Chapter 11: Managing Individual Differences & Behavior McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Right Reserved

Major Questions You Should Be Able to Answer 11.1 In the hiring process, do employers care about one’s personality and individual traits? 11.2 How do the hidden aspects of individuals-their values and attitudes-affect employee behavior? 11.3 Is it important for managers to pay attention to employee attitudes? 11.4 What are the distortions of perception that can cloud one’s judgment? 11.5 What causes workplace stress, and how can it be reduced? 11-2

Personality: Stable psychological traits and behavioral attributes that give a person his or her identity. 11-3

The Big Five Personality Dimensions Extroversion How outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive a person is Agreeableness How trusting, good-natured, cooperative, and soft-hearted one is. Conscientiousness How dependable, responsible, achievement-oriented and persistent one is. Emotional Stability How relaxed, secure, and unworried one is. Openness to Experience How intellectual, imaginative, curious, and broadminded one is. 11-4

Five Traits Important in Organizations Locus of Control indicates how much people believe they control their own fate through their own efforts Self-Efficacy belief in one’s personal ability to do a task Self-Esteem the extent to which people like or dislike themselves, their overall self-evaluation Self-Monitoring the extent to which people are able to observe their own behavior and adapt it to external situations Emotional Intelligence the ability to cope to empathize with others, and to be self motivated 11-5

Values Abstract ideals that guide one’s thinking and behavior across all situations Examples: recognition, status, principals Values are those concepts, principals, things, people, or activities for which a person is willing to work hard – even make sacrifices for. 11-6

Components of Attitudes A learned predisposition toward a given object Affective – “I feel” – Feelings or emotions one has about a situation Cognitive – “I believe” – Beliefs and knowledge one has about a situation Behavioral – “I intend” – How one intends or expects to behave toward a situation 11-7

Work-Related Attitudes Employee Engagement – How connected are you to your work? Job Satisfaction– How much do you like or dislike your job? Organizational Commitment– How well do you identify with your organization and commit to its goals? 11-8

Managers Evaluate Behavior… When Employees are Not Working Absenteeism-when employees don’t show up for work Turnover-when employees leave their jobs That Harms the Organization Counterproductive Work Behaviors (alcohol abuse, tardiness, violence, theft, etc.) When Employees are Working Performance and Productivity That Exceeds Work Roles Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (suggestions for improvement, training others, punctuality, etc.) 11-9

The Perceptional Process 1. Selective Attention: Did I notice something? 2. Interpretation and Evaluation: What was it I noticed and what does it mean? 3. Storing in Memory: Remember it as an event, concept, person or all three? 4. Retrieving from memory to make judgements and decisions: What do I recall about what? 11-10

Four Distortions in Perception Selective Perception The tendency to filter out information that is discomforting, that seems irrelevant, or that contradicts one’s belief. Stereotyping The tendency to attribute to an individual the characteristics one believes are typical of the group to which that individual belongs. 11-11

Four Distortions in Perception The Halo Effect When we form an impression of an individual based on a single trait. Causal Attribution The activity of inferring causes for observed behavior. 11-12

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy (The Pygmalion Effect) – the phenomenon in which people’s expectations of themselves or others lead them to behave in ways that make those expectations come true. 11-13

Stress The tension people feel when they are facing or enduring extraordinary demands, constraints, or opportunities and are uncertain about their ability to handle them effectively. 11-14

Source of Stress Individual Differences: The stress created by genetic or personality characteristics Individual Task Demands: The stress created by the job itself Individual Role Demands: The stress created by others’ expectations (Role overload, Role conflict, and Role ambiguity) Group Demands: The stress created by co-workers and managers Organizational Demands: The stress created by the environment and culture Nonwork Demands: The stresses created by forces outside the organization 11-15