money.