MANA3335 MindTap Learn It: Chapter 09: Basic Elements of Individual Behavior in Organizations

What is the name of the stage experienced by someone immediately after a stressful event?

*Alarm {The initial response to a stressful event is the alarm stage, in which the person usually feels negative emotions}

What is stereotyping?

*Believing that everyone who shares one characteristic also shares one or more other characteristics {Human perception is prone to bias. One such bias is stereotyping, which is a tendency to group people according to a single characteristic and then believe everyone in that group is alike in other ways as well. Stereotyping can occur in relation to age, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any number of perceived characteristics. The other choices describe other forms of bias. A tendency to ignore information that contradicts one's preexisting ideas is selective perception. Allowing one positive aspect of a person or situation to color your opinion of every aspect of the person or situation is the halo effect. Giving too much weight to recent information is the recency bias}

Benefits

*Inducement {In terms of the psychological contract, rewards that the organization gives the employee, such as benefits, are inducements to the employee}

You notice that someone behaves in a shy manner in one situation and then also behaves in a shy manner in several quite different situations. What is occurring here?

*Low distinctiveness {When someone's behavior is similar across different situations, the behavior has low distinctiveness. The observer may conclude that the behavior is due mainly to the person's personality rather than to a particular set of circumstances}

Loyalty

*Contribution {In terms of the psychological contract, qualities that an employee demonstrates when performing well on the job, such as loyalty are contributions to the organization}

How can an organization foster organizational citizenship among its employees? Check all that apply.

*Formally reward organizational citizenship behaviors *Foster group social dynamics that cause employees to want to help each other *Hire people with personality traits conducive to organizational citizenship {Some ways in which an organization can encourage organizational citizenship are to hire employees with personality traits that correlate with high citizenship, foster social dynamics at work that create a culture of helpfulness, and reward citizenship behaviors through recognition, bonuses, and praise. Paying employees correctly and on time is an expected inducement in terms of the psychological contract, and would not motivate employees to do more than their jobs explicitly required}

Forgiving others for mistakes

*High Agreeableness {An individual with high agreeableness tends to get along well with others. This person tends to forgive people for mistakes}

Doing a thorough job

*High Conscientiousness {An individual with high conscientiousness tends to focus on a few activities and perform them in a careful, self-disciplined way. This person tends to be very thorough}

Talking a lot in meetings

*High Extraversion {An individual with high extraversion feels very comfortable interacting with other people. This person tends to talk a lot in group discussions}

Showing insecurity

*High Neuroticism {An individual with high neuroticism tends to be anxious and react negatively to events. Showing insecurity may be a sign of high neuroticism}

Being receptive to new ideas

*High Openness {An individual with high openness is willing to change their mind in response to new information, is imaginative and creative, and has many interests. This person tends to listen to new ideas and be willing to adopt them}

You notice that someone behaves the same way every time a certain situation arises. What is occurring here?

*High consistency {This person's behavior is very consistent. When someone demonstrates a consistent pattern of behavior, that behavior seems more noteworthy than a behavior that was only occasionally evident in that person}

What is selective perception?

*Ignoring information that does not match one's preexisting ideas {Human perception is prone to bias. One such bias is selective perception, which is a tendency to ignore information that contradicts one's preexisting ideas. For example, if you believe your boss treats you unfairly, you may dismiss any cases in which your boss treats you fairly ("She was just in a good mood that day, but she really hates me"). The other choices describe other forms of bias. Believing that everyone who shares one characteristic also shares one or more other characteristics is stereotyping. Giving too much weight to recent information is the recency bias. Allowing one positive aspect of a person or situation to color your opinion of every aspect of the person or situation is the halo effect}

Promotions

*Inducement {Organizations fulfill their half of the psychological contract by offering employees inducements, such as promotions. Different employees have different beliefs about what they should get in exchange for their contributions}

Working for a boss with a different set of values than one's own

*Interpersonal demands {Interpersonal demands arise from workplace relationships. Often, relationships at work are stressful due to differences in individual personalities or conflicts between group norms and one's own values}

Which of the following are potential negative consequences of stress for organizations? Check all that apply.

*Low productivity *Low-quality work *High absenteeism {Negative consequences of stress for organizations include low-quality work, low productivity, high absenteeism, and greater irritability leading to poor workplace relationships. If an employee experiences too much stress for too long, burnout can result}

The human resource department seeks to increase employees' attachment to the organization. What is the HR department trying to improve?

*Organizational commitment {An employee's organizational commitment is the degree of attachment to and identification with the organization that the employee feels. Organizational engagement is the degree to which an employee not only seeks to stay with the organization but also actively looks for ways to contribute. Conscientiousness and agreeableness are individual personality traits}

Working in very hot weather

*Physical demands {Physical demands can involve poor lighting, extreme temperatures, chemical or biological hazards, heavy lifting or other exertion, and many other conditions. A manager who travels a lot and has to spend hours hunched over a laptop on poorly designed desks in hotel rooms is dealing with a physical stressor}

In what ways can an organization encourage creativity in its workforce? Check all that apply.

*Rewarding creativity that furthers the organization's goals *Giving employees time and other resources to do creative work {Organizations that want their employees to be creative should make creativity part of their culture. One way to do this is to set explicit goals for creative endeavors, and another is to give employees room in their jobs to engage in creative work. Organizations should also reward successful creativity. At the same time, they should not punish unsuccessful creativity, since creative work by its nature carries a high risk of failure}

Trying to meet expectations when they have not been communicated

*Role demands {Role demands can arise from conflicts between competing roles that the employee needs to satisfy. They can also arise from a lack of clarity, or ambiguity, about what's expected in a role, such as when a new employee is not given an adequate orientation}

Which of the following are aspects of emotional intelligence (EQ)? Check all that apply.

*Social skill *Empathy *Self-awareness {Emotional intelligence (EQ) concerns the degree to which a person is self-aware and self-motivated, manages their emotions, possesses social skills and has empathy for others. EQ encompasses both internal and external emotional awareness. Someone with high EQ may be either extraverted or introverted, and they may or may not have high self-efficacy, or a belief in their ability to perform tasks}

Having to make high-stakes decisions

*Task demands {Task demands arise directly from the job duties. Common sources of stress in this category for managers are having to make rapid or high-stakes decisions, or having to make decisions without as much information as one would like}

The component of an individual's attitude that reflects their emotions is the ________ component.

*affective {A person's attitude is a complex of beliefs and feelings. The affective component of an individual's attitude reflects their emotions}

The mechanism through which people observe behavior and arrive at conclusions about its causes is known as __________ .

*attribution {Attribution is the term used to describe the way in which individuals determine whether behavior —their own or others'— is noteworthy and, if so, what the causes of it might be}

A manager who assumes that a policy should be followed for no other reason than it was issued by a senior executive is highly ___________ .

*authoritarian {A highly authoritarian individual believes that people with high status or power are the best people to make decisions and that those decisions should be obeyed without question. A highly Machiavellian person values their own advancement over the ethical treatment of other people and may be deceitful if it serves their own interests}

Workplace behaviors that reduce an organization's effectiveness are ___________ .

*dysfunctional behaviors {An organization will try to manage its employees to minimize dysfunctional behaviors, which reduce the effectiveness of the organization. Performance behaviors enhance organizational effectiveness. All people have personality traits and individual differences; ideally, an organization selects people who are a good fit so that their personalities do not interfere with organizational effectiveness}

A coworker who focuses on broad patterns and abstract concepts probably prefers ________ .

*intuition {Individuals identified as preferring intuition (N) in the Myers-Briggs framework tend to think abstractly and conceptually, focusing on patterns and themes. People who focus on concrete details are identified as preferring sensing (S)}

If an adult actively encourages creativity in a child, that child is likely to grow up to be a _________ adult.

*more creative {A childhood in which creativity is encouraged tends to produce a creative adult}

Your boss is usually grumpy and believes that events will turn out badly. Your boss has high ___________ affectivity.

*negative {The affective component of attitude concerns a person's emotions. People tend to have stable affectivity over time. Someone with high negative affectivity tends to be pessimistic and be in a bad mood}

The set of processes through which a person becomes aware of the environment and interprets information about it is known as __________ .

*perception {Perception is the term used to describe the processes by which an individual becomes aware of and interprets information about the environment. Perception occurs through the physical senses but is conditioned by mental activity and is therefore prone to bias}

Julia has a great deal of confidence in her ability to perform her job tasks. Julia has high __________ .

*self-efficacy {Self-efficacy is a person's belief in their ability to perform well on a task. A person with high self-esteem believes that they deserve good things such as high-level jobs, and they gain intrinsic satisfaction from achievement even in the absence of extrinsic rewards}

The expectations that an employee has about what they will do for the employer and what, in return, the employer will do for them is known as ________ .

*the psychological contract {The psychological contract is the set of expectations that a member of an organization has about what they will contribute to the organization and, in return, what inducements it will offer them. Although this "contract" is unwritten, breaching it has serious repercussions for employee engagement}