Organizational Behaviour (Unit 3)

personality, perception & learning

Personality

• relatively stable set of psychological traits

• influences how individual interacts w their environment

• how person thinks/feels/behaves

• nature v. nurture

The Dark Triad

= group of neg personality traits, includes:

• narcissim

• psychopathy

• machiavellianism

all have: disagreeable, callous, dishonest, manipulation

Machiavellianism

• degree to which person is pragmatic, maintains em distance + believes that ends can justify means

• named after Niccolo Machiavelli

Narcissim

• arrogant, grandiose sense of self importance, require excessive admiration, sense of entitlement

• named for greek myth of Narcissus (youth very vain/proud → fell in love w own image)

Psychopathy

• lack of concern for others/guilt/remorse when actions cause others harm

• use of hard influence tacticts (ex. threats) + bullying

Dispositional vs. Situational vs. Interactionist Approach

D: stable traits influence their attitude/behaviour

S: traits of org setting influence peoples a/b

I: individuals a/b are result of dispositions/situation (predict behaviour → must know personality + work setting), most widely used

Trait Activation Theory

traits lead to spec behaviours only when situation makes need for trait noticeble

Five Factor Model of Personality

= framework for classifying personality traits into 5 dimensions, independent of eachother, score high:

1. Conscientiousness: responsible, achievement oriented, self disciplined, hard working (strongest predictor)

2. Agreeableness: friendly, approachable, eager to help, teamwork

3. Neuroticism/Emotional Stability: self confident, effective interactions, not depressed/anxious

4. Openess to Experience: flexible/receptive to new ideas, creative, innovative

5. Extraversion: outgoing, social, energetic, assertive

(personality test + observations work best to predict outcome in position)

Joshua Bell Experiment

• world famous musician, played disgused in subway

• 7 people stopped

• → behaviour shaped by perception

Perception & 3 Components

• interpreting msgs of our senses to provide order/meaning to enviornment

components:

• perciever (experinence, motivational/em state) → can create biases (see what we want to)

• situation (adds info about target)

• target (ambiguous = more room for interpretation)

Social Identity Theory

natural tendency to percieve self in terms of personal traits + memberships in social categories (personal + social identity)

Bruners Model of Perceptual Process

unfamilliar target → open to target cues → famillar cues encountered → target categorized → cue selectivity → categorization strengthened

demonstrates perception is:

• selective (focus on some cues, ignore others)

• constancy (percieve target same over time)

• consistency (select/distort cues to create consistent image)

Primacy & Recency Effects

prim: tendency for perceiver to rely on early cues/1st impressions

reg: tendency to rely on recent cues/last impression

• usually stay the same overtime, hard to change

Reliance on Central Traits & Implicit Personality Theories

R: tendency to org perceptions around central traits (ex. focus on attractiveness)

I: personal theories people have about personality traits that go together

Projection

tendency for perceivers to attribute own thoughts/feelings to others

• creates innacurate impressions, not everyone is same as you (ignore individual traits)

Stereotyping & Stereotype Threat

tendency to generalize about people in social category + ignore variations among

• threat: membres of social group feel they might be judged/trated according to stereotype & that their behaviour/performance will confirm stereo

Learning

• relatively permanent change in behaviour

• due to practice/experience (feedback from enviornment)

What People Learn in Organizations

• practical skills (job specific)

• intrapersonal skills (problem solving, critical thinking, alt work processes)

• interpersonal skills (interactive)

• cultural awareness (social norms of org)

Operant Learning Theory

= modify behaviour based on consequences (change → cuz what happens after behaviour)

• B.F. Skinner → how animals learn by interacting w their enviornment

• Thorndike law of effect: repeat behaviours w plesant results + unpleasant not

Benefit of Operant Learning

• increase chance of desired behaviours → pos/neg reinforcement

• reduce/eliminate chance of undesired → extinction/punishment

Positive v. Negative Reinforcement

pos: desirable behaviour followed by something pleasant (should immediatley follow behaviour, be clear)

neg: desirable behaviour followed by removal of something unpleasant

Errors with Reinforcement

• confusing rewards w reinforcers (may not be contigent on spec behaviours)

• neglecting diveristy in reinforcer preference (may not be effective reinforcer to some)

• neglecting sources of reinforcement

Reinforcement Strategy

for fast acquisition → continous/immediate reinforcement

• every time behaviour is performed without delay

Extinction vs. Punishment

E: undesirable behaviour not followed by something pleasant

P: undesirable behaviour followed by something negative

problem: only indicates behaviour that must stop not what should replace it

Social Cognitive Theory & 3 Components

= emphazises role of cog processes in learning

• most behaviour gained through observations (bandura)

components:

• obeservational learning (observe/imitate behaviours of others)

• self efficacy beliefs (beliefs about ability to successfully perfom task, motivational trait)

• self regulation (use learning principles to regulate behaviour: self observation → evaluation → reinforcement)

Self-Efficacy Beliefs: 4 Influences

1. previous results: success in sim tasks

2. physiological state (em): staying relaxed helps

3. verbal persuasion: feedback/encouragement from others

4. vicarious experienc (observation): seeing others succeed w sim tasks

all: build/maintain confidence

Locus of Control

set of beliefs about whether ones behaviour is controlled mainly by internal/external forces

• high internals (oppurtuinty to control own behaviour inside self)

• high externals (external forces determine their behaviour→ unpredictable/luck)

Self-Monitoring

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

• high: take care to observe thoughts/actions/feelings of those around them + control images they project

Behavioural Plasticity Theory

people w low self esteem are more susceptible to external/social influences than those w high (look more at others opinions/beliefs)

Positive v. Negative Affectivity

em dispositions, predict general em tendencies

P: experience pos emotions & view world (self/others) positively
N: experience neg emotions & view world negatively

Proactive Behaviour v. Personality

B: take initative to improve current/create new circumstances

P: stable personal disposition, reflects tendency to take personal initative in activities to create pos change in enviornment

Core Self-Evaluations (CSEs)

=broad personality concept, consists of spec traits reflecting evaluations people have about self/worth

• self esteem

• general self efficacy

• locus of control

• neuroticism (em stability)

Fast v. Persistent Learning

F: continous, immediate reinforcement

P: delayed, partial

Organizational Behaviour Modification (O.B. Mod)

systemic use of learning principles to influence org behaviour (ex. modify w reinforcement)

Employee Recognition Programs

formal org programs that publicly recognize/reward employees for spec behaviours

should specify

• how person is recognized

• behaviour being encouraged

• pub acknowledgment

• reward

Peer Recognition Programs & Behaviour Modelling Training

P: formal programs where employees can publically acknowledge, recognize & reward coworkers for exceptional performance

BMT: training method, trainees observe model performing task followed by oppurtuinties to practice

Perceptual Defence

tendency for perceptual system to defend perciever against unpleasant em

Consensus v. Consistency v. Distinctiveness Cues

sen: how persons behaviour compares w others

sin: how consistently person engages in behaviour over time

d: extent to which person engages in same behaviour across diff situations

Attribution Errors: Fundamental Attribution Error

overemphasize dispositional explanations for behaviour while underestimating situational explanations

Attribution Errors: Actor-Observer Effect

actors & observers view causes of actors behaviour differently

Attribution Errors: Self-Serving Bias

tendency to take credit for successful outcomes & deny responsibility for failures

Workforce Diversity & Diversity Climate

differences among employees/recruits in traits like

• gender, age, race, religion, culture, phys ability, sexual orientation

DC: degree to which org advocates fair HR policies, promotes equal employment oppurtuinites & socially integrates underrepresented employees

Advantages of Diversity in the Workplace

• improved problem solving/creativity (diverse perspectives on issues)

• improved recruting/marketing

• costs

Examples for Diverisifying Workplace

intergrate into all components of workplace

• select enough minority members to get them beyond token status

• employment equity plan (ensures minorites are represented in workplace)

• flexible work environment (accomadates needs of all)

• teamwork (b/w minority & majority members)

• training (aware of harmful stereotypes)

Organizational Climate & Safety Climate

OC: shared perceptions that employees have about orgs practices/policies/procedures & behaviours that are expected/rewarded (associated w specific outcomes)

SC: shared perceptions of saftey related events, practices, procedures & type of safety oriented behaviours expected/rewarded

Trust Perceptions

willingness to be vulnerable/take risks w respect to actions of another party

trust towards management based on:

• ability: idea of their competence/skills

• benevolence: being caring/concerned for employee interests

• integrity: their behaviour adheres to set of values/principles

Perceived Organizational Support (POS) v. Organizational Support Theory (OST)

• POS: employees belief that their org values their contribution/cares about their wellbeing

• OST: employees w strong perceptions of org support feel an obligation to care about orgs welfare + help achieve its objectives

Norm of Reciprocity

feel an obligation to help org achieve goals in return for resources gained from org

Signalling Theory

job applicants interpret their recruitment/selection experience as cues/signals about unknown traits of job/org

Interviews: Contrast Effects

previously interviewed job applicants affect interviewers perception of current applicant → exaggeration of differences b/w applicants

Rater Errors: Leniency, Harshness & Central Tendency

L: percieve performance as very good
H: performance as esp ineffective
CT: assign mainly middle scores

Halo Effect, Similar to me Effect & Behaviourlly Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)

H: rating of one trait colours ratings on other traits

S: more favourable rating to people simillar to you → background/attitudes

B: rating scale w spec behavioural examples of good/average/poor performance

Frame of Refrence (FOR) Training

• training method to improve rating accuracy

• provides raters w common frame of refrence