1. Attitudes and Job Satisfaction
Chapter THREE
Attitudes and Job Satisfaction
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

2. Attitudes
Cognitive component The opinion or belief segment of an attitude.
Attitudes
Evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events.
Affective Component The emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.
Behavioral Component An intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

3. The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.
Individuals seek to reduce this gap, or “dissonance”
Desire to reduce dissonance depends on
Importance of elements creating dissonance
Degree of individual influence over elements
Rewards involved in dissonance
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

4. Measuring the A-B Relationship
Recent research indicates that attitudes (A) significantly predict behaviors (B) when moderating variables are taken into account. A B
Moderating Variables
Importance of the attitude (more important, more influence)
Specificity of the attitude (specific attitude, specific behavior)
Accessibility of the attitude (more mentioning, more influence on behavior)
Social pressures on the individual (doing something against will due to social pressure)
Direct experience with the attitude (direct experience makes attitude stronger)
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

5. Types of Attitudes
Job Satisfaction A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that an individual holds toward his or her job.
Job Involvement Identifying with the job, actively participating in it, and considering performance important to self-worth.
Organizational Commitment Identifying with a particular organization and its goals, and wishing to maintain membership in the organization (Affective, Normative, and Continuance Commitment)
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

6. Types of Attitudes, cont’d.
Perceived Organizational Support (POS)
Degree to which employees feel the organization cares about their well-being.
Employee perceives their organization to be supportive when-
Rewards are fair
Employees have a voice in decision making
Supervisors are seen as supportive
When POS is strong, employees are more likely to have higher level of organizational citizenship behavior and job performance
New Concept
Employee Engagement
An individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for the organization.
Highly engaged employee have a passion for work and feel a deep connection with the company.
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

7. Job Satisfaction Measuring Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction: A positive feeling about a job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics (Nature of work, supervision, pay, company policies, coworkers, working conditions etc.)
Measuring Job Satisfaction
Single global rating (response to 1 question)
Summation score (response on some KEY elements of the job)
Rating on standardized scale
Researchers add the ratings to create an overall score
How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs?
In general, people are satisfied with their jobs.
Depends on facets of satisfaction—tend to be less satisfied with pay and promotion opportunities.
Which approach is the better?
The answer: BOTH!
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8. What causes Job Satisfaction?
Work itself- 78%
Pay- 58%
Promotion- 20%
Supervision- 66%
Coworkers- 78%
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

9. Causes of Job Satisfaction
Pay only influences Job Satisfaction to a point
After about $40,000 a year, there is no relationship between amount of pay and job satisfaction.
Personality can influence job satisfaction
Negative people are usually not satisfied with their jobs
Negative core self evaluation, low confidence/belief in self worth and basic competence
Less ambitious goals
Stuck in boring, repetitive jobs
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

10. How Employees Can Express Dissatisfaction
Active
Exit
Behavior directed toward leaving the organization.
Voice
Active and constructive attempts to improve conditions. (suggestion, union activities etc.)
Destructive
Constructive
Loyalty
Passively waiting for conditions to improve.
Neglect
Allowing conditions to worsen. (Absence, lateness, reduced effort, more error)
Passive
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11. The Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance
Satisfaction and Productivity
Satisfied workers are more productive AND more productive workers are more satisfied!
Worker productivity is higher in organizations with more satisfied workers.
Satisfaction and Absenteeism
Satisfied employees have fewer avoidable absences.
Satisfaction and Turnover
Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.
Organizations take actions to retain high performers and to weed out lower performers.
So, regardless of satisfaction level, organization tries to retain high performers
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

12. Job Satisfaction and OCB (Org. Citizenship behavior)
Satisfaction and OCBs
Satisfied employees who feel fairly treated by and are trusting of the organization are more willing to engage in behaviors that go beyond the normal expectations of their job.
Moderate correlation between job satisfaction and OCB
Comes from perception of fairness. Fairness leads to trust AND trust leads to OCB
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

13. Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction
Satisfied workers provide better customer service
Satisfied employees increase customer satisfaction because:
They are more friendly, upbeat, and responsive.
They are less likely to turnover, which helps build long-term customer relationships.
They are experienced.
The reverse relationship is also true.
Dissatisfied customers increase employee job dissatisfaction.
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

14. Measuring Job Satisfaction is important
Some times, managers tend to think that everything is OK. But the reality might be quite the opposite.
Only a survey (or any other research) can identify the true picture.
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

15. Chapter Check-Up: Attitudes
In general, when we think of attitudes and organizations, we think of
1) Job Satisfaction
2) Happiness
3) Job Involvement
4) Mood at work
5) Organizational Commitment
6) 1 and 2
7) 1, 3, and 5
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

16. Chapter Check-Up: Attitudes
Ernesto is the known as the Donut Hut King---every day he brings donuts and coffee to the office for everyone. He says it helps everyone think more clearly! Ernesto is demonstrating
Job satisfaction
Organizational citizenship behavior
Productivity
Job involvement
Conscientiousness
Write down three things someone could do at work that would constitute an OCB. Compare your list with a neighbor’s.
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.