Chapter Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter you should be able to:

1. Explain the nature of the individual-organization

relationship.
2. Define personality and describe personality attributes that
affect behavior in organizations.
3. Discuss individual attitudes in organizations and how they
affect behavior.
4. Describe basic perceptual processes and the role of
attributions in organizations.
5. Explain how workplace behaviors can directly or indirectly
influence organizational effectiveness.

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 People in Organizations
• Psychological Contract
–A person’s overall set of expectations regarding what
he or she will contribute to the organization and what
the organization, in return, will provide to the individual
–Individuals contribute effort, skills, ability, time, loyalty
–Organizations provide inducements in the form of
tangible/intangible rewards

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FIGURE 3.1 The Psychological Contract

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 People in Organizations

• Person-Job Fit
–The extent to which the contributions made by the
individual match the inducements offered by the
organization
• Individual Differences
–Personal attributes that vary
from one person to another

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 Personality and Organizations

• The “Big Five” Personality Traits

–A set of fundamental traits that are especially relevant
to organizations

Agreeableness The ability to get along with others

Conscientiousness The number of goals on which a person focuses

Neuroticism Experiencing anger, anxiety, moodiness/insecurity

Extraversion The quality of being comfortable with relationships

Openness The capacity to entertain new ideas and to change

as a result of new information

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FIGURE 3.2 The “Big Five” Personality Framework

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 Personality and Organizations (cont’d)

• The Myers-Briggs Framework

–Differentiation across four general dimensions
• Sensing
• Intuiting
• Judging
• Perceiving
–Sixteen personality classifications result from the
higher and lower positions of the general dimensions
–Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a popular
questionnaire used to assess personality types
• Communications styles
• Interaction preferences

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 Personality and Organizations (cont’d)

• Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

–The extent to which people are self-aware, can
manage their emotions, can motivate themselves,
express empathy for others, and possess social skills
• Dimensions of EQ
–Self-awareness
–Managing emotions
–Motivating oneself
–Empathy
–Social skills

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 Other Personality Traits at Work
Locus of Control The extent to which a person believes his/her
circumstances are a function of either his/her own
actions or of external factors beyond his/her control

Self-Efficacy A person’s beliefs about his/her capabilities to

perform a task

Authoritarianism The belief that power and status differences are

appropriate within hierarchical social systems such
as organizations
Machiavellianism Behavior directed at gaining power and control of
others

Self-Esteem The extent to which a person believes he or she is a

worthwhile/deserving individual

Risk Propensity The degree to which a person is willing to take

chances and make risky decisions

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 Attitudes in Organizations

• Attitudes
–A person’s complexes of beliefs and feelings about
specific ideas, situations, other people

• Structural Components of Attitudes

–Cognition: the knowledge a person presumes to have
about something
–Affect: a person’s feelings toward something
–Intention: a component of an attitude that guides a
person’s behavior

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FIGURE 3.3 Attitude Formation

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 Attitudes in Organizations (cont’d)

• Cognitive Dissonance
–The anxiety a person experiences when he/she
simultaneously possesses two sets of knowledge or
perceptions that are contradictory or incongruent
• Why Attitudes Change
–Availability of new information
–Changes in the object of the attitude
–Object of the attitude becomes less important
–To reduce cognitive dissonance

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 Attitudes in Organizations
Key Work-Related Attitudes
Job satisfaction The extent to which a person is gratified or
fulfilled by his or her work
Organizational A person’s identification with and attachment
commitment to an organization
(job commitment)

Affect and Mood in Organizations

Positive affectivity Upbeat and optimistic, overall sense of well-
being, seeing things in a positive light
Negative affectivity Downbeat and pessimistic, seeing things in a
negative way, seeming to be in a bad mood

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 Perception in Organizations

• Perception
–The set of processes by which an individual becomes
aware of and interprets information about the
environment
• Selective perception
• Stereotyping
• Attribution Theory
–We attribute causes to behavior based on our
observations of certain characteristics of that behavior
• Consensus
• Consistency
• Distinctiveness

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FIGURE 3.4 Basic Perceptual Processes

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FIGURE 3.5 The Attribution Process

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 Types of Workplace Behavior

• Workplace Behavior
–A pattern of action by the members of an organization
that directly or indirectly influences organizational
effectiveness
• Performance Behaviors
–All of the total set of work-related behaviors that the
organization expects the individual to display

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 Types of Workplace Behavior (cont’d)

• Dysfunctional Behaviors
–Behaviors that detract from
organizational performance
• Absenteeism: when an individual does
not show up for work
• Turnover: when people quit their jobs

• Organizational Citizenship
–The extent to which a person’s
behavior makes a positive overall
contribution to the organization

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 Organizational Behavior in Action
• After reading the chapter:
–What specifically would convince you that an
organization would be likely to honor its psychological
contract with you?
–What actions could you personally take to increase the
person-job fit for your first job after graduation?
–Which of the “Big Five” personality traits would be the
easiest to fake in an interview? Which would be the
hardest?

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