Organizational behavior Exam 1

Chapters 3 + 4

Term

Definition/How it shows up

Attitudes

Overall evaluation (positive/negative) of an object, person, event; shown in how someone thinks/feels/acts towards work

Cognitive component

Beliefs/thoughts about something (my pay is low/ my boss is unfair)

Affective component

Feelings/emotions about something (Im angry/ excited about my job)

Behavioral Component

Intentions/actions driven by attitude (Im going to quit / complain / work harder)

Attitude-behavior relationship

Attitudes often predict behavior, but not always; stronger when attitudes are important, accessible, match behavior, based on direct experience, and when social pressure is low

Cognitive dissonance

Discomfort when behavior conflicts with beliefs/attitudes; people reduce it by changing attitude, changing behavior, or rationalizing

Organizational Identification

When employees define themselves by their organization (“We” language, pride, company, identity)

Job Satisfaction

Positive feeling about a job from evaluating its characteristic, overall “do you like my job”

Job involvement

How much someone identifies psychologically with their job; performance affects self-worth

Psychological Empowerment

Feeling you have impact competence, meaning, and autonomy at work; leads to better performance/OCB/creativity

Organizational Commitment

Desire to remain with organization and identify with its goals “im staying here”

Affective Commitment

Staying because you WANT to (emotional attachment)

Normative Commitment

Staying because you OUGHT to (obligation/loyalty)

Continuance commitment

Staying because you NEED to (cost of leaving/no alternatives)

Perceived organizational support (POS)

Belief the organization values you and cares about your well being; “company has my back”

Power Distance

Cultural acceptance of unequal power; (High=dont challenge bosses, Low=expect voice/fairness)

Employee engagement

Enthusiasm/energy/devotion to work; beyond satisfaction (heart and soul at work)

Job Satisfaction measurement: single global rating

One overall satisfaction question; quick and valid (“All things considered”)

Job Satisfaction measurement: Summation of job facets

Rate parts of the job (pay, supervision, coworkers, promotions, work itself); helps pinpoint problems

Job conditions (cause of satisfaction)

Satisfaction rises with interesting work, training, variety, independence/control, feedback, social support, and good supervision; toxic climates lower it

Personality and individual differences (cause)

Positive core self-evaluations, intelligence/complex job seeking, and person-job fit increase satisfaction.

Pay (cause)

Pay relates to satisfaction, especially via comparisons/fainess; but higher pay doesnt always mean higher satisfaction after “comfortable living”

Job performance (outcome)

Higher satisfaction tends to predict better individual performance

OCB (Organizational citizenship behavior)

Extra role helpful behaviors (helping, speaking positively, going above and beyond

Customer Satisfaction (Outcome)

In service roles, satisfied employees tend to create higher customer loyalty and satisfaction

Life satisfaction (outcome)

Job satisfaction spills into overall life happiness; unemployment lowers life satisfaction beyond just losing income

Exit EVLN

Active/destructive response to dissatisfaction; quit, resign, search for a new job

Voice (EVLN)

Active/constructive response: wait optimistically, defend org, trust leadership to fix it

Neglect (EVLN)

Passive/destructive response: reduced effort, lateness, absenteeism, errors

Counterproductive work behavior (CWB)

Deviant/withdrawal behaviors harming the org (stealing, excessive social media, gossip, substance abuse, absenteeism) ; often linked to dissatisfaction/unfairness

CWB “contagion”

team norms can spread CWB (High-absence teams nudge others to be absent)

Abusive supervision cycle

Abusive managers can trigger CWB. which can escalte more abuse (viscious cycle)

Absenteeism link -

Dissatisfied employees may be more, but relationship is weak and depends on alternatives + guilt

Turnover Link

Dissatisfaction more strongly predicts turnover; especially when other job opportunities are available

Push v pull turnover -

Push= leave because current job is unattractive; pull= leave because an attractive external offer exists

Embeddedness

Connections to job/organization/community that reduce turnover; can also make people feel stuck in toxic environments

Affect

Broad Range of Feeling people experience (emotions and moods) If a question asks the umbrella category→ affect

Emotions

Intense, discrete, short lived feelings,caused by a specific event. If boss criticises you and you feel anger→ emotion

Moods

Longer-lived, less intense feelings that often lack a clear cause. Use: you feel “off” or gloomy most of the day with no reason

Valence

How positive or negative a feeling is. Use: if asked whether a feeling is favorable/unfavorable (happy v frusterated)

Positive Affect (PA)

Definition: A dimension of affect mad eup of positive emotions (excited, enthusiastic, elated)

Negative Affect (PA)

Dimension of Affect made up of negative emotions (nervous, stressed, anxious) Use: Someone who frequesntly feels tense or worried at work has high NA

Affective Circumplex

Model that arranges emotions by degree of positive affect and negative affect. Use: if a question gives an emotion adn asks where it fits→ circumplex

Basic/universal Emotions

Commonly agreed set: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, suprise.”Universal across culture” → those 6

Moral Emotions

Emotions tied to moral judgements of right/wrong (guilt, anger, injustice) Seeing a coworker make a racist remark and feeling disgust/anger

Positivity Offset

When nothing is happening, most people tend to feel mildly positive. Normal day with no major events, in a good mood? Positivity onset

Trait component of affect

Some people naturally experience certain moods/emotions more often due to personality. 2 employees get the same feedback, one stays calm, other spirals, personality affects

Affect intensity

How strongly a person expirinces emotions (highs, lows) Someone gets a compliment and is over the mood or one critique and they crash

Time of Day affects

Mood shifts across the day. More upbeat mid morning, more irritable at night. Working overnight makes you feel worse emotionally

Circadian Rhythym Misalignment

When your internal clock doesnt match your scheduele. Working overnight can make you feel worse

Day of week effects

Many cultures show lowest PA on monday, higher PA fri-sun. “I hate monday” mood patters

Weather and Mood Myth

Weather usually has little actual effect on mood for most people. Does rain truly cause bad moods? NO

Illusory Correlation

Believing two things are connected when they arent. “Im depresssed when it rains” no your not

Stress as a mood source

Stressful work events (deadlines, nasty email, reprimand) increase negative emotions and strain over time. multiple small stressors piling up

Social Interactions

Interactions with others shape mood and emotions, can strengthen or dissolve relationships. Coworkers snaps at you, you feel angry and work is harder, social interraction exists

Spillover

Work emotions carry into home life. bad day at work→ short with your family that night

Sleep

Poor sleep hurts mood, decision making, emotion control. little sleep→ easier to snap at customers and feel drained

Excersice

regular exceriseice improves positive mood and reduces fatigue, workout after rough shift - > mood improves

Gender identitiy adn emotion steriotypes

Actual gender differences in emotion display are small; stereotypes shape perceptions. womens sadnss→ shes emotional. mens sadness→ hes had a bad day.

Emotional Labor

Expressing the orgs desider emotions during work interations. Retial worker must be friendly when annoyed→ emotional labor

Felt emotions

What you truly feel inside. You feel frusterated with a customer→ felt emotion

Displayed Emotions

Emotions you’re expected to show at work. Use: still smiling and sounding upbeat with the customer → displayed emotion

Display Rules

Organizational expectations for appropriate emotional expressions (w customers) Use: always smile, stay calm, be neutral

Surface Acting

Faking required emotions/ hiding true feelings (changes display, not inside feelings

Deep Acting

Trying to genuinely change how you feel to match the required display. Use: reframe a rude customer as having a bad day so you feel calmer

Emotional Dissocance

Conflict between felt emotions and displayed emotions. Use: feeling angry but acting cheerful all shift

Surface Acting Outcomes

Linked to higher stress, lower job satisfaction, exhaustion, absenteeism, insomnia,work family conflict. Use: constant “fake happy” → burnout symptoms show up

Deep Acting Outcomes

More job satisfaction, better performance, better customer treatment/tipcs (especially when work is challenging). Use: Servers who truly stay positive tend to get better tips

Individual Differences in Emotional Labor

Emotional Labor can be more taxing depending on personality (introverts v extroverts) + context. Use: introvert doing nonstop customer services may feel more drained

Bias in Emotional Labor

Stereotypes can force some groups (ex: Black workers) to do more emotional labor to be seen as warm

Affective Events Theory

Workplace Events cause emotional reactions that influence job satisfaction and performance

Accumulation of Events

Small emotional events matter because they build up over time. Use: Repeated small disrespectful moments → rising dissatisfaction

Emotional Intelligence

Ability to perceive emotions, understand them, regulate emotions based on that. Use: in conflict, someone reads the room, stays calm, responds tactfully → high EI

EI and work outcomes

EI related to teamwork, OCB, better performance in social roles (like sales), lower CWBs. Use: Sales leader with high EI builds cohesive team → better store results

Limits/Critiques of EI

Tests vary, may overlap with personailty/IQ, can be faked, not equally predistive for all jobs. Use: Using EI tests for a non-social job might not be valid

Testing Ethical Issues

Concerns include cultural bias, fiarness perceptions, job relevance, unclear measurment. Use: Applicant rejects company after unfair-feeling EI tests → negative hiring reaction

Emotional Regulation

Identifying and modifying emotions you feel. Use: calm yourself down before a presentation → emotion regulation

Emotion Regulation: Who struggles

Higher neoroticm + lower self-esteem → harder to regulate moods. Use: someone who spirals easily and can’t snap out of it

Suppression (emotional suppresion)

Pushing down emotional responses. Best use: short-term crisis. Bad use: hurts health, relationships, mental resources.

Cognitive Reappraisal

Reframing a situation to change your emotional response. Use: Losing a job→ viewing it as a chance to pivot careers

Social Sharing (Venting)

Talking through emotions; works best when listener validates/supports. Debriefing with a friend who actuallly listens → feel better

Venting Warning

Venting to the offender often worsens emotions; listener response determines effectiveness. Use: complaining directly to the person you’re mad at escalates conflict.

Emotion Regulation costs

Regulation takes effort, can incrase fatigue; sometimes trying to supress fear can intensify fear. Use: trying to force youself not to be anxious makes you more anxious

Customer Mistreatment →more regulaton →exhaustion

Jobs with frequent incivility often require more emotional regulation, raising exhaustion. Use: rude customers all day→ emotionally drained worker

Emotional contagion

Emotions spread from person to person (catching moods). Use: charasmatic leader’s positivity spreads to the team

EI Matters

EI is valuable for jobs requiring high social interaction (sales). Use: Air force recruits higher EI people.