Chapter 3

Individual Differences and

Work Behavior

Chapter 3 1 Organizational Behavior

Chapter Overview
This chapter introduces the variables that influence
individual behavior/performance by focusing on five
major variables: demographic factors, abilities and skills,
perception, attitudes, and personality.
The discussion begins by explaining the importance of
individual differences and how demographic factors, in
combination with genetic factors, attitudes, personality,
and locus of control influence work behavior and job
satisfaction
The chapter concludes with a discussion of creativity and
its value in the workplace.

Chapter 3 2 Organizational Behavior

 Why Individual Differences Are
Important:
Individual differences have a direct effect on
behavior
– People who perceive things differently behave
differently
– People with different attitudes respond differently to
directives
– People with different personalities interact differently
with bosses, coworkers, subordinates, and customers

Chapter 3 3 Organizational Behavior

Individual differences help explain:
– Why some people embrace change and others are
fearful of it

– Why some employees will be productive only if they

are closely supervised, while others will be
productive if they are not

– Why some workers learn new tasks more effectively

than others

Chapter 3 4 Organizational Behavior

Individual Differences in the Workplace
Individual Differences

Personality

Perception Ability and Skills Attitudes

Work Behavior
• Productivity
• Creativity
• Performance

Chapter 3 5 Organizational Behavior

The Basis for Understanding Work Behavior:

To understand individual differences a manager

must:
1. observe and recognize the differences, and
2. study relationships between variables that influence
behavior

Chapter 3 6 Organizational Behavior

 Individual Differences Influencing Work
Behavior:

Hereditary and
Diversity Personality
Factors

Abilities and Attitudes

Perception
Skills

Chapter 3 7 Organizational Behavior

Diversity Factors
Diversity refers to those attributes that make people different from one
another.
Primary Dimensions Secondary Dimensions
(stable) (changeable)
Age Educational background
Ethnicity Marital status
Gender Religious beliefs
Physical attributes Health
Race Work experience

Chapter 3 8 Organizational Behavior

Abilities and Skills

Ability – a person’s talent to

Key Abilities
perform a mental or physical
task
Mental Ability

Skill – a learned talent that a Emotional Intelligence

person has acquired to
perform a task

Tacit Knowledge

Chapter 3 9 Organizational Behavior

 Mental Ability: refers to one’s level of intelligence and can be divided into
subcategories, including verbal fluency, comprehension, inductive and
deductive reasoning, associative memory, and spatial orientation

Emotional Intelligence: refers to a person’s ability to be self-aware of

feelings, to manage emotions, to motivate oneself, to express empathy, and
to handle relationships and interactions with others

Tacit Knowledge: The work-related practical know-how that employees

acquire through observation and direct experience on the job.

Chapter 3 10 Organizational Behavior

 Exercise 1:

What’s my emotional intelligence score?

Chapter 3 11 Organizational Behavior

 Attitudes

Are determinates of behavior because they are

linked with perception, personality, feelings,
and motivation

Attitude – a mental state of readiness

– learned and organized through experience
– exerting a specific response to people, objects, and
situations with which it is related

Chapter 3 12 Organizational Behavior

 A small truth to make life 100%
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

LUCK PASSION
12+21+3+11= 47% 16+1+19+19+9+15+14= 93%

MONEY
KNOWLEDGE
13+15+14+5+25= 72%
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5= 96%

SKILLS HARD WORK

19+11+9+12+12+19= 82% 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11= 98%

LEADERSHIP ATTITUDE
12+5+1+4+5+18+19+9+16= 89% 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5= 100%

Chapter 3 13 Organizational Behavior

 Stimuli Manager style
Work
Technology The Three Components
environment
Noise
Peers
of Attitudes: Cognition,
factors Reward system Affect, Behavior
Compensation plan
Career opportunities

“My supervisor is unfair.”

Cognition Beliefs and values
“Having a fair supervisor is important to
me.”

Affect Feelings and emotions “I don’t like my supervisor.”

Behavior Intended behavior “I’ve submitted a formal request to

transfer.”

Chapter 3 14 Organizational Behavior

 Cognition

What individuals know about themselves and

their environment
Implies a conscious process of acquiring
knowledge

Chapter 3 15 Organizational Behavior

Affect

The emotional component of an attitude

Often learned from
– parents
– teachers
– peer group members
The part of an attitude that is associated with
“feeling” a certain way about a person, group,
or situation

Chapter 3 16 Organizational Behavior

 Cognitive Dissonance

A discrepancy between attitudes and behaviors

A mental state of anxiety

Occurs when there is a conflict among an

individual’s various cognitions after a decision
has been made

Chapter 3 17 Organizational Behavior

 Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

Key factors associated

Job satisfaction – an
attitude people have with job satisfaction:
about their jobs – Pay
Results from people’s – Promotion opportunities
perception of their jobs – Supervision
Results from the degree – Coworkers
of fit between the – Working conditions
individual and the
– Job security
organization

Chapter 3 18 Organizational Behavior

 Satisfaction-Performance Relationships:
Three Views

Causes
1. Job Satisfaction Job Performance
“The satisfied worker is more
productive.”
Causes
2. Job Performance Job Satisfaction
“The more productive worker is
satisfied.”

Perceived Equity

3. Job Performance Rewards Job Satisfaction

Chapter 3 19 Organizational Behavior

 Personality

A relatively stable set of feelings and behaviors that

have been significantly formed by genetic and
environmental factors

The relationship between behavior and personality

is one of the most complex matters that managers
have to understand

Chapter 3 20 Organizational Behavior

 Personality and Behavior in Organizations

The Big Five

Personality Locus of Control
Dimensions

Self-efficacy Creativity

Chapter 3 21 Organizational Behavior

 The Big Five Personality Dimensions

Extroversion Agreeableness

Conscientiousness

Openness to
Emotional Stability
Experience

Chapter 3 22 Organizational Behavior

 The Big Five Personality Dimensions
Conscientiousness: the extent to which individuals are
hardworking, organized, dependable, and persisting, versus
lazy, disorganized, and unreliable.
Extraversion-Introversion: the degree to which individuals
are gregarious, assertive, and social, versus, reserved, timid,
and quiet.
Agreeableness: the extent to which individuals are
cooperative, worm, and agreeable, versus belligerent, cold,
and disagreeable.
Emotional Stability: the degree to which individuals are
insecure, anxious, and depressed versus secure, calm, and
happy.
Openness to Experience: the extent to which individuals are
creative, curious, and cultured versus practical, and having
narrow interests.
Chapter 3 23 Organizational Behavior
 Locus of Control

Locus of control of individuals:

– Determines the degree to which they believe their
behaviors influence what happens to them
– Internals – believe they are masters of their own
fate
– Externals – believe they are helpless pawns of fate,
success is due to luck or ease of task

Chapter 3 24 Organizational Behavior

 Exercise 2:

Measuring Locus of Control

Chapter 3 25 Organizational Behavior

 Self-Efficacy
 Self-efficacy designates a person’s belief that he or she has the
competency to complete a job successfully.
 Feelings of self-efficacy have managerial and organizational
implications:
– Selection decisions: organizations should select individuals who
have a strong sense of self-efficacy.
– Training programs: organizations should consider employees level
of self-efficacy when choosing among candidates for training
programs.
– Goal setting and performance: organizations can encourage higher
performance goals from employees who have high level of self-
efficacy.
Chapter 3 26 Organizational Behavior
 How to Develop Employee Creativity

1. Encourage everyone to view old problems from

new perspectives
2. Make certain people know that it is OK to make
mistakes
3. Provide as many people with as many new work
experiences as you can
4. Set an example in your own approach to dealing
with problems and opportunities

Chapter 3 27 Organizational Behavior

 Case: 3.1

Personality Testing: Yes or No?

Chapter 3 28 Organizational Behavior