UNIT-2

Syllabus:

1. Attitude: Major component of Attitude

2. Job Satisfaction-Causes
3. Emotions and moods
4. Emotional Intelligence

Attitudes:

Attitudes are individuals’ general affective, cognitive and intentional responses toward objects,
other people, themselves, or social issues. Attitudes are evaluative statements – either favourable
or unfavourable – concerning objects, people or events. They reflect how one feels about
something. As individuals, we respond favourably or unfavourably towards many things: co-
workers, bosses, our own appearances, etc. The importance of attitudes lies in their link to
behaviour. When an employee says, “I like my job”, he or she is expressing his or her attitude
about work.

Attitude is defined as a more or less stable set of predisposition of opinion, interest or purpose
involving expectancy of a certain kind of experience and readiness with an appropriate response.
Attitudes are also known as “frames of reference”.
Characteristics of Attitudes

Attitudes have following characteristics:

An attitude is the predisposition of the individual to evaluate some objects in a favourable

or an unfavourable manner.

The most pervasive phenomenon is “attitude”. People at work place have attitudes about
lots of topics that are related to them. These attitudes are firmly embedded in a complex
psychological structure of beliefs.

Attitudes are different from values. Values are the ideals, whereas attitudes are narrow, they
are our feelings, thoughts and behavioural tendencies toward a specific object or situation.

Attitude is a predisposition to respond to a certain set of facts.

 Attitudes are evaluative statements – either favourable or unfavourable concerning the
objects, people or events.

An attitude is “a mental state of readiness, organised through experience, exerting a specific

influence upon a person’s response to people, objects and situations with which it is related”.
Attitudes thus state one’s predispositions towards given aspects of the world. They also provide
an emotional basis for one’s interpersonal relations and identification with others. Managers in
work organisations need to know and understand employees’ attitudes in order to manage
effectively. Attitudes do influence behaviour of people and their performance in organisations.

Functions of Attitude

Attitudes are known to serve at least four important functions in an organisation setting:

Attitudes determine meaning: Much of what is seen in the environment and in other
people’s behaviour is determined by attitudes. If one has a overall favourable attitude
towards a person, one tends to judge his activities as “good” or “superior”. On the other
hand, negative attitudes or prejudices generally prompt disagreement with the individual
concerned or failure to appreciate the good work done by him.

Attitudes reconcile contradictions: It is not uncommon to come across people who hold
contradictory opinions. With the proper attitude as a background, intelligent people can
reconcile or rationalise the same actions, which to others are obvious contradictions. For
example, when a worker takes a little rest, a superior considers it “idling”.

Attitudes organise facts: As already seen, objective events can be differently perceived by
different people because of different attitudes. Meanings can be concocted and falsely
communicated to others by changing the attitudes of the recipients towards wider social
issues.

Attitudes select facts: From the plethora of environmental facts and stimuli, one tends
to
select those which are in consonance with one’s cherished beliefs and attitudes.
Attitudes,
thus, act as a screen or filter.

Sources and Types of Attitudes

 A person can have thousands of attitudes, but most of the research in OB has been concerned
with three attitudes: Job satisfaction, Job involvement, and Organisational commitment.

Job Satisfaction: Satisfaction results when a job fulfils or facilitates the attainment of individual
values and standards, and dissatisfaction occurs when the job is seen as blocking such
attainment. This attitude has received extensive attention by researchers and practitioners
because it was at one time believed to be the cause of improved job performance. The term “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; a person who is dissatisfied with
his or her job holds negative attitudes about the job. Now, because of managers’ concern for
creating both a humane and high performance workplace, researchers continue to search for
definite answers about the causes and consequences of job satisfaction.

Job Involvement: Job involvement is the degree to which a person identifies with his or her job,
actively participates in it and considers his or her performance important to self-worth.
Employees with a high level of job involvement strongly identify with and really care about the
kind of work they do. High levels of job involvement have been found to be related to fewer
absences and lower resignation rates.

Organisational Commitment: Organisational commitment is the degree to which an employee

identifies with a particular organisation and its goals, and wishes to maintain membership in the
organisation. High organisational commitment means identifying with one’s employing
organisation.

Attitude Meaning
In simple words, an “attitude” is an individual’s way of looking or an individual’s
point of view at something.
To be more specific, an “attitude” may be defined as the mental state of an
individual, which prepares him to react or make him behave in a particular pre-
determined way. It is actually an acquired feeling.
Attitude is the mixture of beliefs and feelings that people have about situations,
specific ideas or other people.
Attitude Definition
Attitudes are evaluation statements either favourable or unfavourable or
unfavourable concerning objects, people or events. They reflect how one feels about
something.
Robbins

Attitude is a mental and neutral state of readiness organized through experience,

exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon individual’s response to all objects
and situations with which it is related.
G.W. Allport

 Attitude as an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual and

cognitive processes with respect to some aspect of the individual’s world.

Krech and Crutchfield

Components of Attitude
1. Cognitive component
2. Affective component
3. Behavioral component

Comp
onents of Attitude

Cognitive component
Cognitive component of attitude is associated with the value statement. It consists of
values, belief, ideas and other information that a person may have faith in.
Example: Quality of sincere hard is a faith or value statement that a manager may
have.
Affective component
Affective component of attitude is associated with individual feelings about another
person, which may be positive, neutral or negative.
Example: I don’t like Sam because he is not honest, or I like Sam because he is
sincere. It is an expression of feelings about a person, object or a situation.
Behavioral component
Behavioral component of attitude is associated with the impact of various condition
or situations that lead to person behavior based on cognitive and affective
components.
Example: I don’t like Sam because he is not honest is an affective component, I,
therefore, would like to disassociate myself with him, is a behavioural component and
therefore I would avoid Sam.
Cognitive and affective components are bases for such behaviour. Former two
components cannot be seen, only the behaviour component can be seen. Former is
important because it is a base for the formation of attitude.

Characteristics of Attitude
Characteristics of attitude are discussed below:
1. Attitude are predispositions
2. Attitude are different from values
3. Attitude are evaluative statement
4. Attitude influence human behavior
5. Attitude have intensity
6. Attitude are learnt
Characteristics of Attitude

Attitude are predispositions

Attitude are predispositions of purpose, interest or opinion of the person to assess
some objects in a favourable or an unfavourable manner.
Attitude are different from values
Attitude are different from values: Values are the ideals, whereas attitudes are narrow,
they are our feelings.
Attitude are evaluative statement
Attitude are evaluative statements: either favourable or unfavourable concerning the
objects, people or events.
Attitude influence human behavior
A positive attitude towards a thing will influence human behavior towards the thing
favorably and vice-versa.

Attitude have intensity

It refers to the strength of the effective component. For example, we may dislike an
individual but the extent of our disliking would determine the intensity of our attitude
towards the person.
Attitude are learnt
Attitude is not inborn phenomenon. Attitude are learnt through social interaction and
experience.

Functions of Attitude
Four important functions of attitude which are crucial in organizational behavior
viewpoint are:
1. Adjustment Function
2. Ego-Defensive Function
3. Value-Expressive Function
4. Knowledge Function

What Are the Major Job Attitudes?

There are three important attitudes toward work that OB has traditionally studied:
job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment. There are two
other work-related attitudes that are attracting attention: perceived organizational
support and employee engagement.
a. Job Satisfaction. A positive feeling about one’s job resulting from an
evaluation of its characteristics.
b. Job Involvement. The degree to which people identify psychologically with
their jobs and consider their perceived performance level important to self-worth.
c. Psychological Empowerment. Employees’ beliefs in the degree to which
they influence their work environment, their competence, the meaningfulness of
their job, and the perceived autonomy in their work.
d. Organizational Commitment. A state in which an employee identifies
with a particular organization and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in
the organization.
1) There are three separate dimensions of this attitude:
a) Affective Commitment: the emotional attachment to an organization and a belief
in its values.
b) Continuance Commitment: the perceived economic value of remaining with an
organization compared to leaving it.
c) Normative Commitment: an obligation to remain with the organization for moral
or ethical reasons.
2) A positive relationship appears to exist between organizational commitment
and job productivity, but it is a modest one.
a) A review of 27 studies suggested the relationship between commitment and
performance is strongest for new employees, and considerably weaker for more
experienced employees.
b) And, as with job involvement, the research evidence demonstrates negative
relationships between organizational commitment and both absenteeism and
turnover.
3) Different forms of commitment have different effects on behavior.
a) One study found managerial affective commitment more strongly related to
organizational performance than was continuance commitment.
b) Another study showed that continuance commitment was related to a lower
intention to quit but an increased tendency to be absent and lower job
performance.
c) These results make sense in that continuance commitment really isn’t a
commitment at all.
d) Rather than an allegiance (affective commitment) or an obligation (normative
commitment) to an employer, a continuance commitment describes an employee
“tethered” to an employer simply because there isn’t anything better available.
4) Perhaps a better attitude to measure in future would be occupational
commitment.
e. Perceived Organizational Support (POS). The degree to which employees
believe the organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being.
1) Organizations are considered supportive when they:
a) Fairly provide rewards,
b) Give employees a voice in decision-making, and
c) Provide supervisors who are seen as being supportive.
2) Research suggests employees with strong POS perceptions are more likely to have
higher levels of organizational citizenship behaviors, lower levels of tardiness, and
better customer service.
a) Though little cross-cultural research has been done, one study found POS
predicted only the job performance and citizenship behaviors of untraditional or
low power-distance Chinese employees—in short, those more likely to think of
work as an exchange rather than a moral obligation.
f. Employee Engagement. An individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with,
and enthusiasm for, the work he or she does.
1) Conditions that can increase engagement include:
a) Opportunities to learn new skills,
b) Important and meaningful work, and
c) Positive interactions with coworkers and supervisors.
2) Highly engaged employees have a passion for their work and feel a deep
connection to their company; disengaged employees have essentially checked out
—putting time but not energy or attention into their work.
3) The concept is relatively new and still generates active debate about its usefulness.
a) One review of the literature concluded, “The meaning of employee engagement is
ambiguous among both academic researchers and among practitioners who use it
in conversations with clients.”
b) Another reviewer called engagement “an umbrella term for whatever one wants it
to be.”
4) Organizations will likely continue using employee engagement, and it will remain
a subject of research.
a) The ambiguity surrounding it arises from its newness and may also, ironically,
reflect its popularity.
b) Engagement is a very general concept, perhaps broad enough to capture the
intersection of the other variables we’ve discussed.
c) In other words, it may be what these attitudes have in common.

JOB SATISFACTION

Meaning :
Job satisfaction refers to a person’s feeling of satisfaction on the job, which acts as a motivation
to work. It is not the self-satisfaction, happiness or self-contentment but the satisfaction on the
job.

Job satisfaction relates to the total relationship between an individual and the employer for which
he is paid. Satisfaction means the simple feeling of attainment of any goal or objective. Job
dissatisfaction brings an absence of motivation at work.
Definition:
Smith et al. (1969) defined job satisfaction as the feeling an individual has about his or her job.
Locke (1969) suggested that job satisfaction was a positive or pleasurable reaction resulting
from the appraisal of one’s job, job achievement, or job experiences.
Vroom (1982) defined job satisfaction as workers’ emotional orientation toward their current job
roles. Similarly, Schultz (1982) stated that job satisfaction is essentially the psychological
disposition of people toward their work.
Finally, Lofquist and Davis (1991), defined job satisfaction as “an individual’s positive
affective reaction of the target environment as a result of the individual’s appraisal of the extent
to which his or her needs are fulfilled by the environment”.

Features of Job Satisfaction

 Job satisfaction is intangible. Recognizing or measuring job satisfaction is only possible

by understanding the way workers behave in the workplace.
 It is proportionate with one’s expectations and outcomes in the workplace and the
management. When the results are in tune with the expectations, it creates job satisfaction and
vice versa.
 Job Satisfaction and Employee Satisfaction are two different elements. Job satisfaction is
with one’s feelings about his/her job. Employee Satisfaction is the feelings towards other
individuals and the company.

Benefits of Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction has many benefits to an organization. Some of the most notable are:

 Lowers voluntary turnover
 Reduces Employee Absenteeism
 Reduces long-term HR costs
 Contributes positive results towards Employee Referral Programs
 Boosts Employee Productivity
 Increases Employee Retention

Factors of Job Satisfaction:

here are different factors on which job satisfaction depends.
Important among them are discussed hereunder:
(i) Personal Factors:
They include workers’ sex, education, age, marital status and their personal characteristics,
family background, socio-economic background and the like.
(ii) Factors Inherent in the Job:
These factors have recently been studied and found to be important in the selection of
employees. Instead of being guided by their co-workers and supervisors, the skilled workers
would rather like to be guided by their own inclination to choose jobs in consideration of ‘what
they have to do’. These factors include- the work itself, conditions, influence of internal and
external environment on the job which are uncontrolled by the management, etc.
(iii) Factors Controlled by the Management:
The nature of supervision, job security, kind of work group, and wage rate, promotional
opportunities, and transfer policy, duration of work and sense of responsibilities are factors
controlled by management. All these factors greatly influence the workers. These factors
motivate the workers and provide a sense of job satisfaction.
Though performance and job satisfaction are influenced by different set of factors, these two can
be related if management links rewards to performance. It is viewed that job satisfaction is a
consequence of performance rather than a cause of it.
Satisfaction strongly influences the productive efficiency of an organisation whereas
absenteeism, employee turnover, alcoholism, irresponsibility, non- commitment are the result of
job dissatisfaction. However, job satisfaction or dissatisfaction forms opinions about the job and
the organisation which result in boosting up employee morale.

Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction Besides the Obvious

1. Age
Satisfaction has a significant relation with age. It means older workers have
higher job satisfaction than newer employees.
It is because with longevity in career comes many benefits. These
are employee perks, better work understanding, progression, ranks, etc.
All these translate to more satisfied employees in the workplace.

2. Leadership
Job satisfaction in leadership positions is often high. It’s because employees
feel more valued when they are in a power position and can show
their leadership skills.
A position of leadership helps them be more productive at work. It builds high
job satisfaction levels of your workforce.

3. Challenges
Ethical challenges in an organization give the workers a chance to grow. It
has a positive impact on their career trajectory and job satisfaction.
Furthermore, these challenges also mean trust in management, which
increases job satisfaction.All these add up to build better employee job
satisfaction.
4. Responsibilities
Job roles wherein a higher degree of responsibility are involved often adds to
higher job satisfaction.
It is because people expect to feel valued and appreciated for work done.
When an individual gets ample responsibility, it shows the management’s trust
in him/her.
This helps in bringing about a sense of value and makes employees happy.
But, if bombarded with lots of responsibility, it creates a negative effect. This
negative effect gives rise to employee burnout. It diminishes job satisfaction
and employee experience.
A job satisfaction survey conducted for data scientists uncovered the
following point. 53% of the respondents said that the work allotted to them
was not in a fair manner.
It is important to note here that the amount of responsibilities delegated is fair.

5. Creativity in the Workplace

Routine work often bores a worker, which often leads to job dissatisfaction.
Allowing a sense of creativity in the workplace makes things interesting. It
helps the workforce grow and puts a stop to a monotonous work cycle.
This sense of creativity gives the workers freedom wherein they can express
their work better. It breaks the repetitive day to day cycle, which helps restore
fulfillment and satisfaction.

6. Personal Interest
Having a personal interest in the job one does is an essential factor.
It is because here, the job work is more of a hobby, which never ceases to
bore the individual.
So, if your employees are truly passionate about their work, they will have
higher job satisfaction. Here, you must put effort also into matching workers to
their passionate field of work.
7. Flexibility
Flexibility in work is desirable for all employees concerned. A flexible work
environment and working hours give the employees the gift of time, which
boosts job satisfaction.
Moreover, everyone is productive in their own given time. As an organization,
employers can receive more out of a flexible work environment.

8. Two-way Feedback
Proper feedback is vital for every individual to grow. It includes an
organization as well. Feedback is a two-way street wherein it must be
received professionally as well. Many organizations fail to address this and fall
prey to employee attrition.
An employee will record a higher sense of job satisfaction if the company
listens to his/her feedback on the management. Here, when an employee’s
voice is valued, it shows equality and professionalism. These attributes
multiply employee satisfaction in the workplace.

9. Performance Management
Promotion is an aspect every worker works very hard for and aspires. For
securing better employee satisfaction, it is not only enough to
exercise employee promotion.
It would help if you also did it at the right time. If an individual is working hard,
then you must not keep the due promotion for long

Good-Fit Company Culture

When employees like their co-workers and find commonalities among their peers and
supervisors, they tend to be more satisfied at work. When employees connect with co-
workers and develop personal relationships they usually are happier at work. Overall
job satisfaction also correlates with how well employees get along with their direct
supervisors. Hiring managers and small business owners should look for employees
with similar backgrounds and tastes as their current staff, and hire those who'll easily
fit into the current company culture.

Interesting and Satisfying Work

Employees are most satisfied when they find their work interesting. Being able to
retain a certain amount of autonomy allows workers to develop their own challenges
and find ways to overcome obstacles, leading to a more satisfying work experience.
Challenges and diversity in the daily grind also keep work interesting. While the nature
of specific jobs may not typically lead to a diverse workday, successful managers
should look for ways to increase challenges for workers and vary their daily routines to
provide a range of responsibilities.

Rewards and Incentives

While pay may not always be a worker's prime reason for job satisfaction, it doesn't
hurt. Incentives that include bonuses and pay raises often can help employees
overcome poor attitudes toward other, less enjoyable areas of their work. When
workers receive rewards for a job well done, they often feel more satisfied with their
jobs. Incentives such as getting a better office space, a few extra paid vacation days
and other perks can significantly increase workers’ job satisfaction. Stock options and
profit sharing can provide employees with a feeling of ownership in the company and
offer increasing satisfaction when the results of their work show up in a check.

Low Stress Environment

Employees who feel continuous stress and pressure to perform at work may develop
apathy, fatigue, muscle tension, headaches, substance abuse problems and high
blood pressure. Job satisfaction increases when employees can enjoy a stress-free
environment in which they know they're appreciated and they're not in fear of losing
their jobs if they make a mistake. Workers can employ techniques to take care of
themselves, such as eating a healthy diet, eliminating negative thinking and resolving
conflicts as they arise. At the same time, as a boss you can maintain open and clear
communication, give employees some control over their production and praise
effective workers regularly.
EMOTION AND MOOD
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence (otherwise known as emotional quotient or EQ) is the ability to
understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress,
communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict.

Definition
Emotional intelligence has been defined, by Peter Salovey and John Mayer, as "the ability to
monitor one's own and other people's emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label
them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior".

Components
Researchers suggest that there are four different levels of emotional intelligence including
emotional perception, the ability to reason using emotions, the ability to understand emotions,
and the ability to manage emotions.1

1. Perceiving emotions: The first step in understanding emotions is to perceive them

accurately. In many cases, this might involve understanding nonverbal signals such
as body language and facial expressions.
2. Reasoning with emotions: The next step involves using emotions to promote thinking
and cognitive activity. Emotions help prioritize what we pay attention and react to; we
respond emotionally to things that garner our attention.
3. Understanding emotions: The emotions that we perceive can carry a wide variety of
meanings. If someone is expressing angry emotions, the observer must interpret the cause
of the person's anger and what it could mean. For example, if your boss is acting angry, it
might mean that they are dissatisfied with your work, or it could be because they got a
speeding ticket on their way to work that morning or that they've been fighting with their
partner.
4. Managing emotions: The ability to manage emotions effectively is a crucial part of
emotional intelligence and the highest level. Regulating emotions and responding
appropriately as well as responding to the emotions of others are all important aspects of
emotional management.

mpact of Emotional Intelligence

Interest in teaching and learning social and emotional intelligence has grown in recent years.
Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs have become a standard part of the curriculum for
many schools.

The goal of these initiatives is not only to improve health and well-being but also to help
students succeed academically and prevent bullying. There are many examples of how emotional
intelligence can play a role in daily life.
Thinking Before Reacting

Emotionally intelligent people know that emotions can be powerful, but also temporary. When a
highly charged emotional event happens, such as becoming angry with a co-worker, the
emotionally intelligent response would be to take some time before responding. This allows
everyone to calm their emotions and think more rationally about all the factors surrounding the
argument.

Greater Self-Awareness
Emotionally intelligent people are not only good at thinking about how other people might feel
but they are also adept at understanding their own feelings. Self-awareness allows people to
consider the many different factors that contribute to their emotions.
Empathy for Others
A large part of emotional intelligence is being able to think about and empathize with how other
people are feeling. This often involves considering how you would respond if you were in the
same situation.
People who have strong emotional intelligence are able to consider the perspectives, experiences,
and emotions of other people and use this information to explain why people behave the way that
they do.
How to Use

Emotional intelligence can be used in many different ways in your daily life. Some different
ways to practice emotional intelligence include:

 Being able to accept criticism and responsibility

 Being able to move on after making a mistake
 Being able to say no when you need to
 Being able to share your feelings with others
 Being able to solve problems in ways that work for everyone
 Having empathy for other people
 Having great listening skills
 Knowing why you do the things you do
 Not being judgmental of others

Emotional intelligence is essential for good interpersonal communication. Some experts believe
that this ability is more important in determining life success than IQ alone. Fortunately, there
are things that you can do to strengthen your own social and emotional intelligence.

Understanding emotions can be the key to better relationships, improved well-being, and
stronger communication skills. 
Tips for Improving EI
Being emotionally intelligent is important, but what steps can you take to improve your own
social and emotional skills? Here are some tips.

Listen
If you want to understand what other people are feeling, the first step is to pay attention. Take the
time to listen to what people are trying to tell you, both verbally and non-verbally. Body
language can carry a great deal of meaning. When you sense that someone is feeling a certain
way, consider the different factors that might be contributing to that emotion.
Empathize

Picking up on emotions is critical, but you also need to be able to put yourself into someone
else's shoes in order to truly understand their point of view. Practice empathizing with other
people. Imagine how you would feel in their situation. Such activities can help you build an
emotional understanding of a specific situation as well as develop stronger emotional skills in the
long-term.

Reflect

The ability to reason with emotions is an important part of emotional intelligence. Consider how
your own emotions influence your decisions and behaviors. When you are thinking about how
other people respond, assess the role that their emotions play.

Why is this person feeling this way? Are there any unseen factors that might be contributing to
these feelings? How to your emotions differ from theirs? As you explore such questions, you
may find that it becomes easier to understand the role that emotions play in how people think and
behave.

 
Potential Pitfalls

Having lower emotional intelligence skills can lead to a number of potential pitfalls that can
affect multiple areas of life including work and relationships.

People who have fewer emotional skills tend to get in more arguments, have lower quality
relationships, and have poor emotional coping skills.

Being low on emotional intelligence can have a number of drawbacks, but having a very high
level of emotional skills can also come with challenges. For example:

 Research suggests that people with high emotional intelligence may actually be
less creative and innovative.2
 Highly emotionally intelligent people may have a hard time delivering negative feedback
for fear of hurting other people's feelings.
 Research has found that high EQ can sometimes be used for manipulative and deceptive
purposes