BU 288

values

A broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs over others

power distance

The extent to which an unequal distribution of power is accepted by society members

uncertainty avoidance

The extent to which people are uncomfortable with uncertain and ambiguous situations

individualism vs. collectivism

Individualistic societies stress independence, individual initiative, and privacy. Collective cultures favour interdependence and loyalty to family or clan.

Cultural distance

the extent to which cultures differ in values.

Cultural tightness vs. looseness

The extent to which cultures have more or less strong standards for behavior and sanctions for deviation from these standards.

Cultural intelligence

The capability to function and manage well in culturally diverse environments.

Attitude

A fairly stable evaluative tendency to respond consistently to some specific object, situation, person, or category of people.

Job satisfaction

A collection of attitudes that workers have about their jobs

Discrepancy theory

A theory that job satisfaction stems from the discrepancy between the job outcomes wanted and the outcomes that are perceived to be obtained.

Distributive Fairness

Fairness that occurs when people receive the outcomes they think they deserve from their jobs.

equity theory

A theory that job satisfaction stems form a comparison of the input one invests in a job and the outcomes one receives in comparison with the inputs are outcomes of another person or group.

inputs

Anything that people give up, offer, or trade to their organization in exchange for outcomes.

outcomes

factors that an organization distributes to employees in exchange for their inputs.

procedural fairness

Fairness that occurs when the process used to determine work outcomes is seen as reasonable

interactional fairness

Fairness that occurs when people feel they have received respectful and informative communication about an outcome.

Emotions

Intense, often short-lived feelings caused by a particular event

moods

Less intense, longer-lived, and more diffuse feelings.

Emotional contagion

Tendency for moods and emotions to spread between people or throughout a group.

emotional labour

requirement for poeple to conform to emotional “display rules” in their job behavior in spite of their true mood or emotions.

dirty work

Jobs that have physical, social, or moral stigma attached to them.

organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB)

voluntary, informal behavior that contributes to organizational effectiveness.

counterproductive work behaviour

intentional verbal or physical behavior meant to harm one’s organization or individuals such as coworkers or customers

organizational commitment

an attitude that reflects the strength of the linkage between an employee and an organization

affective commitment

commitment based on identification and involvement with an organization

continuance commitment

commitment based on the costs that would be incurred in leaving an organization or a lack of suitable job alternatives.

normative commitment

commitment based on ideology or a feeling of obligation to an organization

stereotyping

The tendency to generalize about people in a certain social category and ignore variations among them.

central tendency

the tendency to assign most ratees to middle-range job performance categories

consistency cues

Attribution cues that reflect how consistently a person engages in a behavior over time.

organizational support theory

a theory that states that employees who have strong perceptions of organizational support feel an obligation to care about the organization’s welfare and to help the organization achieve its objectives.

dispositional attributions

explanations for behavior based on an actor’s personality or intellect

workforce diversity

differences among recruits and employees in characteristics such as gender, race, age, religion, cultural background, physical ability, or sexual orientation.

attribution

the process by which causes or motives are assigned to explain people’s behavior.

signalling theory

job applicants interpret their recruitment and selection experiences as cues or signals about unknown characteristics of a job an organization and what it will be like to work in an organization

similar-to-me effect

a rater gives more favourable evaluations to people who are similar to the rater in terms of background or attitudes.

leniency

The tendency to perceive the job performance of ratees as especially good

perceived supervisor support (PSS)

Employees general belief that their supervisor values their contribution and cares about their well-being

perception

the process of interpreting the messages of our senses to provide order and meaning to the environment.

halo effect

the rating of an individual on one trait or characteristic tends to colour ratings on other traits or characteristics

harshness

the tendency to perceive the job perfromance of ratees as especially ineffective

implicit personality theories

personal theories that people have about which personality characteristics go together.

frame-of-reference (FOR) training

a training method to improve rating accuracy that involves providing rates with a common frame of reference to use when rating individuals

fundamental attribution error

the tendency to overemphasize dispositional explanations for behavior at the expense of situational explanations.

recency effect

the tendency for a perceiver to rely on recent cues or last impressions

situational attributions

explanations for behavior based on an actor’s external situation or environment.

perceived organizational support (POS)

Employees’ general belief that their organization values their contribution and cares about their well-beingstereotype

stereotype threat

members of a social group feel they might be judged or treated according to a stereotype and that their behavior and/or performance will confirm the sterotype

behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS)

a rating scale with specific behavioral examples of good, average, and poor performances.

perceptual defence

the tendency for the perceptual system to defend the perceiver against unpleasant emotions.

central traits

personal characteristics of a target person that are of particular interest to a perceiver

social identity theory

A theory that states that people form perceptions of themselves based on their personal characteristics and memberships in social categories.

projection

the tendency for perceivers to attribute their own thoughts and feelings to others

trust

a psychological state in which one has a willingness to be vulnerable and to take risks with respect to the actions of another party.

consensus cues

attribution cues that reflect how a person’s behavior compares with that of others.

contrast effects

previously interview job applicants affect an interview’s perception of a current applicant, leading to an exaggeration of differences between applicants

self-serving bias

the tendency to take credit for successful outcomes and to deny responsibility for failures

distinctiveness cues

attribution cues that reflect the extent to which a person engages in some behavior across a variety of situations

actor-observer effect

the propensity for actors and observers to view the causes of the actor’s behavior differently

primacy effect

the tendency for a perceiver to rely on early cues or first impressions

diversity climate

the degree to which an organization advocates fair human resources policies, promotes equal employment opportunities and inclusion, and socially integrates underrepresented employees.

organizational climate

the shared perceptions that employees have about the organization’s policies, practices, and procedures and the behaviors that are expected, supported, and rewarded.

safety climate

shared perceptions of safety-related events practices, and procedures as well as the types of safety-oriented behaviors that are expected, supported, and rewarded.

norm of reciprocity

a felt obligation to help the organization achieve its goals and objectives in return for various resources obtained from the organization

personality

the relatively stable set of psychological characteristics that influences the way individuals interact with their enviornment

dispositional approach

individuals possess stable traits or characteristics that influence their attitudes and behaviours

situational approach

characteristics of the organizational setting influence people’s attitudes and behavior

interactionist approach

individuals’ attitudes and behavior are a function of both dispositions and the situation

trait activation theory

traits lead to certain behavior only when the situation makes the need for the trait salient

locus of control

a set of beliefs about whether one’s behavior is controlled mainly by internal or external forces

self-monitoring

the extent to which people observe and regulate how they appear and behave in social settings and relationships

self-esteem

the degree to which a person has a positive self-evaluation

behavioural plasticity theory

people with low self-esteem tend to be more susceptible to external social influences than those who have high self-esteem

positive affectivity

propensity to view the world, including oneself and other people, in a positive light.

negative affectivity

propensity to view the world, including oneself and other people in a negative light

proactive behavior

taking initiative to improve current circumstances or creating new ones

proactive personality

a stable personal disposition that reflects a tendency to take personal initiative across a range of activities and situations and to effect positive change in one’s environment

general self-efficacy (GSE)

a general trait that refers to an individuals’ belief in their ability to perform successfully in a variety of challenging situations.

core self-evaluations (CSEs)

refers to a broad personality concept that consists of more specific traits that reflect the evaluations people hold about themselves and their self-worth

learning

a relatively permanent change in behavior potential that occurs due to practice or experience

operant learning

learning by which the subject learns to operate on the environment to achieve certain consequences

reinforcement

the process by which stimuli strengthen behaviors

positive reinforcement

the application or addition of a stimulus that increases or maintains the probability of some behavior

negative reinforcement

the removal of a stimulus that in turn increases or maintains the probability of some behavior

performance feedback

providing quantitative or qualitative information on past performance for the purpose of changing or maintaining performance in specific ways

social recognition

informal acknowledgment, attention, praise, approval, or genuine appreciation for work well done from one individual or group to another.

extinction

the gradual dissipation of behavior following the termination of reinforcement

punishment

the application of an aversive stimulus following some behavior designed to dcrease the porbability of that behavior

social cognitive theory

emphasizes the role of cognitive processes in learning and in the regulation of people’s behavior

observational learning

the process of observing and imitating the behavior of others

self-efficacy beliefs

beliefs people have about their ability to successfully perform a specific task

self-regulation

the use of learning principles to regulate one’s own behavior

organizational behavior modification (O.B. Mod)

The systematic use of learning principles to influence organizational behavior

employee recognition programs

formal organizational programs that publicly recognize and reward employees for specifc behaviors

peer recognition programs

formal programs in which employees can publicly acknowledge, recognize, and reward their coworkers for exceptional work and performance

training and development

training is planned organizational activities that are designed to facilitate knowledge and skill acquistion to change behavior and improve performance on one’s current job: development focuses on future job responsibilites.

behavior modelling training (BMT)

training method in which trainees observe a model performing a task followed by opportunities to practice the observed behaviors.

hawthorne studies

research conducted in the 1920s and 1930s at the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric, near Chicago, that illustrated how psychological and social processes affect productivity and work adjustment

organizations

social inventions for accomplishing common goals through group effort

self-efficacy

confidence to take on and put in the necessary effort to succeed at challenging tasks.