1. Human capital: employment, leadership, and job quality.

This line of research aims to analyze human capital (training, work experience, and various psychological resources and variables), different aspects related to employment and the labor market integration of young people, as well as career development and the performance of leadership functions. In this area of research, the analysis of “job quality” is also key. Two major subareas are proposed:

1) Human capital, employment and leadership: the analysis of human capital requires examining people’s education, qualifications and work experience (both at the time of entering the labor market and during various career transitions), as well as different psychological resources and variables (psychological capital, resilience, adaptability, or innovative behaviors). It is also necessary to analyze various aspects of employment (overqualification, the consequences of unemployment and underemployment, employability and labor flexibility), different aspects of employment relationships (such as the psychological contract, job insecurity, or temporary employment), and the implications that technological change and new forms of work (such as teleworking) have for the organization, content and outcomes of work. Other variables related to human capital are also analyzed, such as leadership and people management, the analysis and development of managerial positions, and practices aimed at attracting talent through diversity and inclusion, such as the study of barriers to women's promotion and gender equality policies.

2) Job quality: the general objective of this subarea is to analyze the relationships between job quality and subjective well-being and health, studying their antecedents and the variables that moderate these relationships. Particular attention is paid to variables such as employability, job insecurity, human capital, and overqualification, among others.

To this end, it addresses the need for a clear conceptualization of the construct of job quality and the identification of its most important indicators according to factors such as gender, age, or individual preferences.

2. Work teams in organizations in face-to-face and virtual environments

Changes resulting from globalization and the revolution in Web 2.0 technologies are driving organizations to develop new forms of collaborative work through virtual teams and communities. These collaborative tools constitute relevant business strategies, as they enable improvements in learning and knowledge management and, therefore, contribute to making organizations more innovative, visible, and competitive.

The characteristics of collaborative work have changed, as users of geographically dispersed virtual teams or communities have the possibility of combining different technological applications to respond to the demands of the project or task they are carrying out (e.g., wiki, forum, social/corporate network, etc.). In this regard, significant changes are taking place in the nature of relationships among users, in processes related to task completion and performance (e.g., identification, sense of community, trust, leadership, conflict, productivity, quality of knowledge, etc.) that require attention.

This line of research focuses on the study of work groups and group work, seeking to analyze the processes and variables that contribute to the functioning of work teams, the well-being of their members, and various outcomes of such functioning, such as group performance and productivity, innovation, and socio-emotional outcomes. This objective is pursued through different lines of action:

1) Analysis of the effects that collaborative technologies and virtual work environments may have on group processes, the well-being of their members, and both task-related and socio-emotional outcomes;

2) Analysis of the processes involved in the formation of organizational climate, both at the individual and work-group levels, as well as the variables that predict climate and its impact on various performance and well-being outcomes, at both individual and collective levels;

3) Analysis of the antecedents of innovative behaviors, considered a relevant dimension of organizational performance, as well as the relationships between workplace innovation, performance, and well-being, studying these relationships both at the individual level and at the work-team level.

3. Health psychology: stress, quality of life and prevention of psychosocial risks

This line of research aims to identify, analyze, and intervene in different factors related to stress, quality of life, and the prevention of psychosocial risks in different areas of people's lives.

Health is understood from a broad perspective in which biological, psychological, behavioral, social, and organizational factors have an impact, and different studies are conducted to establish the relevance of each of them to different outcomes. Thus, this area encompasses the study of different psychosocial and behavioral processes, both individual and collective, that are related to the promotion of health, well-being, and quality of life, as well as to stress and illness.

This line of research integrates two major subareas.

1) Occupational health psychology: this area seeks to provide a psychosocial and organizational perspective to the study of stress and risk prevention, well-being, and quality of working life. It analyzes the effects of different organizational and personal factors, as well as their interaction, on different operationalizations and measures of stress, well-being, and quality of life at work. Organizational factors considered include aspects such as human resource practices, job characteristics and the physical work environment, organizational justice, leadership, and organizational conflict. The different actions developed by both employers and employees to modify or adapt the work environment to the needs of the people working within them are also considered. Other personal factors are taken into account, such as age, gender, personal values, personality characteristics, and psychological capital. In addition, relationships among the different factors are analyzed at both individual and collective levels, adopting a multilevel perspective.

This subarea also examines topics such as conflict management and occupational health, as well as the effects of coaching on employees' psychological well-being, quality of life, and performance.

2) Biological bases of animal and human responses to social interactions: this area analyzes the psychobiological mechanisms involved in responses to stressful situations and their effects at the cognitive and affective levels. This research is conducted at the Cognitive Social Neuroscience Laboratory (LabNSC). The research adopts an integrative approach based on the convergence of multiple research methodologies that make it possible to advance understanding of the effects of stress on the brain and, consequently, on psychological processes and behavior.

Likewise, the psychobiological, clinical, and social factors that modulate quality of life and autonomy in models of chronic stress in human beings, such as epilepsy, as well as in healthy individuals in a decision-making context, are studied. This includes neuropsychological assessments, clinical and pharmacological records, hormonal and cardiovascular variables, as well as social factors such as social support and stigma.

4. Safety culture, safety performance and operational safety in high-reliability organizations

This line of research aims to contribute to improving operational safety in high-reliability organizations through the study of individual, team, and organizational behavioral factors that have the greatest impact on it.

For more than 15 years, research has focused primarily on the study of safety culture and its effects on safety performance and operational safety. Currently, the premise is that improving operational safety in high-risk environments should be addressed through the integrated application, within safety management, of Safety-II principles and the processes characteristic of high-reliability organizations. These are two theoretical frameworks that have generated considerable interest in recent years. However, despite the relevance of both approaches, the two theoretical frameworks have been developed in parallel, and so far their complementarity and the need to integrate both approaches to achieve a greater impact on safety management have not been addressed.

Therefore, the general objective is to gain an understanding of operational safety in high-reliability organizations (nuclear power plants, commercial aviation, etc.) and in organizations seeking high reliability (hospitals, railway transport, chemical companies, etc.) from a Safety-II perspective and, more specifically, through the study of the application of processes characteristic of high-reliability organizations (collectively referred to as mindful organizing), their antecedents, and their outcomes.

5. Work and Organizational Psychology in the field of intellectual disability

This line of research develops activities in the field of intellectual or developmental disability from the perspective of work and organizational psychology. Scientific research addresses topics such as customized employment, self-determination, inclusion, the well-being of professionals, and processes of justice and trust in organizations focused on people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, among others. Methodologies aimed at improving these organizations have also been designed and tested, such as Survey Feedback or autonomous work teams for inclusion and self-determination (with the joint participation of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, family members, and professionals). Likewise, the customized employment methodology for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities has been tested. The studies are framed within scientific projects resulting from competitive funding calls, as well as from knowledge-transfer contracts. A wide variety of research methodologies are considered (quantitative studies based on questionnaires, qualitative studies through interviews, field experiments, Delphi studies, etc.).

6. Digitalization and robotization in organizations

The increasing digitalization of various processes and tasks within organizations, as well as the introduction and implementation of robots over recent decades, are undeniable phenomena that will continue to grow in the coming years. This area of research studies their effects both on people and on different organizational aspects.

This line of research integrates two subareas:

1) Digitalization: this area focuses on the study of digitalization processes and their effects on workers' well-being and performance.

In the first place, this process is studied in the educational context, seeking to examine how digitalization affects perceptions of job characteristics, teachers' digital competencies, and work outcomes (teacher well-being and performance). It also analyzes the extent to which this influence depends on organizational factors (such as organizational support) and individual factors (such as gender, age, attitudes toward digitalization, or self-efficacy).

Secondly, in a broader context, the growing concern in Europe regarding the capacity of our societies, companies, and workers to respond to the digitalization process and the use of new forms of work such as teleworking is addressed. To this end, a web-based and mobile application-based training program has been developed and evaluated to improve competencies related to virtual leadership in digitalized environments. The ultimate objective is to improve the performance and well-being of teleworkers.

Thirdly, research is being conducted into how the application of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) influences both the characteristics and quality of jobs and the quality of working life. The general objective is to identify the functional and dysfunctional consequences of GenAI, as well as the factors that make it possible to enhance the former and mitigate the latter.

2) Robotization: Although there is widespread agreement that this process influences or may influence the content and characteristics of jobs, organizational processes and outcomes, organizational climate and culture, and employees' work experiences, there is a scarcity of studies using quantitative methodologies to investigate its impact. Addressing this research gap is important for theoretical, practical, and ethical reasons. It also involves identifying the mediators involved in this relationship and the moderators that intensify or mitigate the aforementioned impact.

7. Methodology and measurement in Work and Organizational Psychology

This line of research focuses on improving methodological and measurement aspects in research in Work and Organizational Psychology. These aspects include the prevention and management of “careless responding” (CR). The term CR refers to careless responses from people who do not pay sufficient attention when completing a questionnaire. Its presence is a source of error and threatens both data quality and the validity of research findings.

Among the different methods for identifying people who do not pay sufficient attention, the research developed in this area focuses on instructed response items (IRIs), as they have been identified as a useful and easy-to-implement procedure.

The general objective of this line of research is to investigate the nature of careless responses (whether they are a trait or a state), the variables (e.g., sociodemographic characteristics, personality) that can help predict the likelihood of displaying careless responses, as well as the analysis of contextual factors (e.g., type of instructions, questionnaire length, proportion of IRIs, presence or absence of reverse-scored items) that affect the likelihood of displaying careless response patterns. It also aims to provide recommendations on the best strategies for managing data from participants who have been identified as “careless”.