Attitudes and stereotypes

Social cognition the way we interpret, analyse, remember and use information about the social world (how we think about other people) Schema the basic component of social cognition Aspects of social cognition
Attitudes (our evaluations of various aspects of the social world) Attribution (our efforts to understand the causes of our own and others behaviour)

Attitude (cog/beh/aff)

Prejudice
Cognitive Stereotype Behavioural Discrimination Affective

Stereotypes

 Prejudice attitude (usually negative) towards the members of some group, based solely on their membership in that group
Functions as a schema Works on automatic processing/in an implicit manner Tend to evaluate members of the group negatively merely because they belong to that group, rather than looking at them as individuals

Discrimination negative actions towards groups that are the target of prejudice

 Stereotypes beliefs that all members of a particular group show certain typical traits Operate as schemas do Labelling, scapegoating and self-fulfilling prophecies/pygmalion effect
Judge people prematurely

 Schema - Basic component of social cognition

Mental frameworks that allow us to organise and process large amounts of information in an efficient manner, operating as mental short-cuts which help us reduce the effort we put in to understand the social world and preserve cognitive capacity

As a result of schema, mental processes proceed on automatic and appear to be implicit

 Schemas influence what we pay attention to (filters) and hence could block rationality and produce distortions Schemas are generally difficult to change even in the presence of contradictory data (perseverance effects/inferential prisons)
Create a special sub-type Create a self-fulfilling prophecy

 Roots of prejudice and stereotypes

Realistic conflict hypothesis
Social networks

Social learning Social categorisation

In-group and out-group In-group heterogeneity and out-group homogeneity

 Reducing prejudice and stereotypes

Unlearning (introspection and questioning of the reified) and relearning Contact hypothesis Recategorising

Prejudice and stereotypes at work

The relevance of diversity

Attitudes

Attitude (cog/beh/aff)

Prejudice
Cognitive Stereotype Behavioural Discrimination Affective

Definition
Evaluative reaction which is either positive or negative toward something or someone that we reveal in our thoughts, feelings, or intended actions toward that person or thing
Could sometimes be ambivalent too

Process of evaluation or outcome of evaluation process

 Attitude as tendency versus attitude as disposition (personality/traits) Genetic versus learned

Stimulus
Response

attitude

response

Direction: positive or negative Intensity: degree of extremity

Stimulus (attitude objects)

Abstract versus concrete Object or class of objects Social attitudes Political attitudes Prejudice Interpersonal attraction Self-esteem Values

Does Behavior Always Follow from Attitudes?

Leon Festinger No, the reverse is sometimes true! Cognitive Dissonance: Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes
Individuals seek to reduce this uncomfortable gap, or dissonance, to reach stability and consistency

Consistency is achieved by changing the attitudes, modifying the behaviors, or through rationalization
Desire to reduce dissonance depends on:
Importance of elements Degree of individual influence Rewards involved in dissonance

Moderating Variables
The most powerful moderators of the attitude-behavior relationship are: Importance of the attitude Correspondence to behavior Accessibility Existence of social pressures Personal and direct experience of the attitude.

Attitudes

Predict

Behavior

Moderating Variables

Function of attitudes
Knowledge function
of attitudes presumes a basic human need to gain a meaningful, stable, and organized view of the world. E.g., If people's attitudes toward school are positive, then when they are asked about schools they will be likely to say positive things without needing to "think about it too much."

Utilitarian function
Utilitarian function is related to the basic principles of reward and punishment. E.g., parents' opposition to busing might be based on the utilitarian belief that it would be harmful to their child.

Ego-defensive function
Attitudes that are formed to protect the person, either from external threats or internal feelings of insecurity, perform an ego-defensive function. E.g., a high school student may think: "Chemistry is for nerds, and I do not want to be a nerd; that is why I do not like chemistry.

Value-expressive function
Attitudes that perform a value-expressive function express the person's central values or self-concept. Value-expressive attitudes are highly relevant to life-style analyses, where person cultivate a cluster of activities, interests, and opinions to express a particular social identity. E.g., Ideologies

Predicting Behavior from Attitudes

Important attitudes have a strong relationship to behavior. The closer the match between attitude and behavior, the stronger the relationship: Specific attitudes predict specific behavior General attitudes predict general behavior The more frequently expressed an attitude, the better predictor it is. Attitudes based on personal experience are stronger predictors.

What are the Major Job Attitudes?

Job Satisfaction
A positive feeling about the job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics

Job Involvement
Degree of psychological identification with the job where perceived performance is important to self-worth

Psychological Empowerment
Belief in the degree of influence over the job, competence, job meaningfulness, and autonomy

Another Major Job Attitude

Organizational Commitment
Identifying with a particular organization and its goals, while wishing to maintain membership in the organization. Three dimensions:
Affective - emotional attachment to organization Continuance- Commitment economic value of staying Normative - moral or ethical obligations

Has some relation to performance, especially for new employees. Less important now than in past now perhaps more of occupational commitment, loyalty to profession rather than a given employer.

And Yet More Major Job Attitudes

Perceived Organizational Support (POS)
Degree to which employees believe the organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being. Higher when rewards are fair, employees are involved in decision-making, and supervisors are seen as supportive. High POS is related to higher OCBs and performance.

Employee Engagement
The degree of involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for the job. Engaged employees are passionate about their work and company.

Are These Job Attitudes Really Distinct?

No: these attitudes are highly related. Variables may be redundant (measuring the same thing under a different name) While there is some distinction, there is also a lot of overlap.

Job Satisfaction
One of the primary job attitudes measured.
Broad term involving a complex individual summation of a number of discrete job elements.

How to measure?
Single global rating (one question/one answer) - Best Summation score (many questions/one average) - OK

Are people satisfied in their jobs?

In the U. S., yes, but the level appears to be dropping. Results depend on how job satisfaction is measured. Pay and promotion are the most problematic elements.

Causes of Job Satisfaction

Pay influences job satisfaction only to a point.
After about $40,000 a year (in the U. S.), there is no relationship between amount of pay and job satisfaction. Money may bring happiness, but not necessarily job satisfaction.

Personality can influence job satisfaction.

Negative people are usually not satisfied with their jobs. Those with positive core self-evaluation are more satisfied with their jobs.

Employee Responses to Dissatisfaction

Active
Exit
Behavior directed toward leaving the organization

Voice
Active and constructive attempts to improve conditions

Destructive
Neglect
Allowing conditions to worsen

Constructive
Loyalty
Passively waiting for conditions to improve

Passive

Outcomes of Job Satisfaction

Job Performance
Satisfied workers are more productive AND more productive workers are more satisfied! The causality may run both ways.

Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

Satisfaction influences OCB through perceptions of fairness.

Customer Satisfaction
Satisfied frontline employees increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Absenteeism
Satisfied employees are moderately less likely to miss work.

More Outcomes of Job Satisfaction

Turnover
Satisfied employees are less likely to quit. Many moderating variables in this relationship.
Economic environment and tenure Organizational actions taken to retain high performers and to weed out lower performers

Workplace Deviance
Dissatisfied workers are more likely to unionize, abuse substances, steal, be tardy, and withdraw.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of the impact of job satisfaction on the bottom line, most managers are either unconcerned about or overestimate worker satisfaction.

Global Implications
Is Job Satisfaction a U. S. Concept?
No, but most of the research so far has been in the U. S.

Are Employees in Western Cultures More Satisfied With Their Jobs?

Western workers appear to be more satisfied than those in Eastern cultures. Perhaps because Westerners emphasize positive emotions and individual happiness more than do those in Eastern cultures.

Summary and Managerial Implications

Managers should watch employee attitudes:
They give warnings of potential problems They influence behavior

Managers should try to increase job satisfaction and generate positive job attitudes
Reduces costs by lowering turnover, absenteeism, tardiness, theft, and increasing OCB

Focus on the intrinsic parts of the job: make work challenging and interesting
Pay is not enough