Psych of Work Part 1 Final

Traditional Management

Managerial style focused on decision-making, planning, and controlling (32% of the time)

Communication

Managerial style focused on exchanging information and processing paperwork (29% of the time)

Human Resources Management

Managerial style focused on motivation, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing, and training (20% of the time)

Networking

Managerial style focused on socializing, politicking, and interacting with others (19% of the time)

Organizational Behavior (OB)

A field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structures have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness (studies what people do in organizations and how their behavior affects the organization’s performance)

Systematic Study

Looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence

Evidence-based management

basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence

• advocates against making decisions “on the fly”

Intuition

An instinctive feeling not necessarily supported by research

Psychology

the science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans other animals

Social Psychology

An area of psychology that blends concepts from psychology and sociology to focus on the influence of people on one another

Sociology

The study of people in relation to their social environment or culture

Anthropology

The study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities

Contingency Variables

Situational factors or variables that moderate the relationship between two or more variables

Globalization

The process in which worldwide integration and interdependence is promoted across national borders

Workforce diversity

concept that organizations are becoming more heterogenous in terms of gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other characteristics

Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS)

An area of OB research that concerns how organizations develop human strengths, foster vitality and resilience, and unlock potential

Ethical dilemmas and ethical choices

situations in which individuals are required to define right and wrong conduct

Model

An abstraction of reality, a simplified representation of some real-world phenomena

Inputs

Variables like personality, group structure, and organizational culture that lead to processes

Processes

Actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result of inputs and that lead to certain outcomes

Outcomes

key factors that are affected by some other variables

Attitudes

Evaluative statements that employees make, ranging from positive to negative, about objects, people or events

• reflect how we feel about something

• 3 components: cognitive, affective, and behavioral

Stress

A psychological process in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, demand, or resource related to what the individual desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important

Task Performance

The combination of effectiveness and efficiency at doing core job tasks

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

Discretionary behavior that contributes to the psychological and social environment of the workplace

Withdrawal behavior

The set of actions employees take to separate themselves from the organization

Group Cohesion

The extent to which members of a group support and validate one another while at work

Productivity

The combination of the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization
- considered this if an organization achieves its goals by transforming inputs into outputs at the lowest cost level

Group functioning

The quantity and quality of a group’s work output

• greater than the sum of individual task perfomances

Effectiveness

The degree to which an organization meets the needs of its clientele or customers

• when it attains its sales or market share goals

Efficiency

The degree to which an organization can achieve its ends at a low cost

• ROI, output per hour of labor

Organizational Survival

The degree to which an organization is able to exist and grow over the long term

• depends on an organization’s productivity and environmental fit

Critical Thinking

Involves purposeful and goal-directed thinking used to make decisions or form judgments related to a situation or set of circumstances

Communication

Defined as the effective use of oral, written, and nonverbal communication skills for multiple purposes; effective listening; and the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of communication efforts

Collaboration

Skill in which individuals can actively work together on a task

Knowledge application and analysis

Defined as the ability to learn a concept and then apply that knowledge appropriately in another setting to achieve a higher level of understanding

Social Responsibility

Includes skills related to both business ethics and corporate responsibility

Business ethics

Includes sets of guiding principles that influence the way individuals and organizations behave within the society that they operate

Corporate Social Responsibility

Form of ethical behavior that requires that organizations understand, identify, and eliminate unethical economic, environmental, and social behaviors

Person-job fit theory

A theory that identifies six personality types and proposes that the fit between personality type and occupational environment determines satisfaction and turnover

Person-organization Fit

A theory that people are attracted to and selected by organizations that match their values and leave when there is no compatibility

Person-group fit

poor fit in this area can lead to lower job satisfaction and reduced performance

Personality

The sum of ways in which an individuals reacts to and interacts with the world around them

Personality Traits

Enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

A personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types

Big Five Model

A personality model that proposes five basic dimensions (conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness) encompass most of the differences in human personality

Conscientiousness

A personality dimension that describes someone who is responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized

Emotional stability

characterizes someone as calm, self-confident, and secure (positive) versus nervous, anxious and insecure (negative)

Extraversion

A personality dimension describing someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive

Openness to experience

A personality dimension that characterizes someone in terms of imaginations, artistic sensitivity, and curiosity

Agreeableness

A personality dimension characterized by someone who is good natured, cooperative, and trusting

Dark Triad

A constellation of negative personality traits consisting of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy

Machiavellianism

The degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify the means

• helps in short-term but not long-term

Narcissism

Tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive admiration, and have a sense of entitlement

• can be hypersensitive and fragile

Psychopathy

The tendency for a lack of concern for others and a lack of guilt or remorse when actions cause harm

Core Self-Evaluations (CSEs)

bottom-line conclusions individuals have about their capabilities, competence, and worth as a person

• higher is better

Self-monitoring

A personality trait that measures an individual’s ability to adjust their behavior to external, situational factors

• higher scores show less commitment to organizations, but better performance ratings

Proactive personalities

people who identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs

Situation Strength Theory

A theory indicating that the way personality translates into behavior depends on the strength of the situation

• its components are: clarity, consistency, constraints, and consequences

Trait Activation Theory (TAT)

A theory that predicts that some situations, events, or interventions “activate” a trait more than others
- using this, you can foresee which jobs suit certain personalities

Values

Basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence

Value system

a hierarchy based on a ranking of an individual’s values in terms of their intensity

Terminal Values

Desirable end-states of existence; the goals a person would like to achieve during their lifetime

• prosperity, economic success, freedom, health and well-being, world peace, and meaning in life

Instrumental values

Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one’s terminal values

• autonomy, self-reliance, personal disciplines, kindness, and goal-oriented behavior

Power distance

A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally

• higher means more inequality

Individualism

A national cultural attribute that describes the degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups

Collectivism

A national cultural attribute that describes a tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of which they are a part to look after them and protect them

Masculinity

A national cultural attribute that describes the extent to which the culture favors traditional masculine work roles of achievement, power, and control.

• societal values are characterized by assertiveness and materialism

Femininity

A national cultural attribute that indicates little differentiation between male and female roles

• high rating means women are treated as the equals of men in all aspects of society

Uncertainty Avoidance

A national cultural attribute that describes the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them

Long-term oriented cultures

a national culture attribute that emphasizes the future, thrift, and persistence
- believe the world is constantly changing

Short-term orientation

A national cultural attribute that emphasizes the present and accepts change

Surface-level diversity

Differences in easily perceived characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, or disability, that do not necessarily reflect the way people think or feel but that may activate certain stereotypes

Deep-level diversity

differences in values, personality, and work preferences that become progressively more important for determining similarity as people get to know one another better

Discrimination

Noting a difference between bad things; not necessarily a bad thing, but it is if it is unfair

Unfair discrimination

making judgments about individuals based on stereotypes regarding their demographic group

Stereotyping

Judging someone based on one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs

Stereotype threat

The degree to which we are concerned with being judged by or treated negatively based on a certain stereotype

Biographical Characteristics

Personal characteristics—such as age, gender, race, length of tenure—that are objective and easily obtained from personnel records.

• representative of surface-level diversity

Race

The heritage people use to identify themselves

Ethnicity

The additional set of cultural characteristics that often overlaps with race

Cultural Identity

A link with the culture of family ancestry that lasts a lifetime, no matter where the individual may live in the world

Cultural Intelligence (CQ)

Ability to function with people of various cultural backgrounds, which can enable employees to work more effectively with one another in organizations

Ability

An individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job

• two types: intellectual and physical

Intellectual abilities

The capacity to do mental activities - thinking, reasoning, and problem solving

General mental ability (GMA)

An overall factor of intelligence, as suggested by the positive correlations among specific intellectual ability dimensions

Physical abilities

The capacity to do tasks that demand stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics

Diversity management

The process and programs by which managers make everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others

Fault Lines

The perceived dimensions that split groups into two or more subgroups based on individual differences such as sex, race, work experience, language, and education

Cognitive Component

The opinion or feeling segment of an attitude
- “my pay is low”

Affective Component

The emotional or feeling segment of an attitude
- “I am angry over how little I’m paid”

Behavioral Component

An intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something

• “I’m going to look for another job that pays better”

Cognitive Dissonance

Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes between behavior and attitudes

Organizational Identification

The extent to which employees define themselves by the same characteristics that define one’s organization, forming the basis for which attitudes are endangered

Job Satisfaction

A positive feeling about one’s job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics

• A person high in this holds positive feelings about the work

• If low, it is the best predictor of intent to leave

Job Involvement

The degree to which an employee identifies with a job, actively participates in it, and considers performance important to their self-worth

• a person high in this strongly identifies with and cares about the kind of work they do; as such, they tend to be more satisfied with jobs

Organizational Commitment

The degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization

• emotional attachment to an organization is the gold standard for employee commitment

Psychological empowerment

employees’ belief in the degree to which they affect their work environment, their competence, the meaningfulness of their job, and their perceived autonomy in their work

Perceived Organizational Support (POS)

The degree to which employees believe an organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being

Employee engagement

The degree of enthusiasm an employee feels for their job