Unit -2

      

ABILITY PERSONALITY PERCEPTION VALUES ATTITUDES JOB SATISFACTION MOTIVATION

FOUNDATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR

-

Ability Personality Perception Values Attitudes Job satisfaction motivation

ABILITY


Ability refers to an individuals capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. It is a current assessment of what one can do.

INTELLECTUAL ABILITY
It encompasses mental activities such as
  

thinking, Reasoning and problem solving.

INTELLECTUAL ABILITY(cont..)


The more complex a job is in terms of information-processing demands, the more general intelligence and verbal abilities will be necessary to perform the job successfully.

INTELLECTUAL ABILITY (cont)

-One reason intelligent people are better job performers is that they are more creative. -Smart people
  

learn jobs more quickly, are more adaptable to changing circumstances, and are better at inventing solutions that improve performance.

PHYSICAL ABILITIES
It is the capacity to do tasks that demand stamina, dexterity, strength and similar characteristics. The following are Nine basic physical abilities:

STRENGHT FACTORS 1. DYNAMIC STRENGHT Ability to exert muscular force repeatedly or continuously over time Ability to exert muscular strength using the trunk muscles(specially abdominal muscles) Ability to exert force against external objects. Ability to expand a maximum of energy in one or a series of explosive acts

2. TRUNK STRENGHT

3. STATIC STRENGHT 4. EXPLOSIVE STRENGHT

FLEXIBILITY FACTORS 5. EXTENT FLEXIBILITY Ability to move the trunk and back muscles as far as possible. Ability to make rapid, repeated flexing movements

6.DYNAMIC FLEXIBILITY

OTHER FACTORS: 7. BODY COORDINATION Ability to coordinate the simultaneous actions of different parts of the body. Ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces pulling off balance Ability to continue maximum effort requiring prolonged effort over time.

8. BALANCE

9. STAMINA

ABILITY AND JOB FIT



Employee performance is enhanced when an employee and position are well matched what we call a high ability job fit. If we focus only on the employees abilities or the ability requirements of the job, we ignore the fact that employee performance depends on the interaction of the two.

ABILITY AND JOB FIT (cont..)



If employees lack the required abilities, they are likely to fail. If an employees abilities far exceed those necessary to do the job, management will/might be paying more than it needs to pay.

ATTITUDE


Attitudes are evaluative statement

-either favorable or unfavorable concerning objects. -people, or -events.

They reflect how one feels about something. When I say I like my job, I am expressing my attitude about work.

Salient features of Attitude.

 

Attitude under go changes. Attitudes affect behavior either positively or negatively. Attitude respond to persons, objects or events. Attitude are related to the feelings and beliefs of people.

13

FOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT ATTITUDES



What are the main components of attitudes? How consistent are attitudes? Does behavior always follow attitude? What are the major job attitudes?

COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE


Cognitive component: Evaluative statements of judgments concerning objects, people, or events. Affective component: the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude. Behavioral component: an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something

COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE (cont)



E.g.: An employees attitude towards his supervisor is illustrated as follows: Cognition (the employee thought he deserved the promotion), affect (the employee strongly dislikes his supervisor) and behavior (the employee is looking for another job)

HOW CONSISTANT ARE ATTITUDES

Research has generally concluded that people seek consistency among their attitudes and between their attitudes and their behavior. In other words, individuals try to reconcile divergent attitudes and align their attitudes to their behavior so they appear rational and consistent.

DOES BEHAVIOR ALWAYS FOLLOW FROM ATTITUDES

Early research on attitudes assumed that they were causally related to behavior: that the attitudes that people hold determine what they do. Common sense too, suggest a relationship. However, in the late 1960s, a review of research challenged this interpretation of the relationship between attitudes and behavior, concluding that attitude were not related to behavior or, at best only slightly related.

DOES BEHAVIOR ALWAYS FOLLOW FROM ATTITUDES (cont..)



However, more recent research has demonstrated that attitudes significantly predict future behavior and firmed Festingers original belief that the relationship can be enhanced by taking moderating variables into account.

MODERATING VARIABLES
The most powerful moderators of the attitude-behavior relationship are these:  Importance of the attitude  Its specificity  Its accessibility  The existence of social pressures  The persons direct experience with the attitude.

Importance of the attitude


   

Important attitudes reflect

fundamental values, self-interest, or identification with individuals or groups that a person values.

Attitudes that individual possess tend to show a strong relationship to behavior.

ITS SPECIFICITY
The more specific the attitude and the more specific the behavior, the stronger the link between the two.
For e.g. asking someone specifically about her intention to stay with the organization for the nest six months is likely better predict turnover for that person than if you asked her how satisfied she was with her pay.

ITS ACCESSIBILITY


Attitudes that are easily remembered are more likely to predict behavior than attitudes that are not accessible in memory. Interestingly, youre more likely to remember attitudes that are frequently expressed. So, the more you talk about your attitude on a subject, the more youre likely to remember it, and the more likely it is to shape your behavior.

 

THE EXISISTANCE OF SOCIAL PRESSURES



Discrepancies between attitudes and behavior are more likely to occur when social pressures to behave in certain ways hold exceptional power.

This tends to characterize behavior in organizations. E.g.. Smoking in the public places is prohibited


DIRECT EXPERIENCE WITH THE ATTITUDE

The attitude behavior relationship is likely to be much stronger if an attitude refers to something within which the individual has direct personal experience. e.g. asking college students with no significant work experience how they would respond to working for an authoritarian supervisor is far less likely to predict actual behavior than asking the same question to employees who have actually worked for such and individual.

MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES



Job satisfaction Job involvement Organizational commitment

JOB SATISFACTION
Job satisfaction is positive feeling about ones job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics

Job involvement
1.

Job involvement measures the degree to which people

a. identify psychologically with their job b. and consider their previewed performance level important to, self-worth.

2.

Employees with a high level of job involvement strongly identify with and really care about the kind of work they do .

Job involvement (cont)

3.It is closely related to psychological empowerment, which employees beliefs in the degree to which they affect
1. 2. 3. 4.

their work environments, their competence, the meaningfulness of their jobs, and the perceived autonomy in the work.

Job involvement
High job involvement is related to
 

fewer absences and lower resignation rates

ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITTMENT
The state in which an employee identifies with particular organization and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization is referred to as organizational commitment. So, high job involvement means identifying with ones employing organization.

DIMENTIONS ORGANISATIONAL COMMITTMENT

  

Affective commitment Continuance commitment Normative commitment

AFFECTIVE COMMITTMENT
This is an emotional attachment to the organizational and a belief in its values. For e.g. A Petco employee may be affectively committed to the company because of its involvement with animals.

CONTINUANCE COMMITTMENT
It is the perceived economic value of remaining with an organization compared to leaving it. An employee may be committed to an employer because she is paid well and feels it would hurt her family to quit.

NORMATIVE COMMITTMENT
It is an obligation to remain with the organization for moral or ethical reasons
e.g. An employee who is spearheading a new initiative may remain with an employer because he feels it would Leave the employer in a lurch if he left

Job Satisfaction

Job Satisfaction
A general attitude (not a behavior) toward ones job; a positive feeling of one's job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics

JOB SATISFACTION
To make a closer examination of job satisfaction, several relevant questions are to be considered like: How satisfied are employees in their jobs? What causes an employee to have a high level of job satisfaction? How do dissatisfied and satisfied employees affect an organization?

HOW SATISFIED ARE PEOPLE IN THEIR JOBS? Are most people satisfied with their jobs? The answer seems to be a qualified Yes in the United States and In most of the developed countries the case is slightly different because comparatively not many people are satisfied in their jobs.

HOW SATISFIED ARE PEOPLE IN THEIR JOBS?



Research shows that satisfaction levels vary a lot depending on which facet of job satisfaction you are talking about. They tend to be less satisfied with their pay and with promotional opportunities.

HOW SATISFIED ARE PEOPLE IN THEIR JOBS?



Its not really clear why people dislike their pay and promotion possibilities more than other aspects of their jobs

WHAT CAUSES JOB SATISFACTION?

It is observed that of the major job-satisfaction facets, most people prefer work that is challenging and stimulating over work that is predictable and routine.

WHAT CAUSES JOB SATISFACTION ? (cont)



Job satisfaction is also affected by individuals personality. Some people are predisposed to like almost anything, and others are unhappy even in the seemingly greatest jobs.

WHAT CAUSES JOB SATISFACTION ?



(cont)

Research has shown that people who have a negative personality are usually less satisfied with their jobs.

Effects of satisfied and dissatisfied employees on the work place.

Consequences manifest when employees like their jobs and when they dont with respect to  Job satisfaction and job performance  job satisfaction and organization citizenship behavior(OCB)  Job satisfaction and customer satisfaction  Job satisfaction and absenteeism  Job satisfaction and turnover.  Job satisfaction and workplace deviance.

JOB SATISFACTION AND JOB PERFORMANCE



A review of 300 studies suggested that correlation between the two is pretty strong. If we move from the individual level to the organizational level, we find that there is support for the satisfaction-performance relationship.

JOB SATISFACTION AND JOB PERFORMANCE (cont)



When satisfaction and productivity data are gathered for the organization as whole, we find that :
organizations with more satisfied employees tend to be more effective than organizations with fewer satisfied employees.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

Discretionary behavior that is not part of an employees formal job requirements, but that nevertheless promotes the effective functioning of the organization

JOB SATISFACTION AND OCB

It is logical to assume that job satisfaction should be a major determinant of an employees organizational citizenship behavior or discretionary behaviors that contribute to organizational effectiveness ( like helping coworkers) but are not part of an employee's formal job description..

JOB SATISFACTION AND OCB

Recent evidences suggest that satisfaction influences OCB, but through perception of fairness

JOB SATISFACTION AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION



Employees in service jobs often interact with customers. The evidence indicates that satisfied employees increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

JOB SATISFACTION AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION



Satisfied employees are more likely to be friendly, upbeat and responsive-which customer appreciate. Since satisfied employees are less prone to turnover, customers are more likely to encounter familiar faces and receive experienced services. These qualities build customer satisfaction and loyalty

JOB SATISFACTION AND ABSENTEEISM



A consistent negative relationship is found between satisfaction and absenteeism. For e.g.. Organizations that provide liberal sick leave benefits are encouraging all the employees-including those who are highly satisfied- to take days off.

JOB SATISFACTION AND ABSENTEEISM



While it certainly makes sense that dissatisfied employees are more likely to miss work.

JOB SATISFACTION AND TURN OVER



Evidence indicates that an important moderator of the satisfaction-turnover relationship is the employee's level of performance. Specifically, level of satisfaction is less significant in predicting the turnover for superior performers. Why? The organization typically makes considerable efforts to keep these people. They get pay raise, praise, recognition, increased promotional opportunities

JOB SATISFACTION AND TURN OVER



Regardless of level of satisfaction, the high performers are more likely to remain with the organization unlike the poor performers

JOB SATISFACTION AND WORKPLACE DEVIANCE.



Job dissatisfaction predicts a lot of specific behaviors, including unionization attempts, stealing at work, undue socializing etc., The key is that if employees dont like their work environment theyll respond somehow.

JOB SATISFACTION AND WORKPLACE DEVIANCE. (cont.)



It is not very easy to forecast exactly how theyll respond. One workers response might be to quit. But another may respond by taking work time to surf the net, taking work supplies home for personal use and so on.

Deviant Workplace Behavior

Voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and thereby threatens the well-being of the organization and/or any of its members

Absenteeism
The failure to report to work

Turnover
The voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal from an organization

PERSONALITY


Personality can be thought of as the sum total of ways which an individual reacts to and interact with others. It is most often described in terms of measurable traits that a person exhibits.

Personality


Personality is a pattern of stable states and characteristics of a person that influences the behavior towards goal achievement. It is the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others
61

DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY
1. 2. 3.

Heredity Environment (Culture) Situation

MAJOR PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES INFLUENCING OB

     

Core self evaluation Machiavellianism Narcissism Self-monitoring Risk taking Type A and Proactive personalities

CORE SELF EVALUATION



People who have a positive core selfevaluation like themselves and see themselves as effective, capable and in control of their environments. This selfperspective is the concept of Core-Self Evaluation. Those with negative core self-evaluation tend to dislike themselves, question their capabilities and view themselves as powerless over their environments.

ELEMENTS THAT DETERMINE CORE SELF-EVALUATION

The two main elements determine the core self evaluation are : 1.Self esteem 2.Locus of control

SELF ESTEEM: It is defined as individuals degree of liking or disliking themselves and the degree to which they think they are worthy or unworthy as people.
Studies have shown that people with low self-esteem may benefit more from training programs.

Locus of control is the degree to which people believe that they are masters of their own fate. Internals are individuals who believe that they have a control on what happens to them.

LOCUS OF CONTROL (cont..)



Externals are individuals who believe that what happens to them is controlled by outside forces, such as luck or chance

MACHIAVELLIANISM

An individual high in Mach is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends justify means. If it works, use it: is consistent with a high-Mach perspective. As per the research it is found that highMach outcomes are moderated by situational factors.

MACHIAVELLIANISM


It is found that high Machs flourish: - When they interact face to face with
others rather than indirectly

- when the situation has a minimum number of rules and regulations - where emotional involvement with details irrelevant to winning distracts low Machs

NARCISSISM


Narcissists often want to gain the admiration of others and receive affirmation of their superiority They tend to talk down (to treat as if they were inferior) to those who threaten them.

Narcissit also tend to be selfish and exploitive. They often carry the attitude that others exist for their benefit.

SELF -MONITORING


Individuals high in self-monitoring show considerable adaptability in adjusting their behavior to external, situational factors. They are highly sensitive to external cues and can behave differently in different situations.

RISK TAKING


People differ in their willingness to take chances. This propensity to assume or avoid risk affects how long it takes managers to make a decision and how much information they require before making a choice.

RISK TAKING ( example)

For instance, 79 managers worked on simulated personnel exercises that required them to make hiring decisions. It was noticed that: High risk taking managers made more rapid decisions and used less information in making their choices than did the low risk-taking managers. Interestingly, the decision accuracy was the same for both the groups.

TYPE A PERSONALITY


These are the people who are excessively competitive and always seem to be experiencing a sense of time urgency. A person with a 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".

They are able to operate under moderate to high level stress.

TYPE B PERSONALITY


In contrast to Type A personality is the Type B personality. They never suffer from a sense of time urgency with its accompanying impatience. They feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements or accomplishments unless such exposure is demanded by the situation

PROACTIVE PERSONALITY
These are the people who identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs.

BIG FIVE PERSSONALITY DIMENSIONS INFLUENCING O.B.

1.

EXTRAVERSION: outgoing, sociable, assertive( higher job and life satisfaction, lower stress levels) AGREEABLENESS: good-natured, trusting, cooperative (higher performance, enhanced leadership, higher job and life satisfaction) CONSCIENTIOUSNESS: responsible, dependable, persistent (training performance, enhanced leadership, more adaptable to change)

2.

3.

4.EMOTIONAL STABILITY: unworried, secure, relaxed (higher performance, lower levels of deviant behavior) 5. OPENESS TO EXPERIENCE: imaginative, curious, broadminded (higher performance, enhanced leadership, greater longevity).

Agreeableness is the ability to get along with others Conscientiousness refers to the number of goals on which a person focuses Negative emotionality is characterized by moodiness and insecurity.

extraversion is the quality of being comfortable with relationships( the introversion, is characterized with more social discomfort). Openness is the capacity to entertain new ideas and to change as a result of new information.

PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS
   

Reserved-outgoing, Less intelligent-more intelligent Emotional-stable, Submissive-dominant, serious- happy go-getter. Relaxed-tense, uncontrolled- controlled, Trusty-suspicious Practical-imaginative, Tough mindedsensitive

83

VALUES
Definition: Values: They are the broad

preferences concerning appropriate course of action or outcomes.

Value system: A hierarchy based on a ranking of individuals values in terms of their intensity.
.

They contain a judgmental element in that they carry individuals ideas as to what is right, good, desirable. Values have both content and intensity attributes. The content attribute says that mode of conduct or end-state of existence is important.

The intensity attribute specifies how important it is.  When we rank an individual in terms of their intensity, we obtain that persons value system.  All of us have a hierarchy of values that forms our value system.


This system is identified by the relative importance we assign to such values as

freedom, pleasure, self-respect, honesty, obedience, and equality

     

IMPORTANCE OF VALUES
Values often underlie and explain attitudes, bhaviors and perceptions. So knowledge of an individuals value system can provide insight into what makes the person tick Values generally influence attitudes and behavior.

Suppose you enter an organization with a view that allocating pay on the basis of performance is right, whereas allocating pay on the basis of seniority is wrong or inferior. How are you going to react if you find that the organization you have just joined rewards seniority and not performance? You are likely to be disappointed and this can lead to job dissatisfaction.

Sources of Values
   

Parents Friends Teachers and External reference groups

Types of Values
 

Terminal Values Instrumental values

Terminal Values: reflect a persons preferences concerning the ends to be achieved Instrumental values: reflect a persons beliefs about the means for achieving desired ends.

MAGLINO AND ASSOCIATES VALUE CATEGORIES



ACHIEVEMENT- getting things done and working hard to accomplish difficult things in life HELPING AND CONCERN FOR OTHERS-being concerned with other people and helping others

HONESTY- telling the truth and doing what you feel is right FAIRNESS- being impartial and doing what is fair for all concerned

Understanding of perception


Perception is the psychological process Perception is the intellectual process by which a person acquires the information, organize, and obtain meaning from it. Peoples actions, emotions, thoughts and feelings are triggered. It takes place after the information is received.

95

Why is the study of perception important?

People are emotional.  Big organizations are successful organizations.


A productive worker is always happy.  Big organizations always dehumanize employees  Good leaders are always good speakers. speakers.

96

PERCEPTION AS A SOCIAL INFORMATION PROCESS: FIVE STEPS

First, we as individual observe and sense (i.e. select and screen out) external stimuli through internal factors, which includes among other things, our personality traits and our personal systems.

Second, this information is interpreted. Third, it is categorized (i.e., encoded and simplified) Fourth, information is stored and retained in our memory.

Fifth, our judgments and decisions are made by retrieving and responding to this stored situation is affected by  personality,  previous learning,  level of motivation,  moods,  attitudes, and  cultural conditioning.

Factors influencing Perception

Internal factors


Needs and desires People at different

levels of needs and desires perceive the same thing differently. Expectancy, motives and interests affect people perception

100

Personality individual personality has a profound influence on perceived behavior. Experience Experience & knowledge have a constant bearing on perception. Successful experiences enhance and boost the perceptive ability & lead to accuracy.

Exogenous factors


Size Size establishes dominance and over rides other things and enhances perpetual selection.

Intensity Loud, bright, strong, will be noticed easily . Frequency A repeated external stimulus is more attention-getting than attentionsingle.

102

Exogenous factors (cont.)



Status High status people can exert influence on perception than low status people. Contrast contrast with the surrounding likely to be selected for attention.

How to develop perceptual skill



Avoid perceptual distortion. Make accurate self perception. Put yourself in another persons place. Create good impression about yourself.

104

Critique of perception


Perception is highly subjective. Perceived world is different from reality. Accurate perception about others calls for thorough understanding of self and others.

105

MOTIVATION
Motivation is the willingness to exert high levels of effort towards organizational goals, conditioned by the efforts ability to satisfy some individual need. While general motivation is concerned with effort towards any goal.

MOTIVATION


Motivation refers to the forces within an individual that account for the level of direction and persistence of effort expended at work.

DEFINITION OF MOTIVATION
Motivation is defined as the process that account for an individuals intensity, direction, and persistence of effort towards attaining a goal.

MOTIVATION THEORIES


Several theories and models have been developed to explain what factors prompt an individual to work. Some experts assume a direct relationship between effort and reward. They are of the view that every individual seeks to maximize his self interest.

He is primarily motivated by economic incentives. Other experts refute this assumption of economic man. -They believe that individual is motivated by social needs like love, affection, sense of belonging etc.

THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
Theories are broadly are broadly classified into three categories: 1. Theories based on human needs ( Theories of Maslow, Herzberg and McClelland) 2. Theories based on human nature ( Theories of McGregor,Urwick and Argyris) 3. Theories based on expectancy of human beings( Theories of Vroom and Porter and lawler)

Maslows Need Hierarcy theory



Maslows theory is based on human needs. Drawing chiefly on his clinical experience. He classified all human needs into a hierarchical manner from the lower to the higher order.

In essence, he believed that once a given level of need is satisfied , it is no longer serves to motivate man. Then, the next higher level of need has to be activated in order to motivate the man

Abraham Maslow

CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE THEORY



The needs may or may not follow a definite hierarchical order. The need priority model may not apply at all times in all places. Researchers show that mans behavior at any time is mostly guided by multiplicity of behavior. In case certain people, the level of motivation may be permanently lower.

Vrooms Expectancy Theory

1.

It is a cognitive process theory of motivation. The theory is founded on the basic notions that people will be motivated to exert a high level of effort when they believe there are relationships between
  

2.

the effort they put forth, the performance they achieve and the outcomes/rewards they receive.

Vrooms Expectancy Theory

Thus, the key constructs in the expectancy theory of motivation are : 1. Valence: Valence, according to Vroom, means the value or strength one places on particular outcome or reward. 2. Expectancy: It relates efforts to performance. 3. Instrumentality: By instrumentality, Vroom means, the belief that performance is related rewards.

CRITICAL EVALUATION OF VROOMS THEORY



Critics like Porter and Lawler in their theory proposed that individual cognitively chooses the course of action that leads to the greatest degree of pleasure or the smallest degree of pain. The assumption that people are rational and calculative make the theory idealistic

CRITICAL EVALUATION OF VROOMS THEORY



The expectancy theory does not describe individual and situational differences. But the valance or value people on various situation varies. The valance for the same reward varies from situation to situation.

PORTER AND LAWLERS EXPECTANCY THEORY.



Porter and Lawlers theory is an improvement over Vrooms expectancy theory. They opine that motivation does not equal satisfaction or performance. They proposed a multi-variate model to explain the complex relationship that exists between satisfaction and performance.

PORTER AND LAWLERS EXPECTANCY THEORY



The main point in Porter and Lawlers model is that effort or motivation does not lead directly to performance. It is infact , mediated by abilities and traits and by role perceptions. Ultimately performance leads to satisfaction

MOTIVATING BY CHANGING THE NATURE OF THE WORK / ENVIRONMENT



Job redesigning Job rotation Job enlargement Job enrichment

MOTIVATING BY CHANGING THE NATURE OF THE WORK / ENVIRONMENT (cont..)



Alternative work arrangements (flexi time, job sharing, telecommuting) Employee involvement (participative management, representative participation, quality circles)

MOTIVATING BY CHANGING THE NATURE OF THE WORK / ENVIRONMENT (cont..)



Job rotation: is systematically moving workers from one job to another in an attempt to minimize monotony and boredom. Job enlargement: involves giving workers more tasks to perform. Job enrichment : entails giving workers more tasks to perform and more control over how to perform them.