Managing Individual Differences & Behavior Chapter Eleven Managing Individual Differences & Behavior

Formal and Informal Aspects of an Organization The Organization Informal McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Organizational Behavior Organizational behavior: which is dedicated to better understanding and management of people at work. Looks at: Individual behavior Group behavior Values & Attitudes Values: are abstract ideas that guide one’s thinking and behavior across all situations. Attitudes: learned predispositions toward given objects. When Attitudes & Reality Collide: Cognitive Dissonance Cognitive Dissonance: the psychological discomfort a person experiences between his or her cognitive attitude and incompatible behavior. Work Related Attitudes: Job Satisfaction, Involvement, & Organizational Commitment Job Satisfaction: is the extent to which you feel positively or negatively about various aspects of your job. Job Involvement: is the extent to which you identify or are personally involved with your job. Organizational Commitment: reflects the extent to which an employee identifies with an organization and is committed to its goals. McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Big Five Personality Dimensions Extroversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Emotional stability Openness to experience Four Important Traits in Organizations Locus of Control: indicates how much people believe they control their 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. Self-Monitoring: the extent to which people are able to observe their own behavior and adapt it to external situations. The Four Steps in the Perceptual Process Selective Attention Interpretation & Evaluation Storing in Memory Retrieving From Memory To Make Judgments & Decisions McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Three Distortions in Perception Selective perception: “I don’t want to hear that.” Stereotyping: “those sorts of people are pretty much the same.” The halo effect: “one trait tells me all I need to know.” The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Self-fulfilling prophecy: describes the phenomenon in which people’s expectations of themselves or others leads them to behave in ways that make those expectations come true. Causal Attribution Causal attribution: is the activity of inferring causes for observed behavior. Attributional Tendencies Fundamental attribution: people attribute another person’s behavior to his or her personal characteristics rather than to situational factors. Self-serving bias: people tend to take more personal responsibility for success than for failure. McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

What is Stress? Stress: is 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. The Consequences of Stress Physiological signs Sweaty palms Restlessness Backaches Headaches Upset stomach Nausea Psychological signs Boredom Irritability Nervousness Anger Anxiety Hostility depression Behavioral signs: Sleeplessness Changes in eating habits Increased smoking/alcohol/drug abuse Reducing Stressors in the Organization Create a supportive organizational climate Make jobs interesting Make career counseling available

Five Sources of Stress Stress! Individual Task Demands Individual Role Group Demands Organizational Demands Non-work Demands McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.