Exam-style questions
Chapter 9: Psychology and organisations
Paper 3 style questions

1. a. Explain what is meant by leadership style. [2]

b. Describe one way of measuring leadership style. [4]

c. Discuss two strengths of this way of measuring leadership style. [6]

2. a. Explain what is meant by groupthink. [2]

b. Describe one theory of the decision making process. [4]

c. Discuss one strength and one weakness of the theory you have just described. [6]

3. a. Explain what is meant by shiftwork. [2]

b. Describe the findings of the study by Knuttson into the effects of shiftwork on health. [4]

c. Discuss one strength and one weakness of the study by Knuttson into the effects of
shiftwork on health. [6]

4. a. Describe what psychologists have discovered about motivators at work [8]

b. Evaluate what psychologists have discovered about motivators at work including a

discussion of cultural bias. [10]

5. a. Describe what psychologists have discovered about health and safety. [8]

b. Evaluate what psychologists have discovered about health and safety including a
discussion of ethical issues. [10]

6. a. Describe what psychologists have discovered about theories of job satisfaction [8]

b. Evaluate what psychologists have discovered about theories of job satisfaction

including a discussion of usefulness. [10]

Paper 4 style questions

Giacalone and Rosenfeld (1987) asked unionised workers at a factory to rate a variety of
reasons which would justify the use of sabotage in an organisation, as well as the justifiability
of four general methods of sabotage (slowdowns, destructiveness, dishonesty and causing
chaos). Each participant was given the list of sabotage methods and the list of sabotage
reasons and asked to rate them individually on a scale of 1 (not at all justifiable) to 7 (totally
justifiable).

7. a. Explain what is meant by workplace sabotage. [2]

b. Outline two findings from the study by Giacalone and Rosenfeld. [4]

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c. Suggest how an alternative method could be used to investigate workplace sabotage.

[4]

d. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of using questionnaires to investigate

workplace sabotage. [5]

The study by Fox et al. (1987) investigated the use of a token economy to reward workers for
not having accidents or injuries for a specified amount of time. The study was conducted at
two open pit mines and their associated product processing plants. Both mines were in the
USA. Prior to the study, the number of days lost from work due to on the job in one of the
mines was over eight times the natural average for all mines and the three times the national
average at the other mine. In the five years preceding this study, two people had been killed
and a third person had suffered a permanent disability.

8. a. Explain what is meant by the term ‘token economy’. [2]

b. Outline two results from this study. [4]

c. Suggest one reason why this study might be considered ethical and one reason why
this study might be considered unethical. [4]

d. Discuss the problems of generalising from one organisation to another, using this study
as an example. [5]

9. a. Design a study to investigate the effects of bullying at work. [10]

b. Explain the psychological and methodological evidence on which your study is based.
[8]

10. a. Design a study to investigate the effectiveness of strategies to manage group conflict.
[10]

b. Explain the psychological and methodological evidence on which your study is based.
[8]

The exam-style questions, sample answers and mark schemes are written by the authors. In
examinations, the way marks are awarded may be different.

©  Cambridge  University  Press  2017