W2 Human Behaviour & Motivation

Self-awareness

Being aware of the internal aspects of one’s nature, such as personality traits, beliefs, emotions, attitudes and perceptions, and appreciating how your patterns affect other people.

An Attitude

is an evaluation – either positive or negative – that predisposes a person to act in a certain way.

Understanding attitudes are important for managers

because attitudes determine how people perceive the work environment, interact with others and behave on the job.

Components of an Attitude

1. Cognitive (Thoughts) 2. Affective (Feelings) 3. Behavioural (Intentions)

Perception

is the cognitive process that people use to make sense out of the environment by selecting, organising and interpreting information from the environment.

Perceptual Process

1. Observe info with senses 2. Screen info & selecting what to process 3. Organise selected data into patterns for interpretation & response

Traits fit into 5 General Dimensions

(Big 5) Extroversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Openness to Experience

Grit

An individual’s passion and persistence for achieving a long-term goal

Authoriarianism

Authoritarianism refers to the belief that power and status differences should exist within the organisation.

Emotional contagion

is the tendency of people to absorb and express the emotions, moods and attitudes of those around them.

Emotional Intelligence

1. Self-Awareness 2. Self-management 3. Social awareness 4. Relationship management

Stress

is an individual’s physiological and emotional response to external stimuli that creates physical or psychological demands exceeding the individual’s knowledge, abilities or resources when important outcomes are at stake.

Causes of Work Stress

1. Role Ambiguity 2. Role Conflict

Challenge stress vs threat stress

Challenge stress fires you up, whereas threat stress burns you out. • The point at which things tip over from challenge stress (good) to threat stress (bad) may vary with each individual

Presenteeism

which refers to people who go to work but are too stressed and distracted to be productive.

The Type A behaviour pattern

includes extreme competitiveness, impatience, aggressiveness and devotion to work.

The Type B behaviour pattern

exhibits fewer of these behaviours and consequently individuals experience less conflict with other people and a more balanced, relaxed lifestyle

Motivation

refers to the forces either within or external to a person that arouse enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain course of action.

Intrinsic rewards

are the satisfactions a person receives in the process of performing a particular action.

Extrinsic rewards

are given by another person, typically a manager, and include promotions, praise and pay increases.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

People are motivated to satisfy lower-level needs before higher-level needs. Physiological → Safety → Social → Esteem → Self-actualisation

ERG

ERG has 3 categories rather than 5 and multiple needs can motivate someone at the same time. - Existence (Basic material and physical needs, such as pay, food and safety.) → Relatedness (Relationships and social interaction with others.) → Growth (Personal development, achievement and reaching potential.)

Herzberg 2 Factor Theory

Hygiene = prevents dissatisfaction. Motivators = creates satisfaction/motivation.

Acquired Needs

Achievement (Desire to succeed, accomplish challenging goals and receive feedback.), Affiliation (Desire for relationships, acceptance and belonging) and Power (Desire to influence or control others.) (AAP).

Adam's Equity Theory

Employees compare their input-output ratio with that of others. What employees contribute vs receive

Employee Response to Inequality

• Changing evaluations of inputs and/or outputs in their own minds (cognitive distortions) • Changing work efforts (e.g. putting in less effort) • Changing outcomes (e.g. negotiating increased rewards; or seizing them…) • Leaving the job

Challenge of Achieving Fairness

Cognitive biases influence equity perceptions (Egocentric Bias & Fundamental Attribution Error)

Egocentric bias

I’m more aware of my contributions than your contributions; I think I’m above average

Fundamental attribution error

I interpret my own failures as situational, but interpret your failures as dispositional

Goal-setting theory

Proposes that managers can increase motivation and enhance performance by setting specific, challenging goals, then helping people track their progress towards goal achievement by providing timely feedback.

Behaviour modification

the name given to the set of techniques by which reinforcement theory is used to modify human behaviour.

The law of effect

behaviour that is positively reinforced tends to be repeated and behaviour that is not reinforced tends not to be repeated.

Reinforcement

is defined as anything that causes a certain behaviour to be repeated or inhibited.

Social learning theory

proposes that an individual’s motivation can result from observations of other people’s behaviour.

Vicarious learning

occurs when an individual sees others perform certain behaviours and be rewarded for them.

Empowerment

enabling people to choose how to carry their tasks and use their creativity, and to influence substantive decisions

Meaningfulness

helping people understand the purpose of the work and experience pride

Job Crafting

the bottom-up process of employees proactively redefining and reimagining their job designs in personally meaningful ways (i.e. better fit their needs, talents, interests)