Ana García López del Amo is a Spanish, 2nd year student in the International Joint Master of Research in Work and Organizational Psychology, and is currently starting her thesis research here at the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience at Maastricht University. After finishing her bachelor Psychology in Madrid, she went on the hunt for a master’s programme.

Why did you choose the International Joint Master of Research in Work and Organizational Psychology (IJMRWOP)?
“One of the reasons why I chose this master is because I love traveling and going abroad. I already did an Erasmus exchange in Italy during my bachelor”. After the bachelor, Ana started the process of finding the right master's programme for her. “Work and Organizational Psychology has always caught my eye in the broad field of psychology. I then looked at: where do they have a good level of English. That’s how I started looking at the Netherlands, and Google quickly brought me to Maastricht”.

What do you like most about Work and Organizational Psychology?
“Before starting this master it was hard for me to answer. But this joint master has given me a broad overview and knowledge of all the aspects of this field. I am very drawn to training and development. Looking at employees and identifying what they need so they can be more productive and ultimately improve their wellbeing, and then steering organizations and teams in that direction.”

What is your thesis research about?
“I am looking at the passion people have for their work. One of the theories I’m focusing on, talks about two different types of passion: harmonious passion and obsessive passion. One passion (harmonious) is more in harmony with other aspect of your life. You’re comfortable at work and you don’t feel bad when you’re not working. Obsessive passion is totally the opposite: when you’re not working, you have ruminative thoughts about work. Work is your whole identity”. Ana started looking at what variables she could introduce to look at employee health, the answer: snacking. “I want to look at how these different types of passions affect the level of snacking a person does. To do this I’m also going to study the type of work prospection a person has, which can be positive or negative, and whether this might influence that relationship (i.e., type of passion and level of snacking). My hypothesis is that people with harmonious passion towards work will snack less than people with obsessive passion because they might experience positive work prospection. On the other hand, people with obsessive passion may have higher levels of snacking because they may experience negative work prospection, i.e., anticipate work with worry and anxiety, which can lead them to experience more stress and compensate with snacking”.

How do you think IJMRWOP alumni make a difference in organizations?
“Because of the focus on research, students who study this international joint master will be able to identify what organizations need to be more efficient and design and research interventions at the individual, team, and organizational levels, taking into account both internal and external aspects of the organization. The international nature of the programme also allows us to look at problems from different cultural perspectives. I think we can contribute greatly to organizations on topics such as: positive work climates and work-life-balance (among others), to increase job satisfaction, something that could consequently increase productivity.”