Organizational Behavior Human

Behavior at Work 14th Edition

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Chapter 9
Employee Attitudes and Their Effects

True/False Questions

1. The organizational costs associated with poor employee attitudes may severely reduce an
organization’s competitiveness.
Ans: True
Page: 232
Difficulty: Easy

2. Job satisfaction is an affective attitude—a feeling of relative like or dislike toward something.
Ans: True
Page: 233
Difficulty: Medium

3. Group morale is of least significance when describing overall group satisfaction.

Ans: False
Feedback: Group morale is especially important to monitor since individuals often take their
social cues from their work associates and adapt their own attitudes to conform to those of the
group.
Page: 233
Difficulty: Medium

4. The nature of a worker’s environment off the job does not influence his or her feelings on the
job.
Ans: False
Feedback: The nature of a worker’s environment off the job indirectly influences his or her
feelings on the job.
Page: 233
Difficulty: Medium

5. As workers grow older, they set their job expectations higher.

Ans: False
Feedback: As workers grow older, they initially tend to be slightly more satisfied with their jobs.
Apparently, they lower their expectations to more realistic levels and adjust themselves better to
their work situations.
Page: 235
Difficulty: Medium

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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
6. People with higher-level occupations tend to be less satisfied with their jobs than those with
lower-level occupations.
Ans: False
Feedback: People with higher-level occupations tend to be more satisfied with their jobs.
Page: 235
Difficulty: Medium

7. Analysis of group relationships allows managers to predict which groups are more likely to
exhibit the problem behaviors associated with dissatisfaction.
Ans: True
Page 235
Difficulty: Medium

8. Affective commitment is a negative emotional state in which employees fail to exert effort
and choose to leave the organization.
Ans: False
Feedback: Affective commitment is a positive emotional state in which employees want to exert
effort and choose to remain with the organization.
Page 236
Difficulty: Medium

9. Once established, an employee’s feelings about the job are static; they seldom change.
Ans: False
Feedback: Employees also have feelings about their jobs that are both diffused and highly
dynamic; they reflect overall views and can change within a day, hour, or minute.
Page: 237
Difficulty: Medium

10. High satisfaction always leads to high employee performance.

Ans: False
Feedback: Some managers cling to an old myth—that high satisfaction always leads to high
employee performance—but this assumption is not correct.
Page: 239
Difficulty: Medium

11. Extended breaks are an example of psychological withdrawal.

Ans: False
Feedback: Extended breaks are an example of physical withdrawal.
Page: 239
Difficulty: Medium

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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
12. The level of satisfaction leads to either greater or lesser commitment, which then affects
effort and eventually affects performance.
Ans: True
Page: 240
Difficulty: Easy

13. Higher job satisfaction is associated with higher employee turnover.

Ans: False
Feedback: Those employees who have lower satisfaction usually have higher rates of turnover.
Page: 240
Difficulty: Easy

14. Dissatisfied employees do not necessarily plan to be absent, but they seem to find it easier to
respond to the opportunities to do so on a spontaneous basis.
Ans: True
Page: 243
Difficulty: Medium

15. A pattern of frequent tardiness is often a symptom of negative attitudes requiring managerial
attention.
Ans: True
Page: 243
Difficulty: Medium

16. Employee records provide quantifiable data and are a good measure of trends over time.
Ans: True
Page: 247
Difficulty: Easy

17. A valid instrument will produce consistent results, regardless of who administers it.
Ans: False
Feedback: A reliable instrument will produce consistent results, regardless of who administers it.
Page: 248
Difficulty: Easy

18. A manager should be sure that any instrument used to measure job satisfaction is either valid
or reliable.
Ans: False

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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Feedback: A manager should be sure that any instrument used to measure job satisfaction is both
valid and reliable.
Page: 248
Difficulty: Medium

19. Showing appreciation for citizenship behavior can push employee attitudes in a more
favorable direction.
Ans: True
Page: 250
Difficulty: Medium

20. Attitudes influence behavior, but behavior has no effect on attitudes.

Ans: False
Feedback: It would be naive to assume that attitudes only influence behavior, for there is a
reciprocal relationship between them such that behavior also influences attitudes.
Page: 250
Difficulty: Medium

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Managers are vitally interested in the attitudes that employees have toward all of the
following EXCEPT _____.
A) spirituality
B) careers
C) jobs
D) the organization
Ans: A
Page: 232
Difficulty: Easy

2. People who are optimistic, upbeat, cheerful, and courteous are said to have _____ affectivity.
A) vertical
B) positive
C) horizontal
D) neutral
Ans: B
Page: 232–233
Difficulty: Easy

3. People who are generally pessimistic, downbeat, irritable, and even abrasive are said to have

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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
_____ affectivity.
A) neutral
B) vertical
C) negative
D) horizontal
Ans: C
Page: 233
Difficulty: Easy

4. Fiona is having a difficult time balancing life and work. Whenever she plans to attend her
daughter’s sporting events, she is called back to work to organize important business meetings.
At work, she feels guilty about not spending enough time with her daughter. This is an example
of the _____ effect.
A) elemental
B) spillover
C) bandwagon
D) domino
Ans: B
Page 234
Difficulty: Hard

5. Based on Viktor Frankl’s premise on freedom to choose one’s attitude, which of the following
is NOT one of the seven core principles for helping employees find meaning through their work?
A) Let the situation guide your attitude.
B) Identify and commit to meaningful values and goals.
C) Shift your focus of attention when stressed.
D) Recognize ways in which you undermine your own happiness.
Ans: A
Page: 236
Difficulty: Medium

6. _____ is the degree to which an employee identifies with the organization and wants to
continue actively participating in it.
A) Organizational identification
B) Perceived organizational support
C) Organizational commitment
D) Organizational socialization
Ans: C
Page: 236
Difficulty: Easy

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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
7. _____ commitment is a positive emotional state in which employees want to exert effort and
choose to remain with the organization.
A) Continuance
B) Affective
C) Normative
D) Experiential
Ans: B
Page: 236
Difficulty: Easy

8. _____ commitment is the choice to stay attached because of strong cultural or familial ethics
that drive the employees to do so.
A) Affective
B) Experiential
C) Continuance
D) Normative
Ans: D
Page: 236
Difficulty: Easy

9. _____ commitment encourages employees to stay because of their high “investments” in the
organization (time and effort) and the economic and social losses they would incur if they left.
A) Normative
B) Experiential
C) Continuance
D) Affective
Ans: C
Page: 236–237
Difficulty: Easy

10. Which of the following is a factor that inhibits employee commitment?

A) Inflated egos
B) Investments in employees
C) Employee autonomy
D) Reminders of employee investments
Ans: A
Page: 237
Difficulty: Medium

11. Which of the following is a factor that stimulates employee commitment?

A) Failure to follow through
B) Inflated egos

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C) Insincere gratitude
D) Reminders of employee investments
Ans: D
Page: 237
Difficulty: Medium

12. Which of the following is an example of psychological withdrawal?

A) Unauthorized absences from work
B) Daydreaming on the job
C) Early departures from work
D) Extended breaks
Ans: B
Page: 239
Difficulty: Easy

13. Which of the following is an example of physical withdrawal?

A) Daydreaming on the job
B) Retaliation for presumed wrongs
C) Early departures from work
D) Loss of initiative
Ans: C
Page: 239
Difficulty: Easy

14. According to the characterizations of employee responses, voluntary departure is classified

as _____.
A) exit
B) voice
C) loyalty
D) neglect
Ans: A
Page: 239
Difficulty: Easy

15. According to the characterizations of employee responses, constructive criticism of disliked

policies is classified as _____.
A) exit
B) voice
C) loyalty
D) neglect
Ans: B
Page: 239

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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Difficulty: Easy

16. According to the characterizations of employee responses, remaining in the organization but
not being verbal about problems is classified as _____.
A) exit
B) voice
C) loyalty
D) neglect
Ans: C
Page: 239
Difficulty: Easy

17. According to the characterizations of employee responses, being passively destructive is

classified as _____.
A) exit
B) voice
C) loyalty
D) neglect
Ans: D
Page: 239
Difficulty: Easy

18. _____ is the proportion of employees leaving an organization during a given time period.
A) Tardiness
B) Turnover
C) Spillover
D) Entitlement
Ans: B
Page: 240
Difficulty: Easy

19. Which of the following is NOT a negative effect of turnover in an organization?

A) Separation costs
B) Vacancy costs
C) Reengineering costs
D) Training costs
Ans: C
Page: 241
Difficulty: Easy

20. Which of the following is NOT a trait associated with “turnover personality?”

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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
A) Introversion
B) Bitterness
C) Cynicism
D) Hedonism
Ans: A
Page: 241
Difficulty: Easy

21. Employers with lower turnover do all of the following EXCEPT _____.
A) watching for early signs of dissatisfaction
B) offering recognition and praise regularly
C) providing harsh criticisms
D) clarifying job expectations
Ans: C
Page: 242
Difficulty: Medium

22. Which of the following ailments is the most prevalent reason for employee presenteeism?
A) Sinus trouble or allergies
B) Migraine headaches
C) Acid reflux disease
D) Arthritis
Ans: A
Page: 243
Difficulty: Easy

23. Which of the following is most likely to be a reason for unethical rule-bending?
A) Fear of job loss
B) Paying back a favor
C) Creating an unwanted precedent
D) Personal embarrassment
Ans: B
Page: 244
Difficulty: Easy

24. Which of the following is most likely a reason against unethical rule-bending?
A) Ambiguous rules
B) Performance pressures
C) Social pressures
D) Personal embarrassment
Ans: D
Page: 244

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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Difficulty: Easy

25. Which of the following statements is true about the use of surveys for measuring job
satisfaction?
A) They restrict the flow of communication in the organization.
B) They serve as an emotional release.
C) They merely assess positive attitudes of employees.
D) They discourage feedback on proposed organizational changes.
Ans: B
Page: 247
Difficulty: Medium

26. Which of the following is an indirect indicator of job satisfaction?

A) Tardiness
B) Grievances
C) Turnover
D) Exit interviews
Ans: D
Page: 247
Difficulty: Easy

27. _____ is the capacity of a survey instrument to produce consistent results, regardless of who
administers it or when someone responded to it.
A) Validity
B) Reliability
C) Turnover
D) Presenteeism
Ans: B
Page: 248
Difficulty: Easy

28. _____ is the capacity to measure what the survey instrument claims to measure.
A) Reliability
B) Presenteeism
C) Validity
D) Turnover
Ans: C
Page: 248
Difficulty: Easy

29. Which of the following statements is true of intranets?

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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
A) It is used for external communications.
B) It is used to encourage a conversation between customers.
C) It refers to public computer networks accessible to all online viewers.
D) It facilitates collaboration between teams in an organization.
Ans: D
Page: 249
Difficulty: Medium

30. Which of the following statements is a guideline for changing employee attitudes?
A) Closely tie the reward system to team members’ seniority.
B) Discourage employees from participation in decision making.
C) Set challenging goals with employees so those with achievement drives can experience the
opportunity for satisfaction through their accomplishment.
D) Show appreciation and encouragement for members solely on the basis of their seniority and
decrease the amount of feedback for senior team members.
Ans: C
Page: 250
Difficulty: Medium

Essay Questions

1. What is it about larger organizations that contribute to lower levels of job satisfaction?
Ans: Larger organizations tend to overwhelm people, disrupt supportive processes, and limit the
amounts of personal closeness, friendship, and small-group teamwork that are important aspects
of job satisfaction for many people. Evidence suggests that levels of job satisfaction are higher in
smaller organizational units, such as a branch plant or a small enterprise, than in larger
organizations.
Page: 235
Difficulty: Easy

2. List any three factors that can inhibit employee commitment.

Ans: The factors that inhibit employee commitment are:
• Excessive blaming
• Insincere gratitude
• Failure to follow through
• Inconsistencies and incongruities
• Inflated egos and bullying
Page: 237
Difficulty: Medium

3. Excessive employee turnover can have multiple negative effects on an organization. List the
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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
various negative effects of excessive employee turnover and the costs associated with employee
separation and vacancy.
Ans: Excessive employee turnover can have several negative effects on an organization. They
include:
• Separation costs
• Training costs for new employees
• Vacancy costs
• Replacement costs
• Morale effects
The costs associated with employee separation are exit interview time, separation pay, and
unemployment tax increase. The costs associated with vacancy are temporary help or overtime
pay; productivity loss and service disruption.
Page: 241
Difficulty: Medium

4. When does presenteeism occur? Describe the common factors of presenteeism.

Ans: Presenteeism occurs when employees come to work despite troublesome (and often
recurring) physical and emotional health conditions that substantially affect their work
performance. It is driven by employees who are trying to do what is right (commitment) by
coming to work even when they don’t feel like doing so. Other possible causes are rich and
varied: employees may need the money; they are workaholics; they may be concerned about loss
of face time; they may fear loss of their job; or their self-esteem may depend on their daily work
performance. Common (physical) factors in presenteeism include migraine headaches, acid
reflux disease, flu, depression, lower back pain, and arthritis. However, the most prevalent factor
is sinus trouble or allergies.
Page: 243
Difficulty: Medium

5. Describe rule-bending.
Ans: Employee theft is part of a much broader ethical problem in organizations that involves
rule-bending. Employees who intentionally twist organizational policies to obtain personal gain
argue that it is necessary to achieve their demanding performance goals, or that the rules
themselves are faulty, or that society condones it. By contrast, many factors act to encourage
people to behave ethically and not bend the rules just to benefit themselves, including fear of job
loss, fear of damage to their reputation, high personal ethical standards, or the potential
embarrassment of being caught. Dissatisfied employees are more likely to bend the rules to
obtain a sense of equity in their own minds.
Page: 244–245
Difficulty: Medium

6. What are organizational citizenship behaviors? Provide an example of such behavior.

Ans: Organizational citizenship behaviors refer to the discretionary and helpful actions above
and beyond the call of duty that promote the organization’s success. For example, volunteering
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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
for extra assignment or sharing equipment with another worker.
Page: 245
Difficulty: Medium

7. What are the ways by which managers stay in touch with the level of employee satisfaction?
Ans: The two primary ways by which managers stay in touch with the level of employee
satisfaction are face-to-face contact and communication. This is a practical, timely, and proven
method of determining the job satisfaction level of individuals, but a number of other satisfaction
indicators are already available in an organization. Direct behavioral indicators of job
satisfaction include turnover, absenteeism, tardiness, and grievances. Other sources, such as
medical and training records, exit interviews, waste and scrap reports, and the level of employee
activity in suggestion programs provide only indirect clues that something may be wrong.
Carefully interpreted, the data can provide a rich portrait of the satisfaction of workers in an
organization.
Page: 247
Difficulty: Medium

8. What is the first step in using job satisfaction information?

Ans: The first step in using job satisfaction information is to communicate the information to all
managers so that they can understand it and prepare to use it. This document is known as a
survey report. Managers will be the ones to make any changes suggested by the data, and they
will want to see the evidence in order to make their own judgments.
Page: 248
Difficulty: Medium

9. What is the difference between reliability and validity?

Ans: Reliability is the capacity of a survey instrument to produce consistent results, regardless of
who administers it or when someone responded to it. Validity is the capacity to measure what
survey instruments claim to measure. The difference between reliability and validity becomes
clear when we attempt to use a wooden yardstick to measure metric distances. In this case, the
yardstick is consistent at what it does (it is reliable), but it is invalid since it measures the wrong
thing. Obviously, we need to be sure of both the reliability and validity of our measures of job
satisfaction.
Page: 248
Difficulty: Medium

10. List the guidelines for changing employee attitudes.

Ans: The guidelines for changing employee attitudes are:
• Closely tie the reward system to individual or team performance.
• Set challenging goals with employees so those with achievement drives can experience
the opportunity for satisfaction through their accomplishment.

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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 • Define clear role expectations so employees struggling with ambiguity can overcome that
concern.
• Refrain from attacking the employee’s attitude. Use active listening skills instead,
because an undefended attitude is more receptive to change.
• Provide frequent feedback to satisfy the need for information about performance levels.
• Exhibit a caring, considerate orientation by showing concern for employee feelings.
• Provide opportunities for employees to participate in decision making.
• Encourage people to be happier by modeling the attitude and reinforcing it in others.
• Show appreciation for appropriate effort and citizenship behaviors.
Page: 250
Difficulty: Medium

Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior
written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.