UNIT – II

Cognitive Processes-II

Personality

The word 'personality' has interesting etymological origins. It can be traced to the Latin words "per
sonare" which translates as "to speak through". The Latin term was used to denote the masks worn by
actors in ancient Greece and Rome. This Latin meaning is particularly relevant to the contemporary
analysis of personality.

Personality traditionally refers to how people influence others through their external appearances and
actions. But for psychologists, personality includes: 1. Eternal appearances and behaviour 2. The inner
awareness of self as a permanent organizing force, and 3. The particular organization of measurable
traits, both inner and outer.

Personality is an individual difference that lends consistency to a person's behaviour. Personality is

defined as a relatively stable set of characteristics that influence an individual's behaviour.

Definition of Personality

Some of the definitions are reproduced below: Probably the most meaningful approach would be to
include both the person and the role as Floyd L Ruch does in his definition. He states that: "the human
personality includes:

1. External appearance and behavior or social stimulus value.

2. Inner awareness of self as a permanent organizing force.

3. The particular pattern or organization of measurable traits, both "inner and "outer"."

Attitudes

Attitude is defined as a more or less stable set of predisposition of opinion, interest or purpose involving
expectancy of a certain kind of experience and readiness with an appropriate response. Attitudes are also
known as "frames of reference". They provide the background against which facts and events are viewed.
It becomes necessary to know the attitudes of members of an organization because they have to perceive
specific aspects like pay, hours of work, promotion etc., of their job life in the wider context of their
generalized attitudes. An attitude is also a cognitive element; it always remains inside a person.
Everyone's psychological world is limited and thus everyone has a limited number of attitudes. In
business organizations, employees have attitudes relating to world environment, job security, etc. The
individual's attitudes towards these factors are indicative of his apathy or enthusiasm towards the
activities and objectives of the organization.

Personality of continuum :

The theory of personality types categorizes people into distinct and discontinuous (one or the other)
types. It is synonymous with ‘personality styles’ but is different from the personality trait theory. To
illustrate the difference, introversion is a personality type, while a continuum of introversion to
extroversion, which clusters people in the categories of middle or extremes, is a personality trait. Here the
Personality types are discussed below :

1. The Leader—Type A Personality:

People with type A personality have an entrepreneurial band and they don’t mind taking risks to receive
the rewards that go along with their work. The type A personality is usually very independent, direct, and
to the point. A manager with type A personality will always try to influence the subordinates to get to the
bottom line.

Type A personalities dislike routine work and get their subordinates involved (through delegation) in
performing routine jobs. The type A personality enjoys change, and fears routine, repetitive, protocol-
bound jobs. They are focused on what they do, sometimes even remaining insensitive to others. This
personality construct is evident in entrepreneurs, business owners, managers, and sales people, or in those
involved in any other challenging jobs that require direct handling.

2. The Socializer—Type B Personality:

People with type B personality love to be part of groups, and in an organization they become the centre
of attention. They love excitement and are often impatient and demanding and highly energetic. As they
want to be in the limelight, they do very well in sales, advertising, marketing, public speaking, party
planning, travel, and other similar positions. They are supportive of their subordinates and enjoy being
around while the subordinates perform. Since they prefer being liked by others, if others neglect them,
they take it rather personally.

3. The Detail Seeker—Type C Personality:

People with type C personality thrive on details, accuracy, and are serious about everything. Accountants,
engineers, computer programmers, and analysts are of this type. They are usually very neat, dress
fashionably, and are very calculated and precise in just about everything they do.

They do not like hype and prefer to depend on verifiable facts for decision making. Being consistent in
their actions, they follow a charted procedure. Their actions are reliable. Being sensitive, they also
become good customer-relation executives.

4. The Distressed—Type D Personality:

People with type D personality do not like change and prefer doing the same thing repeatedly within a set
of guidelines. They get easily motivated by security and benefits. They are punctual, consistent, and
supportive of others a nd usually feel happy and content with themselves.

Meaning of personality

The word personality is derived from a Greek word “persona” which means “to speak through.”
Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that forms a person’s unique identity. It
signifies the role which a person plays in public. Every individual has a unique, personal and major
determinant of his behavior that defines his/her personality.
Personality trait is basically influenced by two major features −

 Inherited characteristics
 Learned characteristics
The Johari Window
Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham have developed a concept, known as the JohariWindow, that helps
individuals discover more about their perceptions of themselves. The concept also helps individuals
understand the behavior of self and others.
According to Luft and Ingham, there are four parts of the personal window that account for self-
perceptions. There is the public arena, which includes the individual’s knowledge of personal attitudes
and behavior; this knowledge is also recognized by the people who surround the individual. The
private arena contains perceptions the individual has about self that are not known to others. A third
part, the blind arena, is not recognized by the individual but is known to others.
 Finally, there is the unknown arena, in which neither the individual nor others are aware of
perceptions that may be held about the individual.

Open Self: Open self is known as Public area. This quadrant indicates information about self is known
to oneself and also to others. The information relates to feelings, motivation and behaviour of an
individual, which he is willing to share with those whom he comes in contact. The individual behaves
in a straight forward manner and is sharing. In an organizational setting, because of the
openness of the individual the chances of conflict are reduced to minimum.

Blind Self: This quadrant is related to information is not known to self but known to others, who
interact with you, know more about you. This is known as blind area. It is important that an individual
should reduce blind area to the minimum by interacting with people more intimately and by asking
questions about self. For example, an individual may not be aware of the fact that he is extremely task
oriented and employees do not like it. In other words, others know and perceive the individual as a
hard taskmaster and dislike him because of this. This is blind area that a person is blind to the fact that
he interacts with others in the professional manner. This situation is likely to create an unpleasant
atmosphere in the organization. Individual therefore should reduce blind area and increase public
area. This will reduce conflictsituations to a great extent in interpersonal behaviour
Hidden Self: Certain aspect of personality has formed this quadrant. Self knows information but others
do not know it. There are certain aspects, which are private. Individual therefore does not want to share
it with subordinates and wants to keep hidden. The area is also called Private Area.

Unknown Self: This area is characterized by facts unknown to the self and to others. This is dark
area, which is not pregnable. There is nothing much that can be done about it. It should be an
endeavour to improve upon oneself by obtaining feedback from others about self.

Individual should carry out improvement and perceive one self correctly so that one perceives each
person in the right manner. There are certain factors to improve Interpersonal relations. (Public Area)
The more we can recognize our own perceptions of ourselves, the more we can alter, improve, or
support the way we think and act. Since we know about our public and private arenas, we can let
positive perceptions guide us to constructive performance while we work to improve the negative we
find. The feedback that we can get from others about our blind arena gives us insight into the
perceptions that others have so that we can enhance or alter our behaviour or take whatever steps are
needed to have positive attitudes and behaviour.
 The more we can cultivate this type of feedback, the more we will benefit. From feedback, we may
also discover perceptions we wish to change or clarify. We may engage in public relations programs to
change the perceptions others have of us. The unknown perceptions are difficult to define and analyze.
If we wish to influence our attitude and behaviour, we need to dig around to discover as much as
possible about the unknown. We need to engage in self-audits as well as seek assistance from those
around us.

The Transactional Analysis Model

Another important approach related to the development of self-perception and its impact upon
behaviour is the transactional analysis concept. According to the theory, as first proposed by Eric
Berne, much can be discovered about an individual by analyzing the type of interactions (transactions)
engaged in. According to Thomas Harris, who has popularized the concept, the type of transaction an
individual uses in relating to other people is a consequence of the individual’s life position at a
particular moment (life positions do change at times). Life positions are really types of perceptions of
self and others. In Harris’s view, there are four basic life positions
(a) I am Okay you are Okay.
(b) I am Okay you are not Okay.
(c) I am not Okay you are Okay.
(d) I am not Okay you are not Okay

For above analysis see figure below.

 I am NOT OK I am OK

A B
You are NOT OK
Avoidant/Averse Bossing

You are OK D C

Difficult/Depressive Competent/Confident/
Creative

Let us discuss the above four life positions.

1. I am Okay your Okay (C)

This is an ideal life position because this position is rationally chosen one. In this position individual
behaves rationally and accept significance of others. People feel happy and life is worth living.
Individual with this life position expresses confidence in his subordinates, work with high level of
delegation of authority, and believes in give and take. Manages enjoys good communication network,
work with confidence and there is work sharing and positive attitude towards work. People remain
happy and have high level of job satisfaction. People work with adult ego state. There is no conflict
situation and there is total understanding among subordinates and peer group. An Ideal life position.

2.I am Okay, you are not okay (B)

This is distrustful psychological life position taken by individual who feel that others are wrong. They
blame others for their failure. People who have been neglected by parents in their childhood take this
position. They generally operate from rebellion child ego state that feel victimized and blame others
for their miseries. Mangers lack trust, confidence in the intellectual level, skills and talent in their
subordinates and do not believe in delegation of authority. They perceive delegation as threat to their
personal existence. Managers are critical, oppressive and point out flaws in the working of
subordinates. They operate from critical parent ego state and rarely give positive remarks. They feel
their workers lazy, irresponsible and find them as stated in theory X of Mc Gregor. Expresses bossing
attitude.

3.I am not okay, you are okay (D)

This life position is common to persons who feel powerless in comparison to others. Persons in this
life position always grumble and feel at the mercy of others. They have tendency to withdraw and at
times experience depression that may lead to suicide in extreme cases. People with this life position
operate from child ego state. Managers tend to give and receive bad feelings. They are unpredictable
and display erratic behaviours. It is not a good life position. People are diffident in this life position.
 4. I am not okay, you are not okay (A)
This is the worst life position in which individual feel defeated and sees whole world as miserable. It
is a desperate life position where people loose interest in living. In extreme cases people commit
suicide or homicide. This position is caused due to children having brought up by servants and very
scant or no attention having been paid by the parents. At managerial level, no decision is taken in time
and managers make mistakes. They at times provoke others in the negative direction and display a
lack of personal potency. Manager with this position look to others for final decision and often
delegate in-appropriately.

On analysis, it is seen that everybody has elements of various life position. But one of the four-life
positions is dominant. “I am okay your are okay” is the best life position All- individual must try
and modify life position in various situations. Adult – adult transaction from the above life position
and positive life script will make an outstanding manager

Nature of Attitude

 Attitude are a complex combination of things we tend to call personality, beliefs, values,
behaviors, and motivations.
 An attitude exists in every person’s mind. It helps to define our identity, guide our actions, and
influence how we judge people.
 Although the feeling and belief components of attitude are internal to a person, we can view a
person’s attitude from his or her resulting behavior.
 Attitude helps us define how we see situations, as well as define how we behave toward the
situation or object.
 Attitude provides us with internal cognitions or beliefs and thoughts about people and objects.
 Attitude cause us to behave in a particular way toward an object or person.
Characteristics of attitudes
Attitude can be characterized by:
 Affective Cognitive consistency: The degree of consistency between the affective and cognitive
components influences the attitude—behavior relationship. That is, the greater the consistency
between cognition and evaluation, the greater the strength of the attitude-behavior relation.
 Strength: Attitudes based on direct experience with the object may be held with greater certainty.
Certainty is also influenced by whether affect or cognition was involved in the creation of the
attitude. Attitudes formed based on affect are more certain than attitudes based on cognition
 Valence: It refers to the degree or grade of likeliness or unlikeliness toward the entity/incident. If
a person is fairly unconcerned toward an object then his attitude has low valence.
 Direct Experience:An attitude is a summary of a person’s past experience; thus, an attitude is
grounded in direct experience predicts future behavior more accurately. Moreover, direct
experience makes more information available about the object itself.
 Multiplicity: It refers to the amount of features creating the attitude. For example, one may show
interest in becoming a doctor, but another not only shows interest, but also works hard, is sincere,
and serious.
  Relation to Needs: Attitudes vary in relative to requirements they serve. Attitudes of an
individual toward the pictures serve only entertainment needs, but attitudes of an employee
toward task may serve strong needs for security, achievement, recognition, and satisfaction.

Dimensions of Attitudes
Researchers study three dimensions of attitude: strength, accessibility, and ambivalence.

 Attitude Strength: Strong attitudes are those that are firmly held and that highly influence
behavior. Attitudes that are important to a person tend to be strong. Attitudes that people have a
vested interest in also tend to be strong. Furthermore, people tend to have stronger attitudes about
things, events, ideas, or people they have considerable knowledge and information about.

 Attitude Accessibility: The accessibility of an attitude refers to the ease with which it comes to
mind. In general, highly accessible attitudes tend to be stronger.

 Attitude Ambivalence: Ambivalence of an attitude refers to the ratio of positive and negative
evaluations that make up that attitude. The ambivalence of an attitude increases as the positive
and negative evaluations get more and more equal

Job Satisfaction

The feelings people have toward their job. It is probably the most important job attitude and denotes how
satisfied an employee is at his work. A person with high job satisfaction appears to hold generally
positive attitude, and one who is dissatisfied holds negative attitude towards their job.

Organizational Commitment

Organizational commitment is the emotional or psychological attachment people have toward the
company they work for. A highly committed employee identifies completely with the organizations’
objectives and is willing to put in whatever effort it takes to meet them. Such an employee will be
willing to remain with the organization and grow with it.

Factors Contributing to Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment

Employees tend to associate satisfaction and commitment in jobs with certain characteristics.
Nature of Job − Employees are satisfied and committed when they feel that their job provides the
ability to use their inherent skills, having autonomy at work, performing a seemingly significant task,
having healthy feedback mechanism, etc. Employees also tend to be more satisfied when their jobs help
them build new skills and improve themselves.
Job Fitment − It is the degree to which an employee’s personal beliefs, values and goals are in synergy
with those of the organization. An employee who sees a healthy synergy will remain satisfied and
committed.
Organizational Justice − Every individual likes to be treated fairly in all situations. This also applies to
the workplace and plays a big role in creating and sustaining satisfaction and commitment levels. How
fair the company policies are, how fairly the management and superiors treat the employees and how fair
is the compensation an employee receives in return for his contribution, are some factors.
Work Relationships − Another major influencer of an employee’s satisfaction and commitment is the
relationship with juniors, peers and managers. Relationship refers to the way they are treated, whether
they are socially accepted in the work group, how considerate is the manager, how fair he is towards the
employees, etc.
Psychological Association − An employee who is emotionally attached with the organization will be
satisfied and willing to commit himself to achieving the organizational objectives. It is the unspoken
informal bond that silently plays a major positive influence.

Motivational Needs

Motivation is a process that starts with a physiological or psychological deficiency or need that activates a
behavior or drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive.

Thus, the process involves needs, which set drives in motion to accomplish a goal (anything that
alleviates a need and reduces a drive).

To understand the process of motivation, one has to understand the meaning of need, drive, and goal and
the relationships among them.

Needs, Drives and Goals (Incentives)

Needs: Needs are created or come into existence whenever there is a physiological or psychological
imbalance. A need exists when cells in the body are experiencing a shortage of food or water.

Drives: A drive is a deficiency with a direction. Drives denote actions and intention to act by individuals
and they are exhibited to alleviate needs. Drives and motives are terms used interchangeably. Drives
provide an energizing thrust toward reaching an incentive or goal.

Incentives or goals: Anything that will alleviate a need is an incentive or goal in the motivation cycle.
Attaining an incentive or goal will tend to restore physiological or psychological balance and will reduce
the drive up to zero level.

The concept of needs was discussed further at this stage by Luthans. It will appear as Maslow's hierarchy
of needs at a later stage in the discussion of motivation theories.
 Motivation Process

The motivation process progresses through a series of discrete steps. Needs/motives are the starting point
of motivation.

The motivation process is presented in the following diagram;

Employee motivation is of crucial concern to management; mainly because of the role that employee
motivation plays in performance.

5 Steps of Motivation Process

1. Identify Unsatisfied Needs and Motives.

2. Tension.

3. Action to satisfy needs and motives.

4. Goal accomplishment.

5. Feedback.

Steps of motivation process explained below;

1. Identify Unsatisfied Needs and Motives

The first process of motivation involves unsatisfied needs and motives. Unsatisfied needs activated by
internal stimuli such as hunger and thirst.

They can also be activated by external stimuli such as advertisement and window display.

2. Tension

Unsatisfied needs to create tension in the individual. Such tension can be physical, psychological, and
sociological. In this situation, people try to develop objects that will satisfy their needs.

3. Action to satisfy needs and motives

Such tension creates a strong internal stimulus that calls for action. The individual engages in activities to
satisfy needs and motives for tension reduction.
 For this purpose, alternatives are searches and choice are made, the action can be hard work for earning
more money.

4. Goal accomplishment

Action to satisfy needs and motives accomplishes goals. It can be achieved through reward and
punishment. When actions are carried out as per the tensions, then people are rewarded others are
punished. Ultimately goals are accomplished.

5. Feedback

Feedback provides information for revision or improvement or modification of needs as needed.

Depending on how well the goal is accomplished their needs and motives are modified.

Drastic changes in environment necessitate the revision and modification of needs.

Usually, performance is determined by;

1. ability,

2. environment and

3. motivation.

If any of these three factors is missing or deficient, effective performance is impossible.

A manager may have the most highly qualified employees under him and provide them with the best
possible environment, but effective performance will not result unless the subordinates are motivated to
perform well.

Therefore, management can do its job effectively only through motivating employees to work for the
accomplishment of organizational objectives.

Motivation Approaches
There are three distinct approaches to the motivational phenomena to ensure and boost worker
productivity. They are the stick approach, the carrot approach and the combined carrot and stick
approach.

1. The Stick or Authoritarian approach

This approach represents the oldest or classical view which compels performance through threats of
penalties for failure. The industrialist was a dictator. He believed that might is right. With stick in hand
the manager controls his subordinates.

This was in vogue in the days of slavery. There are instances of slaves put to death for not doing what
they were told to do.

During these periods workers were completely under the thumb of their masters, subject to arbitrary
overtime, arbitrary punishment, arbitrary fines and arbitrary dismissal.
This approach is still followed in prison and military administration in all countries. In effect, the
management tells the employee, ‘Do what I tell you, otherwise I will sack you.’

This approach represents a negative attitude. Without positive motivation no good result can be obtained.
The threat of punishment may dampen the spirit of the employees.

2. The Carrot or Paternalistic approach

This approach suggests that employees should be treated in a fatherly way as if the business organisation
is a family and they are its dependent members. The employees are given rewards unconditionally.

There is only carrot and no stick. The employers think that because of these rewards the employees will
remain loyal and grateful and work hard,

This approach does not motivate the workers. Ordinary workers do not have that sense of gratitude which
the paternalist manager expects from them. So unconditional rewards will be just absorbed by them
without any reciprocities behaviour.

If one man has to play the role of benevolent supervisor, another has to play the role of grateful
subordinate. No man can play the role of paternalistic employer successfully unless others will play the
reciprocal roles of child-like employees.

Paternalism means that papa know best. Management tells the employee- ‘You do what I tell you because
I shall look after your needs.’ By its very nature the paternalistic approach is unlikely to work with mature
adult employees many of whom do not like their interests to be looked after by a “god father”. They
regard themselves as more competent to do so. This approach, however, can work, when the existing
socio-cultural structure is congenial to the type of superior-subordinate relationship as in Japan and India
and there are no strong labour organisations to challenge the manager’s decisions about what should be
done for the employees.

3. The Carrot and Stick or Exchange approach

This combined approach suggests that with the stick in one hand, the manager will extract work against
the threat of penalty and with the carrot in another; he will induce the worker to work harder in the hope
of good rewards.

The carrot and a stick approach is essentially a penalty-reward approach. If the worker produces more, he
is given a bonus and if he produces less, he is penalized.

The carrot approach provides for unconditional rewards, whereas the carrot and stick approach provides
for both rewards and penalties which are linked directly to the level of performance.
This approach can be identified with Taylor’s Differential Piece Rate System or with incentive wages
system of modern times. It is also known as an exchange theory because it proposes to purchase quality
and quantity of output.

But the incentive scheme is not quite sound. It is based on the assumptions that the worker is
fundamentally and continually motivated by economic considerations. The Hawthorne experiments
proved that financial incentives are not enough.

It is being increasingly realized that an employee works to satisfy some basic needs within himself.
Consequently high employee productivity can be obtained when the organisation provides adequate
opportunities for satisfaction of those needs through the work done.

In other words, a high producing organisation is one which has achieved maximum congruence between
the organisation needs and employee needs.

Motivation Theories
Motivation is a state-of-mind, filled with energy and enthusiasm, which drives a person to work in a
certain way to achieve desired goals. Motivation is a force which pushes a person to work with high level
of commitment and focus even if things are against him. Motivation translates into a certain kind of
human behaviour.

It is important to ensure that every team member in an organization is motivated. Various psychologists
have studied human behaviour and have formalized their findings in the form various motivation theories.
These motivation theories provide great understanding on how people behave and what motivates them.

Motivation is a huge field of study. There are many theories of motivation. Some of the famous
motivation theories include the following:

1. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Abraham Maslow postulated that a person will be motivated when his needs are fulfilled. The need starts
from the lowest level basic needs and keeps moving up as a lower level need is fulfilled. Below is the
hierarchy of needs:

 Physiological: Physical survival necessities such as food, water, and shelter.

 Safety: Protection from threats, deprivation, and other dangers.
 Social (belongingness and love): The need for association, affiliation, friendship, and so on.
 Self-esteem: The need for respect and recognition.
 Self-actualization: The opportunity for personal development, learning, and
fun/creative/challenging work. Self-actualization is the highest level need to which a human
being can aspire.
 The leader will have to understand the specific need of every individual in the team and
accordingly work to help fulfil their needs.

2. Hertzberg’s two factor theory

Hertzberg classified the needs into two broad categories namely hygiene factors and motivating factors.

Hygiene factors are needed to make sure that an employee is not dissatisfied. Motivation factors are
needed for ensuring employee's satisfaction and employee’s motivation for higher performance. Mere
presence of hygiene factors does not guarantee motivation, and presence of motivation factors in the
absence of hygiene factors also does not work.

3. McClelland’s theory of needs

McClelland affirms that we all have three motivating drivers, and it does not depend on our gender or
age. One of these drives will be dominant in our behaviour. The dominant drive depends on our life
experiences. The three motivators are:
  Achievement: a need to accomplish and demonstrate own competence People with a high need
for achievement prefer tasks that provide for personal responsibility and results based on their
own efforts. They also prefer quick acknowledgement of their progress.
 Affiliation: a need for love, belonging and social acceptance People with a high need for
affiliation are motivated by being liked and accepted by others. They tend to participate in social
gatherings and may be uncomfortable with conflict.
 Power: a need for control own work or the work of others People with a high need for power
desire situations in which they exercise power and influence over others. They aspire for
positions with status and authority and tend to be more concerned about their level of influence
than about effective work performance.

4. Vroom’s theory of expectancy

Victor Vroom stated that people will be highly productive and motivated if two conditions are met: 1)
people believe it is likely that their efforts will lead to successful results and 2) those people also believe
they will be rewarded for their success.

People will be motivated to exert a high level of effort when they believe there are relationships between
the efforts they put forth, the performance they achieve, and the outcomes/ rewards they receive.

5. McGregor’s theory X and theory Y

Douglas McGregor formulated two distinct views of human being based on participation of workers. The
first is basically negative, labelled as Theory X, and the other is basically positive, labelled as Theory Y.
Both kinds of people exist. Based on their nature they need to be managed accordingly.

 Theory X: The traditional view of the work force holds that workers are inherently lazy, self-
centred, and lacking ambition. Therefore, an appropriate management style is strong, top-down
control.
 Theory Y: This view postulates that workers are inherently motivated and eager to accept
responsibility. An appropriate management style is to focus on creating a productive work
environment coupled with positive rewards and reinforcement.

Motivation across Cultures: The Universalist Assumption

The motivation process is universal; all people are motivated to pursue goals they value. But, culture
influences specific content and goals pursued so, the specific nature of motivation differs across cultures.

 Cultural differences and complexity

 Applicability of American approach

 Cultural-specific approaches

 Differences within a country

 Few universal principles

The specific objectives of this chapter are to:

 DEFINE motivation, and explain it as a psychological process.

 EXAMINE the hierarchy-of-needs, two-factor, and achievement motivation theories, and assess
their value to international human resource management.
 DISCUSS how an understanding of employee satisfaction can be useful in human resource
management throughout the world
 EXAMINE the value of process theories in motivating employees worldwide.
 RELATE the importance of job design, work centrality, and rewards to understanding how to
motivate employees in an international context.

Positive organizational behavior

Positive Organizational Behavior (POB) is defined as "the study and application of positively oriented
human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed, and effectively
managed for performance improvement in today’s workplace"
For a positive psychological capacity to qualify for inclusion in POB, it must be positive and must have
extensive theory and research foundations and valid measures. In addition, it must be state like, which
would make it open to development and manageable for performance improvement. Finally, positive
states that meet the POB definitional criteria are primarily researched, measured, developed, and managed
at the individual, micro level.
The state-like criterion distinguishes POB from other positive approaches that focus on positive traits,
whereas its emphasis on micro, individual-level constructs separates it from positive perspectives that
address positive organizations and their related macro-level variables and measures.
POB is the application of Positive psychology to the workplace. Its focus is on strengths and on building
the best in the workplace under the basic assumption is that goodness and excellence can be analyzed
and achieved.
Origins of POB: The Positive Psychology Movement
Although POB research is relatively new, its core ideas are based on ideas of earlier scholars.
POB origins developed from the Positive Psychology movement, initiated in 1998 by Martin
Seligman and colleagues. Positive Psychology aims to shift the focus in psychology from dysfunctional
mental illness to mental health, calling for an increased focus on the building of human strength.
The levels of analysis of positive psychology have been summarized to be at the subjective level (i.e.,
positive subjective experience such as well being and contentment with the past, flow and happiness in
the present, and hope and optimism into the future); the micro, individual level (i.e., positive traits such as
the capacity for love, courage, aesthetic sensibility, perseverance, forgiveness, spirituality, high talent,
and wisdom); and the macro group and institutional level (i.e., positive civic virtues and the institutions
that move individuals toward better citizenship such as responsibility, altruism, civility, moderation,
tolerance, and a strong work ethic).
By integrating positive psychology to organizational setting, Fred Luthans has pioneered the positive
organizational behavior research in 1999. Since then, Luthans and colleagues have been attempting to
find ways of designing work settings that emphasize people's strengths, where they can be both their best
selves and at their best with each other. Thus far research has shown that employees who are satisfied and
find fulfillment in their work are more productive, absent less, and demonstrate greater organizational
loyalty.
Despite initial studies and conceptualizations, the field of POB is still in its infancy. Further research
regarding the precise antecedents, processes, and consequences of positive psychological behavior is
needed. The challenge currently awaiting POB is to bring about a more profound understanding the real
impact of positive states for organizational functioning and how these states can be enhanced within the
work place.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence or EI is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the
people around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they're feeling, what
their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people.

For leaders, having emotional intelligence is essential for success. After all, who is more likely to succeed
– a leader who shouts at his team when he's under stress, or a leader who stays in control, and calmly
assesses the situation? there are five key elements to it:

1. Self-awareness.

2. Self-regulation.

3. Motivation.

4. Empathy.

5. Social skills.

The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So,
let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.

1. Self-awareness

If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions
can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position also means
having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses , and it means behaving with humility .

2. Self-regulation

Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional
decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control.
This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility and
commitment to personal accountability .
3. Motivation

Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for
the quality of their work.

4. Empathy

For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with
empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on
their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who
need it.

If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic.

5. Social Skills

Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators.
They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're expert at getting their team to support
them and be excited about a new mission or project.

Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts
diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they don't sit back and make
everyone else do the work: they set an example with their own behavior.

Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to
produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1997). Self-efficacy reflects confidence
in the ability to exert control over one's own motivation, behavior, and social environment. These
cognitive self-evaluations influence all manner of human experience, including the goals for which people
strive, the amount of energy expended toward goal achievement, and likelihood of attaining particular
levels of behavioral performance. Unlike traditional psychological constructs, self-efficacy beliefs are
hypothesized to vary depending on the domain of functioning and circumstances surrounding the
occurrence of behavior.

Motivation Approaches
Motivation is a decision making process, through which the individual chooses the desired outcomes &
sets in motion the behavior appropriate to them. Approaches of Motivation There are three
distinct approaches to the motivational phenomena to ensure and boost worker productivity in the
organization.