Values, Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

Major Psychological Contributions of OB

1. Values
2. Attitudes
3. Perception and
4. Learning

Key Variables Affecting Individual Behavior

Values

Basic conviction: “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

• Prioritizing of individual values

• Relative importance individual assigns to values such as:
• Freedom
• Pleasure

• Self-respect
• Honesty
• Obedience
• Equality
The Importance of Values

Values lay the foundation for our understanding of people’s attitudes and motivation and
influence our perceptions. We enter an organization with preconceived notions of what “ought”
and “ought not” to be. These notions are not value-free; on the contrary, they contain our
interpretations of right and wrong and our preference for certain behaviors or outcomes over
others.

As a result, values cloud objectivity and rationality; they influence attitudes 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? Most
likely.

Rokeach Value Survey (RVS)

1. Terminal Values

• Desirable end-states of existence

• Desired goals to be achieved during lifetime
2. Instrumental Values

• Preferable modes of behavior

• Means of achieving the terminal values

Examples: Terminal and Instrumental Values in Rokeach Value Survey (RVS)

Terminal Values
• A comfortable life (a prosperous 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 and equal
opportunity for all)
• Family security (taking care of loved
ones)
• Freedom (independence, free choice)
• Happiness (contentedness)
• Inner harmony (freedom from inner
conflict)
• Pleasure (an enjoyable, leisurely life)
• Salvation (saved, eternal life)
• Social recognition (respect, admiration)
• True friendship (close companionship)
Instrumental Values
• Ambitious (hardworking, aspiring)
• Capable (competent, effective)
• Cheerful (lighthearted, joyful)
• Clean (neat, tidy)
• Courageous (standing up for your
beliefs)
• Helpful (working for the welfare of
others)
• Honest (sincere, truthful)
• Imaginative (daring, creative)
• Logical (consistent, rational)
• Loving (affectionate, tender)
• Obedient (dutiful, respectful)
• Polite (courteous, well mannered)
• Responsible (dependable, reliable)
Framework for Assessing Cultures/ Values Across Cultures

• Power distance
• Individualism vs. collectivism
• Masculinity versus femininity
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Long-term vs. short-term orientation
● Power distance. Power distance describes the degree to which people in a country accept that
power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally. A high rating on power distance
means that large inequalities of power and wealth exist and are tolerated in the culture, as in a
class or caste system that discourages upward mobility. A low power distance rating
characterizes societies that stress equality and opportunity.

● Individualism versus collectivism. Individualism is the degree to which people prefer to act as
individuals rather than as members of groups and believe in individual rights above all else.
Collectivism emphasizes a tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of
which they are a part to look after them and protect them.

● Masculinity versus femininity. Hofstede’s construct of masculinity is the degree to which the
culture favors traditional masculine roles such as achievement, power, and control, as opposed to
viewing men and women as equals. A high masculinity rating indicates the culture has separate
roles for men and women, with men dominating the society. A high femininity rating means the
culture sees little differentiation between male and female roles and treats women as the equals
of men in all respects.

● Uncertainty avoidance. The degree to which people in a country prefer structured over
unstructured situations defines their uncertainty avoidance . In cultures that score high on
uncertainty avoidance, people have an increased level of anxiety about uncertainty and
ambiguity and use laws and controls to reduce uncertainty. People in cultures low on uncertainty
avoidance are more accepting of ambiguity, are less rule oriented, take more risks, and more
readily accept change.

● Long-term versus short-term orientation. This newest addition to Hofstede’s typology

measures a society’s devotion to traditional values. People in a culture with long-term orientation
look to the future and value thrift, persistence, and tradition. In a short-term orientation , people
value the here and now; they accept change more readily and don’t see commitments as
impediments to change.
How do different countries score on Hofstede’s dimensions? Exhibit 5-7 shows the ratings for
the countries for which data are available. For example, power distance is higher in Malaysia
than in any other country. The United States is very individualistic; in fact, it’s the most
individualistic nation of all (closely followed by Australia and Great Britain). The United States
also tends to be short term in orientation and low in power distance (people in the United States
tend not to accept built-in class differences between people). It is also relatively low on
uncertainty avoidance, meaning most adults are relatively tolerant of uncertainty and ambiguity.
The United States scores relatively high on masculinity; most people emphasize traditional
gender roles (at least relative to countries such as Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden).

Examples of Cultural Dimensions

* A low score is synonymous with collectivism

** A low score is synonymous with high quality of life
*** A low score is synonymous with a short-term orientation

Attitudes

Attitudes are evaluative statements either favorable or unfavorable –about objects, people, or
events. They reflect how one feels about something. When I say “ I like my job” I am expressing
my attitude about work.
What Are the Main Components of Attitudes?

Typically, researchers have assumed that attitudes have three components: cognition, affect, and
behavior.

1. The statement “My pay is low” is the cognitive component of an attitude— a description
of or belief in the way things are. It sets the stage for the more critical part of an attitude
—its affective component.
2. Affect is the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude and is reflected in the statement
“I am angry over how little I’m paid.”
3. Finally, affect can lead to behavioral outcomes. The behavioral component of an attitude
describes an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something—to
continue the example, “I’m going to look for another job that pays better.”

What Are the Major Job Attitudes?

Most of the research in OB has looked at three attitudes:

1. Job satisfaction,
2. Job involvement, and
3. Organizational commitment.

A few other important attitudes are perceived organizational support and employee engagement;
 1. Job Satisfaction

When people speak of employee attitudes, they usually mean job satisfaction, which describes a
positive feeling about a job, resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics. A person with a
high level of job satisfaction holds positive feelings about his or her job, while a person with a
low level holds negative feelings.

2. Job Involvement

Job involvement measures the degree to which people identify psychologically with their job and
consider their perceived performance level 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.
Another closely related concept is psychological empowerment, employees’ beliefs in the degree
to which they influence their work environment, their competence, the meaningfulness of their
job, and their perceived autonomy.

One study of nursing managers in Singapore found that good leaders empower their employees
by involving them in decisions, making them feel their work is important, and giving them
discretion to “do their own thing.” High levels of both job involvement and psychological
empowerment are positively related to organizational citizenship and job performance. High job
involvement is also related to reduced absences and lower resignation rates.

3. Organizational Commitment

The degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals and
wishes to maintain membership in the organization.

4. Perceived Organizational Support

Perceived organizational support (POS) is the degree to which employees believe the
organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being (for example, an
employee believes his organization would accommodate him if he had a child care problem or
would forgive an honest mistake on his part). Research shows that people perceive their
organization as supportive when rewards are deemed fair, when employees have a voice in
decisions, and when they see their supervisors as supportive. Employees with strong POS
perceptions have been found more likely to have higher levels of organizational citizenship
behaviors, lower levels of tardiness, and better customer service.

5. Employee Engagement

A new concept is employee engagement, an individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with, and
enthusiasm for, the work she does. We might ask employees whether they have access to
resources and the opportunities to learn new skills, whether they feel their work is important and
meaningful, and whether their interactions with co-workers and supervisors are rewarding.
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.

Cognitive Dissonance

Any inconsistencies between two or more of a person’s attitudes or between a person’s behavior
and attitudes

Reducing Dissonance

• If elements creating dissonance are relatively unimportant, pressure to correct imbalance

will be low
• Degree of influence over the elements will impact how we react to dissonance
• Rewards influence the degree that we are motivated to reduce dissonance

The Attitude-Behavior Relationship

• Social constraints moderate behavior

• Although some hold contradictory attitudes, pressures are toward consistency
• Other things besides attitudes influence behavior
• Attitudes do influence behavior

Perception

Process by which people organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give
meaning to their environment

Factors Influencing Perception

Operate to shape and sometimes distort perception

• Reside in the perceiver
• Part of the object or target being perceived
• Exist in the context of the situation in which the perception is made

Job Satisfaction

Job Satisfaction refers to an individual’s general attitude toward the job; when people speak of
employee attitudes, often means job satisfaction.

What Determines Job Satisfaction?

Evidence indicates that the most important factors conducive to job satisfaction are
 • Mentally challenging work
• Equitable rewards
• Supportive working conditions
• Supportive colleagues

The Impact of Satisfied and Dissatisfied Employees on the Workplace.

What happens when employees like their jobs, and when they dislike their jobs? One theoretical
model—the exit–voice–loyalty–neglect framework—is helpful in understanding the
consequences of dissatisfaction. Exhibit 3 -5 illustrates the framework’s four responses, which
differ along two dimensions: constructive/ destructive and active/passive. The responses are as
follows:

● Exit. The exit response directs behavior toward leaving the organization, including
looking for a new position as well as resigning.

● Voice. The voice response includes actively and constructively attempting to

improve conditions, including suggesting improvements, discussing problems with
superiors, and undertaking some forms of union activity.

● Loyalty. The loyalty response means passively but optimistically waiting for
conditions to improve, including speaking up for the organization in the face of external
criticism and trusting the organization and its management to “do the right thing.”

● Neglect. The neglect response passively allows conditions to worsen and includes
chronic absenteeism or lateness, reduced effort, and increased error rate.

Exit and neglect behaviors encompass our performance variables— productivity, absenteeism,
and turnover. But this model expands employee response to include voice and loyalty—
constructive behaviors that allow individuals to tolerate unpleasant situations or revive
satisfactory working conditions. It helps us understand situations, such as we sometimes find
among unionized workers, for whom low job satisfaction is coupled with low turnover. Union
members often express dissatisfaction through the grievance procedure or formal contract
negotiations. These voice mechanisms allow them to continue in their jobs while convincing
themselves they are acting to improve the situation. As helpful as this framework is, it’s quite
general. We now discuss more specific outcomes of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the
workplace.

What are the effects of Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance?

1. Job Satisfaction and Job Performance As several studies have concluded, happy
workers are more likely to be productive workers. When we gather satisfaction and
productivity data for the organization as a whole, we find organizations with more satisfied
employees tend to be more effective than organizations with fewer.
2. Job Satisfaction and OCB It seems logical to assume job satisfaction should be a major
determinant of an employee’s organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Satisfied
employees would seem more likely to talk positively about the organization, help others, and
go beyond the normal expectations in their job. People who are more satisfied with their jobs
are more likely to engage in OCBs.
3. Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction Satisfied employees increase customer
satisfaction and loyalty.
4. Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism It is expected that dissatisfied employees are more
likely to miss work. When numerous alternative jobs are available, dissatisfied employees
have high absence rates.
5. Job Satisfaction and Turnover job dissatisfaction is more likely to translate into turnover
when employment opportunities are plentiful because employees perceive it is easy to move.
Finally, when employees have high “human capital” (high education, high ability), job
dissatisfaction is more likely to translate into turnover because they have, or perceive, many
available alternatives.
6. Job Satisfaction and Workplace Deviance Job dissatisfaction and antagonistic
relationships with co-workers predict a variety of behaviors organizations find undesirable,
including unionization attempts, substance abuse, stealing at work, undue socializing, and
tardiness. Researchers argue these behaviors are indicators of a broader syndrome called
deviant behavior in the workplace (or counterproductive behavior or employee withdrawal).
If employees don’t like their work environment, they’ll respond somehow, though it is not
always easy to forecast exactly how. One worker might quit. Another might use work time
to surf the internet or take work supplies home for personal use.

Learning

Any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience

The Learning Process