Module - 2

Understanding Individual Behaviour

Topics : Foundation to Individual Behavior

● Individual Differences
● Emotional Intelligence
● Personality
● Perception
● Attitude
● Values
● Motivation
● Motivational Theories
● Applications and implications
Sub Topics

● Individual Differences
– Factors affecting and Causing Individual differences
– Implications of Individual Differences
● Emotional Intelligence
● Personality
– Concept
– Big Five Personality traits
– types of personality
– factors determining personality
– Organization application of personality
● Perception
– Concept
– Process
– Attribution Theory
– Factors Influencing Perceptions
– Managerial Implications Of Perception
Sub Topics

● Attitude
– concept
– components
– types of attitude relevant for OB
● Values
– concept
– types of values
Motivation
– Concept
– Motivation implication on performance and behaviour
● Motivational Theories
– Maslow’s need hierarchy theory
– Herzberg’s Motivational-hygiene theory
– McClelland’s Need theory
– Alderfer’s ERG theory
– Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
– McGregor theory X and Y Motivation
● Applications and implications
Individual Differences
 THE CONCEPT OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

● Individual differences are the facts

that make people different from each
other.

● our physical aspects

● our likes, dislikes,
● interests, values, psychological
makeup and the list goes on.
In other words... the whole "Personality".

● No two people or animals can be THE

SAME, they can only be similar.
 THERE ARE VARIOUS FACTORS USED TO IDENTIFY
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

● BIOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
● AGE
● GENDER
● RACE
● RELIGION

● ABILITY:
● INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES:
● PHYSICAL ABILITIES
AGE:

● Relation between age and job

performance
● Effect of age on:
● Turnover
● Absenteeism
● Productivity
● Satisfaction
 GENDER: Men v/s Women

● Job Performance

● Psychological Studies
-Women are more willing to conform to authority.
-Men are more aggressive to have expectations of
success.

● Assumption
-No significant difference in job productivity between men
and women.

● Preference of Work Schedules

● Absence and Turnover Rates

ABILITY

An Ability is an
individual’s capacity to
perform the various task in a
job. Contrary to what we were
taught in school, we weren’t
all created equal. An
individual’s overall abilities are
essentially made up of two
sets of factors:
● Intellectual Abilities.
● Physical Abilities.
PHYSICAL ABILITIES

The capacity to do tasks

demanding stamina,
dexterity, strength, &
similar characteristics
comes under Physical
Abilities.
INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES

The capacity to do mental

activities such as Thinking,
reasoning, & problem
solving comes under
Intellectual Abilities.
Personality
What is Personality ?

● The combination of characteristics or qualities

that form an individual's distinctive character.

● The sum total of ways in which an individual

reacts and interacts with others.
 What is Personality Trait ?

Enduring characteristics that describe an

individual’s behavior.

Personality Determinants
● Heredity
● Environment
● Situation
 The Big Five Model of Personality Dimensions
(OCEAN)
Openness - People who like to learn new things and enjoy new experiences usually
score high in openness. Openness includes traits like being insightful and
imaginative and having a wide variety of interests.

Conscientiousness - People that have a high degree of conscientiousness are

reliable and prompt. Traits include being organized, methodic, and thorough.

Extraversion - Extraverts get their energy from interacting with others, while
introverts get their energy from within themselves. Extraversion includes the traits
of energetic, talkative, and assertive.

Agreeableness - These individuals are friendly, cooperative, and compassionate.

People with low agreeableness may be more distant. Traits include being kind,
affectionate, and sympathetic.

Neuroticism - Neuroticism is also sometimes called Emotional Stability. This

dimension relates to one’s emotional stability and degree of negative emotions.
People that score high on neuroticism often experience emotional instability and
negative emotions. Traits include being moody and tense.
 What Is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and

manage your own emotions and the emotions of
others.

It is generally said to include three skills:

● emotional awareness;

● the ability to harness emotions and apply

them to tasks like thinking and problem solving;
and

● the ability to manage emotions, which

includes regulating your own emotions and
Contd.

Emotional Intelligence : ● Emotional Intelligence (EI)

An assortment of non – Self-awareness
cognitive skills, capabilities, – Self-management
and competencies that
– Self-motivation
influence a person’s ability
to succeed in coping with – Empathy
environmental demands and – Social skills
pressures.
● Research Findings
– High EI scores, not
high IQ scores,
characterize high
performers.
Major Personality Attributes Influencing OB

● Locus of control
● Self-esteem
● Self-monitoring
● Risk taking
● Machiavellianism
● Narcissism
● Type A & Type B
 Locus of Control

The degree to which people believe they

are masters of their own fate.

Internals
Individuals who believe that they
control what happens to them.

Externals
Individuals who believe that
what happens to them is
controlled by outside forces
such as luck or chance.
 Self-Esteem and Self-Monitoring
Self-Esteem (SE)
Individuals’ degree of liking
or disliking themselves.

Self-Monitoring
A personality trait that
measures an individuals ability
to adjust his or her behavior to
external, situational factors.
Risk-Taking

● High Risk-taking Managers

– Make quicker decisions
– Use less information to make decisions
– Operate in smaller and more entrepreneurial
organizations

● Low Risk-taking Managers

– Are slower to make decisions
– Require more information before making decisions
– Exist in larger organizations with stable environments
 Machiavellianism (Mach)

Degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance,

and believes that ends can justify means.

High Machs manipulate more, win more, are persuaded less, and persuade
others more than do low Machs. They like their jobs less, are more stressed
by their work, and engage in more deviant work behaviors.

Conditions Favoring High Machs

● Direct interaction
● Minimal rules and regulations
● Emotions distract for others
 Narcissism
Narcissists often want to gain the admiration of
others and receive affirmation of their superiority,
they tend to “talk down” to those who threaten them,
treating others as if they were inferior.

Narcissists also tend to be selfish and exploitive and

believe others exist for their benefit. Their bosses
rate them as less effective at their jobs than others,
particularly when it comes to helping people.
Types of Personality
 Personality Types

Type A’s
● are always moving, walking, and eating rapidly;
● feel impatient with the rate at which most events take place;
● strive to think or do two or more things at once;
● cannot cope with leisure time;
● are obsessed with numbers, measuring their success in terms of
how many or how much of everything they acquire.

Type B’s
● never suffer from a sense of time urgency with its accompanying
impatience;
● feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements or
accomplishments;
● play for fun and relaxation, rather than to exhibit their superiority at
any cost;
● can relax without guilt.
Perception
What Is Perception, and Why Is It Important?

● People’s behavior is based

on their perception of what
reality is, not on reality itself.
Factors That Influence Perception
 Person Perception:
Making Judgments About Others

The theory was first brought forth by psychologist Fritz Heider in the 1950s and
stated that people had a desire to explain the reasoning behind their actions and
the actions of others.

Distinctiveness: shows different behaviors in different situations.

Consensus: response is the same as others to same situation.
Consistency: responds in the same way over time.
Attribute Theory
Common Shortcuts in Judging Others
Contd.
Contd.
Contd.
The Link Between Perceptions and Individual Decision
Making

Perceptions of
the decision
maker

Outcomes
Specific Applications in Organizations

● Employment Interview
– Perceptual biases affect the accuracy of interviewers’
judgments of applicants.

● Performance Expectations
– Self-fulfilling prophecy / prediction (pygmalion effect):
The lower or higher performance of employees reflects
preconceived leader expectations about employee
capabilities.

● Performance Evaluations
– Appraisals are subjective perceptions of performance.

● Employee Effort
– Assessment of individual effort is a subjective judgment
subject to perceptual distortion and bias.
Pygmalion
Effect

The Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal

effect, is the phenomenon
whereby higher expectations lead
to an increase in perfo rmance
Attitude
 Introduction
● It is a generalized tendency to think or act in a certain
way in respect of some object or situation, often
accompanied by feeling.

● Attitudes can be defined as evaluations of ideas, events,

objects, or people.

● Attitudes are generally positive or negative, but they can

also be uncertain at times.

● For example, sometimes we have mixed feelings about

a particular issue or person.
 Where does an attitude come
from?

● Every attitude has three components

that are represented in what is called
the ABC model of attitudes: A for
affective, B for behavioral, and C for
cognitive.

● Although every attitude has these

three components, any particular
attitude can be based on one
component more than another.
 What are attitudes & Its Components ?

Affective Component
Attitudes The emotional or feeling segment
Evaluative of an attitude
statements or Behavioral Component
judgments
concerning An intention / belief/ perception to
objects, people, behave in a certain way toward
someone or something
or events
Cognitive Component
The opinion or belief segment of
an attitude
ABC Model of Attitude
 Example:

Cognitive: A person might know that McDonald’s is a fast food

restaurant that operates in 1,000’s of locations throughout the world.

Affective: The same person as above may consider that McDonald’s

food is convenient and provides good value for money. This is the
affective component of an attitude, as it suggests some form of
evaluation. Contrast this against another person who may dislike the
taste of McDonald’s view and generally dislike their facilities.

Behavioural: there are some people who would frequently visit

McDonald’s, others who go occasionally, and others who would never
go to McDonald’s. Obviously the behavioral component is interrelated
to the effective and cognitive aspects of the person’s attitude.
 Types of Job Attitudes

Job Satisfaction
A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that an
individual holds toward his or her job

Job Involvement
Identifying with the job, actively participating in it, and
considering performance important to self-worth

Organizational Commitment
Identifying with a particular organization and its goals, and
wishing to maintain membership in the organization
 Cont’d

Perceived Organizational Support (POS)

Degree to which employees feel the organization cares
about their well-being

Employee Engagement
An individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with,
and enthusiasm for the organization
 Values

Represent basic, enduring convictions 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."
Value Systems

● Represent a prioritizing of individual values by:

– Content – importance to the individual
– Intensity – relative importance with other values

● The hierarchy tends to be relatively stable

● Values are the foundation for attitudes,

motivation, and behavior

● Influence perception and cloud objectivity

Types of Values (Rokeach)
Terminal Values
Desirable end-states of
existence; the goals that a
person would like to
achieve during his or her
lifetime

Instrumental Values
Preferable modes of behavior
or means of achieving one’s
terminal values
 Examples of Terminal Values

● A comfortable life (a prosperous life)

● An exciting life (stimulating, active life)
● A sense of accomplishment (lasting contribution)
● A world of peace (free of war and conflict)
● A world of beauty (beauty of nature and the arts)
● Equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity for all)
● Family security (taking care of loved ones)
● Freedom (independence, free choice)
● Happiness (contentedness)
Examples of Instrumental Values

● Ambitious (hard working, aspiring)

● Broad-minded (open-minded)
● Capable (competent, efficient)
● Cheerful (lighthearted, joyful)
● Clean (neat, tidy)
● Courageous (standing up for your beliefs)
● Forgiving (willing to pardon others)
● Helpful (working for the welfare of others)
● Honest (sincere, truthful)
 Introduction (Cont.)

Motivation defined

Motivation is a psychological process that

causes
the arousal, direction, and persistence of
voluntary actions that are goal directed.
 Introduction (Cont.)

that that
Motivation leads to results in Some level
is the Choice of of job
psychological behavior performance
process

The Motivation-Behavior-Job Performance Sequence

Introduction (Cont.)

Why know about motivation?

– Help you understand your behavior and the

behavior of others

– Can help a manager build and manage a “system

of motivation.”

– Offers conceptual tools for analyzing motivation

problems in organizations
 Defining Motivation
Motivation
The processes that account for an individual’s
intensity, direction, and persistence of effort
toward attaining a goal.

Key Elements
● Intensity: how hard a person tries
● Direction: toward beneficial goal
● Persistence: how long a person tries
● Need theories
– Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
– Alderfer’s E.R.G. Theory
– Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory
– McClelland’s Achievement Motivation Theory

● Cognitive and behavioral theories

– Theory X & Y
– Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
Hierarchy of Needs Theory ( Abraham Maslow)
 Maslow’s Theory Assumptions

Abraham Maslow in 1954 stated that

■ human needs tend to arrange themselves in hierarchies of prepotency.

■ Appearance of one need depends on the satisfaction of the other.

■ The physiological needs necessary for survival are at the first.

■ A need that has been satisfied is no longer a need.

■ Behavior of a person is always dominated not by his satisfied needs but

by his unsatisfied wants, desires and needs.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

● Physiological
includes food, water, shelter and other bodily needs
● Safety
includes security and protection from physical and emotional harm
● Social
includes affection, belongingness acceptance, and friendship
● Esteem
includes internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and
achievement; and external esteem factors such as status, recognition,
and attention
● Self-actualization
the drive to become what one is capable of becoming; includes growth,
achieving one’s potential, and self-fulfillment
Alderfer's “ERG” Theory

Existence
Relatedness
Growth

This theory does not assume a rigid hierarchy

like Maslow's. For example, all 3 of these
could be operating at the same time.
 ERG Theory (Clayton Alderfer)

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
relationships. be fulfilled, the desire to
Growth: desire for personal satisfy a lower-level need
development. increases.
E.R.G. Theory (Cont.)

Maslow E.R.G. Relationship of

hierarchy Theory Maslow’s hierarchy
Self- to E.R.G. Theory.
actualization

Growth needs
Esteem

Belongingness
and love Relatedness needs

Safety

Existence needs
Physiological
 Two-Factor Theory (Frederick Herzberg)

Two-Factor (Motivation-Hygiene) Theory

Intrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction, while
Extrinsic factors are associated with dissatisfaction.
 Two-Factor Theory
● Intrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction, while
extrinsic factors are related to job dissatisfaction.

Hygiene factors = when these are adequate, workers “feel

OK” (i.e. they are NOT dissatisfied). Examples include
quality of supervision, company policies and
administration.

Motivators = examines factors contributing to job

satisfaction. Thus, there are factors which lead to job
satisfaction and things that don’t (i.e. notice there is a
difference between “non-satisfying” and “dissatisfying
factors”)
Differences Between Maslow and Herzberg Theory of
Motivation
 David McClelland’s Theory of Needs

Need for Achievement Need for Affiliation

The drive to excel, to achieve in The desire for friendly
relation to a set of standards, and close personal
to strive to succeed. relationships.

Need for Power nPow

The need to make others
behave in a way that they
would not have behaved
otherwise.
nAch nAff
● McClelland's theory sometimes is also referred as
the three needs theory or as the learned needs
theory.

Achievement
● People with a high need for achievement (nAch) seek
to excel and tend to avoid both low-risk and high-risk
situations.
Achievers avoid low-risk situations because the easily
attained success is not a genuine achievement.

Achievers avoid high-risk situations because they see the

outcome as one of chance rather than one's own effort.
● High nAch individuals prefer work that has a
moderate probability of success, ideally a 50%
chance.

● Achievers need regular feedback in order to

monitor the progress of their achievements.

● They prefer either to work alone or with other high

achievers.
Affiliation

● Those with a high need for affiliation (nAff) need harmonious

relationships with other people and need to feel accepted by other
people.

● They tend to conform to the norms of their work group.

● High nAff individuals prefer work that provides significant personal

interaction.

● They perform well in customer service and client interaction

situations
Power

● A person's need for power (nPow) can be one of two types: - -

institutional
-personal
● Those who need personal power want to direct others, and this
need often is perceived as undesirable.

● Persons who need institutional power (also known as social

power) want to organize the efforts of others to further the goals
of the organization.
contd.

Question: So, what can we “do” with such information

about our employees???

Answer: Match People and Jobs.

Expectancy Theory (Victor Vroom)
 Expectancy Theory Relationships

● Effort–Performance Relationship
– The probability that exerting a given amount of effort will lead
to performance.

● Performance–Reward Relationship
– The belief that performing at a particular level will lead to the
attainment of a desired outcome.

● Rewards–Personal Goals Relationship

– The degree to which organizational rewards satisfy an
individual’s goals or needs and the attractiveness of potential
rewards for the individual.
Example:
Example:
Theory X and Theory Y (Douglas McGregor)

Theory X
Assumes that employees dislike work, lack
ambition, avoid responsibility, and must be
directed and coerced to perform.

Theory Y
Assumes that employees like work, seek
responsibility, are capable of making
decisions, and exercise self-direction and
self-control when committed to a goal.
Thank You!