Glossary / Lexicon

Deutsch: Management / Español: gestión / Português: gestão / Français: gestion / Italiano: gestione

Management in the context of psychology refers to the application of psychological principles and methods to understand, guide, and improve how individuals and groups are directed and coordinated within organizational and personal contexts. It includes leadership, motivation, conflict resolution, decision-making, time control, and emotional regulation. Psychological management is relevant in both workplace and self-regulation domains.

Description

In psychology, management can be divided into two major areas:

1. Organizational Management: Focuses on managing people within groups or institutions (e.g. businesses, schools, healthcare), often involving leadership psychology, team dynamics, work motivation, communication styles, and organizational culture. Here, the goal is to create efficient, healthy, and productive environments.

2. Self-Management: Refers to an individual’s ability to regulate emotions, behaviour, time, and decisions. It includes emotional self-control, stress management, goal setting, and behavioural monitoring. Self-management skills are fundamental to mental health and personal development.

Both domains are interconnected: Leaders with good self-management are generally more effective at managing others, and people with psychological insight manage their environments more constructively.

Typical Manifestations

• Positive:

  • Clear goal-setting and delegation in leadership roles

  • Emotional resilience and stress tolerance

  • Effective time and energy management

  • Conflict resolution and mediation skills

• Negative / Dysfunctional:

  • Micromanagement or authoritarian control

  • Burnout from poor workload management

  • Avoidance of responsibility

  • Poor emotional regulation (e.g. explosive anger, chronic anxiety)

Recommendations

• Develop emotional intelligence: Being aware of one’s own and others’ emotions is essential for effective psychological management.

• Set clear boundaries: Helps prevent overload and confusion in both self- and group management.

• Use time management tools: Prioritisation, planning, and breaks improve mental focus.

• Foster open communication: Builds trust and prevents misunderstandings in teams.

• Model calm behaviour: Emotionally regulated managers influence their environment positively.

• Encourage autonomy: In group settings, allowing self-directed work improves motivation.

Application in Personal Life

• Self-management supports better relationships, less impulsivity, and improved mental health.

• Parenting and caregiving require consistent psychological management of both self and others.

• In relationships, managing conflict constructively and expressing needs clearly are crucial skills.

• Psychological management is critical during life transitions, stress periods, and decision-heavy phases.

Well-Known Examples

• Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence Model: Includes self-management and relationship management as core skills.

• Transactional Analysis in leadership: Explains management styles based on psychological ego states.

• Time Management Matrix (Covey): Helps prioritise tasks based on urgency and importance, enhancing cognitive clarity.

• Transformational Leadership Theory: Connects psychological insight with effective and inspiring leadership.

Symptoms, Therapy, and Healing

• Symptoms of poor management:

  • Chronic disorganisation, lateness, or task avoidance

  • Emotional outbursts, anxiety, or apathy

  • Ineffective communication, team conflict

  • Low self-efficacy or burnout

• Therapeutic approaches:

  • Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Teaches self-monitoring, restructuring of maladaptive beliefs, and behavioural planning.

  • Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): Enhances self-awareness and emotion regulation.

  • Executive coaching: Helps managers align leadership style with psychological best practices.

  • Behavioural interventions: Especially for ADHD, focus on goal tracking, reward systems, and planning routines.

• Healing strategies:

  • Learn and practise emotional self-regulation techniques.

  • Use reflective journals or feedback tools for growth.

  • Build routines that reduce cognitive overload.

  • Seek feedback to calibrate your interpersonal management style.

Examples of Sentences

• The supervisor’s poor management style led to high team turnover and burnout.

• Through therapy, she improved her self-management and reduced anxiety at work.

• Effective management of emotions allowed him to handle conflict calmly.

• Time management training helped the student cope with exam stress.

Similar Terms

• Leadership: The active role of guiding others, overlapping with psychological management.

• Self-regulation: Core of personal management, involves control over attention, emotions, and impulses.

• Executive functioning: Set of cognitive abilities that underpin planning, organisation, and goal-setting.

• Interpersonal skills: Necessary for managing social interactions effectively.

• Behavioural control: Part of management concerning actions, habits, and routines.

Articles with 'Management' in the title

• Anger management: Anger management is a form of counselling to help you cope with any angry feelings you may have that affect your health, work, social behaviour or personal relationships
• Behavior management: Behavior management refers to the deliberate and systematic application of psychological principles in attempts to change behavior. Behavior management programs are most often based largely on behavioristic principles
• Boundary Management: Boundary Management in the context of psychology refers to the strategies and processes individuals use to regulate and maintain the balance between different domains of their lives, such as work and personal life
• Case Management: Case Management refer to the procedure for collecting, recording, organizing, and perserving investigative information. It is the overall process involved in maintaining the optimal functioning of clients- comprises all of the professional . . .
• Caseload management: Caseload management means directing one’s time and schedule, and tracking and following up one’s caseload- carefully monitoring each client’s experience of the counseling relationship, treatment compliance, and progress- and ensuring . . .
• Change Management: Change Management in the psychology context refers to the structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state, with a focus on the psychological and behavioral aspects . . .
• Computerized Case Management: Computerized Case Management refers to a computer software which is used to collect, record and organize investigative information. Computerized Case Management (CCM) in psychology is a system that helps to manage and monitor the care of . . .
• Conflict Management: Conflict Management in psychology refers to the strategies and practices used to handle, resolve, and reduce conflict in a constructive manner. It involves understanding the sources of conflict, recognizing the dynamics at play, and . . .
• Contingency management: Contingency management refers to a form of behavioral therapy that involves the principle of rewarding a client for desired behaviors and not providing rewards for undesired behaviors
• Energy Management: Energy Management: Energy management refers to a psychological skill which is ll most commonly used to help individuals who experience arousal at a level that is not effective (ie
• Error management theory: Error management theory refers to the idea that both men and women seek to minimize the most costly type of error, but that men’s and women’s goals, and hence worst errors, differ
• Human Resource Management: Human Resource Management refers to a study that includes how the organization treats and nourishes the development of volunteers, board members, and employees
• Impression management: Impression management refers to human's conscious or unconscious orchestration of a carefully designed presentation of self so as to create a certain impression that fits our goals or needs in a social interaction
• Impression management theory: Impression management theory: Impression management theory is an alternative to Dissonance theory, which argues that participants in dissonance experiments want to appear consistent to the experimenter and therefore lie about their . . .
• Leadership and Management: Leadership and management in the psychology context refer to the study and application of psychological principles to understand, develop, and improve the processes of guiding and directing individuals or groups towards achieving set . . .
• Management psychology: Management psychology: Management psychology or MP refers to a branch of psychology that studies psychological regularities of management activities. The main goal of Management psychology is to analyze psychological conditions and . . .
• Management by objectives: Management by objectives refers to a management technique in which employees are given specific goals to meet in their work.
• Management teams: Management teams is a term used in industrial and organizational psychology that refer to teams that coordinate, manage, advice, and direct employees and teams
• Management techniques: Management techniques refer to techniques used to enforce child discipline such as combining praise, recognition, approval, rules, and reasoning.
• Management-by-objectives: Management-by-objectives mean each management team identifies its key tasks and goals and use these as a yardstick against which performance is measured
• Medication management: Medication management is a critical process in psychology involving the appropriate prescription, monitoring, and adjustment of medications used to treat mental health disorders
• Pain management programs: Pain management programs refer to coordinated, interdisciplinary efforts to modify chronic pain by bringing together neurological, cognitive, behavioral, and
• Parent management training: Parent management training refers to a set of therapeutic procedures that teaches parents how to modify a child's or adolescent's Behavior at home using Behavioral Techniques such as- contingency management
• Parent management training (PMT): parent management training (PMT) refers to a program aimed at teaching parents to cope effectively with their child’s difficult behavior and their own reactions to it
• Resource Management: Resource Management in the psychology context refers to the strategies and processes individuals or groups use to effectively utilize and allocate their cognitive, emotional, and social resources
• Shared leadership (participative management): Shared leadership (participative management) : Shared Leadership refers to a type of Leadership approach that allows employees at all levels to participate in decision making
• Stress Management Program: In the context of psychology, a stress management program refers to a structured set of strategies and teachings designed to help individuals reduce their stress levels and enhance their ability to cope with stress
• Theory X leadership (scientific management): Theory X leadership (scientific management) : Theory X leadership (scientific management refers to an approach to leadership that emphasizes work efficiency
• Time Management/Organization: Time Management/Organization refers to a psychological skill and ability to plan and maintain one's regular schedule in a way that avoids confusion, conflict and undue stress
• Total Quality Management: Total Quality Management: Total Quality management (TQM) usually involves the introduction of continuous monitoring. It refers to initiatives designed to improve the quality of products and services to meet customer's requirements
• Total Quality Management (TQM): Total Quality Management (TQM) usually involves the introduction of continuous monitoring. It refers to initiatives designed to improve the quality of products and services to meet customer' s requirements
• Parent management training (PMT): parent management training (PMT) refers to a program aimed at teaching parents to cope effectively with their child’s difficult behavior and their own reactions to it
• Theory X leadership (scientific management): Theory X leadership (scientific management) : Theory X leadership (scientific management refers to an approach to leadership that emphasizes work efficiency

Weblinks

• industrie-lexikon.de: 'Management' in the industrie-lexikon.de (German)
• quality-database.eu: 'Management' in the glossary of the quality-database.eu
• umweltdatenbank.de: 'Management' im Lexikon der umweltdatenbank.de (German)
• travel-glossary.com: 'Management' in the travel-glossary.com
• top500.de: 'Management' in the glossary of the top500.de
• environment-database.eu: 'Management' in the glossary of the environment-database.eu

Summary

In psychology, management encompasses the regulation of emotions, actions, and interactions, both within oneself and in relation to others. Effective psychological management enhances productivity, well-being, and relationships. It can be strengthened through training, therapy, and practice, making it a cornerstone of personal and professional success.

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