CHAPTER II: INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATIONS

2.1 FOUNDATIONS OF INDIVIDUALBEHAVIOR

Managers everywhere face the challenge of understanding and managing individual

differences. Hard working employees who do their job well are essential to an
organization’s success. An organization cannot succeed in the long term without them.
Effective managers need to analyze individual behavior in the context of the business
setting to understand organizational behavior fully.

We are each unique in our views, reactions, and behaviors. You may be out going and
seek the company of others whereas your brother or sister may be reserved and prefer
quiet evenings at home. Some of us are intense and engage in a whirl wind of activities;
others are relaxed and focus on a few specific tasks. The challenge of a new job that
inspires one person may dishearten another. The skills that are easy for one employee to
learn pose a challenge for another.

What makes us different from one another? In this chapter, we try to answer that question
by investigating differences in individual characteristics in personality traits, values, and
attitudes.

Every person is unique because of combination of many factors, including demographics,

physical, psychological, and behavioral differences. These are at the core of who we are.
In this chapter, we focus on understanding individual differences, personality traits,
values, and attitudes that make each of us unique and affect our work related behaviors.

Any attempt to learn why people behave as they do in organizations requires some
understanding of individual differences. Managers spend considerable time making
judgments about the fit between individuals, job tasks, and effectiveness. Such judgments
are influenced typically by both the manager’s and the subordinate’s characteristics.
Making decisions about who will perform what tasks in a particular manner- with out
some understanding of behavior- can lead to irreversible long-run problems.

Each employee is different in many respects. A manager needs to ask how such
differences influence the behavior and performance of subordinates. This chapter
highlights some of the individual differences that can explain why one person is a
significantly better performer than another person. Differences among people require
forms of adjustment for both the individual and those for whom he or she will work.
Managers who ignore such differences often become involved in practices which hinder
achieving organizational and personal goals.

2.1.1 THE BASIS FOR UNDERSTANDING BEHAVIOR

A manager’s observation and analysis of individual behavior and performance require the
consideration of three sets of variables which directly influences individual behavior or
what an employee does (e.g, produces output, sells automobiles, services machines). The

1
three sets of variables are classified as being individual, psychological, and
organizational.

To understand individual differences a manager must

1. observe and recognize the difference
2. study the relationship between variables that influences individual behavior, and
3. discover relationships

For example, a manager is in a better position to make optimal decisions if he or she

knows what the attitudes, perception, and mental abilities of employees are as well as
how these and other variables are related. It also is important to know how each variable
influences performance. Being able to observe differences, understand relationships, and
predict linkages can facilitate managerial attempts to improve performance. Talking to a
manager, listening to a coworker, filing a report, typing a memo, and placing a completed
unit in inventory are behaviors.

2.1.2 BIOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS

This text is essentially concerned with finding and analyzing the variables that have an
impact on employee productivity, absence, turnover, and satisfaction. Many of the
concepts motivation, say, or power and politics or organizational cultures are hard to
assess. It might be valuable, then, to begin by looking at factors that are easily definable
and readily available; data that can be obtained, for the most part, simply from
information available in an employee’s personnel file. What factors would these be?
Obvious characteristics would be an employee’s age, gender, marital status, and length of
service with an organization. Fortunately, there is a sizable amount of research that has
specifically analyzed many of these biographical characteristics.

Age

The relationship between age and job performance is likely to be an issue of increasing
importance during the next decade. Why? There are at least three reasons. First, there is a
widespread belief that job performance declines with increasing age. Regardless of
whether it’s true or not, a lot of people believe it and act on it. Second is the reality that
the workforce is aging. What is the perception of older workers? Evidence indicates that
employers hold mixed feelings. They see a number of positive qualities that older
workers bring to their jobs: specifically, experience, judgment, a strong work ethic,
and commitment to quality. But older workers are also perceived as lacking flexibility
and as being resistant to new technology. And in a time when organizations strongly seek
individuals who are adaptable and open to change, the negatives associated with age
clearly hinder the initial hiring of older workers and increase the likelihood that they will
be let go during downsizing. Now let’s take a look at the evidence. What effect does age
actually have on turnover, absenteeism, productivity, and satisfaction?

The older you get, the less likely you are to quit your job. That conclusion is based on
studies of the age-turnover relationship. Of course, it should not be too uprising. As

2
workers get older, they have fewer alternative job opportunities. In addition, older
workers are less likely to resign than are younger workers because their long tenure tends
to provide them with higher wage rates, longer paid vacations, and more-attractive
pension benefits. It’s tempting to assume that age is also inversely related to absenteeism.
After all, if older workers are less likely to quit, won’t they also demonstrate higher
stability by coming to work more regularly?

Not necessarily! Most studies do show an inverse relation-ship, but close examination
finds that the age-absence relationship is partially a function of whether the absence is
avoidable or unavoidable. In general, older employees have lower rates of avoidable
absence than do younger employees. However, they have higher rates of unavoidable
absence, probably due to the poorer health associated with aging and the longer recovery
period that older workers need when injured.

How does age affect productivity? There is a widespread belief that productivity declines
with age. It is often assumed that an individual’s skills —particularly speed, agility,
strength, and coordination—decay over time and that prolonged job boredom and lack of
intellectual stimulation all contribute to reduced productivity. The evidence, however,
contradicts that belief and those assumptions. For instance, during a three-year period, a
large hardware chain staffed one of its stores solely with employees over 50 and
compared its results with those of five stores with younger employees. The store staffed
by the over-50 employees was significantly more productive (measured in terms of sales
generated against labor costs) than two of the other stores and held its own with the other
three.6 One comprehensive review of the research found that age and job performance
were unrelated. Moreover, that finding seems to be true for almost all types of jobs,
professional and nonprofessional. The natural conclusion is that the demands of most
jobs, even those with heavy manual labor requirements, are not extreme enough for any
declines in physical skills due to age to have an impact on productivity; or, if there is
some decay due to age, it is offset by gains due to experience. Our final concern is the
relationship between age and job satisfaction.

On this issue, the evidence is mixed. Most studies indicate a positive association between
age and satisfaction, at least up to age 60. Other studies, however, have found a U-shaped
relation-ship. Several explanations could clear up these results, the most plausible being
that these studies are intermixing professional and nonprofessional employees. When the
two types are separated, satisfaction tends to continually increase among professionals as
they age, whereas it falls among nonprofessionals during middle age and then rises again
in the later years.

Gender

Few issues initiate more debates, misconceptions, and unsupported opinions than whether
women perform as well on jobs as men do. In this section, we review the research on that
issue. The evidence suggests that the best place to begin is with the recognition that there
are few, if any, important differences between men and women that will affect their job
performance. There are, for instance, no consistent male-female differences in problem-

3
solving ability, analytical skills, competitive drive, motivation, sociability, or learning
ability. Psychological studies have found that women are more willing to conform to
authority and those men are more aggressive and more likely than women to have
expectations of success, but those differences are minor. Given the significant changes
that have taken place in the last 25 years in terms of increasing female participation rates
in the workforce and rethinking what constitutes male and female roles, you should
operate on the assumption that there is no significant difference in job productivity
between men and women. Similarly, there is no evidence indicating that an employee’s
gender affects job satisfaction. One issue that does seem to differ between genders,
especially where the employee has preschool children, is preference for work schedules.
Working mothers are more likely to prefer part-time work, flexible work schedules, and
telecommuting in order to accommodate their family responsibilities. But what about
absence and turnover rates? Are women less stable employees than men? First, on the
question of turnover, the evidence is mixed. Some studies have found that women have
higher turnover rates; others have found no difference. There doesn’t appear to be enough
information from which to draw meaningful conclusions. The research on absence,
however, is a different story. The evidence consistently indicates that women have higher
rates of absenteeism than men do. The most logical explanation for this finding is that the
research was conducted in North America, and North American culture has historically
placed home and family responsibilities on the woman. When a child is ill or someone
needs to stay home to wait for the plumber, it has been the woman who has traditionally
taken time off from work. However, this research is undoubtedly time-bound. The
historical role of the woman in caring for children and as secondary breadwinner has
definitely changed since the 1970s, and a large proportion of men nowadays are as
interested in day care and the problems associated with child care in general as are
women.

Marital Status

There are not enough studies to draw any conclusions about the effect of marital status on
productivity. But research consistently indicates that married employees have fewer
absences, undergo fewer turnovers, and are more satisfied with their jobs than are their
unmarried coworkers. Marriage imposes increased responsibilities that may make a
steady job more valuable and important. But the question of causation is not clear. It may
very well be that conscientious and satisfied employees are more likely to be married.
Another offshoot of this issue is that research has not pursued other statuses besides
single or married. Does being divorced or widowed have an impact on an employee’s
performance and satisfaction? What about couples who live together without being
married? These are questions in need of investigation.

Tenure
The last biographical characteristic we’ll look at is tenure. With the exception of the issue
of male-female differences, probably no issue is more subject to misconceptions and
speculations than the impact of seniority on job performance.

4
Extensive reviews of the seniority-productivity relationship have been conducted. If we
define seniority as time on a particular job, we can say that the most recent evidence
demonstrates a positive relationship between seniority and job productivity. So tenure,
expressed as work experience, appears to be a good predictor of employee productivity.
The research relating tenure to absence is quite straightforward. Studies consistently
demonstrate seniority to be negatively related to absenteeism. In fact, in terms of both
frequencies of absence and total days lost at work, tenure is the single most important
explanatory variable.
Tenure is also a potent variable in explaining turnover. “Tenure has consistently been
found to be negatively related to turnover and has been suggested as one of the single
best predictors of turnover. Moreover, consistent with research that suggests that past
behavior is the best predictor of future behavior evidence indicates that tenure on an
employee’s previous job is a powerful predictor of that employee’s future turnover. The
evidence indicates that tenure and satisfaction are positively related. In fact, when age
and tenure are treated separately, tenure appears to be a more consistent and stable
predictor of job satisfaction than is chronological age.

2.1.3 SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Contrary to what we were taught in grade school, we weren’t all created equal. Most of
us are to the left of the median on some normally distributed ability curve. Regardless of
how motivated you are, it is unlikely that you can act as well as Alemayehu Tadesse, run
as fast as Haile Gebreselassie, or sing as well as Tilahun Gessesse. Of course, just
because we aren’t all equal in abilities does not imply that some individuals are
inherently inferior to others. What we are acknowledging is that everyone has strengths
and weaknesses in terms of ability that make him or her relatively superior or inferior to
others in performing certain tasks or activities. From management’s standpoint, the issue
is not whether people differ in terms of their abilities. They do! The issue is knowing how
people differ in abilities and using that knowledge to increase the likelihood that an
employee will perform his or her job well.

What does ability mean? As we will use the term, ability refers to an individual’s
capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. It is a current assessment of what one can
do. An individual’s overall abilities are essentially made up of two sets of factors:
intellectual and physical abilities.

Intellectual Abilities

Intellectual abilities are those needed to perform mental activities. Intelligence quotient
(IQ) tests, for example, are designed to ascertain one’s general intellectual abilities. So,
too, are popular college admission tests such as the SAT and ACT and graduate
admission tests in business (GMAT), law (LSAT), and medicine (MCAT). The seven
most frequently cited dimensions making up intellectual abilities are number aptitude,
verbal comprehension, perceptual speed, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning,
spatial visualization, and memory.

5
Dimension Description Job Example

Number aptitude Ability to do speedy and accurate arithmetic

Perceptual speed Ability to identify visual similarities and differences quickly and
accurately.
Inductive reasoning Ability to identify a logical sequence in a problem and then solve
the problem
Deductive reasoning Ability to use logic and assess the implications of an argument
Spatial visualization Ability to imagine how an object would look if its position in space
were changed
Memory Ability to retain and recall past experience

Jobs differ in the demands they place on incumbents to use their intellectual abilities.
Generally speaking, the more information processing demands that exist in a job, the
more general intelligence and verbal abilities will be necessary to perform the job
successfully. Of course, a high IQ is not a prerequisite for all jobs. In fact, for many jobs
—in which employee behavior is highly routine and there are little or no opportunities to
exercise discretion—a high IQ may be unrelated to performance. On the other hand, a
careful review of the evidence demonstrates verbal, numerical, spatial and perceptual
abilities are valid predictors of job proficiency at all levels of jobs. So tests that measure
specific dimensions of intelligence have been found to be strong predictors of job
performance. The major dilemma faced by employers who use mental ability tests for
selection, promotion, training, and similar personnel decisions is that they may have a
negative impact on racial and ethnic groups. The evidence indicates that some minority
groups score, on the average, as much as one standard deviation lower than whites on
verbal, numerical, and spatial ability tests.

Physical Abilities

To the same degree that intellectual abilities play a larger role in complex jobs with
demanding information-processing requirements, specific physical abilities gain
importance for successfully doing less-skilled and more-standardized jobs. For example,
jobs in which success demands stamina, manual dexterity, leg strength, or similar talents
require management to identify an employee’s physical capabilities. Research on the
requirements needed in hundreds of jobs has identified nine basic abilities involved in the
performance of physical tasks. Individuals differ in the extent to which they have each of
these abilities. Not surprisingly, there is also little relationship between them: A high
score on one is no assurance of a high score on others. High employee performance is
likely to be achieved when management has ascertained the extent to which a job requires
each of the nine abilities and then ensures that employees in that job have those abilities.

Strength Factors

6
 1. Dynamic strength - Ability to exert muscular force repeatedly or continuously
over time
2. Trunk strength - Ability to exert muscular strength using the trunk (particularly
abdominal) muscles
3. Static strength - Ability to exert force against external objects
4. Explosive strength - Ability to expend a maximum of energy in one or a series of
explosive acts
Flexibility Factors
5. Extent flexibility - Ability to move the trunk and back muscles as far as possible
6. Dynamic flexibility - Ability to make rapid, repeated flexing movements

Other Factors
7. Body coordination - Ability to coordinate the simultaneous actions of different
parts of the body
8. Balance - Ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces pulling off balance
9. Stamina - Ability to continue maximum effort requiring prolonged effort over
time

7
The Ability-Job Fit

Our concern is with explaining and predicting the behavior of people at work. In this
section, we have demonstrated that jobs make differing demands on people and that
people differ in the abilities they possess. Employee performance, therefore, is enhanced
when there is a high ability-job fit. The specific intellectual or physical abilities required
for adequate job performance depend on the ability requirements of the job. So, for
example, airline pilots need strong spatial-visualization abilities; beach lifeguards need
both strong spatial-visualization abilities and body coordination; senior executives need
verbal abilities; high-rise construction workers need balance; and journalists with weak
reasoning abilities would likely have difficulty meeting minimum job-performance
standards.

Directing attention at only the employee’s abilities or only the ability requirements of the
job ignores the fact that employee performance depends on the interaction of the two.

What predictions can we make when the fit is poor? As alluded to previously, if
employees lack the required abilities, they are likely to fail. If you are hired as a word
processor and you cannot meet the job’s basic keyboard typing requirements, your
performance is going to be poor irrespective of your positive attitude or your high level
of motivation. When the ability-job fit is out of sync because the employee has abilities
that far exceed the requirements of the job, our predictions would be very different. Job
performance is likely to be adequate, but there will be organizational inefficiencies and
possible declines in employee satisfaction. Given that pay tends to reflect the highest skill
level that employees possess, if an employee’s abilities far exceed those necessary to do
the job, management will be paying more than it needs to. Abilities significantly above
those required can also reduce the employee’s job satisfaction when the employee’s
desire to use his or her abilities is particularly strong and is frustrated by the limitations of
the job.

2.1.4 PERSONALITY

When psychologists talk of personality, they mean a dynamic concept describing the
growth and development of a person’s whole psychological system. Rather than looking
at parts of the person, personality looks at some aggregate whole that is greater than the
sum of the parts. The most frequently used definition of personality was produced by
Gordon Allport more than sixty years ago. He said personality is “the dynamic
organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine
his unique adjustments to his environment.” For our purposes, you should think of
personality as the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with
others. It is most often described in terms of measurable traits that a person exhibits.

Personality is a stable set of physical and psychological characteristics that makes each
person unique. Personality is made up of a number of personality traits and is the product

8
of interacting biological and environmental factors. It is the primary factor in individual
differences.

A close examination of the above definition indicates; first, personality is stable. It tends
to stay the same over time and across situations. It is not completely rigid, however, as
personality can evolve gradually over the long run. Second, personality consists of a set
of characteristics rather than one or two traits. This set develops over time and makes the
individual unique.

According to Gordon Allport personality is:

"The dynamic organisation within the individual of those
psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments
to his environment."
Personality can be thought of as the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to
and interacts with others. It is most often described in terms of measurable traits that a
person exhibits.

Although many aspects of personality formation, development, and expression are not
perfectly understood, certain principles are generally accepted as being true. Some of
these are:
1. Personality appears to be organized into patterns, which are, to some degree,
observable and measurable.
2. Personality has superficial aspects, such as attitudes toward being a team leader,
and a deeper core, such as sentiments about authority or the strong work ethic.
3. Personality involves both common and unique characteristics. Every person is
different from every other person in some respects and similar to other persons in
other respects.

PERSONALITY DETERMINANTS

An early argument in personality research was whether an individual’s personality was

the result of heredity or of environment. Was the personality predetermined at birth, or
was it the result of the individual’s interaction with his or her environment? Clearly, there
is no simple black-and-white answer. Personality appears to be a result of both
influences. In addition, today we recognize a third factor —the situation. Thus, an adult’s
personality is now generally considered to be made up of both hereditary and
environmental factors, moderated by situational conditions.

Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception. The heredity
approach argues that the ultimate explanation of an individual's personality is the
molecular structure of the genes, located in the chromosomes. Evidence demonstrates
that traits such as shyness, fear, and distress are most likely caused by inherited genetic
characteristics. If personality characteristics were completely dictated by heredity, they
would be fixed at birth and no amount of experience could alter them. But personality

9
characteristics are not completely dictated by heredity.
Environment Among the factors that exert pressures on our personality formation are the
culture in which we are raised, our early conditioning, the norms among our family,
friends, and social groups, and other influences that we experience. The environment to
which we are exposed plays a substantial role in shaping our personalities. Heredity sets
the parameters or outer limits, but an individual's full potential will be determined by
how well he or she adjusts to the demands & requirements of the environment.

Situation A third factor, the situation, influences the effects of heredity and environment
on personality. An individual's personality, although generally stable & consistent, does
change in different situations. The varying demands of different situations call forth
different aspects of one's personality. Furthermore, although certain generalizations can
be made about personality, there are significant individual differences. The study of
individual differences has come to receive greater emphasis in personality research.

PERSONALITY TRAITS

Personality traits are enduring (exhibited in a large number of situations) characteristics

that describe an individual's behavior. The more consistent the characteristic and the
more frequently it occurs in diverse situations, the more important that trait is in
describing the individual. Psychologists have studied personality traits extensively,
resulting in the identification of sixteen primary personality traits. These 16 traits have
been found to be generally steady and constant sources of behavior, allowing prediction of
an individual's behavior in specific situations by weighing the characteristics for their
situational relevance. Unfortunately, the relevance of these traits for understanding
behavior in organizations is far from clear. The 16 bi-polar personality traits are:

1. Reserved Vs Outgoing
2. Less intelligent Vs More intelligent
3. Affected by feelings Vs emotionally stable
4. Submissive Vs Dominant
5. Serious Vs Happy-go-lucky
6. Expedient Vs Conscientious
7. Timid Vs Venturesome
8. Tough-minded Vs Sensitive
9. Trusting Vs Suspicious
10. Practical Vs Imaginative
11. Forthright Vs Shrewd
12. Self-assured Vs Apprehensive
13. Conservative Vs Experimenting
14. Group-dependent Vs Self-sufficient
15. Uncontrolled Vs Controlled
16. Relaxed Vs Tense

10
THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS

Over time psychologists and human resource management researchers have condensed
countless personality traits into a list of five major personality dimensions, known as the
Big Five. Researchers have found these five dimensions to be consistent components of
personality. The Big Five factors are:

Extraversion/introversion This dimension captures one’s comfort level with

relationships. Extraverts (high in extraversion) tend to be friendly and outgoing and to
spend much of their time maintaining and enjoying a large number of relationships.
Introverts tend to be reserved and to have fewer relationships, and they are more
comfortable with solitude than most people are.

Agreeableness It describes a person’s general friendliness and courtesy as well as the

degree to which she or he is trusting and liked by others. Agreeableness further
includes flexibility and willingness to cooperate with others. Someone who is agreeable
is sociable and friendly, generally easy to get long with, and willing to cooperate with
others. This dimension refers to an individual’s propensity to defer to others. High
agreeable people value harmony more than they value having their say or their way. They
are cooperative and trusting of others. People who score low on agreeableness are cold,
antagonistic and focus more on their own needs than on the needs of others.

Conscientiousness This dimension refers to the number of goals on which a person

focuses. It is defined as being hardworking, persevering, and achievement oriented. A
high conscientious person pursues fewer goals, in a purposeful way, and tends to be
responsible, persistent, dependable, and achievement-oriented. Those who score low on
this dimension tend to be more easily distracted, pursuing many goals, disorganized,
unreliable and more hedonistic.

Emotional stability This dimension taps a person's ability to withstand stress. People
with positive emotional stability tend to be calm, self-confident, and secure. Those with
highly negative scores tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed, and insecure.

Openness to experience The final dimension addresses one’s range of interests and
fascination by novelty and innovation. They tend to be imaginative, curious, artistically
sensitive, and intellectual. Those at the other end of the openness category appear more
conventional and find comfort in the familiar.

Core Traits Descriptive Characteristics of High Scores

Extraversion Sociable, Outgoing, Talkative, Assertive, Gregarious
Agreeableness Cooperative, Warm, Caring, Good-Natured, Courteous,
Trusting
Conscientiousness Dependable, Hardworking, Organized, Self-Disciplined,
Persistent, Responsible
Emotional stability Calm, Secure, Happy, Unworried
Openness to experience Curious, Intellectual, Creative, Cultured, Artistically Sensitive,

11
 Flexible, Imaginative

IMPLICATION FOR MANAGEMENT

Several of the big five dimensions of personality have links to work related behaviors,
although none is a strong predictor of performance. Of the five dimensions,
conscientiousness is the most strongly correlated to job performance. This makes sense:
individuals who are dependable, organized, and hard- working tend to perform better in
their jobs. Most managers agree that a good employee is dependable, shows up on time,
finishes work by deadlines, and is willing to work hard.

Extroversion is the big five dimensions with the second highest correlation to job- related
behaviors. Extroversion is particularly important in jobs that rely on social interaction,
such as management or sales person. Unlike conscientiousness, which can apply to all
jobs levels or occupations, extroversion is not an essential trait for all jobs and
individuals can succeed without being extroverted.

Openness to experience can help performance in some instances but not others. For
example, being open to new experiences can help employees or managers perform well in
new training because they would be motivated to explore new ideas and to learn.

As one would expect, emotional stability relates to job behaviors and performance. At the
extreme, individuals who are neurotic are not likely to be able to function in
organizations.

The most important managerial implication of the big five dimensions is that except for
conscientiousness, no single trait is strongly linked to how well an employee will perform
in all types and levels of jobs. Instead, managers need to consider many factors,
especially the person-job fit.

KEY PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES INFLUENCING ORGANIZATION

BEHAVIOR

Locus of Control Some people believe that they are masters of their own fate. Other
people see themselves as pawns of fate, believing that what happens to them in their lives
is due to luck or chance. The first type, those who believe that they control their destinies,
have been labeled internals, whereas the latter, who see their lives as being controlled by
outside forces, have been called externals. A person's perception of the source of his or
her fate is termed locus of control. Individuals who have high scores in externality are
less satisfied with their jobs, have higher absenteeism rates, are more alienated from the
work setting, and are less involved on their jobs than are internals.

Machiavellianism An individual high in Machiavellianism 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. Yet

12
these high-Mach outcomes are moderated by situational factors. It has been found that
high Machs flourish (1) when they interact face-to-face with others rather than indirectly;
(2) when the situation has a minimum number of rules and regulations, thus allowing
latitude for improvisation; and (3) when emotional involvements with details irrelevant to
winning distract low Machs.

The Self-Concept People's attempts to understand themselves are called the self-concept in
personality theory. The self is a unique product of many interacting parts and may be
thought of as the personality viewed from within. This self is particularly relevant to the
concepts of self-esteem and self-efficacy in the field of organizational behavior.

Self-Esteem is directly related to expectations for success. People's self-esteem has to do

with their self-perceived competence and self-image. The most recent studies indicate
that self-esteem plays at least an important moderating role in areas such as emotional
and behavioral responses and stress of organizational members. Employees with high
self-esteem feel unique, competent, secure, empowered, and connected to the people
around them.

High SEs believe that they possess the ability they need to succeed at work. Individuals
with high self-esteem will take more risks in job selection and are more likely to choose
unconventional jobs than people with low self-esteem. Low SEs are more susceptible to
external influence than are high SEs. Low SEs depend on the receipt of positive
evaluations from others. As a result, they are more likely to seek approval from others
and more prone to conform to the beliefs and behaviors of those they respect than are
high SEs. In managerial positions, low SEs will tend to be concerned with pleasing others
and, therefore, are less likely to take unpopular stands than are high SEs. A number of
studies confirm that high SEs are more satisfied with their jobs than are low SEs.

Self-Efficacy Self-efficacy is concern with self-perceptions of how well a person can cope
with situations as they arise. Those with high self-efficacy feel capable and confident of
performing well in a situation. Self-efficacy is conceptually close to self-esteem. Self-
esteem tends to be a generalized trait (it will be present in any situation) while self-
efficacy tends to be situation-specific.

Self-efficacy is derived from four sources: (1) performance accomplishments, (2)

modeled exposure, (3) verbal persuasion, and physiological arousal. A recent meta-
analysis by Research outputs found a highly significant relationship between self-efficacy
and performance in organizational settings. There is considerable evidence that
employees who have higher self-efficacy are higher performers than those who have
lower self-efficacy; that this efficacy-performance relationship is cyclic in nature-
performance affects self-efficacy, which in turn affects performance, and so on; that
training employees can lead to their enhanced self-efficacy.

Self-Monitoring It refers to an individual's ability to adjust his or her behavior to

external, situational factors. Individuals high in self-monitoring show considerable
adaptability in adjusting their behavior to external situational factors. They are highly

13
sensitive to external cues and can behave differently in different situations. High self-
monitors are capable of presenting striking contradictions between their public persona
and their private self. Low self-monitors can't disguise themselves in that way. They tend
to display their true dispositions and attitudes in every situation; hence, there is high
behavioral consistency between who they are and what they do. Evidence suggests that
high self-monitors tend to pay closer attention to the behavior of others and are more
capable of conforming than are low self-monitors. In addition, high self-monitoring
managers tend to be more mobile in their careers and receive more promotions (both
internal & cross-organizational). It may also be hypothesize that high self-monitors will
be more successful in managerial positions in which individuals are required to play
multiple, and even contradicting, roles. The high self-monitor is capable of putting on
different "faces" for different audiences.

Risk Taking People differ in their willingness to take chances. This propensity to assume
or avoid risk has been shown to have an impact on how long it takes managers to make a
decision and how much information they require before making their choice. It makes
sense to recognize the individual differences on this dimension and even to consider
aligning risk-taking propensity with specific job demands. For instance, a high risk-
taking propensity may lead to more effective performance for a stock trader in a
brokerage firm because that type of job demands rapid decision-making. On the other
hand, a willingness to take risks might prove a major obstacle to an accountant who
performs auditing activities. The latter job might be better filled by someone with a low
risk-taking propensity.

Type A Personality. Type A personality is "aggressively involved in a chronic, incessant

struggle to achieve more and more in less and less time, and, if required to do so, against
the opposing efforts of other things or other persons."

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

In contrast to the Type A personality is the Type B, who is exactly the opposite. Type B's
are "rarely harried by the desire to obtain a wildly increasing number of things or
participate in an endless growing series of events in an ever-decreasing amount of time."

Type B's:
1. never suffer from a sense of time urgency with its accompanying impatience;
2. feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements or accomplishments
unless such exposure is demanded by the situation;
3. play for fun and relaxation rather than to exhibit their superiority at any cost;
4. can relax without guilt.

14
Type A's operate under moderate to high levels of stress. They subject themselves to
more or less continuous time pressure, creating for themselves a life of deadlines. These
characteristics result in some rather specific behavioral outcomes. For example, Type A's
are fast workers because they emphasize quantity over quality. In managerial positions,
Type A's demonstrate their competitiveness by working long hours and, not infrequently,
making poor decisions because they make them too fast. Type A's are also rarely creative.
Because of their concern with quantity and speed, they rely on past experiences when
faced with problems. They will not allocate the time that is necessary to develop unique
solutions to new problems. They rarely vary in their responses to specific challenges
hence, their behavior is easier to predict than that of Type B's. Despite the Type A's hard
work, the Type B's are the ones who appear to make it to the top. Great salespersons are
usually Type A's; senior executives are usually Type B's. The answer lies in the tendency
of Type A's to trade off quality of effort for quantity. Promotions in corporate and
professional organizations usually go to those who are wise rather than to those who are
merely hasty, to those who are tactful rather than to those who are hostile, and to those
who are creative rather than those who are merely agile in competitive strife.
Person-Situation Interaction
The dimensions of personality traits and the self-concept add to the understanding of the
human personality. The person-situation interaction dimension of personality provides
further understanding. Each situation, of course, is different. The differences may seem to
be very small on the surface, but when filtered by the person's cognitive mediating
processes, they can lead to quite large subjective differences and diverse behavioral
outcomes. Thus, this last dimension suggests that people are not static, acting the same in
all situations, but instead are ever changing and flexible.

JOHN HOLLAND'S PERSONALITY - JOB FIT THEORY:

Identifies six personality types and proposes that the fit between personality type and
occupational environment determines satisfaction and turnover. The key points of this
model are that (1) there do appear to be intrinsic differences in personality among
individuals, (2) there are different types of jobs, and (3) people in job environments
congruent with their personality types should be more satisfied and less likely to
voluntarily resign than should people in incongruent jobs.

15
2.1.5 PERCEPTION

Perception is the process of receiving, selecting, organising, interpreting, checking,

and reacting to sensory stimuli or data. It is a process through which we receive, filter,
organize, interpret and attach meaning to information taken from the environment.
It is the way we view the world around us or becoming aware of something via the
senses.

Perception represents the psychological process whereby people take information from
the environment and make sense of their world. It includes an awareness of the world –
events, people, objects, situations, and so on – and involves searching for, obtaining, and
processing information about the world. It adds meaning to information gathered via the
five senses of touch, smell, hearing, vision, and taste. Perception is the primary vehicle
through which we come to understand our surroundings and ourselves.

Perception is thus a mental & cognitive process that enables us to interpret & understand
our surroundings. Recognition of objects is one of this process’s major functions. People

16
must recognize objects to meaningfully interact with the environment. Because each
person gives his or her meaning to stimuli, different individuals see the same thing in
different ways. The cognitive map of the individual is not, then, a photographic
representation of the physical world: it is, rather, a partial, personal construction in which
certain objects, selected out by the individual for a major role, are perceived in an
individual manner. Every perceiver is to some degree a non-representational artist, as it
were; painting a picture of the world that expresses his or her individual view of reality.

THE PERCEPTION PROCESS

The perceptual process can be depicted in a simpler manner in the following way.

The model of perception helps one understand the basic processes involved in human
perception in a rather simplistic way. At a point of time we are flooded with a myriad of
environmental stimuli impinging on our sense organs, like now as you are reading this
particular page in front of you, light rays from the page are reaching your eyes. But these
are, by no means, all the light that is impinging on your eyes. Light rays from every
possible direction are also impinging on your retina as well. At the same time you are
also receiving a host of auditory stimuli-- the humming of the air conditioner, some body
talking out aloud outside, the rustling of the papers on your table, etc. Similarly, every
sense organs of your body are bombarded with a number of different stimuli
simultaneously. But our brain and the nervous system are not capable of processing so
many pieces of information all together. As it is now happening with you, you are, in all
probability, hardly aware of all these sensory inputs reaching you. Thus, what happens is
that we only selectively choose from among a host of stimuli and process only those. By
examining the perceptual model, one will find that only those stimuli are given entry to

17
the process of registration, which have got adequate attention or have aroused our
interest.

SOCIAL PERCEPTION or Perception about another Person

Social perception is the process of interpreting information about another person. It is

directly concerned with how one individual perceives other individuals: how we get to know
others. Virtually all management activities rely on perception. In appraising performance,
managers use their perceptions of an employee's behavior as a basis for the evaluation.

One work situation that highlights the importance of perception is the selection interview.
The consequences of a bad match between an individual and organization are devastating
for both parties, so it is essential that the data gathered be accurate. Typical first
interviews are brief, and the candidate is usually one of many seen by an interviewer
during a day. How long does it take for the interviewer to reach a decision about a
candidate? In the first four to five minutes, the interviewer has often made an accept or
reject decision base on his or her perception of the candidate.

Perceptions about people differ from perceptions about inanimate objects like tables,
chairs, books, pencil, etc. This is mainly because one is prone to make inferences
regarding the intentions of people and thus form judgment about them. The perceptions
and judgments regarding a person’s actions are often significantly influenced by the
assumptions one make about the person’s internal state. Attribution theory refers to the
ways in which people are judged differently depending on what meaning is attributed to a
given behavior. Whenever one observes the behavior of an individual, one attempts to
determine whether it was internally or externally caused. Internally caused behaviors are
those that are believed to be under the personal control of an individual or have been
done deliberately by him/her. Externally caused behavior is seen as resulting from
outside causes. Here, a person is seen as having been compelled to behave in a particular
way by the force of a situation and not because of his/her own choice. When even after
repeated requests your friend failed to turn up at the special old school boys’ meet, you
might ascribe his absence as a deliberate move on his part. You will feel hurt since it
appeared that he is quite unconcerned and careless about your feeling. But if someone
now points out about his recent increased responsibilities in the business after his father’s
untimely death and acute time shortage, you tend to condone him now.

Although the cognitive or mental processes guiding object perception also can be used to
describe aspects of social perception, fundamental differences exist. Moreover, while
general theories of perception date back many years, the study of social perception is
relatively new, having originated about 1976. The important differences between object
and person perception are the following:

 People intentionally influence the environment; they attempt to control it for their
own purposes. Objects, of course, are not intentional causal agents.

18
  People perceive back; as you are busy forming impressions of them, they are
doing the same to you. Social cognition is mutual cognition.
 A social stimulus may change upon being the target of cognition. People worry
about how they come across and may adjust their appearance or behavior
accordingly; coffee cups obviously do not.
 People's traits are nonobservable attitudes that are vital to thinking about them.
An object's nonobservable attributes are somewhat less crucial. Both a person and
a cup can be fragile, but the inferred characteristic is both less important and more
directly seen in the cup.
 People change over time and circumstances more than objects typically do. This
can make cognitions rapidly obsolete or unreliable.
 The accuracy of one's cognitions about people is harder to check than the
accuracy of one's cognitions about objects. Even psychologists have a hard time
agreeing on whether a given person is extroverted, sensitive, or honest, but most
ordinary people easily could test whether a given cup is heat resistant, fragile or
leaky.
 People are unavoidably complex. One cannot study cognitions about people
without making numerous choices to simplify. The researcher has to simplify in
object cognition, too, but it is less of a distortion. One cannot simplify as social
stimulus without eliminating much of the inherent richness of the target.
 Because people are so complex, and because they have traits and intents hidden
from view, and because they affect us in ways objects do not, social cognition
automatically involves social explanation. It is more important for an ordinary
person to explain why a person is fragile than to explain why a cup is.

A SOCIAL INFORMATION PROCESSING MODEL OF PERCEPTION

Social perception involves a four-stage information processing sequence (hence, the label
"Social information processing"). The four stages are selective
attention/comprehension, encoding and simplification, storage and retention, and
retrieval and response. Three of the stages in this model - selective
attention/comprehension, encoding and simplification, storage and retention -describe
how specific social information is observed and stored in memory. The fourth and final
stage, retrieval and response involves turning mental representation into real world
judgments and decisions.

Stage 1: Selective Attention/Comprehension

People are constantly bombarded by physical and social stimuli in the environment. Since
they do not have the mental capacity to fully comprehend all this information, they
selectively perceive subsets of the environmental stimuli. This is where attention plays a
role. Attention is the process of becoming consciously aware of something or someone.
Attention can be focused on information either from the environment or from memory.
Regarding the latter situation, if you sometimes find your self thinking about totally

19
unrelated events or people while reading a textbook, your memory is the focus of
attention. Research has shown that people tend to pay attention to salient stimuli.

Salient stimuli Something is salient when it stands out from its context. Social salience
is determined by several factors, including:
 Being novel (the only person in a group of that race, gender, hair color, or
age).
 Being bright (wearing a yellow shirt).
 Being unusual for that person (behaving in an expected way, like a person
with a fear of heights)
 Being unusual for a person’s social category (like a company president
driving a motorcycle to work)
 Being unusual for people in general (driving 20 miles per hour in a 60-
mph speed zone)
 Being dominant in the visual field (sitting at the head of the table)

One’s needs and goals often dictate which stimuli are silent. For a driver whose gas
gauge is on empty, an Exxon or Mobil sign is more salient than a McDonald’s or Burger
King sign. The reverse would be true for a hungry driver with full gas tank.

Stage 2: Encoding and Simplification

Observed information is not stored in its original form. Encoding is required; raw
information is interpreted or translated into mental representations. To accomplish this,
perceivers assign pieces of information to cognitive categories. “by category we mean a
number of objects that are considered equivalent. Categories are generally designated by
names, e.g., dog, animal.” People, event, and objects are interpreted and categorized by
comparing their characteristics with the schemata (or schema in singular form).

Schemata A schema represents a person’s mental picture or summary of a particular

event or type of stimulus. Cognitive-category labels are needed to make schemata
meaningful.

Stage 3: Storage and Retention

This phase involves storage of information in long-term memory. Long-term memory is

like an apartment complex consisting of separate units connected to one another.
Although different people live in each apartment, they sometimes interact. In addition,
large apartment complexes have different wings (A, B, and C). Long-term memory
similarly consists of separate but related categories. Like the individual apartments
inhibited by unique residents, the connected categories contain different types of
information.

Information also passes among these categories. Finally, long-term memory is made up
of three compartments (or wings) containing categories of information about events,
semantic materials, and people.

20
Event Memory This compartment is composed of categories containing information
about both specific and general events. Information on these categories is stored
chronologically. Thus, for example, your memory of your last vacation would flow from
beginning to end.

Semantic Memory Semantic memory functions as a mental dictionary of concepts. Each

concept contains a definition (a good leader, for example) and associated traits
(outgoing), emotional states (happy), physical characteristics (tall), and behaviors (works
hard). Just as there are schemata for general events, concepts in semantic memory are
stored as schemata.

Person Memory Categories within this compartment contain information about a single
individual or groups of people.

Stage 4: Retrieval and Response

This last stage, retrieval and response, involves the retrieval of information from memory
to make judgments and decisions about situations.

FACTORS INFLUENCING SOCIAL PERCEPTION

Three major categories of factors influence our perception of another person:

Characteristics of the Perceiver; Characteristics of the Target; and Characteristics
of the Situation in which the interaction takes place.

Characteristics of the Perceiver Characteristics of the Target

Familiarity with the target Physical appearance
Attitudes Verbal communication
Mood Nonverbal cues
Self-concept Intentions
Cognitive structure Size, Contrast, Intensity

Barriers
 Selective perception Social
 Stereotyping Perception
 First-impression error
 Implicit personality
theory
Characteristics of the Perceiver
 Self-fulfilling prophecies Characteristics of the situation
Context of the interaction
Strength of the situational cues

21
Several characteristics of the perceiver can affect social perception. One such
characteristic is familiarly with the target (the person being perceived). When we are
familiar with a person, we have multiple observations upon which to base our impression
of him or her. If the information we have gathered during these observations is accurate,
we may have an accurate perception of the other person. Familiarity does not always
mean accuracy, however. Sometimes, when we know a person well, we tend to screen out
information that is inconsistent with what we believe the person is like. This is a
particular danger in performance appraisals where the rater is familiar with the person
being rated.

The perceiver's attitudes also affect social perception. Suppose you are interviewing
candidates for a very important position in your organization - a position that requires
negotiating contracts with suppliers, most of whom are male. You may feel that women
are not capable of holding their own in tough negotiations. This attitude will doubtless
affect your perceptions of the female candidates you interview.

Mood can heave a strong influence on the way we perceive someone. We think
differently when we are happy than we do when we are depressed. In addition, we
remember information that is consistent with our mood state better than information that
is inconsistent with our mood state. When in a positive mood, we form more positive
impressions of others. When in a negative mood, we tend to evaluate others unfavorably.

Another factor that can affect social perception is the perceiver's self-concept. An
individual with a positive self-concept tends to notice positive attributes in another
person. In contrast, a negative self-concept can lead a perceiver to pick out negative traits
in another person. Greater understanding of self allows us to have more accurate
perceptions of others.

Cognitive structure, an individual's pattern of thinking, also affects social perception.

Some people have a tendency to perceive physical traits, such as height, weight, and
appearance, more readily. Others tend to focus more on central traits, or personality
dispositions. Cognitive complexity allows a person to perceive multiple characteristics of
another person rather than attending to just a few traits.

Characteristics of the Target

Characteristics of the target, who is the person being perceived, influence social
perception. Physical appearance plays a big role in our perception of others. The
perceiver will notice the target's physical features like height, weight, estimated age race,
and gender. Clothing says a great deal about a person. Blue pinstriped suits, for example,
are decoded to mean banking or Wall Street. Perceivers tend to notice physical
appearance characteristics that contrast with the norm, that are intense, or that are new or
unusual. A loud person, one who dresses outlandishly, a very tall person, or a hyperactive
child will be noticed because he or she provides a contrast to what is commonly

22
encountered. In addition, people who are novel can attract attention. Newcomers or
minorities in the organization are examples of novel individuals.

Physical attractiveness often colors our entire impression of another person. Interviewers
rate attractive candidates more favorably, and attractive candidates are awarded higher
starting salaries. People who are perceived as physically attractive face stereotypes as
well. We will discuss these and other stereotypes later in this chapter.

Verbal communication from target also affects our perception of them. We listen to the
topics they speak about, their voice tone, and their accent and make judgments based on
this input.

Nonverbal communication conveys a great deal of information about the target. Eye
contact, facial expressions, body movements, and posture all are deciphered (interpreted)
by the perceiver in an attempt to form an impression of the target. It is interesting that
some nonverbal signals mean very different things in different cultures. The "okay" sign
in the United States (forming a circle with the thumb and forefinger) is an insult in South
America. Facial expressions, however, seem to have universal meanings. Individuals
from different cultures are able to recognize and decipher expressions the same way.

The intentions of the target are inferred by the perceiver, who observes the target's
behavior. We may see our boss appear in our office doorway and think, "Oh no! She's
going to give me more work to do". Or we may perceive that her intention is to
congratulate us on a recent success. In any case, the perceiver's interpretation of the
target's intentions affects the way the perceiver views the target.

Characteristics of the Situation

The situation in which the interaction between the perceiver and the target takes place has
an influence on the perceiver's impression of the target. The social context of the
interaction is a major influence. Meeting a professor in his or her office affects your
impression in a certain way that may contrast with the impression you would form had
you met the professor in a local restaurant. In Japan, social context is very important.
Business conversations after working hours or at lunch are taboo. If you try to talk
business during these tomes, you may be perceived as rude. The presence of a policeman
near the police station hardly draws any attention, but if one if found in a classroom, it
will certainly be the topic of the day.

The strength of situational cues also affects social perception. Some situations provide
strong cues as to appropriate behavior. In this situation, we assume that the individual's
behavior can be accounted for by the situation, and that it may not reflect the individual's
disposition. This is the discounting principle in social perception. For example, you may
encounter an automobile salesperson who has a warm and personable manner, asks about
your work and hobbies, and seems genuinely interested in your taste in cars. Can you
assume that this behavior reflects the salesperson's personality? You probably cannot,

23
because of the influence of the situation. This person is trying to sell you a car, and in this
particular situation he or she probably treats all customers in this manner. You can see
that characteristics of the perceiver, the target, and the situation all affect social
perception. It would be wonderful if all of us had accurate social perception skills.
Unfortunately, barriers often prevent us from perceiving another person accurately.

BARRIERS TO SOCIAL PERCEPTION

Several factors lead us to form inaccurate impressions of others. Some of these barriers to
social perception are Selective Perception, Stereotyping, First-Impression Error -
Primacy Effect, Halo Effect, Contrast Effects, Implicit Personality Theories, and
Expectancy - Self-Fulfilling Prophecies, Projection, and Recency Effect.

We receive a vast amount of information. Selective perception is our tendency to choose

information that supports our viewpoints. Individuals often ignore information that makes
them feel uncomfortable or threaten their viewpoints. Suppose, for example, that a sales
manager is evaluating the performance of his employees. One employee does not get
along well with colleagues and rarely completes sales reports on time. This employee,
however, generates the most new sales contracts in the office. The sales manager may
ignore the negative information, choosing to evaluate the salesperson only on contracts
generated. The manager is exercising selective perception.

First impressions are lasting impressions, so the saying goes. Individuals place a good
deal of importance on first impressions, and for good reason. We tend to remember what
we perceive first about a person, and sometimes we are quite reluctant to change our
initial impressions. First-impression error or Primacy effect is our tendency to quickly
form an opinion of people based on the first information we receive about them. That
means that we observe a very brief bit of a person's behavior in our first encounter and
infer that this behavior reflects what the person is really like. Primacy effects can be
particularly dangerous in interviews, given that we form first impressions quickly and
that these impressions may be the basis for long-term
employment relationships.

Stereotyping refers to the tendency to perceive another

person as belonging to a single class or category. It is
the process of assigning attributes or traits to someone
solely on the basis of a category in which that person
has been placed. It is a generalization about a group of
people. Stereotypes reduce information about other
people to a workable level, and they are efficient for
compiling and using information. Stereotypes can be
accurate, and when they are accurate, they can be
useful perceptual guidelines. Most of the time, however, stereotypes are inaccurate. They
harm individuals when inaccurate impressions of them are inferred and are never tested
or changed. Thus, stereotypes may not be effective if they are too rigid or based on false

24
information. Stereotypes are never as accurate as our personal knowledge of a
person. As we get to know someone better, we (must) remove our
stereotypical perceptions of that individual. A person categorized as a dropout, ex-
convict, or alcoholic is automatically perceived negatively.

Suppose that a white male manager passes the coffee area and notices two Africa-
American men talking there. He becomes irritated at them for wasting time. Latter in the
day, he sees two women talking in the coffee area. He thinks they should do their
gossiping on their own time. The next morning, the same manager sees two white men
talking in the coffee area. He thinks nothing of it; he is sure they are discussing business.
The manager may hold a stereotype that women and minorities do not work hard unless
closely supervised.

In multicultural work teams, members often stereotype foreign coworkers rather than
getting to know them before forming an impression. Team members from less developed
countries are often assumed to have less knowledge simply because their homeland is
economically or technologically less developed. Stereotypes like these can deflate the
productivity of the work team, as well as create low morale.

Attractiveness is a powerful stereotype. We assume that attractive individuals ate also

warm, kind, sensitive, poised, sociable, outgoing, independent, and strong. Are attractive
people really like this? Certainly all of them are not. A recent study of romantic
relationships showed that most attractive individuals do not fit the stereotype, except for
possessing good social skills and being popular.

Some individuals may seem to us to fit the stereotype of attractiveness because our
behavior elicits behavior that confirms the stereotype from them. Consider, for example,
a situation in which you meet an attractive fellow student. Chances are that you respond
positively to this person, because you assume he or she is warm, sociable, and so on.
Even though the person may not possess these traits, your positive response may bring
out these behaviors in the person. The interaction between the two of you may be
channeled such that the stereotype confirms itself.

Halo Effect
The halo effect is the process by which the perceiver evaluates all dimensions of another
person solely on one impression, either favorable or unfavorable. A halo blinds the
perceiver to other attributes that should be evaluated in attaining a complete, accurate
impression of the other person. The halo effect often plays a major role in employee
performance rating. A manager may single out one trait and use it as the basis for all other
performance measures. For example, an excellent attendance record may produce
judgments of high productivity, quality work, and industriousness—whether they are
accurate or not. Halo effect also frequently occurs when students appraise their classroom
instructor. Students may give prominence to a single trait such as enthusiasm and allow
their entire evaluation to be tainted by how they judge the instructor on that one trait.
Thus, an instructor may be quiet, assured, knowledgeable, and highly qualified, but if his
style lacks zeal, those students would probably give him a low rating.

25
CONTRAST EFFECTS there’s an old adage among entertainers who perform in variety
shows: Never follow an act that has kids or animals in it. Why? The common belief is
that audience’ love children and animals so much that you will look bad in comparison.
In a similar vein, I remember when I was a college freshman and had to give a
presentation in a speech class. I was scheduled to speak third that morning. After of the
first two speakers stammered, stumbled, and forgot their lines, I suddenly got a rush of
confidence because I figured that even though my talk might not go too well, I’d
probably get a pretty good grade. I was counting on the instructor’s raising my evaluation
after contrasting my speech to those that immediately preceded it.

These two examples demonstrate how contrast effects can distort perceptions. We don’t
evaluate a person in isolation. Our reaction to one person is often influenced by other
persons we have recently encountered. An illustration of how contrast effects operate is
an interview situation in which one sees a pool of job applicants. Distortions in any given
candidate’s evaluation can occur as a result of his or her place in the interview schedule.
The candidate is likely to receive a more favorable evaluation if preceded by mediocre
applicants and a less favorable evaluation if preceded by strong applicants.

Implicit personality theories can also lead to inaccurate perceptions. We tend to have
our own mini-theories about how people look and behave. These theories help us
organize our perceptions and take shortcuts instead of integrating new information all the
time. We are cognitive misers. Because the world is complex and ambiguous and we
have a limited mental capacity, we try to expend the least amount of effort possible in
attempting to make sense of the world. We group traits and appearances into clusters that
seem to go together. For example, you may believe that introverted people are also
worriers and intellectuals, or that fashionable dressers are also up on current events and
like modern music. These implicit personality theories are barriers, because they limit our
ability to take in new information when it is available.

Expectancy
Expectancy effects in the perceptual process are the extent to which prior expectations
bias how events, objects, and people are
actually perceived. Sometimes the extent to
which people perceive what they expect to
perceive is amazing. Your perceptions of a
committee that you have been assigned to
recently may be positive if you were told by
your boss that the committee's work is
important and that it will be staffed by talented
people from several departments. However,
your perceptions may be negative if you were
told that the committee exists solely for
"political reasons" and contains some real
"deadwood" from other departments. You might also perceive identical behavior by other
members of the committee very differently under each set of expectations. Earlier, we
noted that past experiences and learning are very important to the perceptual process. As a

26
result, people often approach situations expecting certain things to happen or other people
to have certain attributes. These expectations may strongly influence their perceptions of
reality.

Another aspect of expectancy effects is the self-fulfilling prophecy. Sometimes our

expectations affect the way we interact with others such that we get what we wish for.
Self-fulfilling prophecy is also known as the Pygmalion effect, named for the sculptor in
Greek mythology who carved a statue of a woman that came to life when he prayed for
this wish and it was granted. That is, expecting certain things to happen shapes the
behavior of the perceiver in such a way that the expected is more likely to happen. It
occurs when our expectations about another person cause that person to act in a way that is
consistent with these expectations. In other words, our perceptions can influence reality. If
a supervisor believes a new employee won’t be able to perform the job, this expectation
influences the supervisor’s behavior toward the employee and, without realizing it, may
cause the recruit to perform the job poorly. Consequently, the supervisor’s perception, even
if originally incorrect, is confirmed.

Early studies of self-fulfilling prophecy were conducted in elementary school classrooms.

Teachers were given bogus information that some of their pupils had high intellectual
potential. These pupils were chosen randomly; there were really no differences among
the students. Eight months late, the "gifted" pupils scored significantly higher on an IQ
test. The teachers' expectations had elicited growth from these students, and teachers had
given them tougher assignments and more feedback on their performance. The
Pygmalion effect has been observed in work organizations as well. A manager's
expectations of an individual affect both the manager's behavior toward the individual
and the individual's response. For example, suppose you have an initial impression of an
employee as having the potential to move up within the organization. Chances are you
will spend a great deal of time coaching and counseling the employee, providing
challenging assignments, and grooming the individual for success.

Managers can harness the power of the Pygmalion effect to improve productivity in the
organization. It appears that high expectations of individuals come true. Can a manager
extend these high expectations to an entire group and have similar positive results? The
answer is yes. When a manager expects positive things from a group, the group delivers.

Projection
Projection is the tendency for people to see their own traits in other people. That is, they
project their own feelings, tendencies, or motives into their judgment of others. This may
be especially true for undesirable traits that perceivers possess but fail to recognize in
themselves. Projection bias is usually a defense mechanism to protect our self-esteem. For
example, a manager frightened by rumors of impending organizational changes may not
only judge others to be more frightened than they are, but may also assess various policy
decisions as more threatening than they really are. People whose personality traits include
stinginess, obstinacy, and disorderliness tend to rate others higher on these traits than do
people who do not have these personality traits.

27
Recency effect occurs when the most recent information dominates our perception of
others. The most recent information has the greater influence on our perception of
someone when the first impression has worn off with the passage of time

Impression Management

Most people want to make favorable impressions on others. This is particularly true in
organizations, where individuals compete for jobs, favorable performance evaluations,
and salary increases. The process by which individuals try to control the impressions
others have of them is called impression management. Individuals use several
techniques to control others' impressions of them.

Some impression management techniques are self-enhancing. These techniques focus on

enhancing others' impressions of the person using the technique. Name-dropping, which
involves mentioning an association with important people in the hopes of improving
one's image, is often used. Managing one's appearance is another technique for
impression management. Individuals dress carefully for interviews because they want to
"look the part" in order to get the job. Self-descriptions, or statements about one's
characteristics, are used to manage impressions as well.

Another group of impression management techniques are other-enhancing. The aim of

these techniques is to focus on the individual whose impression is to be managed.
Flattery is a common other-enhancing technique whereby compliments are given to an
individual in order to win his or her approval. Favors are also used to gain the approval
of others. Agreement with someone's opinion is a technique often used to gain a
positive impression.

Some employees may engage in impression management to intentionally look bad at

work. Methods for creating a poor impression include decreasing performance, not
working to one's potential, skipping work, displaying a bad attitude, or broadcasting
one's limitations. Why would someone try to look bad to others? Sometimes employees
want to avoid additional work or a particular task. They may try to look bad in hopes
of being laid off. Or they may create poor impressions in order to get attention.

Are impression management techniques effective? Most of the research has focused on
employment interviews, and the results indicate that candidates who engage in
impression management by self-promoting performed better in interviews, were more
likely to obtain site visits with potential employers, and were more likely to get hired. In
addition, employees who engage in impression management are rated more favorably in
performance reappraisals than those who do not.

Impression management seems to have an impact on others' impressions. As long as the

impressions conveyed are accurate, this process can be a beneficial one in organizations.
If the impressions are found to be false, however, a strongly negative overall impression

28
may result. Furthermore, excessive impression management can lead to the perception
that the user is manipulative or insincere.

We have discussed the influences on social perception, the potential barriers to

perceiving another person, and impression management. Another psychological process
that managers should understand is attribution.

ATTRIBUTIONS: PERCEIVING THE CAUSES OF BEHAVIOUR

As human beings, we are innately curious. We are not content merely to observe the
behavior of others; rather, we want to know why they behave the way they do. We also
seek to understand and explain our own behavior and that of other people. Attribution
refers simply to how people explain the cause of another’s or their own behavior. It is
the cognitive process by which people draw conclusions about the factors that influence,
or make sense of, one another’s behavior. Two general types of attributions that people
make are:

 Dispositional attributions: which ascribe a person’s behaviour to internal

factors (something within the individual's control) such as personality traits,
motivation, or ability.
 Situational attributions: which attribute a person’s behaviour to external
factors (something outside the individual's control) such as equipment, social
influence from others, the situation, or chance.

Suppose you perform well on an exam in this course. You might say you aced the test
because you are smart, or because you studied hard. If you attribute your success to
ability or effort, you are citing an internal source.

Alternatively, you might cite external sources for your performance. You might say it
was an easy test (you would attribute your success to degree of task difficulty) or that you
had good luck. In this case, you are attributing your performance to sources beyond your
control, or external attributions. You can see that internal attributions include such causes
as ability and effort, whereas external attributions include causes like task difficulty or
luck.

Attribution patterns differ among individuals. Achievement-oriented individuals attribute

their success to ability and their failures to lack of effort, both internal causes. Failure-
oriented individuals attribute their failures to lack of ability, and they may develop
feelings of incompetence as a result of their attributional pattern. Evidence indicates that
this attributional pattern also leads to depression.

Kelley's Attribution Theory

A widely accepted model proposed by Harold Kelly attempts to explain how people
determine why others behave as they do. Kelley proposed that individuals make
attributions based on information gathered in the form of three informational cues:

29
consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency.
We observe an individual's behavior and then
seek out information in the form of these three
cues
 Consistency: refers to the extent to
which peers in the same situation behave
the same way. That is, the extent to
which the person perceived behaves in
the same manner on other occasions
when faced with the same situation is
known as consistency.
 Distinctiveness: refers to the degree to
which the person behaves the same way in other situations. That is, distinctiveness
is the extent to which the person perceived acts in the same manner in different
situations.
 Consensus: refers to the frequency of a particular behavior over time. In other
words, consensus is the extent to which others, faced with the same situation,
behave in the manner similar to the person being perceived.
We form attributions based on whether these cues are low or high. Consensus,
distinctiveness, and consistency are the cues used to determine whether the cause of
behavior is internal or external. The process of determining the cause of a behavior may
not be simple and clear-cut, however, because of some biases that occur in forming
attributions.

The figure below shows how the combination of these cues helps us form internal or
external attributions.

30
Suppose you have received several complaints from customers regarding one of your
customer service representatives, John. You have not received complaints about your
other service representatives (low consensus). Upon reviewing John's records, you note
that he also received customer complaints during his previous job as a sales clerk (low
distinctiveness). The complaints have been coming in steadily for about three months
(high consistency). In this case, you would most likely make an internal attribution and
conclude that the complaints must stem from John's behavior. The combination of low
consensus, low distinctiveness, and high consistency leads to internal attributions.

Other combinations of these cues, however, produce external attributions. High

consensus, high distinctiveness, and low consistency, for example, produce external
attributions. Suppose one of your employees, Mary, is performing poorly on collecting
overdue accounts. You find that the behavior is widespread within your work team (high
consensus), that Mary is only performing poorly on this aspect of the job (high
distinctiveness), and that most of the time she handles this aspect of the job well (low
consistency). You will probably decide that something about the work situation caused
the poor performance-perhaps work overload or an unfair deadline.

Attributions have been found to strongly affect evaluation of other’s performance, to

determine the manner in which supervisors behave toward subordinates, and to influence
attitudes toward and personal satisfaction with one’s work. The attributional process and
the form it takes seem to greatly affect the resulting organizational behavior and
performance.
Attribution Biases (Errors): Social psychologists recognise two potent biases when
people make attributions:
 Fundamental attribution error: It is the tendency to underestimate the impact of
situational or external causes of behavior and overestimate the impact of personal or
internal causes of behavior when seeking to understand why people behave the way
they do.

31
 Self-serving bias: People readily accept credit when told they have succeeded
(attributing success to their ability & effort), yet often attribute failure to such
external, situational factors as bad luck or the problem’s inherent “impossibility”. In
general, individuals often attribute their own (and others’) success or failure to four
causal factors: ability, effort, task difficulty, or luck.
Causal attributions of ability and effort are internal, and causal attributions of task difficulty
and luck are external. These attributions about success or failure are influenced by
differences in self-esteem and locus of control. The tendency of employees to accept
responsibility for good performance but to deny responsibility for poor performance can
present a major challenge for managers and supervisors during performance appraisal
sessions. A self-serving bias can create problems in other ways also. For example, it can
prevent an individual from accurately assessing his or her own performance and abilities or
make it more difficult for a group of managers to determine why some course of action they
selected has failed.
There are cultural differences in these two attribution errors. As these biases have been
described above, they apply to people from the United States. In cultures that are more
fatalistic, as is India, people from the United States. In cultures that are more fatalistic, as
is India, people tend to believe that fate is responsible for much that happens. People in
such cultures tend to emphasize external causes of behavior.

In China, people are taught that the route to accomplishment is through hard work. When
faced with either a success or a failure, Chinese individuals first introspect about whether
they have tried hard enough or whether their attitude was correct. In a study of
attributions for performance in sports, Chinese athletes attributed both their successes and
failures to internal causes. Even when the cause of poor athletic performance was clearly
external, such as bad whether, the Chinese participants made internal attributions. In
terms of the Chinese culture, this attributional pattern is a reflection of moral values that
are used to evaluate behavior. The socialistic value of selfless morality dictates that
individual striving must serve collective interests. Mao Ze-dong stressed that external
causes only function through internal causes; therefore, the main cause of results lies
within oneself. Chinese are taught this from childhood, and form a corresponding
attributional tendency. In analyzing a cause, they first look to their own effort.

In addition to Kelley, other well-known theorists, such as Weiner, use attribution theory to
help explain achievement motivation and to predict subsequent changes in performance
and how people feel about themselves. Some research findings from Weiner's work include
the following:

1. Bad-luck attributions (external) take the sting out of a negative outcome, but
good-luck attributions (external) reduce the joy associated with success.
2. When individuals attribute their success to internal rather than external
factors, they have higher expectations for future success, report a greater desire for
achievement, and set higher performance goals.

32
2.1.6 ATTITUDES

The term attitudes can be defined in different ways. Some of the definitions are the
following.

 Attitudes represent the cluster of beliefs, assessed feelings, and behavioural

intentions toward an object. They are judgements about the attitude object.

 Attitudes are evaluative statements —either favourable or unfavourable —

concerning objects, people, or events. They represent the cluster of beliefs,
assessed feelings, and behavioural intentions towards objects, people, themselves,
or social issues. They reflect how one feels about something. When I say, “I like
my job,” I am expressing my attitude about work.

 Attitude is a negative or positive feeling or a mental sate of readiness, learned

and organized thorough experience that exerts a specific influence on a person's
response to people, object or situation.

From the above definitions we can understand that attitudes do have the following
characteristics:

 Attitudes are directed toward specific objects, events, or people (whereas values
are general beliefs about life).
 Attitudes are learned.
 Attitudes define one’s predisposition toward given aspects of the world.
 Attitudes provide the emotional basis of one’s interpersonal relations and identification
with others.
 Attitudes are organized and are close to the core of personality.
 Some attitudes are persistent and enduring. Yet, like each of the psychological variables,
attitudes are subject to change.
 Attitudes are less stable, opposite to values.

As individuals, we respond favorably or unfavorably toward many things: animals, co-

workers, our own appearance, politics, etc. the importance of attitudes lies in their link to
behavior. For example, some people prefer either cats or dogs. Individuals who prefer
cats may be friendly to cats but hesitate in approaching dogs.

Attitudes are integral part of the world of work. Managers speak of workers who have
'bad attitudes' and conduct "attitude adjustment" talks with employees. Often poor
performance attributed to bad attitudes really stems from lack of motivation, minimal
feedback, lack of trust in management, or other problems. These are areas that
management must explore.

The ABC Model

33
The three components of attitudes - affect, behavioural intentions and cognition -
compose what we call the ABC model of an attitude.

 The cognitive (thought) component of an attitude consists of person's perception,

opinions, beliefs, knowledge, or information held by an individual. It refers to the
thought process, with specially emphasis on rationality and logic. For example, the
belief that "discrimination is wrong" is a value statement. Such an opinion is the cognitive
component of an attitude. It
sets the stage for the more
critical part of an attitude—
its affective component.

 An affective
component consists of the
feelings, sentiments,
moods, and emotions about
some person, idea, event, or
object. It is the emotional
or feeling component of an
attitude that is learned from
parents, teachers, and peer
group members. It is
reflected in the statement "I
don't like Yohannes because he discriminates against minorities." Finally, affect can lead
to behavioural outcomes.

 The behavioral component of an attitude constitutes the intention and

predisposition to act in a certain way. It refers to a person's tendency to act toward
someone or something in a certain way. So, to continue our example, I might choose to
avoid Yohannes because of my feeling about him.

The ABC model shows that to thoroughly understand an attitude, we must assess all three
components. Suppose, for example, you want to evaluate your employees' attitude toward
flextime (flexible work scheduling). You would want to determine how they feel about
flextime (affect), whether they would use flextime (behavioral intention), and what they
think about the policy (cognition). However, keep in mind that the term attitude
essentially refers to the affect part of the three components.

ATTITUDE CONSISTENCY

As rational beings, individuals try to be consistent in everything they believe in and do.
They prefer consistency (consonance) between their attitudes and behaviour. Anything
that disrupts this consistency causes tension (dissonance), which motivates individuals to
change their attitudes or behaviour to return to a state of consistency. The tension
produced when there is a conflict between attitudes and behaviour or between two or
more of a person's attitudes is called cognitive dissonance.

34
Suppose, for example, a sales person is required to sell damaged TVs for the full retail
price, without revealing the damage to customers. She believes, however, that doing so
constitutes unethical behaviour. This creates a conflict between her attitude (concealing
information from customers is unethical) and her behaviour (selling defective TVs
without informing customers about the damage).

The sales person, experiencing the discomfort from dissonance, will try to resolve the
conflict. She might change her behaviour by refusing to sell the defective TV sets.
Alternatively, she might rationalize that the defects are minor and that customers will not
be harmed by their lack of awareness of them. These are attempts by the salesperson to
restore equilibrium between her attitudes and behaviour, thereby eliminating the tension
from cognitive dissonance.

Of course, no individual can avoid dissonance completely. A person's desire to reduce

dissonance is determined by the importance of elements creating the dissonance, the
degree of influence the individual believes he/she has over the elements, and the
rewards that may be involved in dissonance.

If the elements creating the dissonance are relatively unimportant, the pressure to correct
this imbalance will be low. But, say a corporate manager - Mrs. Rahel, who has a
husband and several children-believes strongly that no company should pollute the air or
water. Unfortunately, because of the requirements of her job, Mrs. Rahel is placed in the
position of having to make decisions that would trade off her company's profitability
against her attitudes on pollution. She knows that dumping the company's sewage into
the local river (we shall assume the practice is legal) is in the best economic interest of
her firm. What will she do? Clearly, Mrs. Rahel is experiencing a high degree of
cognitive dissonance. Either by changing her behavior (stop polluting the river) or by
concluding that the dissonant behavior is not so important after all ("I've got to make a
living and, in my role as a corporate decision maker, I often have to place the good of my
company above that of the environment or society"). A third alternative would be for
Mrs. Rahel to change her attitude ("There is nothing wrong in polluting the river"). Still
another choice would be to seek out more consonant elements to outweigh the dissonant
ones ("The benefits to society from manufacturing our products more than offset the cost
society of the resulting water pollution").

The degree of influence that individuals believe they have over the elements will have an
impact on how they will react to the dissonance. If they perceive the dissonance to be an
uncontrollable result-something about which they have no choice-they are not likely to
be receptive to attitude change. If, for example, the pressure to reduce dissonance-
producing behavior was required as a result of the boss's directive, the pressure to reduce
dissonance would be less than if the behavior was performed voluntarily. Although
dissonance exists, it can be rationalized and justified.

Rewards also influence the degree to which individuals are motivated reduce dissonance.
The tension inherent in high dissonance may be reduced when accompanied by a high

35
reward. The reward acts to reduce dissonance by increasing the consistency side of the
individual's balance sheet. Because people in organizations are given some form of
reward or remuneration for their services, employees often can deal with greater
dissonance on their jobs than off their jobs.

These moderating factors suggest that just because individuals experience dissonance,
they will not necessarily move directly toward consistency, that is, toward reduction of
this dissonance. If the issues underlying the dissonance are of minimal importance, if an
individual perceives that the dissonance is externally imposed and is substantially
uncontrollable, or if rewards are significant enough to offset the dissonance, the
individual will not be under great tension to reduce the dissonance.

What are the organizational implications of the theory of cognitive dissonance? It can
help to predict the propensity to engage in both attitude and behavioral change. For
example, if individuals are required by the demands of their job to say or do things that
contradict their personal attitude, they will tend to modify say or do. In addition, the
greater the dissonance-after it has been moderated by importance, choice, and reward
factors-the greater the pressures to reduce the dissonance.

ATTITUDE FORMATION

Attitudes are learned. They are acquired from parents, peers, teachers, exemplary
individuals, individuals we like, dislike, fear etc. Our response to people and issues
evolve overtime. Two major influences on attitudes are Direct Learning and Social
Learning.

Direct experience with an object or person is a powerful influence on attitudes. How do

you know that you like biology or dislike math? You have probably formed these
attitudes from experience in studying the subjects. Research has shown that attitudes that
are derived from direct experience are stronger, are held more confidently, and are most
resistant to change than are attitudes formed through indirect experience. This may be
because of their availability. This means that the attitudes are easily accessed and are
active in our cognitive processes. When attitudes are available, we can call them quickly
into consciousness. Attitudes that are not learnt from direct experience are not as
available, and therefore, we do not recall them as easily.

In Social Learning, the family, peer groups, religious organizations, and culture shape an
individual's attitude in an indirect manner. Children learn to adopt certain attitudes by the
reinforcement they are given by their parents when they display behaviors that reflect an
appropriate attitude.

Substantial social learning occurs through modeling, in which individuals acquire

attitudes by merely observing others. The observer overhears other individuals expressing
an opinion or watches them engaging in a behavior that reflects an attitude, and the
observer adopts this attitude.

36
For an individual to learn from observing a model, four processes must take place.
1. The learner must focus attention on the model.
2. The learner must retain what was observed from the model.
3. Behavioral reproduction must occur; that is, the learner must practice the
behavior.
4. The learner must be motivated to learn from the model.

TYPES OF ATTITUDES

A person can have thousands of attitudes, but OB focuses on a very limited number of
job-related attitudes. The three types of attitudes - all work related - within which OB has
been concerned are: Job Satisfaction, Job Involvement, and Organizational
Commitment.

JOB SATISFACTION 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, while a person who is dissatisfied with his or her job holds
negative attitudes about the job. When people speak of employee attitudes, more often
than not they mean job satisfaction. In fact, the two are frequently used interchangeably.

JOB INVOLVEMENT The term job involvement is a more recent addition to the OB
literature. While there isn’t complete agreement over what the term means, a workable
definition states that job involvement measures the degree to which a person identifies
psychologically with his or her job and considers his or her 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.

High levels of job involvement have been found to be related to fewer absences and
lower resignation rates. However, it seems to more consistently predict turnover than
absenteeism, accounting for as much as 16 percent of the variance in the former.

ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT Organizational commitment is defined as a

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

So, high job involvement means identifying with one’s specific job, while high
organizational commitment means identifying with one’s employing organization.

37
As with job involvement, the research evidence demonstrates negative relationships
between organizational commitment and both absenteeism and turnover. In fact, studies
demonstrate that an individual’s level of organizational commitment is a better indicator
of turnover than the far more frequently used job satisfaction predictor, explaining as
much as 34 percent of the variance. Organizational commitment is probably a better
predictor because it is a more global and enduring response to the organization as a whole
than is job satisfaction. An employee may be dissatisfied with his or her particular job
and consider it a temporary condition, yet not be dissatisfied with the organization as a
whole. But when dissatisfaction spreads to the organization itself, individuals are more
likely to consider resigning.

FUNCTION OF ATTITUDES

An understanding of the function of attitudes is important to the study of organizational

behavior. Based on extensive review of surveys of employers, an analysis concluded “the
most important consideration in hiring and the biggest deficit among new workforce
entrants are the attitudes concerning work that they bring with them to their jobs."
Attitudes can help predict work behavior. For example, if an attitude survey shows that
workers are upset by a change in the work rules and the next week absenteeism begins to
increase sharply, management may conclude that a negative attitude toward work rules
led to an increase in worker absenteeism. An understanding of attitudes is also important
because attitudes help people adapt to their work environment. Many years ago, Katz
noted that attitudes serve four important functions in this process.

The Adjustment Function: Attitudes often help people adjust to their work environment.
When employees are well treated, they are likely to develop a positive attitude toward
management and the organization. When employees are berated and given minimal salary
increases, they are likely to develop a negative attitude toward management and the
organization. These attitudes help employees adjust to their environment and are a basis
for future behaviors. For example, if employees who are well treated are asked about
management or the organization, they are likely to say good things. Just the reverse
would probably be true for those berated and given minimal salary increases. When
Japanese firms did away with lifetime employment in recent years, Japanese workers had
a very difficult time adjusting.

The Ego-Defensive Function: Besides helping employees adjust, attitudes also help them
defend their self-images. For example, an older manager whose decisions are continually
challenged by a younger subordinate manager may feel that the latter is brash, cocky,
immature, and inexperienced. In truth, the younger subordinate may be right in
challenging the decisions. The older manager may not be a very effective leader and may
constantly make poor decisions. On the other hand, the older manager is not going to
admit this but will try to protect the ego by putting the blame on the other party. As a
result, the older manager will have a negative attitude toward the younger one. The same
is undoubtedly true for the younger manager, who will feel that the boss is not doing a

38
good job. This attitude helps the younger person protect the ego. If the subordinate were
to change this perception and believe that the boss was doing a good job, this individual
would also have to stop criticizing the boss. Quite obviously, this is something that the
younger person does not want to do. So the attitude serves to justify the action and to
defend the ego.

The Value-Expressive Function: Attitudes provide people with a basis for expressing
their values. For example, a manager who believes strongly in the work ethic will tend to
voice attitudes toward specific individuals or work practices as a means of reflecting this
value. A supervisor who wants a subordinate to work harder might put it this way:
"You've got to work harder. That's been the tradition of the company since it was
founded. It helped get us where we are today, and everyone is expected to subscribe to
this ethic." A company president who believes strongly in the need to support the United
Way campaign might tell the top-management team: "Everyone in this firm from top to
bottom ought to support United Way. It's a wonderful organization and it does a great
deal of good for our community. I don't know where we'd be without it." In both these
cases, attitudes serve as a basis for expressing one's central values.

The Knowledge Function: Attitudes help supply standards and frames of reference that
allow people to organize and explain the world around them. For example, a union
organizer may have a negative attitude toward management. This attitude may not be
based on fact, but it does help the individual relate to management. As a result, every-
thing that managers say is regarded by the union organizer as nothing more than a pack of
lies, a deliberate distortion of the truth, or an attempt to manipulate the workers. Re-
gardless of how accurate a person's view of reality is, attitudes toward people, events, and
objects help the individual make sense out of what is going on.

CHANGING ATTITUDES

Employee attitudes can be changed, and sometimes it is in the best interests of manage-
ment to try to do so. For example, if employees believe that their employer does not take
care of them, management would like to change this attitude. Sometimes attitude change
is difficult to accomplish because of certain barriers. After these barriers are identified,
some ways of overcoming them and effectively changing attitudes are examined.

Barriers to Changing Attitudes

There are two basic barriers that can prevent people from changing their attitude. One is
called prior commitments, which occurs when people feel a commitment to a particular
course of action and are unwilling to change. There is even theory and research support for
escalation of commitment, the tendency for decision makers to persist with failing courses
of action.

The following scenario presents an example of escalation of commitment: The president

of the company graduated from the Addis Ababa University and was personally

39
 instrumental in hiring the new head of the marketing department, who had graduated
from the same university. Unfortunately, things are not working out well. The marketing
manager is not very good. However, because the president played such a major role in
hiring this manager, the chief executive is unwilling to admit the mistake. Using the ego-
defensive function of attitudes, the president distorts all negative information received
about the marketing manager and continues to believe that everything is going well and
the right selection decision was made.

A second barrier is a result of insufficient information. Sometimes people do not see

any reason to change their attitude. The boss may not like an associate's negative attitude,
but the latter may be quite pleased with his or her own behavior. Unless the boss can
show the individual why a negative attitude is detrimental to career progress or salary
raises or some other desirable personal objective, this person may continue to have a
negative attitude. This is particularly true when the attitude is a result of poor treatment
by management. The associate will use the negative attitude to serve an adjustment
function: "I can't respect a manager who treats me the way this one does."

Ways of Overcoming Barriers to Changing Attitudes

1. Providing New Information Fortunately, there are ways in which the barriers can be
overcome & attitudes can be changed. One of these is by providing new information.
Sometimes this information will change a person's beliefs and, in the process, his or her
attitudes. In one classic study it was found that union workers had an anti-management
attitude. However, when some of the workers were promoted into the management ranks,
their attitudes changed. They became aware of what the company was doing to help the
workers, and, over time, this new information resulted in a change in their beliefs about
management and in their attitude toward both the company and the union. They became
more procompany and less prounion.

2. Use of Fear A second way of changing attitudes is through the use of fear. Some re-
searchers have found that fear can cause some people to change their attitudes. However,
the degree of fear seems to be important to the final outcome. For example, if low levels
of fear arousal are used, people often ignore them. The warnings are not strong enough to
warrant attention. If moderate levels of fear arousal are used, people often become aware
of the situation and will change their attitudes. However, if high degrees of fear arousal
are used, people often reject the message because it is too threatening and thus not
believable. They essentially dig in their heels & refuse to be persuaded. A good example
is provided in the case of antismoking commercials. The Department of Health and
Human Services found that when it ran ads using patients who were dying of cancer, the
message was so threatening to smokers that they shut it out; they refused to listen. As a
result, the commercials did not have the desired impact. Health officials found that
commercials using only moderate fear arousal were the most effective ones.

3. Resolving Discrepancies Another way in which attitudes can be changed is by re-

solving discrepancies between attitudes and behavior. For example, research shows that

40
 when job applicants have more than one offer of employment and are forced to choose,
they often feel that their final choice may have been a mistake. However, this mild con-
flict, or dissonance, does not usually last very long. The theory of cognitive dissonance
says that people will try to actively reduce the dissonance by attitude and behavior
change. Thus, when people take new jobs and begin working, they also start to have
negative feelings toward the firms that were not chosen and positive ones toward the
company that was chosen. The result may be that the new employees conclude they did
indeed make the right choice.

4. Influence of Friends or Peers Still another way in which attitude changes can come
about is through persuasion by friends or peers. For example, if Joe Smith has been
padding his expense account and finds out that his friends in sales have not, he is likely to
change his own attitude. This assumes that Joe likes his co-workers and they have some
persuasive control over him. On the other hand, if Joe believes that the other salespeople
are all lazy and would pad their accounts if they only knew how, he is unlikely to change
his attitude toward doing so.

Additionally, it is important to remember that when a particular matter is of personal

interest to people, they are likely to reject extreme discrepancies between their current
behavior and that of others. For example, if the other salespeople tell Joe that they never
pad their expenses while he is padding his by several thousand dollars annually, Joe is
unlikely to let them influence him. There are too many benefits to be achieved if he just
keeps on doing what he has been doing. This is why unethical behavior is so difficult to
combat.

5. The Co-opting Approach A final way in which attitude changes often takes place is
by co-opting, which means taking people who are dissatisfied with a situation and getting
them involved in improving things. For example, Nardos feels that more needs to be done
in improving employee benefits. As a result, the company appoints Nardos as a member
of the employee benefits committee. By giving her the opportunity to participate in
employee benefits decision making, the "company increases the chances that Nardos’
attitude will change. Once she begins realizing how these benefits are determined and
how long and hard the committee works to ensure that the personnel are given the best
benefits possible, she is likely to change her attitude.

41
2.1.7 Emotions in the Workplace

 Emotions are complex human reactions to personal achievements and setbacks.

The study of emotions is important since emotions influence behavior,
particularly when involving other people.
 Emotions create a response in the mind that arises spontaneously, rather than
through conscious effort. It is unclear whether animals or all human beings
experience emotion.
 Emotions are physical expressions, often involuntary, related to feelings,
perceptions or beliefs about elements, objects or relations between them, in reality
or in the imagination.
 Emotion is sometimes regarded as the antithesis of reason. This is reflected in
common phrases like appeal to emotion or your emotions have taken over.
Emotions can be undesired to the individual feeling them; he or she may wish to
control but often cannot. Thus one of the most distinctive, and perhaps
challenging, facts about human beings is this potential for entanglement, or even
opposition, between will, emotion, and reason.

Emotions permeate organizational life. A team leader is alarmed that critical supplies
have not yet arrived. A new employee is to tell friends about her new job. A nurse feels
sympathy for a patient whose family has not visited the hospital. In each incident,
someone has experienced one or more emotions. There are many different emotions,
although scholars have organized them into the six categories shown in the table below.
These include Anger, Fear, Joy, Love, Sadness, and Surprise. All except one (surprise)
of these general emotional categories include various specific emotional experiences. For
example, re-searchers have found that alarm and anxiety cluster together to form the
general emotional category called fear.

Emotions are feeling experienced toward an object, person, or event that create a state
of readiness. Emotional episodes are communications to ourselves. They make us aware
that events have occurred that may affect important personal goals. In fact, strong
emotions demand our attention and interrupt our train of thought. They also create a state
of readiness to respond to those events. In other words, they generate the motivation to
act toward the object of our attention.

Types of emotions in the workplace

Anger Fear Joy Love Sadness Surprise

Disgust Alarm Cheerfulness Affection Disappointment (No sub-

Envy Anxiety Contentment Longing Neglect categorizes
Exasperation Enthrallment Lust Shame of emotion)
irritation Optimism Suffering
Rage Pride Sympathy
Torment Relief

42
 Zest
Emotions are experienced through our thoughts, behaviors, and physiological reactions.
A person may experience fear in a situation by mentally sensing it, showing it though
facial expressions, and developing a higher heartbeat. Facial expressions and other
behaviors play an interactive role in the emotional experience. For example, you tend to
smile when feeling joyful, and this smiling reinforces your feeling of joyfulness.
Similarly, your sense of fear is maintained when you notice your heart thumping.

Emotions are directed toward someone or something. We experience joy, fear, and other
emotional episodes toward tasks, customers, public speeches we present, a software
program we ate using, and so on. This contrasts with moods, which are emotional states
that are not directed toward anything in particular. For example, you may be in a cheerful
mood, but you don't know why you have this emotion. Your cheerfulness may be caused
by something at work or elsewhere, but you aren't consciously aware of this.

Importance of Emotions

Here are a few of the reasons our emotions are important in our lives.

Survival

Nature developed our emotions over millions of years of evolution. As a result, our
emotions have the potential to serve us today as a delicate and sophisticated internal
guidance system. Our emotions alert us when natural human need is not being met. For
example, when we feel lonely, our need for connection with other people is unmet. When
we feel afraid, our need for safety is unmet. When we feel rejected, it is our need for
acceptance which is unmet.

Decision Making

Our emotions are a valuable source of information. Our emotions help us make decisions.
Studies show that when a person's emotional connections are severed in the brain, he can
not make even simple decisions. Why? Because he doesn't know how he will feel about
his choices.

Boundary Setting

When we feel uncomfortable with a person's behavior, our emotions alert us. If we learn
to trust our emotions and feel confident expressing ourselves we can let the person know
we feel uncomfortable as soon as we are aware of our feeling. This will help us set our
boundaries which are necessary to protect our physical and mental health.

Communication

43
Our emotions help us communicate with others. Our facial expressions, for example, can
convey a wide range of emotions. If we look sad or hurt, we are signalling to others that
we need their help. If we are verbally skilled we will be able to express more of our
emotional needs and thereby have a better chance of filling them. If we are effective at
listening to the emotional troubles of others, we are better able to help them feel
understood, important and cared about.

Happiness

The only real way to know that we are happy is when we feel happy. When we feel
happy, we feel content and fulfilled. This feeling comes from having our needs met,
particularly our emotional needs. We can be warm, dry, and full of food, but still
unhappy. Our emotions and our feelings let us know when we are unhappy and when
something is missing or needed. The better we can identify our emotions, the easier it
will be to determine what is needed to be happy.

Unity
Our emotions are perhaps the greatest potential source of uniting all members of the
human species. Clearly, our various religious, cultural and political beliefs have not
united us. Far too often, in fact, they have tragically and even fatally divided us.
Emotions, on the other hand, are universal. Charles Darwin wrote about this years ago in
one of his lesser-known books called "The Expression of Emotion In Man and Animal".
The emotions of empathy, compassion, cooperation, and forgiveness, for instance, all
have the potential to unite us as a species. It seem fair to say that, generally speaking:
Beliefs divide us. Emotions unite us.

Primary and secondary emotions

Some authors use the terms primary and secondary emotions. I find this distinction quite
helpful. A primary emotion is what we feel first. The secondary emotion is what it leads
to.

Anger is a good example of a secondary emotion. As I discuss in my section on anger

there are many possible primary emotions which, when they are intense enough, can lead
to anger. We might feel insulted, pressured, cheated, etc. If these feelings are at a low
level we are not likely to say we feel angry. But if they are intense, we commonly say we
feel "angry."

Depression is another example of a secondary emotion. Or we might call it a "catch-all"

term. Depression can include feeling discouraged, hopeless, lonely, isolated,
misunderstood, overwhelmed, attacked, invalidated, unsupported, etc. Normally it
includes several feelings. These more specific feelings are what I would call primary
emotions.

Secondary, "catch-all" terms like anger and depression do not help us much when it
comes to identifying our unmet emotional needs (UEN's). When all I can say is "I feel

44
angry," neither I nor any one else knows what would help me feel better. But if I say I
feel pressured or trapped or disrespected, it is much more clear what my UEN is and what
would help me feel better. A simple, but effective technique, then, is to identify the
primary emotion.

45
Emotions and Personality

Have you ever noticed how some co-workers seem upbeat most of the time while others
are almost never happy about anything? To some extent, emotions can result from
personality, not just from workplace experiences. Positive affectivity (PA) is the
tendency to experience positive emotional states. It is very similar to extroversion, a
characteristic of people who are outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive. In contrast,
some people are high on negative affectivity (NA), which is the tendency to experience
negative emotions. Employees with high NA tend to be more distressed and unhappy
because they focus on the negative aspects of life.

To what extent do these personality traits influence emotions? Some research indicates
that our feelings about work can be predicted two years later from a person's PA. Studies
of twins raised apart conclude that a person's heredity influences emotions and judgments
about work. However, other evidence suggests that the effects of PA and NA are
relatively weak. Overall, it seems that PA and NA influence emotions and judgments in
the workplace, but their effects are not as strong as situational factors.

Emotions, Attitudes, and Behavior

Emotions are related to broader concept of attitudes. Attitudes represent the cluster of
beliefs, assessed feelings, and behavioral intentions toward an object. They are judgments
about the attitude object. The joy we experience when receiving a promotion is an
emotion. Our attitude toward promotions is more complex and long lasting. It includes
perceptions about promotions (e.g., promotions indicate that senior management values
your abilities), assessed feelings (e.g., promotions are good), and intentions to receive
promotions (e.g., we intend to work hard to get a promotion). Attitudes develop from two
sources: (1) our emotional experiences and (2) our perceptual process.

Emotions affect attitudes, but the two concepts are different. As just noted, emotions are
experiences, whereas attitudes are judgments. This is basically the distinction between
feeling and thinking identified in Jung's psychological types. We feel emotions, whereas
we think about attitudes. Moreover, emotions can be quite brief, whereas attitudes are
more stable over time. The joy you experience when hearing about your promotion may a
few minutes or hours, whereas your attitude toward promotions can be stable for weeks,
months, or even years.

Linking emotions to behavior Emotions and attitudes affect behavior. First, beliefs
create feelings about something or someone. You might feel dissatisfied with your level
of pay (a feeling) because you believe it is too low (a belief). The relationship between
beliefs and feelings is a little more complex than this because feelings also influence
beliefs. You may feel frustrated in a work situation without knowing why, so you
rationalize this feeling by believing that the company doesn't provide enough support.
However, beliefs cause feelings most of the time.

46
Next, feelings influence a person's behavioral intentions. You might want to leave the
organization (a behavioral intention) because you are dissatisfied with your level of pay
(a feeling). In other words, you are motivated to leave the organization because of
negative feelings about your low pay. Of course, people don't always want to quit their
job when they have negative feelings about the size of their paycheck. Instead, some
employees complain about the problem or take some action (e.g., sick leave) that seems
to compensate for the low pay. People choose the behavioral intention that they think will
work best for them.

Finally, behavioral intentions predict behavior. Generally, behavioral intentions are better
than beliefs or feelings at predicting behavior. We can be more certain that employees
will leave the organization if we know they intend to do so than if we only know that they
are dissatisfied with low pay. But behavioral intentions are not perfectly related to
behavior because behavior also depends on the person's ability, role perceptions, and
situational contingencies. For instance, you may be motivated to attend every day of
scheduled work this month, but illness or something beyond your control prevents that
behavioral intention from coming true.

Though it is apparent that behavior is a conscious and logical consequence of emotions

and attitudes, emotions can directly influence behavior. In other words, people sometimes
react to their emotions rather than their judgments (attitudes). When upset, an employee
might stomp out of a meeting, bang a fist on the desk, or burst into tears. When
overjoyed, an employee might embrace a co-worker or break into a little dance. These are
not carefully though out behaviors. Rather they are automatic emotional responses that
serve as coping mechanisms in that situation.

MANAGING EMOTIONS

We are sometimes overcome by our emotions. Emotions can directly influence behavior,
whether it's angrily shouting at a customer of displaying subtle facial gestures of
disapproval. However, we are typically expected to manage our emotions in the
workplace. Emotional labor refers to the effort, planning, and control needed to express
organizationally desired workers, customers, suppliers, and others; employees are
expected to abide by display rules. These rules are norms requiring employees to display
certain emotions and withhold others.

Emotional Dissonance

Comedian George Burns once said, "The secret to being a good actor is honesty. If you
can fake that, you've got it made." Burns's humor highlights an important reality in
emotional labor; namely, that it is very difficult to hide our true emotions in the
workplace. Usually, they "leak" out as voice intonations, posture, and in other sublet
ways. As we saw with Jerrold Miller, anger toward a client will likely spill out, even
where strong norms exist to discourage this. The problem is particularly true of anger,
which is one of the most difficult emotions to control.

47
Conflict between required and true emotions is called emotional dissonance, and it is a
significant cause of stress and job burnout. Emotional dissonance is most common, of
course, where employees must display emotions that are quite different from their true
feelings. It is also more common where emotional display rules are highly regulated and
where employees do not have enough autonomy to change tasks. Ziad Altoura, an
employee at the National Bank of Kuwait in London, England, experiences emotional
dissonance during the busy summer months when many Kuwaitis and Gulf national visit
London. "You must be pleasant to every customer," explains Altoura. "Nothing must
show and you have to keep up that freshness throughout the day".

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to monitor your own and others' emotions, to
discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide your thinking and actions.
It is the innate potential to feel, use, communicate, recognize, remember, learn from,
manage and understand emotions.

EI has its roots in the concept of social intelligence, which introduced over 75 years ago,
but scholars spent most of this time focused on cognitive intelligence. Now, many are
realizing that emotional intelligence is just as important for an individual's success at
work and in other social environments. Emotional intelligence includes the five
characteristics and abilities illustrated in the diagram below.

 Self-awareness- involves knowing your emotions, recognizing feelings as

they occur, and discriminating between them. People with high self-awareness
recognizes and understands their moods, emotions, and needs. They perceive and
anticipate how their actions affect others. Self-aware people are also comfortable
talking about and admitting their limitations, so they know when to ask for help. Notice
that this (as well as some other EI dimensions described here) is similar to the self-
monitoring personality.

 Self-regulation - This is the ability to control or redirect emotional out-

bursts and other impulse behaviors. It involves handling feelings so they're relevant
to the current situation and you react appropriately. For example. Rather than yelling
at a client, you manage to remain calm and later "talk out" the emotion to a co-worker.
Self-regulation includes the ability to suspend judgment-to think through the
consequences of their behavior rather than acting on impulse.

 Self-motivation - This includes "gathering up" your feelings and directing

yourself towards a goal, despite self-doubt, inertia, and impulsiveness. That is, it
involves stifling impulses, directing our emotions toward personal goals, those with
high motivation remain optimistic. Motivating yourself overlaps with the self-
leadership concepts of self-reinforcement and constructive though patterns.

48
 Empathy - Empathy is the ability to understand and be sensitive to the
feelings, thoughts, and situation of others. This doesn't mean adopting other people's
emotions, just being sensitized to them.

 Social skill - This is the ability to manage the emotions of other people. It
requires social competence and skills to guide the way other people act. Social skill
includes the ability to form networks of relationships and to build rap-port-finding
common interests and understanding with others. Social skill requires other elements of
emotional intelligence, particularly empathy and self-regulation.

There is still much to learn about emotional intelligence, such as how robust are these
five digestions and how they relate to self-monitoring personality. At the same time, little
is known about how to select or train people for emotional intelligence. The U.S. Air
Force and a few other organizations are now using tests that select applicants with high
emotional intelligence, although the quality of these tests is still uncertain. Hong Kong
Telecom and many other companies offer training in emotional intelligence because it
can to some extent, be learned. However, people don't develop emotional intelligence
simply by learning about its dimensions. It requires personal coaching plenty of practice,
and frequent feedback. Emotional intelligence also increases with age; it is part of the
process called maturity. Whether people are hired with high emotional intelligence or
they develop it through coaching we still need to learn whether people with high
emotional intelligence are better at coping with the emotional dissonance created by
emotional labor requirements.

Self-awareness

Dimensions
Social skill of Emotional Self-regulation
Intelligence

Empty Self-motivation

Why Do We Need Emotional Intelligence?

Research in brain-based learning suggests that emotional health is fundamental to

effective learning. According to research reports, the most critical element for a
student's success in school is an understanding of how to learn. The key

49
ingredients for this understanding are: Confidence, Curiosity, Intentionality, Self-
control, Relatedness, Capacity to communicate, Ability to cooperate.

These traits are all aspects of Emotional Intelligence. Basically, a student who
learns to learn is much more apt to succeed. Emotional Intelligence has proven a
better predictor of future success than traditional methods like the GPA, IQ, and
standardized test scores.

Hence, the great interest in Emotional Intelligence on the part of corporations,

universities, and schools nationwide. The idea of Emotional Intelligence has
inspired research and curriculum development throughout these facilities.
Researchers have concluded that people who manage their own feelings well and
deal effectively with others are more likely to live content lives. Plus, happy
people are more apt to retain information and do so more effectively than
dissatisfied people.

Building one's Emotional Intelligence has a lifelong impact. Many parents and
educators, alarmed by increasing levels of conflict in young schoolchildren--from
low self-esteem to early drug and alcohol use to depression, are rushing to teach
students the skills necessary for Emotional Intelligence. And in corporations, the
inclusion of Emotional Intelligence in training programs has helped employees
cooperate better and motivate more, thereby increasing productivity and profits.

2.1.8 VALUES

Another source of individual differences is values. Values are enduring beliefs that a
specific model 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. Values represent
stable, long-lasting beliefs about what is important. They contain a judgmental
element in that they carry an individual’s ideas as to what is right, good, or desirable. In
other words, they are evaluative standards that help us define what is right or wrong,
good or bad, in the world.
Values are general beliefs about life, whereas attitudes are directed toward specific
objects, events, or people. Vales exist at a deeper level than attitudes and are more
general and basic in nature. Of course, values influence our attitude toward attitude
objects.

Each of us has our own set of values. These are what determine which aspects of life we
regard as important or beneficial. Our values help determine our tastes, our way of life,
our entertainment, our social, political and religious interactions. Each of us holds many
values and these values are liable to change as we grow, reach different stages of life or
have different experiences or influences in life. Some of the values we hold may be
‘superficial’, transitory or fitting solely the moment in which we find ourselves. Other
values are more fixed and may stay with us through our life; these are our ‘core values’.

50
Individuals learn values as they grow and mature. They may changeover the life span as
an individual develops a sense of self. Our values come from a range of sources. Our
parents are a key influence upon our values as we grow as children. So, too, is any church
or religious background we experience. Our society, our neighbours, friends and
colleagues, too, can have an influence upon our values. So, too, can our teachers and our
schooling. Cultures, societies and organizations shape values. Adolescence is a time
when values come to the forefront of an individual's development, and many individuals
stabilize their value systems during this life stage.

Values have both content and intensity attributes. The content attribute says that a mode
of conduct or end-state is important. The intensity attribute says how important it is.
When we rank an individual’s values in terms of their intensity, we obtain that person’s
value system. Values influence our perception and lay the foundation for the
understanding of attitudes and motivation. Values generally influence attitudes and
behaviour.

Types of values

There are two types of values: Instrumental and Terminal.

Instrumental values are desirable modes of behaviour that help us reach the objectives
of terminal values. That is, they reflect the means to achieving goals - they represent the
acceptable behaviours to be used in achieving some end state. Some instrumental values
include being polite, courageous, logical, self-controlled, honest, and ambitious.

Terminal values are desired states of existence that we think are worth striving for. That
is, terminal values represent the goals to be achieved, or the end states of existence. Some
of the terminal values that people might hold: A world of beauty, equality, wisdom, and a
comfortable life.

INSTRUMENTAL VALUES
Honesty Ambition Responsibility
Forgiving nature Open-mindedness Courage
Helpfulness Cleanliness Competence
Self-control Affection/Love Cheerfulness
Independence Politeness Intelligence
Obedience Rationality Imagination
TERMINAL VALUES
World peace Family security Freedom
Happiness Self-respect Wisdom
Equality Salvation Prosperity
Achievement Friendship National security
Inner peace Mature love Social respect

51
 Beauty in art and nature Pleasure Exciting, active life

Instrumental and terminal values work in concert to provide individuals with goals to
strive for and acceptable ways to achieve the goals. Organisation behaviour researchers
tend to focus on instrumental values because they shape the person’s behaviour and are
more closely aligned with organisational values.

 Personal values influence our perception and decisions. They provide

justification for our actions.
 Organisational culture values, shape the behaviours of employees aligned with
those values.
 Cross-cultural values, partially explain how people behave differently in other
countries.
 Ethical values lay the foundation for the appropriateness of our actions.

Values are affected by culture. Not long ago, several Swedish and American employees at
Ericsson Telephone, the Swedish telecommunications giant, met to resolve a pressing
issue. At the end of the discussion, the highest-ranking person in the room—an American
— stated his position on the problem. The Americans understood that the senior
executive was concluding debate by making the final decision. The Swedes, on the other
hand, left the meeting feeling uneasy that no decision had been made. Scandinavians
assume that decisions are made as a group, so they thought the American executive's
statements were merely his opinions on the matter. Anyone who has worked long
enough with people in other countries will know that values differ across cultures. As
this true story illustrates, people in some cultures value group decisions while others
think that a leader should take charge. Meetings in Germany usually start on time,
whereas they can be a half hour late in Brazil. We need to understand cultural value
differences to avoid unnecessary conflicts and subtle tensions between people from
different countries. This is particularly important as companies develop global
operations and information technology increases the frequency of cross-cultural
communication.

2.1.9 Ethical Behavior

Ethics is the study of moral values and moral behavior that determine whether actions are
right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad. Ethical behavior is acting in ways
consistent with one's personal values and the commonly held values of the organization
and society.

Three Ethical Principles

Philosophers and other scholars have identified several general ethical principles, each
with a few variations that should guide our ethical conduct. We can distill most of these

52
principles and variations down to three basic values – Utilitarianism, Individual Rights,
and Distributive Justice.

 Utilitarianism – Utilitarianism advises us to seek the greatest good for greatest

number of people. In other words, we should choose the option providing the highest
degree of satisfaction to those affected. This is sometimes known as the
Consequential Principle because it focuses on the consequences of our actions, not
on how we achieve those consequences. Unfortunately, utilitarianism can
occasionally result in unethical choices because it judges morality by the results, not
the means attaining those results. Moreover, it accepts situations in which a few
people may be severely oppressed to benefit others.

 Individual Rights – This ethical value is the belief that everyone has entitlements
that let them act in a certain way. Some of the most widely cited rights are freedom of
movement, physical security, freedom of speech, fair trial, and freedom from torture.
The Individual rights principle is not restricted to legal rights. A person may have the
right to privacy, but employers have a right to inspect everyone’s e-mail messages.
One problem with the individual rights is that certain individual rights may conflict
with others. For example, the shareholders’ right to be informed about corporate
activities may ultimately conflict with an executive’s right to privacy.

 Distributive Justice – This is the ethical value of fairness. It suggests that inequality
is acceptable if (1) everyone has equal access to the more favored positions in the
society and (2) the inequalities are ultimately in the best interest of the least well off
in the society. The first part means that everyone should have equal access to higher
paying jobs and other valued positions in life. The second part says that some people
can receive greater rewards than others if this benefits those less well off. Employees
in risky jobs should be paid more if this benefits others who are less well off. The
problem with this problem is that society can’t seem to agree on what activities
provide the greatest benefits to the least well off.

Factors Influencing Ethical Behavior

Ethical behavior is influenced by two categories of factors: individual characteristics

and organizational factors. Our purpose in this section is to look at the individual
influences on ethical behavior.

Making ethical decision is part of each manager's job. It has been suggested that ethical
decision-making requires three qualities of individuals.

1. The competence to identify ethical issues and evaluate the consequences of

alternative courses of action.
2. The self-confidence to seek out different opinions about the issue and decide
what is right in terms of a particular situation.

53
 3. Tough-mindedness - the willingness to make decisions when all that needs to be
known cannot be known and when ethical issue has no established, unambiguous
solution.

What are the individual characteristics that lead to these qualities? Our model presents
four major individual differences that affect ethical behavior: Value Systems, Locus of
Control, Machiavellianism, and Cognitive Moral Development.

Individual influences
Value systems
Locus of control
Machiavellianism
Cognitive moral development
Ethical behavior

Organizational influences
Codes of conduct
Norms
Modeling
Rewards and punishments

Value Systems

Values are systems of beliefs that affect what the individual defines as right, good, and
fair. Ethics reflects the way the values are acted out. Ethical behavior, as noted earlier, is
acting in ways consistent with one's personal values and the commonly held values of the
organization and society.

Employees are exposed to multiple value systems: their own, their supervisor's, the
company's, the customers', and others'. In most cases, the individual's greatest
allegiance will be to personal values. When the value system conflicts with the behavior
the person feels must be exhibited, the person experiences a value conflict. Suppose, for
example, that an individual believes honesty is important in all endeavors. Yet this
individual sees that those who get ahead in business fudge their numbers and deceive
other people. Why should the individual be honest if honesty doesn't pay? It is he
individual's values, a basic sense of what is right and wrong, that override the temptation
to be dishonest.

Locus of Control

Another individual influence on ethical behavior is locus of control. In earlier parts of

this chapter, we discussed locus of control as a personality variable that affects individual
behavior. Recall that individuals with an internal locus of control believe that they control

54
events in their lives and that they are responsible for what happens to them. In contrast,
individuals with an external locus of control believe that outside forces such as fate,
chance, or other people control what happens to them.

Internals are more likely than externals to take personal responsibility for the
consequences of their ethical or unethical behavior. Externals are more apt to believe that
external forces caused their ethical or unethical behavior. Research has shown that
internals make more ethical decisions than do externals. Internals also are more resistant
to social pressure and are less willing to hurt another person, even if ordered to do so by
an authority figure.

Machiavelliansim

Another individual difference that affects ethical behavior is Machiavelliansim. Niccolo

Machiavelli was a sixteenth century Italian statesman. He wrote The Prince, a guide for
acquiring and using power. The primary method for achieving power that he suggested
was manipulation of others. Machiavellianism, then, is a personality characteristic
indicating one's willingness to do whatever it takes to get one's own way.

A high-Mach individual behaves in accordance with Machiavelli's, which include the

notation that it is better to be feared than loved. High-Mach's tend to use deceit in
relationships, have a cynical view of human nature, and have little concern for
conventional notions of right and wrong. They are skilled manipulators of other people,
relying on their persuasive abilities. Low-Mach's, in contrast, value loyalty and
relationships. They are less willing to manipulate others for personal gain and are
concerned with other's opinions.

High-Mach's believed that any means justify the desired ends. They believe that
manipulation of others is fine if it helps achieve a goal. Thus, high-Mach's are likely to
justify their manipulative behavior as ethical. They are emotionally detached from other
people and are oriented toward objective aspects of situations. And high-Mach's are
likelier than low-Mach's to engage in behavior that is ethically questionable. Employees
can counter Machiavellian individuals by focusing on teamwork instead of on one-on-one
relationships, where high-Mach's have the upper hand; it is also beneficial to make
interpersonal agreements public and thus less susceptible to manipulation by high-
Mach's.

Cognitive Moral Development – the person’s level of maturity regarding ethical

decision making

An individual's level of cognitive moral development also affects ethical behavior.

Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg proposed that as individuals mature, they move through
a series of six stages of moral development. With each successive stage, they become less
dependent on other people's opinions of right and wrong and less self-centered (acting in
one's won interest). At higher levels of moral development, individuals are concerned

55
with broad principles justice and with their self-chosen ethical principles. Kohlberg's
model focuses on the decision-making process and on how individuals justify ethical
decisions. His model is a cognitive developmental theory about how people think about
what is right and wrong and how the decision-making process changes through
interaction with peers and the environment.

Cognitive moral development occurs at three levels, and each level consists of two
stages. In Level I, called the premolar level, the person's ethical decisions are based on
rewards, punishments, and self-interest. In Stage I, the individual obeys rules to avoid
punishment. In Stage 2, the individual follows the rules only if it is in his or her
immediate interest to do so.

In Level II, the conventional level, the focus is on the expectations of others (parents,
peers) or society. In Stage 3, individuals try to live up to the expectations of people close
to them. In Stage 4, they broaden their perspective to include the laws of the larger
society. They fulfill duties and obligations and want to contribute to society.

In Level III, the principled level, what is "right" is determined by universal values. The
individual sees beyond laws, rules, and the expectations of other people. In Stage 5,
individuals are aware that people have diverse value systems. They uphold their own
values despite what others think. For a person to be classified as being in Stage 5,
decisions must be based on principles of justice and rights. For example, a person who
decides to picket an abortion clinic just because his religion says abortion is wrong is not
a Stage 5 individual. A person who arrived at the same decision through a complex
decision process based on justice and rights may be a Stage 5 individual. The key is the
process rather than the decision it self. In stage 6, the individual follows self-selected
ethical principles. If there is a conflict between a law and a self-selected ethical principle,
the individual acts according to the principle.

As individuals mature, their moral development passes through these stages in an

irreversible sequence. Research suggests that most adults are in Stage 3 or 4. Most adults
thus never reach the principled level of development (Stages 5 and 6).

Since it was proposed, more than twenty years ago, Kohlberg's model of cognitive moral
development has received a great deal of research support. Individuals at higher stages of
development are less likely to cheat, more likely to engage in whistle blowing, and more
likely to make ethical business decisions.

Kohl berg's model has also been criticized. Gilligan, for example, has argued that the
model does not take gender differences into account. Kohlberg's model was developed
from a twenty-year study of eighty-four boys. Gilligan contends that women's moral
development follows a different pattern-one that is based not on individual rights and
rules but on responsibility and relationships. Women and men face the same moral
dilemmas but approach them from different perspectives-men from the perspective of
equal respect and women from the perspective of compassion and care. More research is
needed on gender differences in cognitive moral development.

56
Individual differences in values, locus of control, Machiavelliansim, and cognitive moral
development are important influences on ethical behavior in organizations. Given that
these influences vary widely from person to person, how can organizations use this
knowledge to increase ethical behavior? One action would be to hire individuals who
share the organization's values. Another would be to hire only internals, low-Machs, and
individuals at higher stages of cognitive moral development. This strategy obviously
presents practical and legal problems.

There is evidence that cognitive moral development can be increased through training.
Organizations could help individuals more to higher stages of moral development by
providing educational seminars. However, values, locus of control, Machiavellianism,
and cognitive moral development are fairly stable in adults.

The best way to use the knowledge of individual differences may be to recognize that
they help explain why ethical behavior differs among individuals and to focus managerial
efforts on creating a work situation that supports ethical behavior.

Most adults are susceptible to external influences; they do not act as independent ethical
agents. Instead, they look to others and to the organization for guidance. Managers can
offer such guidance by providing encouragement of ethical behavior through codes of
conduct, norms, modeling, and rewards and punishments.

2.1.10 LEARNING

Learning is included in the individual variables because all complex behavior is learned.
If one wants to explain predict and control behavior, he or she needs to understand how
people learn.

A DEFINITION OF LEARNING

According to Stephen Robbins, learning may be defined as any relatively permanent

change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience. Our definition is concerned
with behavior. As Behavior is collection of related activities, so change in behavior
results in to change in activities, which are responsible for the concerned change
behavior.

The above definition of learning has several components that deserve clarification.

1. Learning involves change.

Change may be good or bad from an organizational point of view. People can learn
unfavorable behaviors to hold prejudices or to restrict their output, for example-as
well as favorable behaviors.

57
2. The change must be relatively permanent.
Temporary changes may be only reflexive and fail to represent any learning.
Therefore, the requirement that learning must be relatively permanent rules out
behavioral changes caused by fatigue or temporary adaptations.

3. Learning involves change in behavior.

Learning takes place when there is a change in actions. A change in an individual's
thought process or attitude if not accompanied by change in behavior, wouldn't be
learning. For example if a word processing operator who key boarded 70 words a
minute before taking a new training course can now key board 85 words in a minute,
we can infer that learning has occurred.

4. Some form of experience is necessary for learning

Experience that is acquired either directly through observation or practice or
indirectly through reading is necessary for learning to takes place.

We can say that a person has learned whenever changes in behavior of that person
take place. In other words, we can say that changes in behavior indicate that learning
has taken place. Similarly, no change in behavior indicates no learning has taken
place. It must however be remembered that in certain types of learning, there are
some periods of time that follow the learning during which there is no indication of
apparent changes. This does not necessarily mean that no learning has taken place.
These periods of no apparent change in behavior is called the ‘incubation period’,
where the assimilation and internalization of learning take place.

But in a general way we may say that in the process of learning, people behave in a
changed way as a result of learning. Thus we infer that learning has taken place if an
individual behaves, reacts, responds as a result of experience in a manner different
from the way he formerly behaved.

THEORIES OF LEARNING

In order to explain the complex topic like human learning, various researchers have
approached the problem from various perspectives. This has given rise to different
theories of learning. We will review some of the most important theories of learning
which are:

1. Classical Conditioning,
2. Operant Conditioning, and
3. Social Learning

Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is the process of modifying behavior so that a conditioned

stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus and elicits an unconditioned
response. Classical condoning builds on a natural consequence of an unconditioned

58
response to an unconditioned stimulus. In dogs, this might be the natural production of
saliva (unconditioned response) in response to the presentation of meat (unconditioned
stimulus). By presenting a conditioned stimulus (for example, a bell) simultaneously with
the unconditioned stimulus (the meat), the researcher caused the dog to develop a
conditioned response (salivation in response to the bell).

Classical conditioning may occur in a similar fashion in humans. For example, a person
working at a computer terminal may get lower back tension (unconditioned response) as
a result of poor posture (unconditioned stimulus). If he person becomes aware of that
tension only when the manager enters the work area (conditioned stimulus), then the
person may develop a conditioned response (lower back tension) to the appearance of the
manager.

Although this example is logical, classical conditioning has real limitations in its
applicability to human behavior in organizations for at least three reasons. First, humans
are more complex than dogs and less amenable to simple cause and effect conditioning.
Second, the behavioral environments in organizations are complex and not very amenable
to single stimulus response manipulations. Third, complex human decision making makes
it possible to override simple conditioning.

Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is the process of modifying behavior through the use of

positive or negative consequences following specific behaviors. It is based on the
nation that behavior is a function of its consequences, which may be either positive or
negative. The consequences pf behaviors are used to influence, or shape, behavior
through three strategies: reinforcement, punishment, and extinction. Organizational
behavior modification is a form of operant conditioning used successfully in a variety of
organizations to shape behavior.

The Strategies of Reinforcement, Punishment, and Extinction

Reinforcement is used to enhance desirable behavior, and punishment and extinction are
used to diminish undesirable behavior. Organizations, families, and other social systems
define and categorize desirable and undesirable behavior. A behavior may be desirable in
one context and undesirable in another. For example, a police officer's use of physical
force to restrain an unruly adult might be viewed as desirable behavior while his use of
the same physical force with a teenager might be viewed as desirable behavior. Knowing
what behavior is desirable and what behavior is undesirable is not always easy. A team of
motivational experts was once asked by a military unit to help increase combat soldier's
desire to kill the enemy. The team declined for two reasons. First, its members were not
sure they knew how to design such a program. Second, they were uncertain about the
social desirability of doing it. The problem posed to the team raises an ethical question
about how society should define desirable and undesirable behavior.
Reinforcement and punishment are administered through the management of positive and
negative consequences of behavior. Positive consequences are the results of a person's

59
behavior that the person finds attractive or pleasurable. They might include a pay
increase, a bonus, a promotion, a transfer to a more desirable geographical location, or
praise form a supervisor. Negative consequences are the results of a person's behavior
that the person finds unattractive or aversive. They might include disciplinary action, an
undesirable transfer, a demotion, or harsh criticism from a supervisor. Positive and
negative consequences must be defined for the person receiving them. Therefore,
individual, gender, and cultural differences may be important in their classification.

The use of positive and negative consequences following a specific behavior either
reinforces or punishes that behavior. Thorn dike's law of effect states that

Reinforcement Punishment
(Desirable behavior) (Undesirable behavior)

Positive
Consequences Apply Withhold

Negative Withhold Apply

consequences

Behaviors followed
by positive
consequences are more likely to recur and behaviors followed by negative consequences
are less likely to recur. The above figure shows how positive and negative consequences
may be applied or withheld in the strategies of reinforcement and punishment.

REINFORCEMENT Reinforcement is the attempt to develop or strengthen desirable

behavior by either bestowing positive consequences or withholding negative
consequences. Positive reinforcement results from the application of a positive
consequence following a desirable behavior. Bonuses paid at the end of successful
business years are an example of positive reinforcement.

Negative reinforcement results from withholding a threatened negative consequence

when a desirable behavior occurs. For example, a manager who reduces an employee's
pay (negative consequence) if the employee comes to work late *undesirable behavior)
and refrains from doing so when the employee is on time (desirable behavior) has
negatively reinforced the employee's on-time behavior. The employee avoids the negative
consequence (a reduction in pay) by exhibiting the desirable behavior (being on time to
work).

Either continuous or intermittent schedules of reinforcement may be used as shown in the

table below.

60
PUNISHMENT Punishment is the attempt to eliminate or weaken undesirable
behavior. It is used in two ways. One way to punish a person is through the application of
a negative consequence following an undesirable behavior. For example, a professional
athlete who is excessively offensive to an official (undesirable behavior) may be ejected
from a game (negative consequence). The other way to punish a person is through the
withholding of a positive consequence following an undesirable behavior. For example, a
salesperson who makes few visits to companies (undesirable behavior) and whose sales
are well below the quota (undesirable behavior) is likely to receive a very small
commission check (positive consequence) at the end of the month.

One problem with punishment is that it may have unintended results. Because
punishment is discomforting to the individual being punished, the experience of
punishment may result in negative psychological, emotional, performance, or behavioral
consequences. For example, the person being punished may become angry, hostile,
depressed, or despondent. From an organizational standpoint, this result becomes
important when the punished person translates negative

Schedules of Reinforcement

SCHEDULE DESCRIPTION EFFECTS ON RESPONDING

Continuous
Reinforcer follows 1. Steady high rate of performance as ling
every response as reinforcement follows every response
2. High frequency of reinforcement may
lead to early satiation
3. Behavior weakens rapidly (undergoes
extinction) when reinforces are withheld
4. Appropriate for newly emitted,
unstable, low-frequency responses
Intermittent
Reinforcer does not 1. Capable of producing high frequencies
follow every response of responding
2. Low frequency or reinforcement
precludes early station
3. Appropriate for stable or high-
frequency responses

FIXED RATIO A fixed number of 1. A fixed ratio of 1:1

responses must be (Reinforcement occurs after every response) is
emitted before the same as a continuous schedule
reinforcement occurs 2. Tends to produce a high rate of
response that is vigorous and steady

VARIABLE A varying or random Capable of producing a high rate of response

RATIO number of responses that is vigorous, steady, and resistant to
must be emitted extinction
before reinforcement

61
 occurs

Produces an uneven response pattern

FIXED INTERVAL The first response varying from a very slow, unenergetic
after a specific period response immediately following
of time has elapsed is reinforcement to a very fast, vigorous
reinforced response immediately preceding
reinforcement
VARIABLE
INTERVAL The first response Tends to produce a high rate of response that
after varying or is vigorous, steady, and resistant to
random periods if time extinction
have elapsed is
reinforced

EXTINCTION An alternative to punishing undesirable behavior is extinction the

attempt to weaken a behavior by attaching no consequences (either positive or negative)
to it. It is equivalent to ignoring the behavior. The rationale for using extinction is that a
behavior not followed by any consequence is weakened. However, some patience and
time may be needed for it to be effective.

Extinction may be practiced, for example, by not responding (no consequence) to the
sarcasm (behavior) of a colleague. Extinction may be most effective when used in
conjunction with the positive reinforcement of desirable behaviors. Therefore, in the
example, the best approach might be to compliment the sarcastic colleague for
constructive comments (reinforcing desirable behavior) while ignoring the colleague's
sarcastic comments (extinguishing undesirable behavior).

Extinction is not always the best strategy, however. Punishment might be preferable in
cases of dangerous behavior to deliver a swift, clear lesson. It might also be preferable in
cases of seriously undesirable behavior, such as employee embezzlement or other
unethical behavior.

Bandura's Social Learning Theory

A social learning theory proposed by Albert Bandura is an alternative to the strictly

behaviorist approaches of Pavlov and Skinner. Bandura believes learning occurs
through the observation of other people and the modeling of their behavior.
Executives might teach their subordinates a wide range of behaviors, such as leader-
follower interactions and stress management, by exhibiting these behaviors. Since
employees look to their supervisors for acceptable norms of behavior, they are likely to
pattern their own responses on the supervisor's.

Central to Bandura's social learning theory is the notation of self-efficacy. People with
high levels of self-efficacy are more effective at learning than are those with low levels of
self -efficacy. According to Bandura, self-efficacy expectations may be enhance through

62
 four means: (1) performance accomplishments (just do it!), (2) vicarious experiences
(watch someone else do it!), (3) verbal persuasion (be convinced by someone else to do
it!), or (4) emotional arousal (get excited about doing it). At Springfield
Remanufacturing, employees learn through doing ass discussed in the accompanying
Organizational Reality feature.

Learning and Personality Differences

Our treatment of learning would not be complete with out touching on Jung's theory of
personality differences. Two elements of Jung's theory have important implications for
learning.

The first element is the distinction between introverted and extraverted people. Introverts
need quite time to study, concentrate, and reflect on what they are learning. They think
best when they are alone. Extraverts need to interact with other people, learning through
the process of expressing and exchanging ideas with others. They think best in groups
and while they are talking.

The second element is the personality functions of intuition, sensing, thinking, and
feeling. These functions are listed in the table below, along with their implications for
learning by individuals. The functions of intuition and sensing determine the individual's
preference for information gathering. The functions of thinking and feeling determine
how the individual evaluates and makes decisions about newly acquired information.
Each person has a preferred mode of gathering information and a preferred mode of
evaluating and making decisions about that information. For example, an intuitive thinker
may want to skim

Personality Functions and Learning

PERSONALITY IMPLICATIONS FOR

PREFERENCE LEARNING BY INDIVIDUALS
Information Gathering
Intuitors Prefer theoretical frameworks.
Look for the meaning in material.
Attempt to understand the grand scheme.
Look for possibilities and interrelations.

Sensors Prefer specific, empirical data.

Look for practical applications.
Attempt to master details of a subject.
Look for what is realistic and doable.
Decision Making
Thinkers Prefer analysis of data and information.
Work to be fair-minded and evenhanded.
Seek logical, just conclusions.

63
 Do not like to be too personally involved.

Feelers Prefer interpersonal involvement.

Work to be tenderhearted and harmonious.
Seek subjective, merciful results.
Do not like objective, factual analysis

64