Chapter two

Individual Behavior and Process

 Chapter contents
• Individual differences, Values, Personality and
Diversity
• Perception, Attribution and Learning
• Emotions, Attitudes and Job Satisfaction
• Motivation in the work place
• Motivation and Performance
 Introduction
• We aren’t all the same. This is obvious enough,
but managers sometimes forget that they need
to recognize and capitalize on these differences
to get the most from their employees.
• Effective diversity management increases an
organization’s access to the widest possible pool
of skills, abilities, and ideas.
• Managers also need to recognize that differences
among people can lead to miscommunication,
misunderstanding, and conflict.
Cont’d….
• In this chapter, we’ll learn about how individual
characteristics, like age, gender, race, ethnicity,
and abilities can influence employee performance.
• how managers can develop awareness about
these characteristics and manage a diverse
workforce effectively.
Individual differences, Diversity,
Personality, and Values,
 Study questions.
– What is workplace diversity?
– What are demographic differences among
individuals?
– What are personality determinants and differences
among individuals?
– What are value and attitude differences among
individuals?
 I. Individual differences
• Although much has been said about diversity in
age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and disability
status, experts now recognize that these
demographic characteristics are just the tip of the
iceberg.
• Demographics mostly reflect surface level diversity
, not thoughts and feelings, and can lead
employees to perceive one another through
stereotypes and assumptions.
 Cont’d….
• However, evidence has shown that as people get
to know one another, they become less
concerned about demographic differences if they
see themselves as sharing more important
characteristics, such as personality and values,
that represent deep-level diversity .
• Surface-level diversity Differences in easily
perceived characteristics, such as gender, race,
ethnicity, age, or disability, that do not necessarily
reflect the ways people think or feel but that may
activate certain stereotypes.
• Deep-level diversity Differences in values,
personality, and work preferences that become
progressively more important for determining
similarity as people get to know one another
better.
• Surface level diversity Vs deep-level diversity
Diversity in Organizations
 Workforce diversity.
• Workforce diversity acknowledges a workforce of
women and men; many racial and ethnic groups;
individuals with a variety of physical or
psychological abilities; and people who differ in
age and sexual orientation.
• The presence of individual human characteristics
that make people different from one another.
 Challenge of workforce diversity.
– Respecting individuals’ perspectives and contributions
and promoting a shared sense of organizational vision
and identity.
– Demographic characteristics may serve as the basis for
stereotypes.
 Diversity in Groups
• Does diversity help or hurt group performance?
The answer is “yes.” In some cases, diversity in
traits can hurt team performance, whereas in
others it can facilitate it.
• Whether diverse or homogeneous teams are more
effective depends on the characteristic of interest.
• Demographic diversity (in gender, race, and
ethnicity) does not appear to either help or hurt
team performance in general.
• On the other hand, teams of individuals who are
highly intelligent, meticulous, and interested in
working in team settings are more effective.
• In general, Demography is not a good indicator
of individual-job fits.
Benefits of focusing on diversity:
– Diverse talents and backgrounds contribute to
competitive advantage.
– Promotes creativity and innovation.
– Workforce better reflects customer base.
– Increased employment benefits larger community.
– Reduced legal non-compliance costs.
 Implementing Diversity Management Strategies-
• Attracting,
• Selecting,
• Developing, and
• Retaining Diverse Employees
• Effective workforce programs encouraging
diversity, have three distinct components.
 First, they teach managers about the legal
framework for equal employment opportunity and
encourage fair treatment of all people regardless
of their demographic characteristics.
 Equal employment opportunity.
– Nondiscriminatory employment decisions.
• No intent to exclude or disadvantage legally protected groups.
– Affirmative action.
• Remedial actions for proven discrimination or statistical
imbalance in workforce.
 Second, they teach managers how a diverse
workforce will be better able to serve a diverse
market of customers and clients. Workforce
diversity can help in building customer
relationships.
Third, they foster personal development practices
that bring out the skills and abilities of all workers,
acknowledging how differences in perspective can
be a valuable way to improve performance for
everyone.
 II. Personality.
• “The relatively stable set of psychological attributes that
distinguish one person from another ”

• Combines a set of physical and mental

characteristics that reflect how a person looks,
thinks, acts, and feels.
• Relatively enduring or persistent pattern of thoughts,
emotions, and behaviors that characterize a person, along
with the psychological processes behind those
characteristics

19
What are personality determinants ?
 Personality determinants and development.
– Is personality genetically determined, or is it formed
by experience?
• A. Heredity
– Factors determined at conception: physical stature, facial
attractiveness, gender, personality, muscle composition
and reflexes, energy level, and so on.
– This “Heredity Approach” argues that genes are the
source of personality
 Cont’d….
– Heredity sets the limits on the development of
personality characteristics.
– Environment determines development within these
limits.
– Across all characteristics there is about a 50-50
heredity-environment split.
• B. Key environmental factors in personality
development.
– Cultural values and norms.

– Situational factors.

21
 Personality indicators
• Three groups of personality indicators:
– Five-Factor Personality Model
– The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
– Other Personality Traits
A. Five-Factor Personality Model (dimensions)…

• Many contemporary personality psychologists

believe that there are five basic dimensions of
personality, often referred to as the "Big 5"
personality traits.
• The five broad personality traits described by the
theory are:
– Extraversion,
– Agreeableness,
– Openness to experience,
– Conscientiousness and
– Neuroticism.
• 1. Extraversion:
• Extraversion dimension captures our comfort
level with relationships. Extraverts tend to be
expressive, self-assured, and sociable.
• Introverts tend to be reserved, fearful, and quiet
and are shy full
• People who are high in extroversion are
outgoing and tend to gain energy in social
situations.
• People who are low in extroversion (or
introverted) tend to be more reserved and have
to expend energy in social settings.
 2. Agreeableness:
• The agreeableness dimension refers to an
individual’s tendency to defer to others.
– Highly agreeable people are cooperative, warm, and
trusting.
– People who score low on agreeableness are cold,
disagreeable, and antagonistic/aggressive.
– People who are high in agreeableness tend to be
more cooperative.
When is a person become less agreeable?
3. Conscientious-ness:
• The conscientiousness dimension is a measure of
reliability. A highly conscientious person is responsible,
organized, dependable, and persistent.
• Those who score low on this dimension are easily
distracted, disorganized, and unreliable.
• They tend to reduce risks by adequately preparing
themselves ahead of events and they live thoroughly.
4. Neuroticism (emotional stability)
• A person’s ability to withstand stress. People with
positive emotional stability tend to be calm, self-
confident, and secure.

• Those with high negative scores tend to be nervous,

anxious, depressed, irritability and sadness.
 5. Openness to experience.
• The openness to experience dimension
addresses range of interests and attraction with
innovation.
• Extremely open people are creative, inquiring,
and artistically sensitive.
• Those at the other end of the category are
conventional and find comfort in the familiar.

• It is important to note that each of the five personality

factors represents a range between two extremes.
How Do the Big Five Traits Predict Behavior at Work?

• Research has found relationships between these

personality dimensions and job performance.

• “The majority of evidence shows that individuals who are

dependable, reliable, careful, thorough, able to plan,
organized, hardworking, persistent, and achievement-
oriented tend to have higher job performance in most, if
not all, occupations.”
• 1. Specifically, employees who score higher in
conscientiousness and in openness develop higher levels
of job knowledge, probably because highly
conscientious and open people learn more.

• 2. Of the Big Five traits, emotional stability is most

strongly related to life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and
low stress levels.
 Cont’d…
3. Finally, extraversion is a relatively strong predictor of
leadership emergence in groups;
• Extraverts are more socially dominant, “take charge” sorts
of people, and
• They are generally more self-assured than introverts.

• The following Exhibit summarizes the Big Five Traits

Influence OB Criteria.
 B. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
• The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most
widely used personality assessment instrument in the
world.
• It is a 100-question personality test that asks people how
they usually feel or act in particular situations.
• Respondents are classified as extraverted or introverted
(E or I), sensing or intuitive (S or N), thinking or feeling (T
or F), and judging or perceiving (J or P).
• These terms are defined as follows:
● Extraverted (E) versus Introverted (I). Extraverted
individuals are outgoing, sociable, and self-confident.
Introverts are silent and shy.
● Sensing (S) versus Intuitive (N). Sensing types are
practical and prefer routine and order. They focus on
details. Intuitive rely on unconscious processes and look at
the “big picture.”
 Cont’d….
● Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F). Thinking types use
reason and logic to handle problems. Feeling types rely on
their personal values and emotions.
● Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P). Judging types want
control and prefer their world to be ordered and
structured. Perceiving types are flexible and unstructured.
CONT’D….
• These classifications together describe 16 personality
types, identifying every person by one trait from each of
the four pairs.
 C. Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB
• Although the Big Five and MBTI traits have proven highly
relevant to OB, they don’t exhaust the range of traits
that can describe someone’s personality.
• The way individuals tend to think about their social and
physical settings as well as their major beliefs and
personal orientation.

37
– Key Traits:

• Locus of control.

• Machiavellianism.

• Authoritarianism/dogmatism.

• Self-monitoring.
 Locus of control.

– The extent to which a person feels able to control

his/her own life.

– Internal locus of control.

• People believe they control their own destiny.

– External locus of control.

• People believe that much of what happens to them is

determined by environmental forces.

39
 Authoritarianism

• It is a state of mind or attitude characterized by

belief in absolute obedience or submission to
one's own authority, as well as the
administration of that belief through the
oppression of one's subordinates.
• Tendency to adhere rigidly to conventional
values and to obey recognized authority.
40
 Machiavellianism. Niccolņ Machiavelli (1469–
1527)……."the ends justify the means“….
• Tendency to view and manipulate others purely for
personal gain.
• An individual high in Machiavellianism is hardheaded,
maintains emotional distance, and believes ends can
justify means.

Core Concepts of Organizational

41
Behavior: Chapter 4
 Machiavellianism — cont.

– People with a high-Mach personality:

• Approach situations logically and thoughtfully.

• Are capable of lying to achieve personal goals.

• Are rarely influenced by loyalty, friendships, past

promises, or others’ opinions.

• Are skilled at influencing others.

42
 Machiavellianism — cont.

– People with a low-Mach personality:

• Accept direction imposed by others

• Work hard to do well in highly structured situations.

• Are strongly guided by ethical considerations.

• Are unlikely to lie or cheat.

Core Concepts of Organizational

43
Behavior: Chapter 4
 Self-monitoring.
– A person’s ability to adjust his/her behavior to
external, situational factors.
– High self-monitors:
• Sensitive to external cues.

• Behave differently in different situations.

– Low self-monitors:
• Not sensitive to external cues.

• Are not able to disguise their behaviors.

44
 Stress and behavior

• Stress
– A state of tension experienced
by individuals facing
extraordinary demands,
constraints, or opportunities.

2-45
Source of stress

• Work-related stressors
• Life stressors

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons,

2-46
Inc.
 Cont’d….

Work-related stressors:
– Task demands
– Role ambiguities
– Role conflicts
– Ethical dilemmas
– Interpersonal problems
– Career developments
– Physical setting

2-47
 Cont’d…

• Life stressors
– Family events
– Economic difficulties
– Personal affairs

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons,

2-48
Inc.
 Group discussion

How are stress and performance related?

How are stress and personality related?

Which personality indicators are related to stress?

 How are stress and performance related?

• Stress and performance

– Constructive stress (or eustress)
• Moderate levels of stress act in a
positive way for both individuals and
organization.
• Some times it May stimulate you to
devote you time and effort to meet
the demand or not to loose the
opportunity.
– Destructive stress (or distress)
• Low and especially high levels of
stress act in a negative way for both
individuals and organization.
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons,
2-50
Inc.
 III. Values.
• Values represent basic beliefs that “a specific
mode of conduct or end-state of existence is
personally or socially preferable to an opposite or
converse mode of conduct or end-state of
existence.”
• Basic convictions on how to conduct yourself or
how to live your life that is personally or socially
preferable – “How to” live life properly.
51
 Cont’d…..
• Values exist, whether you recognize them or
not.
• Life can be much easier when you
acknowledge your values – and when you
make plans and decisions that honor them.
 Some examples of value
• Ambition, competency, individuality, equality,
integrity, service, responsibility, accuracy, respect,
dedication, diversity, improvement,
enjoyment/fun, loyalty, credibility, honesty,
innovativeness, teamwork, excellence,
accountability, empowerment, quality, efficiency,
dignity, collaboration,
Exercise on your personal value

• Identify your personal value individually and try

convince each other on what should be persons’
value?
 Attributes of value
• Content attribute: says a mode of conduct or end-
state of existence is important.
• Intensity attribute: specifies how important it is.
• When we rank an individual’s values in terms of
their intensity, we obtain that person’s value
system .
Cont’d…
• Is value inherited or learned?
• A significant portion of the values we hold is
established in our early years—by parents,
teachers, friends, and others.
• As children, we are told certain behaviors or
outcomes are always desirable or always
undesirable.
• However, There is also evidence linking
personality to values, implying our values may be
partly determined by our genetically transmitted
traits.
 Importance of Values

• They influence attitudes, motivation and behavior.

• Influence our perception of the world around us
• Imply that some behaviors or outcomes are
preferred over others
• Values cloud objectivity and rationality;

4-57
 Case I:How values influence our attitude and behavior?
• Suppose you enter an organization with the view that
allocating pay on the basis of performance is right,
while allocating pay on the basis of seniority is wrong.
• How will you react if you find the organization you’ve
just joined rewards seniority and not performance?
• You’re likely to be disappointed—and
• this can lead to job dissatisfaction and
• a decision not to exert a high level of effort because
“It’s probably not going to lead to more money
anyway.”
• Would your attitudes and behavior be different if your
values aligned with the organization’s pay policies?
 Types of values.
1. Milton Rokeach’s value categories: terminal values and
instrumental values.
– Terminal values.
• Preferences concerning the ends to be achieved. These are
the goals a person would like to achieve during his or her
lifetime.
– Instrumental values.
• Preferences for the means to be used in achieving desired
ends.

59
• Some examples of terminal values in the Rokeach
Value Survey(RVS) are:
• Prosperity and economic success, Health and
well-being, World peace, Social recognition, and
Meaning in life.
• The types of instrumental values illustrated in
RVS are Self-improvement, Autonomy and self-
reliance, Personal discipline, kindness, Ambition,
and Goal-orientation.
• Several studies confirm that RVS values vary
among groups.
• One study compared corporate executives,
members of the steelworkers’ union, and
members of a community activist group.
• Although there was a good deal of overlap among
them, there were also significant differences.
• See the following figure
 Types of values — cont.

2. Gordon Allport’s values categories.

• Economic values. Economic values are those around money,
and may include beliefs around ownership of property,
contributing to the common good (taxes!)

• Personal values: are those you take for yourself and which
constitute a critical part of your values. Personal values may
be prioritized, such as honesty then responsibility then
loyalty and so on.

63
– Social values. This may include equality, justice, liberty,
freedom, and national pride.
– Political values. Political values are ideological beliefs
about the best way to govern a country or organization,
for example through welfare, democracy and civic
responsibility.
– Religious values. Religious values are spiritual in nature
and include beliefs in how we should behave, including
caring of one another and in worshiping practices
 Value congruence.
– Occurs when individuals express positive feelings upon
encountering others who exhibit values similar to their
own. e.g. When the methods you used to do sth is
similar with your colleague.
– Incongruent values may result in conflicts over goals
and the means to achieve them.

65
Linking an Individual’s Personality and Values to the
Workplace
• Organizations were concerned only with
personality because their primary focus was to
match individuals to specific jobs.
• It’s now shifted to personality and values to match
individuals to the organization. Why?
• Because managers today are less interested in an
applicant’s ability to perform a specific job than
with his or her flexibility to meet changing
situations and commitment to the organization.
 Person–Job Fit Vs Person–organization Fit
• Person–Job Fit
• The effort to match job requirements with
personality characteristics. This is best articulated
in John Holland’s personality–job fit theory .
• Personality–job fit theory “A theory that identifies
six personality types and proposes that the fit
between personality type and occupational
environment determines satisfaction and
turnover.
• …….Read more on personality-job fit theory ……
 Person–Organization Fit
• The person–organization fit essentially argues that
people are attracted to and selected by organizations
that match their values, and they leave organizations that
are not compatible with their value.
• This match predicts:
– job satisfaction,
– commitment to the organization, and
– low turnover.
2.2 Perception, Attribution and
Learning
 A. What Is Perception?
• Perception is a process by which individuals
organize and interpret their sensory impressions in
order to give meaning to their environment.
• However, what we perceive can be substantially
different from objective reality.
• Perception is The process by which people select,
organize, interpret, and respond to information from the
world around them.
• It links our sense organs with our mind to give a meaning
for our environment.
 Perception
A process that involves sensing various aspects
of a person, task or event and forming
impressions based on selected inputs.
Three basic stages:
• Sensing various characteristics
• Selecting facts
• Organizing into useful concepts
• Why is perception important in the study of
OB?
• Simply because people’s behavior is based on
their perception of what reality is, not on
reality itself.
 Factors That Influence Perception
• A number of factors operate to shape and
sometimes distort perception.
• These factors can reside in the perceiver; in the
object, or target, being perceived; or in the
context of the situation in which the perception is
made (see Exhibit 2-1 ).
• When you look at a target and attempt to
interpret what you see, your interpretation is
heavily influenced by:
• Cont’d….

• Your personal characteristics—your attitudes,

personality, motives, interests, past experiences,
and expectations.
• Characteristics of the target also affect what we
perceive. Big or small, long or short, white or
black. Loud people are more likely to be noticed
in a group than quiet ones.
• Context matters too. The time at which we see an
object or event can influence our attention, as can
location, light, heat, or any number of situational
factors.
• People at stress, extreme happiness, or sad, sleep
or extremely tired tend not to perceive things
properly.
 Exercise 1
• How many legs does this elephant have?
What can you see from this image
Which of the two horizontal line is longer?
 Exercise 2
• Look at the list below and say the color, not
the word as fast as you can.

RED GREEN PURPLE

BLUE ORANGE YELLOW
GREEN BROWN RED
PURPLE YELLOW BLUE
ORANGE GREEN BLACK
RED PURPLE ORANGE
 Result:
• That was pretty fast.
• Can anyone do it faster.
 Try again

RED GREEN PURPLE

BLUE ORANGE YELLOW
GREEN BROWN RED
PURPLE YELLOW BLUE
ORANGE GREEN BLACK
RED PURPLE ORANGE
 Cont’d….
• Why did the second reading of the colors take
longer?
• The right side of the brain tries to say the color
but the left side of the brain insists on reading
the word.
All these images are perceived differently
depending the above factors..
 B. Attributes
The Process through which individuals attempt to
determine the causes of others behavior
Attribution theory

A perceptual process whereby we interpret the causes of

behavior in terms of the person (internal attribution) or
the situation (external attributions).

5–85
•Attribution theory describes how people explain the
causes of their own and other people’s behavior
 Common internal attributions include ability, effort,
and personality.
 Poor performance may be attributed to lack of effort or
ability, and poor relations with coworkers may be
attributed to personality.
Common external attributions include luck, chance, and
easy tasks.
 An employee performs the job poorly because he /she
does not receive sufficient resources to do the task.
Person Perception: Making Judgments About
Others, Contd.,

Determinants:

1. Distinctiveness: shows different behaviors in different

situations.
2. Consensus: response is the same as others to same situation.
3. Consistency: responds in the same way over time.
© 2003 Prentice Hall Inc. All
5–87
rights reserved.
Example : Suppose that an employee is making poor
quality products one day on a particular machine. We
would probably conclude that there is something wrong
with the machine
 ………..(an external attribution)……….
 If the employee has made good quality products on
this machine in the past
 …(low consistency attributed by external cause)……..
 The more consistent the behavior, the more we are
inclined to attribute it to internal causes.
Cont’d…
• The employee makes good quality products on
other machines (high distinctiveness attributed
by external cause), and
• Other employees have recently had quality
problems on this machine (high consensus
attributed by external cause ).
Attribution Theory
 Errors and Biases in Attributions
One of the most interesting findings from
attribution theory research is that errors or
biases distort attributions.

© 2003 Prentice Hall Inc. All

5–91
rights reserved.
For example Ato Engeda is late for work,
observers conclude that he is lazy instead of
thinking that external factors may caused this
behavior.

Fundamental attribution error mainly occurs

because we have limited information about the
situational contingencies affecting other people.
 (cont’d)

We take credit for our successes and blame

others or the situation for our mistakes
© 2003 Prentice Hall Inc. All
5–93
rights reserved.
 Frequently Used Short-cuts in Judging Others

1. Selective perception
2. Halo effect
3. Contrast effects
4. Projection
5. Stereotyping

© 2003 Prentice Hall Inc. All

5–94
rights reserved.
 Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others

© 2003 Prentice Hall Inc. All

5–95
rights reserved.
Contd.,
Halo effect:
Drawing a general impression about an individual on the basis of a
single characteristics.

Contrast effect:

Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that is affected by comparisons with

other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same
characteristics.

Projection Bias
This occurs when we believe other people have the same beliefs and behaviors
that we do.
If you are eager for a promotion , you might think that others in your position
are similarly motivated.

© 2003 Prentice Hall Inc. All

5–96
rights reserved.
 Stereotyping Issues
• Assigning traits to people based on their membership in
a social category
• Occurs because:
– Categorical thinking
– Inborn drive to understand and anticipate others’ behavior

3-97
• Stereotyping Problems
– Overgeneralizes – doesn’t represent everyone in
the category
– Basis of systemic and intentional discrimination

3-98
The Link Between Perception and Individual Decision Making

• Every decision requires us to interpret and

evaluate information. We typically receive data
from multiple sources and need to screen,
process, and interpret them.
• Which data are relevant to the decision, and which
are not?
• Our perceptions will answer that question. We
also need to develop alternatives and evaluate
their strengths and weaknesses.
 Contd.,
• Again, our perceptual process will affect the
final outcome.
• Finally, throughout the entire decision making
process, perceptual distortions can bias the
analysis and conclusions.
2.3 Attitudes, Job Satisfaction and
Emotion
 A. Attitudes.
• Attitudes are evaluative statements—either
favorable or unfavorable—about objects,
people, or events. They reflect how we feel
about something.
• Attitudes are influenced by values and are
acquired from the same sources as values.

102
 Components of attitudes.
– Cognitive component(the reasoning or perceptive
part)
• The beliefs, opinions, knowledge, or information a
person possesses.
– Affective component.
• A specific feeling regarding the personal impact of the
antecedents.
– Behavioral component.
• An intention to behave in a certain way based on specific
feelings.

103
 Another Example
• Discrimination is wrong………..cognitive component
I dislike Gutoma because he discriminates male and
female …….affect component
I might choose to avoid Gutoma because of my
feeling about him……………behavioural components

So cognition is evaluation , affect is feeling and

behaviour is action

© 2003 Prentice Hall Inc. All

3–105
rights reserved.
• Viewing attitudes as having three components—
cognition, affect, and behavior—is helpful in
understanding their complexity and the potential
relationship between attitudes and behavior.
• Keep in mind that these components are closely
related, and cognition and affect in particular are
inseparable in many ways.
 Attitude and Consistency
• Cognitive dissonance - Any incompatibility
between two or more attitudes or between
behavior and attitudes.
• Any form of inconsistency is uncomfortable and
that individuals will attempt to reduce the
dissonance and, hence, the discomfort.
 Attitude and Consistency, Contd.,

• E.g., Mrs. Smith is a corporate manager. She strongly

believes that no company should pollute the air or water.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Smith, because of the requirements
of her job, is placed in the position of having to make
decisions that would trade off her company’s profitability
against her attitudes on pollution. She knows that
dumping the company’s sewage into the local river (which
she assume is legal) is in the best economic interest of her
firm.
• What she will do? Clearly, she is experiencing a high
degree of cognitive dissonance.
© 2003 Prentice Hall Inc. All
3–108
rights reserved.
 Desire to reduce dissonance
• Importance of elements creating dissonance
• Degree of individual influence over elements.
Individuals will be more motivated to reduce
dissonance when they believe the dissonance is due
to something they can control.
• Rewards involved in dissonance - high
rewards accompanying high dissonance tend to
reduce the tension inherent in the dissonance.
Relationship between attitude and behavior
• It depends on the following moderating variables:
1. The importance of the attitude-Important attitudes
reflect our fundamental values, self-interest
2. Its correspondence to behavior –
– Specific attitudes tend to predict specific behaviors, and
– General attitude predicts general behavior.
• For instance, asking someone about her intention to
stay with an organization for the next 3 months is
likely to better predict turnover for that person than
asking her how satisfied she is with her job overall.
Cont’d…
• On the other hand, overall job satisfaction would
better predict a general behavior, such as whether the
individual was engaged in her work or motivated to
contribute to her organization.
• 3. Its accessibility - Attitudes that our memories can
easily access are more likely to predict our behavior.
Interestingly, you’re more likely to remember attitudes
you frequently express.
• 4. The presence of social pressures - Discrepancies
between attitudes and behavior tend to occur when
social pressures to behave in certain ways hold
exceptional power.
 What Are the Major Job Attitudes?

• Most of the research in OB has looked at three

attitudes:

• Job satisfaction,

• Job involvement, and

• Organizational commitment.
I. Job Satisfaction
• Job satisfaction refers to an individual’s general
attitude toward his or her job.
• A person with a high level of job satisfaction holds
positive attitudes toward the job,
• While a person who is dissatisfied with his or her
job holds negative attitudes about the job.

© 2003 Prentice Hall Inc. All

3–113
rights reserved.
 Cont’d….
II. Job Involvement: which measures the degree to
which people identify psychologically with their job and
consider their perceived performance level important to
self-worth.

III. Organizational commitment: an employee

identifies with a particular organization and its goals and
wishes to remain a member.
The Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance
• Satisfaction and Productivity
– Satisfied workers are necessarily more productive.
– Worker productivity is higher in organizations with
more satisfied workers.
• Satisfaction and Absenteeism
– Satisfied employees have fewer avoidable absences.
• Satisfaction and Turnover
– Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.
– Organizations take actions to cultivate high performers
and to clear out lower performers.
• Job Satisfaction and OCB
– Satisfied employees who feel fairly treated by
and are trusting of the organization are more
willing to engage in behaviors that go beyond the
normal expectations of their job.

© 2003 Prentice Hall Inc. All

3–116
rights reserved.
 Responses to Job Dissatisfaction
How Employees Can Express Dissatisfaction?

© 2003 Prentice Hall Inc. All

3–117
rights reserved.
 B. Emotion
• What are Emotions and Moods?
• Affect
– A broad range of feelings that people experience
– Made up of:
• Emotions
– Intense feelings that are directed at someone or
something
• Moods
– Feelings that tend to be less intense than
emotions and that lack a contextual stimulus
 Cont’d….
• You show your emotions when you’re “happy about
something, angry at someone, afraid of something.”
• Moods, in contrast, aren’t usually directed at a person or
an event.
• Can emotions turned to Mood or can moods turned to
emotions
• Emotions can turn into moods when you lose focus on
the event or object that started the feeling.
 The Basic Emotions
• While not universally accepted, there appear to be
six basic emotions:
– Anger, Fear, Sadness, Happiness, Disgust, Surprise
• All other emotions are subsumed under these six

© 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights

8-120
reserved.
 The Basic emotions: Positive and Negative Affect
• One way to classify emotions is by whether they
are positive or negative.
• Positive emotions—such as joy and gratitude—
express a favorable evaluation or feeling.
• Negative emotions—such as anger or guilt—
express the opposite.
• Keep in mind that emotions can’t be neutral.
Being neutral is being non-emotional.
 Cont’d….
• Positive Affect A mood dimension that consists of
specific positive emotions such as excitement, self-
assurance, and cheerfulness at the high end and
boredom, sluggishness, and tiredness at the low
end.
• Negative Affect A mood dimension that consists of
negative emotions such as nervousness, stress, and
anxiety at the high end and positive emotions like
relaxation, tranquility, and poise at the low end.
 What is the Function of Emotion?
• Do Emotions Make Us Irrational or rational?
• The example of Phineas Gage and many other
brain injury studies show emotions are critical
to rational thinking.
• Emotions are critical to rational decision-
making

8-124
 Sources of Emotion and Mood
• Personality…….emotional stability
– There is a trait component – affect intensity(how
strongly they experience their emotions.)
• Day and Time of the Week
– There is a common pattern for all of us:
– People tend to be in their worst moods (highest
negative affect and lowest positive affect) early in the
week, and in their best moods (highest positive affect
and lowest negative affect) late in the week.

© 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights

8-125
reserved.
• Stress
• Stressful daily events at work (a nasty e-mail, an
impending deadline, the loss of a big sale, a
reprimand from the boss) negatively affect moods .

• Even low levels of constant stress can worsen

moods
• Social Activities
• Research suggests activities that are physical,
informal (going to a party), or epicurean (eating
with others) are more strongly associated with
increases in positive mood than events that are
formal (attending a meeting).
• Sleep
– Poor sleep quality increases negative affect
• Age
– Older folks experience fewer negative emotions
• Gender
– Women tend to be more emotionally
expressive, feel emotions more intensely, have
longer lasting moods, and express emotions
more frequently than do men

© 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights

8-128
reserved.
2.4 Motivation in the work place
 Defining Motivation
• We define motivation as the processes that reasons for
an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of
effort toward attaining a goal. (Robinns).

Key Elements
1. Intensity: how hard a person tries
2. Direction: toward beneficial goal
3. Persistence: how long a person tries
 Defining Motivation

• Motives are the "whys" of behavior - the needs or wants

that drive behavior and explain what we do.
• We don't actually observe a motive; rather, we infer
that one exists based on the behavior we
observe."(Nevid, 2013)
 Why Motivate Employees?
The High cost of employee turnover
Maintaining the competitive power
Happy employees keep clients happy
 Theories of Motivation
1. Content Theories of Motivation
 Content theories explain why people have different
needs at different times.
 In general Content theories emphasize individual
needs or the reward that may satisfy those needs.
- Hierarchy of Needs Theory
- ERG Theory
- Theory X and Theory Y
- Two-Factor Theory
- McClelland’s Theory of Needs
 2. Process Theories of Motivation
 Describe the process through which needs and
need deficiencies are translated into behavior.

- Goal-Setting Theory
- Reinforcement Theory
- Equity Theory
- Expectancy Theory
A. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Self-Actualization
(Self-fulfillment)

Esteem
(Recognition from others)

Social
(belongingness, acceptance, and friendship.)

Safety
(Security & shelter)

Physiological
(Air, food, water, etc.)
Maslow’s Theory works best with:

Satisfaction-progression process- as the person

satisfies a lower level need , the next higher need
in the hierarchy becomes the primary motivator.
Clayton Alderfer’s ERG Theory

Self-Actualization
(Self-fulfillment)
Growth
Esteem
(Recognition from others)

Social Relatedness
(belongingness, acceptance, and friendship.)
Existence
Safety
(Security & shelter)

Physiological
(Air, food, water, etc.)
 ERG Theory………

Core Needs
Concepts:
Existence: provision of basic
More than one need can be
material requirements. operative at the same time.
Relatedness: desire for If a higher-level need cannot be
relationships. fulfilled, the desire to satisfy a
lower-level need increases- hence a
Growth: desire for personal frustration - regression process
development.
 ERG Theory (Aldefer)…

Relatedness Needs

Existence Needs Growth Needs

Satisfaction/Progression

Frustration/Regression

Satisfaction/Strengthening
Theory X and Theory Y (Douglas McGregor)
 Two-Factor Theory (Frederick Herzberg)
• Two-factor theory distinguishes between:
Motivators include:
• Challenging work,
• Recognition for one's achievement,
• Responsibility,
• Involvement in decision making,
• Sense of importance to an organization).
– All these give positive satisfaction, arising from
intrinsic conditions of the job itself, such as
recognition, achievement, or personal growth
 Cont’d….
• Hygiene factors
• The term "hygiene" is used in the sense that these are
maintenance factors.
• (e.g. job security, salary, fringe benefits, work conditions,
good pay, paid insurance, vacations) that do not give
positive satisfaction or lead to higher motivation, though
dissatisfaction results from their absence.
 David McClelland’s Theory of Needs

This theory focuses on three needs: achievement, power,

and affiliation that help explain motivation.
 Some people have a compelling drive to succeed. They
are for personal achievement rather than the rewards
of success.
 The need for power is the desire to have impact, to be
influential, and to control others.
 Affiliation needs are desires to be liked and accepted by
others.
High nAch people :
 are best in entrepreneurship
Best in competitive environments
 with challenging tasks
High nAff people :
 Are effective in coordinating roles
Are effective in sales positions
Less effective in allocating resources and making
decisions that potentially generate conflict
High nPower people :
 Are effective in controlling and monitoring others
Are effective in political activities
However should have moral standards
Practical Implications of Content Motivation Theories
Content theories suggest that :
Different people have different needs at different
times
Some employees are ready to fulfill growth needs ,
whereas others are still struggling to satisfy their
minimum existence needs
Needs change as people enter new stages of their
life
Thus , content motivation theories advise organizations
to offer employees their choice of reward.
Process Theories of Motivation

(Reading Assignment)

-Goal-Setting Theory
- Equity Theory
- Expectancy Theory
 I. Locke’s Goal-Setting Theory
• People set goals for themselves and they are motivated
to work toward these goals because achieving them is
rewarding.
• Goals affect task performance by
• directing attention and action,
• mobilizing energy expenditure or effort,
• prolonging effort overtime (persistence) and
• motivating the individual to develop relevant
strategies for goal attainment
Cont’d….

• Performance is best when:

– Goals are specific
– Goals are challenging
– Workers have necessary ability
– Rewards are clearly understood and provided
– Management supports goal attainment
– Provides necessary time & resources
– Goals are internalized and accepted by employees
– Feedback is provided
 II. Equity Theory

Equity Theory: Motivation theory based on the social

comparison process of examining the ratio of inputs
and outcomes between oneself and a comparison
other.
Person compares themselves with Other
Person perceived what they input into job
Person perceives what they benefit from job
Person compares input-benefit ratio of him/herself to
Other

Adams (1965)
 Cont’d….

Equity occurs when each person has equal ratios

(e.g., 50:50)

self-outcomes other’s-outcomes
vs
self-inputs other’s-inputs

Underpayment equity: The sense of unfairness derived from the perception

that the ratio of one’s own inputs and outcomes is lower than the ratio of a
comparison other.

Overpayment equity: The sense of unfairness derived from the perception

that the ratio of one's own inputs and outcomes is greater than the ratio of
comparison other.
Cont’d….

• You: 50 Other: 50  Fair/Equitable

50 50

• You: 50 Other: 75  inequity due to Under rewarded

50 50

• You: 75 Other: 50  inequity due to Over rewarded

50 50
 III. Expectancy Theory
Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory argues that:
 An employee will be motivated to exert a high level of
effort when he or she believes that:
 Effort will lead to a good performance appraisal;
 A good appraisal will lead to organizational
rewards such as bonus, a salary increase, or a
promotion; and
 The rewards will satisfy the employee’s personal
goals.
Cont’d….
 The theory, therefore, focuses on three
relationships:
1.Effort-performance relationship
2.Performance-reward relationship
3.Rewards-personal goals relationship.
 Motivation Guidelines

 Offer a positive work environment

 Keep lines of communication open
 Provide opportunities for advancement
 Have fair compensation packages
 Recognize and Reward your employees
 Encourage teamwork
 To Motivate Others, You Need to be Motivated
 Actions speak louder than Words
 Lead by Example
 If you are in a position of authority, you’re a role
model-whether you want to be or not.
 Your actions and conduct set the stage for others.
 People will look to you as the example of what is
expected.
 Your Motivation Toolbox
Balance
Benefits
Compensation
Communication
Corporate culture
Recognition and rewards
Responsibility
Teamwork
Training and promotions
 Motivation and Performance
• Motivation is anything that provides direction,
intensity, and persistence to behavior.
• Performance = motivation X ability X situational factors
(leadership support, resources, peer support, etc).
• Ability is relatively fixed. Ability linked to wages.
• Supervisors can work largely on motivation or
situational factors.
CHAPTER END