Transcript I. Individual Differences

Organizational Behavior Course
Model
OB Outcomes: Attitudes
and Behaviors
Influenced by Managers
Using
Effort
Job Satisfaction
Absenteeism
Turnover
Stress
Workplace Violence
Organizational Citizenship
Behavior and Commitment
Employee Theft
Safety and Accidents
Sexual Harassment
Grievances
Application of Individual
Differences
•
•
•
•
•
Perceptions
Attributions
Attitude change
Values
Personality
Group Dynamics
Reward Systems
Job Design
Leadership
Individual Differences
• Perceptions
• Attributions (special case)
…perceptions about what
causes another’s behavior
• Attitudes
• Values
• Personality
Appreciating Individual Differences
How attractive is this person?
Would you hire this person?
• Cornerstone of
selection & placement
• Avoid the “error of
extrapolating from
yourself”
• Definition of
perception: How
individuals notice and
interpret a situation;
how they organize
and make sense of
their environment
Perceptual Variability
Depends on many things as
prior two examples showed
-optical illusions that are
related to our sense organs
-interpretations also depend
on prior experiences
Crime Scene Simulation
Factors Affecting Perceptions
Highly variable across & within
people because of:
-source of information
-emotional factors
-stereotyping
-situation (order, non-verbal
cues, timing, location in
hierarchy)
-other perceptual barriers (e.g.,
halo effect, projection)
Asked of Supervisors
“How often do you
give…?
Gives:
% who said very often
1.) Privileges
2.) More responsibility
3.) Pat on the back
4.) Sincere praise
5.) Training for better job
6.) More interesting work
Source: Likert, New Patterns of Management
Asked of Employees
“How often does your
Supervisor give…?
% who said very often
Attribution Theory
• Refers to what we perceive causes an
another person’s behavior (success or
failure), and affects our future orientation
toward that person
• Internal causes or explanations are
perceived to be under the control of the
person (e.g., ability , effort)
• External causes or explanations are
perceived to be determined by the situation
(e.g., luck, task difficulty)
Attributions Affect Future Behavior:
Student Misses Team Meeting
Is this an
Internal (I) or External (E)
Reason Perceived Cause of “Failure” ? Outcome
Just did not care
Flat tire
Forgot meeting
location
Attribution Principles
1. Once we identify a suitable explanation for
behavior, we stop seeking alternatives.
2. Ego defensive or self-serving bias:
We tend to accept credit for our successes
and blame our failures on the environment.
Overcome in appraisals by the “sandwich technique”
3. Fundamental Attribution Error
• The tendency to underestimate the influence of
external factors (i.e., chance, task difficulty,
the environment) and overestimate the
influence of internal factors (i.e., ability, effort,
personal factors) when making judgments
about others
• Listen to subordinates’ perceptual attributions
and then try to be objective (e.g., is F due to lack
of effort (internal factor) or inadequate training
(external factor)?
Summary: Importance of Perceptions and
Attributions for Managers
1. Be aware of how perceptual and attributional
errors can bias your decision making
2. Remember “perceived reality” is more
important than objective reality.
3. Managers have a responsibility and an
opportunity to manage
perceptions and
attributions--theirs’
and their subordinates’!
Individual Differences
• Perceptions
• Attributions (special case)
• Attitudes
…mental states of readiness,
predispositions to react in
certain ways
• Values
• Personality
Examples of “Changeable” Work-related Attitudes
1.
Job Involvement: The degree to which a person
psychologically identifies with his/her work.
2.
Organizational Commitment: The extent to which a
person identifies with an organization. It is regarded as a
multidimensional attitude (One with parts):
a. a strong belief and acceptance of an
organization’s goals and values.
b. a willingness to exert effort on behalf of the
organization (e.g., overtime, United Way)
c. a strong desire to remain a member of the organization
3.
Others: Professionalism, union commitment, perceived
justice, perceived organizational support
Individual Differences
•
•
•
•
Perceptions
Attributions (special case)
Attitudes
Values
…more fundamental beliefs
about conduct or existence.
Heavily influenced by culture
or historical era.
• Personality
EXAMPLES OF VALUES:
* The importance of the individual vs. the collective
* Democracy or freedom - existence
* Fair-play -conduct
* Hard work
* Open mindedness
* Self-reliance
* Equality
* Family
* Comfortable life
* Hospitality (gift exchanges, alcohol)
MYSTERY VALUE EXERCISE
Response Options:
SD D
N
A
SA
1
3
4
5
2
1. Hard work makes a man or woman a better person
2. Wasting time is as bad as wasting money.
3. A good indication of a person’s worth is how well he
or she does the job.
4. If all other things are equal, it is better to have a job
with a lot of responsibility than one with little
responsibility.
Personality
•Enduring aspects of a person which emerge from
physiological, psychological, and socialization factors.
•Data from identical twins reared apart and together
suggest that most variance in personality is due to
heredity:
50%
Heredity/genes (physiological)
20-35%
Environment
15-30%
Transient states and
measurement error
• Uses (understanding, fit, selection), MMPI
Personality Measure
1 = strongly disagree
2 = disagree
3 = slightly disagree
4 = neither disagree nor agree
5 = slightly agree
6 = agree
7 = strongly agree
1. When I get what I want it’s usually because I worked
hard for it.
2. When I make plans I am almost certain to make them
work.
3. I prefer games involving some luck over games
requiring pure skill.
4. I can learn almost anything if I set my mind to it.
5. My major accomplishments are entirely due to my hard
work and ability.
6. I usually don’t set goals, because I have a hard time following
through on them.
7. Competition discourages excellence.
8. Often people get ahead just by being lucky.
9. On any sort of exam or competition, I like to know how well I do
relative to everyone else.
10. It’s pointless to keep working on something that’s too difficult
for me.
Scoring for X Personality Trait
* Reverse score items 3, 6, 7, 8, and 10
1=7
4=4
2=6
5=3
3=5
6=2
* Add the scores for all 10 items
* High scores = internal locus of control
Low scores = external locus of control
7=1
Locus of control refers to whether one
believes life is more under personal control
or environmental control.
• Internals are more
satisfied/involved with their
jobs, absent less, perform
better when they can exert
control, adjust to
international assignments
well
• Externals prefer directive
styles of supervision; they
value friendly coworkers &
considerate supervision
The Future: The "Big Five"
Personality Model
* Extraversion
* Agreeableness
* Conscientiousness
* Emotional Stability
* Openness to Experience
SUMMARY STRATEGY FOR HANDLING INDIVIDUAL
DIFFERENCES
Less Permanent,
More Permanent
More Situational,
Take as a given and
Subject to managerial influence
deal with
Perceptions
Attributions
Attitudes
Values
Personality
Changeable Deep-Seated
Highly variable
within and
across individuals
Influenced by
Work Groups, Peers
Has biological
component.
Socialization.