Chapter 4: Individuals Values, Perceptions, and Reactions

Stress

A person's adaptive response to a stimulus that places excessive psychological or physical demands on that person

Attitudes

A person's complexes of beliefs and feelings about specific ideas, situations, or other people

Intention

component of an attitude that guides a person's behavior - EX: You plan to come in early tomorrow to help your boss take inventory. Unfortunately, you do not make it because you decide to sleep in

The attribution process

involves observing behavior and then attributing causes to it. Observed behaviors are interpreted in terms of their consensus, their consistency, and their distinctiveness. Based on these interpretations, behavior is attributed to either internal or external causes.

Work-life balance

• Fundamental work-life relationships • work-life relationships - Interrelationships between a person's work life and personal life • Balancing work-life linkages - Importance of long-term versus short-term perspectives - Balance needs of both wage earners in double-income families - Accept that there's a work-life integration

The stress process (Selye) - General adaptation syndrome (GAS)

▪ Identifies three stages of response to a stressor: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion ▪ Sources of stress o Eustress: pleasurable stress that accompanies positive events o Distress: unpleasant stress accompanies negative events

Collateral Programs

▪ Organizational programs specifically created to help employees deal with stress o Stress management, health promotion, employee fitness programs, career development

Institutional Programs

▪ Properly designed jobs and work schedules ▪ Fostering a healthy work culture ▪ Supervision—keep workloads reasonable

Terminal Values

reflect long-term life goals such as prosperity, happiness, secure family, and a sense of accomplishment - EX: Jessie reassesses her long-term goals and realizes that she would rather make a meaningful contribution to her community than make as much money as she can.

Traditional versus secular-rational values

reflects the contrast between societies in which religion is very important and those in which it is not

Survival versus self-expression values

reflects the contrast between societies that emphasize economic and physical security and those that emphasize subjective well-being, self-expression, and quality of life, giving high priority to environmental protection, diversity tolerance, and participation in decision making

Normative commitment

A feeling of moral or ethical obligation to the organization; - employees stay because they believe it would be wrong to leave

Procedural justice

Addresses the fairness of the procedures used to generate the outcome

Affectivity

The tendency to experience a particular mood or to react to things with certain emotions

Life Stressors

life changes or traumas

Values

*4 Factors that Influence Job Satisfaction* Employees who find intrinsic value in their work are doing what is important to them. - If someone values challenge and variety in work, that person will be more satisfied with jobs with these characteristics than with monotonous work.

The work itself

*4 Factors that Influence Job Satisfaction* Satisfaction with the nature of the work itself is the largest influence on job satisfaction. - If you do not like the work you are doing, it is hard to be satisfied with your job. - As a manager, if you want to increase your subordinates' job satisfaction, focus first on improving the nature of the work they do.

Personality

*4 Factors that Influence Job Satisfaction* Some people are rarely satisfied with their jobs, and others tend to be satisfied no matter what job they have. - Research evidence suggests that differences in job satisfaction are due in part to differences in employees' genetics and personality.

Attitudes can change

- Attitudes are not as stable as personality attributes. - If the object of an attitude changes, a person's attitude toward that object may also change - Attitudes can also change when the object of the attitude becomes less important or less relevant to the person. - Deeply rooted attitudes that have a long history are, of course, resistant to change.

Support Group

- EX: When Sarah was feeling stressed because she was having a hard time finding a new job, her family treated her to dinner and a movie.

Interpersonal Demands

- Group pressures: may include pressure to restrict output, pressure to conform to the group's norms, and so forth. - Leadership Style - Personalities: Conflicting personalities and behaviors may also cause stress. Conflict can occur when two or more people must work together even though their personalities, attitudes, and behaviors differ.

3 Types of Organizational Commitment

1. Affective commitment 2. Normative commitment 3. Continuance commitment - not mutually exclusive. - It is possible to be committed to an organization in affective, normative, and continuance ways at the same time, at varying levels of intensity.

2 Attribution Questions

1. Are they due to the individual because of internal factors such as effort and ability? 2. Or are they due to the environment because of external factors such as luck, resources, and other people?

Individual Consequences (3)

1. Behavioral Consequences: The behavioral consequences of stress may harm the person under stress or others. - One such behavior is smoking. - Other possible behavioral consequences are accident proneness, aggression and violence, and appetite disorders. 2. Psychological Consequences: relate to a person's mental health and well-being. When people experience too much stress at work, they may become depressed or find themselves sleeping too much or not enough. Stress may also lead to family problems and sexual difficulties. 3. Medical Consequences: affect a person's physical well-being. Heart disease and stroke, among other illnesses, have been linked to stress. Other common medical problems resulting from too much stress include headaches, backaches, ulcers and related stomach and intestinal disorders, and skin conditions such as acne and hives.

Perception errors

1. Categorization 2. Halo Effect 3. Contrast Effect 4. Projection 5. First impression bias 6. Self-fulfilling prophecies

How to reduce cognitive dissonance? (4)

1. Change the conflicting attitude 2. Change the conflicting behavior 3. Reason that one of the conflicting attitudes or behaviors is not important in this context 4. Seek additional information to better reason that the benefits of one of the conflicting attitudes or behaviors outweigh the costs of the other

Structural components of attitudes/how attitudes are formed (3)

1. Cognition 2. Affect 3. Intention

3 rules to evaluate whether to assign an internal or an external attribution

1. Consistency 2. Distinctiveness 3. Consensus

Organizational Consequences

1. Decline in Performance 2. Absenteeism and Turnover (Withdrawal) 3. Decreased Motivation and Satisfaction (Negative changes in attitudes) 4. Burnout

3 Types of Organizational fairness/justice

1. Distributive Justice 2. Procedural Justice 3. Interactional Justice

4 Elements of Emotions:

1. Emotions are short events or episodes. Emotions are relatively short-lived. Excitement about making a big sale or anxiety over a looming deadline subsides after a little while. 2. Emotions are directed at something or someone.(differentiates emotions from moods) 3. Emotions are experienced. They involve involuntary changes in heart rate, blood pressure, facial expressions, animation, and vocal tone. We feel emotion. 4. Emotions create a state of physical readiness through physiological reactions. Increased heart rate, adrenaline, and eye movements prepare our bodies to take action. Particularly strong emotions including fear, anger, and surprise can demand our attention, interrupt our thoughts, and motivate us to respond by focusing our attention on whatever is generating the emotion.

Individual Coping Strategies

1. Exercise 2. relaxation (vacation, rest breaks) 3. to develop and maintain support groups. 4. Time Management 5. Role Management

Organizational coping strategies

1. Institutional programs 2. Collateral programs

Conflicts among values (3)

1. Intrapersonal 2. Interpersonal 3. Individual-organization

Key work-related attitudes (3)

1. Job satisfaction 2. Organizational commitment 3. Employee engagement

4 Factors that Influence Job Satisfaction

1. Personality 2. Values 3. Other attitudes 4. The work itself

2 Types of Affectivity

1. Positive affect 2. Negative affect

Basic perceptual processes (2)

1. Selective perception 2. Stereotyping

Organizational stressors

1. Task Demands 2. Physical Demands 3. Role Demands 4. Interpersonal Demands

4 Types of values

1. Terminal 2. Instrumental 3. Intrinsic 4. Extrinsic

Two major dimensions that Values Differ Around the World

1. Traditional versus secular-rational values 2. Survival versus self-expression values

Burnout

A general feeling of exhaustion that develops when an individual simultaneously experiences too much pressure and has too few sources of satisfaction - EX: Danny used to love his job, but after working long hours for the last few months he has started dreading going to work in the morning and feels tired all the time.

Role Demands

A role is a set of expected behaviors associated with a particular position in a group or organization. As such, it has both formal (i.e., job-related and explicit) and informal (i.e., social and implicit) requirements. - Ambiguity - Conflict

Positive and Negative Affect

Affect can vary anywhere along a continuum ranging from positive affect to negative affect. As illustrated here, it is also possible to fall in between these extremes and reflect neither positive nor negative affect.

Attitudes vs Emotions

An attitude can be thought of as a judgment about something - An emotion is experienced or felt - Emotions do not last as long as attitudes - Emotions influence how we perceive the world, help us interpret our experiences, and prime us to respond.

Cognitive dissonance

An incompatibility or conflict between behavior and an attitude or between two different attitudes - You believe that workers around the world are entitled to minimum standards of workplace safety, pay, and working conditions. You learn that your new employer is inconsistent in how it treats workers in other countries, and that to raise the company's standards in some of the countries would be so expensive that the company would have to close those facilities and fire those workers.

Attitude Formation

Attitudes are generally formed around a sequence of cognition, affect, and behavioral intention. That is, we come to know something that we believe to be true (cognition). This knowledge triggers a feeling (affect). Cognition and affect then together influence how we intend to behave in the future.

Attribution

Attribution: The way we explain the causes of our own as well as other people's behaviors and achievements, and understand why people do what they do EX: EX: when classmates do well on a test, they often attribute it to their own effort and ability, but when they learn that you did well, they seem to attribute it more to luck or to easy grading by the instructor - EX: When your colleague Mia does well on a promotion test, she comments that it was because she studied hard for it. When you do well on the same test, Mia comments that you got lucky.

Negative affect

Comprises feelings of being upset, fearful, and distressed - Individuals higher in negative affectivity tend to experience more negative emotions, such as irritation or nervousness. - Negative affect is related to lower organizational citizenship behaviors, greater withdrawal and counterproductive work behaviors, lower job satisfaction, and greater injuries.

Intrapersonal Value Conflict

Conflict between the instrumental value of ambition and the terminal value of happiness EX: If being happy pulls us to spend quality time with our family or pursuing a hobby we love, but personal ambition pulls us to work longer hours and pursue promotions, we feel conflicted.

Relaxation

Coping with stress requires adaptation. Proper relaxation is an effective way to adapt. Relaxation can take many forms. One way to relax is to take regular vacations. - EX: To help employees manage their stress, employees in Google's Zurich office can visit the on-site library or aquarium.

Distinctiveness

Does the person act the same way or receive similar outcomes in different types of situations? - low Distinctiveness - internal - high distinctiveness - external

Organizational fairness/justice

Employees' perceptions of organizational events, policies, and practices as being fair or not fair

Contrast effect

Evaluating someone by comparing them with recently encountered people

Exercise

Exercise is one method of managing stress. People who exercise regularly are less likely to have heart attacks than inactive people. More directly, research has suggested that people who exercise regularly feel less tension and stress, are more self-confident, and show greater optimism. - EX: To help employees manage stress, Nike has an on-site Olympic-sized heated pool, basketball court, and soccer field.

Halo effect

Forming a general impression of something or someone based on a single (usually good) characteristic - Opposite is horns effect - This occurs when we form a general impression based on a single "bad" characteristic. - EX: EX: people tend to associate beauty with other positive characteristics. We often assume that physically attractive people possess more socially desirable personalities than less-beautiful people do and that they lead happier and more successful lives. - EX: Because Pedro is always well groomed and dressed nicely you assume that he is also a skilled salesperson because you associate looking professional with good sales skills.

Consistency

Has the person regularly behaved this way or experienced this outcome in the past?

Employee engagement

Heightened emotional and intellectual connection that an employee has for his/ her job, organization, manager, or coworkers that, in turn, influences him/her to apply additional discretionary effort to his/her work

Emotions

Intense, short-term physiological, behavioral, and psychological reactions to a specific object, person, or event that prepare us to respond to it

Improtance: Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is one of the most important job-related attitudes in organizations. It reflects both our attitudes and our feelings about our job.

Resistance

Next comes actual resistance to the stressor, usually leading to an increase above the person's normal level of resistance. - Individual gathers his or her strength (physical or emotional) and begins to resist the negative effects of the stressor. - often the resistance phase ends the GAS.

Interpersonal Value Conflict

Occurs when two different people hold conflicting values EX: If one coworker values individual rewards and the other values group recognition, the two may clash over how to approach a new project - EX: Mandy values individual rewards and Ming values group recognition. They clash over how to approach a new project.

Distributive justice

Perceived fairness of the outcome received, including resources distributions, promotions, hiring and layoff decisions, and raises - EX: You contributed more than 25% of the material for the project for which your team got a performance bonus, but you only received 25% of the bonus amount.

Affective commitment

Positive emotional attachment to the organization and strong identification with its values, and its goals; - employees want to stay with the organization - EX: The company that Helga started to provide a way to purify water in poor, remote areas of the world was acquired by a much larger company that wants her to keep doing what she was doing before but is willing to invest a lot of much needed money into the project.

Positive affect

Reflects a combination of high energy and positive evaluation characterized by emotions like elation - Individuals with a high positive affectivity tend to experience more positive emotions including cheerfulness or enthusiasm - Higher positive affect is related to increased creativity, openness to new information, and efficient decision making. Positive affectivity also increases the likelihood of cooperation strategies in negotiations, improving the results.

Job satisfaction

Reflects our attitudes and feelings about our jobs

Organizational commitment

Reflects the degree to which an employee identifies with the organization and its goals and wants to stay with the organization

Organizational Commitment

Reflects the degree to which an employee identifies with the organization and its goals and wants to stay with the organization.

Moods

Short-term emotional states that are not directed toward anything in particular

Continuance commitment

Staying with the organization because of perceived high economic and/or social costs; - employees stay because they feel they have to

Projection

Tendency to project our own characteristics on others - EX: As you are interviewing Paul, you learn that he went to the same college that you did. You give Paul high ratings for company fit and abilities as a result.

Trust

The expectation that another person will not act to take advantage of us, regardless of our ability to monitor or control them.

Physical Demands

are its physical requirements on the worker; these demands are a function of the physical characteristics of the setting and the physical tasks the job involves. - Temperature - Office Design

Time Management

The idea is that many daily pressures can be eased or eliminated if a person does a better job of managing time. One popular approach to time management is to make a list every morning of the things to be done that day - EX: As Will completes tasks on his daily to-do list, checking them off helps him manage his daily work stress.

First impression bias

The inability to let go of first impressions, particularly negative ones

Perception

The set of processes by which an individual becomes aware of and interprets information about the environment.

Categorization

The tendency to put things into groups and then exaggerate the similarities within and the differences among the groups

Workload, Stress, and Performance

Too much stress is clearly undesirable, but too little stress can also lead to unexpected problems. For example, too little stress may result in boredom and apathy and be accompanied by low performance. And although too much stress can cause tension, anxiety, and low performance, for most people there is an optimal level of stress that results in high energy, motivation, and performance.

Self-fulfilling prophecies

Treating people the way we categorize them and having them react accordingly

Values

Ways of behaving or end-states that are desirable to a person or to a group

Individual-organization Value Conflict

When an employee's values conflict with those of the organization - Lower individual-organization value conflict leads to greater job satisfaction, higher performance, lower stress, and greater job commitment. - EX: Your employer values saving money, but you value protecting the environment even if it costs a bit more to do this.

Self-handicapping

When people create obstacles for themselves that make success less likely - also related to attribution - Examples include using drug and alcohol, refusing to practice, and reducing effort. Creating these impediments obviously decreases motivation and performance.

Interactional justice

Whether the amount of information about the decision and process was adequate, perceived fairness of interpersonal treatment and explanations received during the decision-making process - EX: You are unhappy after leaving a job interview because the interviewer ate his lunch and took two calls while you were being interviewed for the job.

Consensus

Would others behave similarly in the same situation or receive the same outcome - Consensus low - internal - Consensus high - external

Attitude Formation Example

You may like a particular professor (affect), believe that she or he is a great instructor (cognition), and plan to take another class from the professor next semester (behavioral intention).

Affect

a person's feelings toward something - EX: Billy likes his boss Tony because he is supportive and gives him the confidence to succeed

Alarm

a person's resistance often dips slightly below the normal level during this stage. - begins when a person first encounters a stressor - EX: Rachel walks into class and feels a sense of panic when she realizes that she forgot to study for the exam that was about to start.

Task Demands

are stressors associated with the specific job a person performs. Some occupations are by nature more stressful than others. - Occupation - Security - Overload

Individual Consequences

are the outcomes that mainly affect the individual. The organization also may suffer, either directly or indirectly, but it is the individual who pays the real price.

Stereotyping

categorizing or labeling people on the basis of a single attribute - EX: HR manager thinks women are not suited for the same tasks as men. - EX: Because Ben believes that men are better at physical work than women he only hires men for his cleaning business.

Values differ around the world—leads to

different managerial behaviors - Values are influenced by culture

Instrumental Values

preferred means of achieving terminal values or preferred ways of behaving

Extrinsic Values

relate to the outcomes of doing work - EX: Although the work isn't as interesting, you decide to accept the job offer with the organization that offers the best benefit package.

Intrinsic Values

relate to the work itself

Selective perception

screening out information that we are uncomfortable with or that contradicts our beliefs - EX: Suppose a manager is fond of one employee and finds them sleeping at their desk. They may assume that the employee was up late working or is taking a short nap. Suppose the same situation occurred with an employee that the manager had a negative attitude towards. The manager might assume the employee was out partying. - EX: Peter thinks that Sam is his best salesperson. When Sam's sales start to fall, Peter thinks, "It must just be a run of bad luck" and continues to give Sam high performance ratings.

Role Management

the individual actively works to avoid overload, ambiguity, and conflict. For example, if you do not know what is expected of you, you should not sit and worry about it. Instead, ask for clarification from your boss. - EX: When Clint felt stressed because he had been given more work than he could complete that week, he asked his boss for help in prioritizing what he should get done first.

Cognition

the knowledge a person presumes to have about something - EX: You took your current job because it has a better commute, higher pay, and more interesting work than any of your other job options.

Exhaustion

the person's resistance declines sharply below normal levels. - Prolonged exposure to a stressor without resolution may bring on phase 3 of the GAS: exhaustion. - At this stage, the person literally gives up and can no longer fight the stressor.