Critical Psychological States

 Meaningfulness of work – The degree to which work

tasks are viewed as something that ‘counts’ in the
employee’s system of philosophies and beliefs
 Responsibility for outcomes – The degree to which the
employees feel that they’re the key drivers of the quality
of the unit’s work.
 Knowledge of results – The extent to which employees
know how well or how poor they’re doing.

What type of tasks create these

psychological states?
Job Characteristics Theory
 Job Characteristics Theory
 Variety – The degree to which the job requires a number of
different activities involve a number of different skills and
talents.
 Identity – The degree to which the job requires completing a
whole, identifiable, piece of work from beginning to end with
visible outcome.
 Significance – The degree to which the job has a substantial
impact on the lives of other people.
 Autonomy – The degree to which the job provides freedom,
independence, and discretion to the individual performing the
work.
 Feedback – The degree to which carrying out the activities
required by the job provides employee with clear information
about how well they’re performing.
 Job Enrichment

Job enrichment is the

process of using the five
items in the job
characteristics model to
create more satisfaction.
 Moods and Emotions
 Job satisfaction reflects what you think and
feel about your job.
 A satisfied employee feels good about his or
her job on average.

Mood
States of feeling that are
often mild in intensity, last
for an extended period of
time, and are not explicity
directed at or caused by
anything
Emotions
States of feeling that are
often intense, last for only a
few minutes, and clearly
directed at and caused by
someone or some
circumstances.
Hour-by-hour Fluctuations in Job Satisfaction
During the Workday
Different Kinds of Mood
 Moods and Emotions
 Emotions – An individual assessment of an event or
situation
 Positive emotions – Pleasant moments create
positive emotions
 Negative emotions – Unpleasant moments create
negative emotions
 Emotional labor - the process of managing feelings and
expressions to fulfil the emotional requirements of a job
 Emotional contagion - Can be shared across
individuals in different ways either implicitly or explicitly.
Different Kinds of Emotions