Organizational Behavior: Individual Attributes, Attitudes, and Emotions

Diversity

A state of having or being composed of differing attributes

Benefits of Diversity

Helps us to learn, aides in decision making, contributes to a greater quantity and quality of ideas, broader support when a decision is made, can contribute to positive experiences

Social Categorization Theory

We use characteristics to categorize others into groups

Stereotypes

A general perception about a group of people with similar characteristics

Abilities

Innate capabilities to perform a specific task

Cognitive abilities

Characteristics of a person's intellect and its functioning, including verbal reasoning, verbal and quantitative processing and comprehension, memory and spatial and perceptual recognition

Personality

The unique and relatively stable pattern of behaviors, thoughts, and emotions shown by individuals

Big 5 Personality Scale

A model that describes five key dimensions of personality

Locus of Control

Person's consistent belief about the sources of success and failure, internal vs. external

Grit

A passion and perseverance for long-term goals

Job Satisfaction

A person's general attitude toward his or her job and job experiences

Job involvement

The extent to which a person thinks about, is immersed in, and is concerned about his or her job

Organizational Commitment

An attachment or bond to a particular organization

Perception

The state of what individuals are thinking about what they are experiencing

Impression Management

An active attempt to limit or influence the information the perceiver receives

Selective perception

Screening out information that contradicts an existing perception

Cognitive dissonance

The uncomfortable mental state we experience if a current perception, belief, or behavior conflicts with a past perception, deeply held belief, or previous behavior

Emotions

What you FEEL about the information you see, hear, and experience

Emotional Labor

The display and management of appropriate emotion as part of fulfilling job responsibilities

Emotional Intelligence

The innate or developed capability to recognize, manage, and exercise emotions in relationships

Keys to talking about feelings

Don't ignore them, acknowledge people's feelings first, then problem-solve