BOSC1 Human Behavior

The bystander effect

= Individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present

Reasons:

• Informational conformity (= if nobody is helping, it must be dangerous)

• Normative conformity (= following the rules of the group)

• Diffusion of responsibility (= there are so many people here, someone else will take care)

The scientific approach

a) opinion -> experience, readings, observation

b) scientific study

c) meta-analysis = analysis of a lot of different studies

Hindsight bias

= Inclination, after an event has occurred, to see the event as having been predictable, despite there have been little or no objective basis for predicting it.

e.g. Picture with a hidden baby: after knowing it is there, it is obvious

Illusory correlations

= Perception of a relationship between variables even when no such relationship exists

Examples:

• Full moon and bad sleep

• Vaccine and autism

• Lucky socks

Base rate fallacy

= Tendency to ignore base rate information and focus on specific information

e.g., after 9/11, no one wanted to fly even though they were more likely to die in a car crash

False consensus effect

= Belief that others share the same beliefs or thoughts Overestimation:

• People like the same food than you do

• People share the same political views

• People have the same complaints

A brief description of memory

Stages:

1. Encoding

2. Storage

3. Retrieval

Capacity: short-term vs long-term memory

Forgetting curve

How to learn successfully?

• Organization

→ Acronyms: OCEAN/ FBIMTVUSAHBOCIA (→ split)

• Elaboration

= a strategy assigning meaningful information to something you are trying to remember

→ Dual coding = absorbing information in 2 different ways

• Transfer-appropriate processing

→ the mental processes used during learning match the processes needed later when you are tested (e.g., driving)

• The baker/baker paradox:

→ you can memorize things better when you visualize them

Context-dependence

→ you should learn in the same context you are going to be tested in if you practice on the beach, you perform better on the beach

Method of loci

/memory palace

= you walk through your apartment in your mind and associate each memory with a room

3 stages:

• Identification of locations

• Encoding

• Retrieval

Remembering a guests name

• Decide to listen

• Use it again (2-3x in the conversation)

• Attach something (3 details method)

• Say it back

Retrieval practice

STTT (study & test x3) works the best

Why is it beneficial?

• Transfer-appropriate processing → same competencies in tests (retrieval) and exam (retrieval) ≠ restudy (encoding)

• Identification of gaps in knowledge

• Better learning in the next study episode

Massed vs distributed practice

Why is distributed practice better?

• Contextual variability

• Diminished effort in the massed condition

• Distributed practice → accessibility reduced to information → better learning

Why is massed practice preferred?

• Short-term retrieval fluency ≠ long-term learning

The PQ4R method

Used to better retain readings

• Preview

• Question

• Read

• Reflect

• Recite

• Review

Self-management

• matters but we are not very good at it

• One cannot manage others effectively before managing oneself effectively.

• These skills have a significant impact on a range of outcomes

• Lower stress

• Higher perceived control of time

• Better life satisfaction and well-being

• Better grades

• Better performance

• Increased citizenship behaviors

The marshmallow experiment

• The capacity to delay gratification is related to success

• Caused by the temporal discounting effect (= $60 now or $100 in 3 months, $65 now or $100 in 3 months,...)

The planning fallacy

= Tendency to underestimate how long a task will last

e.g. Sydney Opera House (expected: 1963, 7 mio $, reality: 1973 102 mio $)

to avoid:

• break down into steps

• use data (ask others, do it in a team)

The 168 exercise

= Keep track of your time

• 168h in a week

The time management matrix

= Eisenhauer Matrix

• urgent - not urgent

• important - not important

Rocks, Pebbles, Sand

= priorities in life

• rocks = family, health, relationships

• pebbles = school, work

• sand = material possessions

→ if you start to fill the jar with sand, the rocks & pebbles won't fit

goals definition

“Object or aim of an action usually within a specified time limit.”

Different types of goals:

• Approach vs. avoidance goals ( approach more effective)

• Proximal (short-term) vs. distal (long-term) goals (both needed)

• Performance vs. behavioral goals (both needed)

What constitutes an effective goal?

• should be specific

• should be difficult/challenging

Why do specific/difficult goals have a positive effect on performance?

1. mediators

• Direction

→ risk: neglect of any other dimensions (being too focused on the goal) e.g. Wells Fargo – goal: each customer should have 8 products (they made them up)

• Intensity

• Persistence

• Increased knowledge/discovery of new strategies

2. moderators

• Ability (sufficient proficiency)

• Feedback

• Commitment (Assigned = self-set = participative)

• Task complexity (more effective for «simple» tasks)

Implementation intentions

• What, Where, When

• Inappropriate goal → Behavioral goal → Performance goal

Achieving your goals through self-management

• Setting specific and difficult goals

• Paper calendar vs. computer calendar

• Budgeting time

• Implementation intentions

• Monitoring goal progress

• Reflection

What is perception?

= Process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions to give meaning to their environment

• Trust and interpersonal relations

• Hiring and promotion decisions

Primacy effect

= our judgment is clouded by the first impression we have of a person

• for managers: be attentive during the entire interview

Similar-to-me-effect

= we hold more favorable impressions towards others who are similar to ourselves

Dangers:

• Surrounding ourselves with similar others

• Bias

Halo effect

= a positive impression in one specific area unconsciously influences how people judge that person or product's other, unrelated traits

Contrast effect

= We do not judge people in isolation, but in comparison to others → impressions are distorted

• Tip for managers: use external benchmarks and not your impression

Fundamental attribution error

= We make internal attributions for others’ behavior (when external factors can be responsible)

→ for yourself: you blame external attribution e.g., France Télécom: “Employees should stop this 'fashion for suicide” (quote from CEO)

• Tip for managers: Question your beliefs

The Self-fulfilling prophecy

= “pygmalion effect”

→ people tend to rise (or sink) to the level of what others expect of them

1. Expectation (Person A)

2. Behavior (Person A)

3. Target Response (Person B)

4. Confirmation (Person A)

Stereotype threat

= Situation in which there is a risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group

e.g., telling women that men & women perform the same in this math test lead to them performing the same, while they performed way worse without that

Structured interviews

Content:

• Better Questions

• Control ancillary (secondary) information

Evaluation:

• Anchored rating scales

Questions:

• Past behavior (best for structured interviews → most relevant to the job)

• Situational

• Background (describe what happened in the past, behavior: what you did/ how you reacted)

• Job knowledge

• Opinions/attitudes

• Goals/aspirations

• Self-description

STAR

Situation

Task

Action

Result

→ past behavior questions

Behavioral anchored rating scale

System 1 and System 2 of thinking

System 1:

• fast

• instinctive

• emotional

• e.g. everyday decisions (name)

• error-prone (more likely to make mistakes)

• decision-making: heuristic, biases

System 2:

• slow

• conscious

• logical

• complex decisions

• reliable (more time to develop a system)

• e.g., do your taxes, 13499+464547=?

• decision-making: rational decisions model

e.g., cognitive reflection test (test instinctive vs. actual answer)

Default heuristic bias

a mental shortcut your mind falls back on when you don’t have the time, information, or energy to think a decision through carefully. It’s the “go-to” rule of thumb that kicks in automatically.

The sunk cost fallacy

the tendency to keep investing in something because of what you’ve already put into it (time, money, effort), even when continuing no longer makes sense. The past cost is “sunk,” meaning it can’t be recovered, so rationally it shouldn’t influence what you do next.

e.g., Wisconsin vs. Michigan ski trip

Anchoring bias

= the tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information you encounter (the “anchor”) when making a judgment, even if that information is irrelevant or arbitrary. Later estimates then get pulled toward it instead of being made independently.

→ comes from the conflict between System 1 & 2

e.g., 75% off vs. putting the o.g. price and the new one

Framing effect

= tendency for people to react differently to the same information depending on how it’s presented, usually as a gain or as a loss. The facts stay identical, but the wording changes the choice.

e.g., COVID outbreak, 200 people saved vs 400 people die

Confirmation bias

= tendency to seek out, notice, interpret, and remember information in ways that support what you already believe, while overlooking or downplaying evidence that contradicts it

→ our brain does not like it if we disconfirm, but if we want to test a hypothesis, we have to disconfirm

Overcoming cognitive biases

• Do not take into consideration past decisions (sunk cost fallacy)

• Question the information provided (anchoring bias)

• Reframe the information (framing effect)

• Find how you could be wrong (confirmation bias)

• Rational decision-making model

The rational decision-making model

Locus of control

Internal locus of control:

• better job performance

• higher job satisfaction

• participative leadership style: involving their subordinates in key decisions → think that others have the same mindset & do not need to be pushed to get things done

• fit for performance: autonomy in their job

• take responsibility & are more active (e.g., after a failure, they adapt instead of blaming others

• persistent & delay gratification (don’t need immediate rewards to stay motivated)

• don’t wait for others & look for information by themselves

External locus of control:

• lower job performance

• lower job satisfaction

• coercive leadership style: use constraint → think that others need a strong leader to get motivated

• fit for performance: outside control

The Dark Triad

• psychological test

• high score: more likely to act unethically & break rules

• if you possess one, you are more likely to possess the others

• most people score average: high & low are seldom

Psychopathy

• low empathy & high impulsivity

• deviant behavior & disregard for others

• key characteristics: disinhibition (= inability to hold back impulses), meanness & boldness

Narcissism

• vanity, self-superiority, entitlement, dominance & willingness to be admired by others.

• belief that they deserve more than anybody else because they are better than everybody else

Machiavellianism

• unprincipled, manipulative & cynical

• principle: "the end justifies the means"

job experience & job performance relationship

• post-hire experience: better performance over time

• pre-hire experience: 1-3 months after hiring: better performance, 6-12 months: no correlation

• schemas/habits or skills are different across jobs

Why do employers still require it?

• recruitment is a decision-making process in a situation of limited information → HR & managers try to reduce uncertainty

• professional socialization: familiar with job, community of practice, groups of professionals that have their codes and habits

Intelligence

Definition: individual’s ability to:

• act purposefully

• think rationally

• deal effectively with the environment

the positive manifold:

= tendency that scores on different tests of intelligence correlate positively with each other

→ general intelligence (g)

CHC model of intelligence:

10 broad characteristics:

• Fluid (reasoning & logic) → best g indicator

• Cristallized (knowledge)

• Visual (processing)

• Short-term (memory)

• Long-term (storage & retrieval)

• Processing Speed

• Auditory Processing

Intelligence tests: results = highly stable over time

Task performance:

• capacity to solve new problems

• capacity to learn quickly

• the smarter, the better

→ intelligence also related to:

• training performance

• counterproductive work behaviors

• income & career success

• high school dropout, divorce & incarceration

Overconfidence bias/ Above average effect

= we all think that we are above average even though it can statistically not be true for everyone

Self-serving bias

• Giving internal reasons for success

• Giving externals reasons for failure

e.g. Kyrgios tennis player

The barnum effect

= tendency to see vague, general statements as accurate descriptions of yourself, even though they would fit almost anyone

e.g., Astrology

Type vs. trait approaches

Type approach:

• Types are different from one another

• People are put into categories

• Qualitative differences between people

• Ex: MBTI, DISC, Enneagram

Trait approach:

• All people possess traits

• Measure quantity of the trait

• Normal distribution & most people possess average amount

• Ex: Hogan assessments, HEXAPRO, Neo-PI

What is the big five model?

Personality

• Coherent patterning over time and space of affect, behavior, cognition, and desire (Wilt & Revelle, 2009)

Openness to change

Facets:

• Imagination

• Willingness to experiment

• Intellectual curiosity

• Tolerance for diversity

It means:

• complexity (over simplicity)

• Creativity/intelligence

• Interest in arts

• interest in learning

• Deepness of emotions

• Difficult to observe

• Number of books

Conscientiousness

Facets:

• Orderliness

• Sense of responsibility

• Self-discipline

• Deliberateness

That means:

• Conscientiousness ≠ consciousness

• Time orientation: future

• Orderliness

• Related positively to grades and attendance

• Sense of competence

• Need for achievement/ambition

• Observable in work contexts

Extraversion

Facets:

• Warmth

• Outgoingness

• Assertiveness

• Activity level

Other characteristics:

• Need for stimulation/risk-taking

• Leadership/first to speak

• Get bored more quickly

• Number of connections

• Positive emotions

• Easiest trait to observe

Agreeableness

Facets:

• Trust in others

• Consideration

• Compliance

• Sympathy

Other characteristics:

• Altruism and adaptation

• Make compromises

• Less conflicts

• Leniency

• Modesty

• Difficult to observe (excepted when goals do not converge)

The role of personality at work (Big 5)

When does personality matter?

Emotional reactions

• Work environments that generate stress (responsibilities, failures, toxic environments; Slaughter & Kausel, 2009)

Agreeableness

• Teamwork

• Can be negative in competitive jobs (politician)

Openness

• Training performance

Extraversion

• Leadership and sales

the hexagonal model of vocational interests by Holland

= to classify people & environments

• professional & individual personality

• “RIASEC” model

• personality pattern: dominant & 2 secondary types → letters

• look at occupation & sub-environment

job fits personality:

• personally: less likely to change occupation

• organization: higher performance & persistence

6 personalities:

• conventional: efficient, careful, conforming, organized & conscientious, large organizations, subordinate roles, attention to detail (accountant, corporate manager)

• enterprising: seek leadership, power & prestige, enjoy financial risks, competitive, energetic, ambitious, adventurous, sociable & self-confident (lawyer, real estate agent, public relations specialist)

• social: humanistic, idealistic, responsible & concerned with the welfare of others, working in groups & sharing responsibilities, solve problems through discussion & interaction with others (social worker, teacher, counselor)

• investigative: gathering info, discovering, analyzing & interpreting data, prefer working alone (biologist, economist)

• artistic: value artistic qualities, need to express themselves, original, intuitive, imaginative (musician, interior decorator)

• realistic: nature, physical, prefer action to thinking & concrete to abstract problems (mechanic, athlete, farmer)

Schwartz’s Universal Values

• same values, but prioritize differently

• = desirable goals → motivate action

• not tied to specific contexts (vs. vocational interests)

• get along with others who share similar values

openness to change vs. conservation

self-enhancement vs. self-transcendence

1. Universalism = welfare of people & nature, acceptance

2. Benevolence = welfare of contacts (‘in-group’) → affiliance

3. Tradition = customs & ideas of one’s culture/ religion

4. Conformity = restraint of impulses likely to upset/ harm others & violate social expectations → obedience & discipline

5. Security = safety, harmony & stability of society, relationships & self

6. Power = status, prestige, control over people & resources

7. Achievement = through demonstrating competence

8. Hedonism = pleasure/ sensuous gratification for oneself

9. Stimulation = excitement, novelty & challenge

10. Self-direction = independence, freedom, exploration, willingness to choose

Influences:

• openness to change: creative, proactive, make suggestions, averse to organizational changes imposed by the hierarchy

• conservation: flexible with changes imposed by superiors

• self-transcendence: act altruistic, generosity

• CEO’s values → organizational culture

  • benevolence → supportive culture

  • security → bureaucratic culture

  • self-direction → innovative culture

• right-wing parties: security & achievement

• left-wing parties: universalism & benevolence

• personality:

  • extraverted: stimulation, hedonism, achievement & power

  • agreeableness: universalism, benevolence & conformity (low: power)

  • conscientious: conformity, security & achievement (low: stimulation)

  • openness to change: stimulation, self-direction & universalism (low: conformity, tradition & security)

• work:

  • openness to change - conservation → risk - rules

  • self-transcendence - self-enhancement → results - relations

Why are emotions useful?

• Alert and prioritization

• Communication

• Moral function

• Learning

• Reaction/action tendency

Joy:

• Action tendency: Approach, sharing

• Useful for: Makes you continue what you started, makes you attractive

• Useful Situation: Social situations

Sadness

• Action tendency: Leaving

• Useful for: Makes you reflect and analyzes, help to get support

• Useful situations: Failure

Fear

• Action tendency: Hiding, flight

• Useful for: Survival, danger avoidance

• Useful situations: High-stakes situations

Anger

• Action tendency: Fight

• Useful for: Overcoming obstacles, injustice

• Useful situations: Situations of injustice

Surprise

• Action tendency: Stopping, searching

• Useful for: Potential danger

• Useful situations: New environment

Disgust

• Action tendency: Rejection

• Useful for: Survival

• Useful situations: Presence of toxic food or person

The case of the patient SM

Patient SM impairments after her surgery:

• Fear recognition

• Personal space regulation

• Fear of dangerous places

• Fear of monetary loss

→ important to keep her safe

Amygdala Hijack

= When emotion takes over

amygdala responds to stress and disables your frontal lobes

→ activates the fight-or-flight response and disables rational, reasoned responses

How to respond

• 6 second rule: pause to prevent knee-jerk reaction

• Name the emotion

• Regulate breathing

• Get up and move

What are emotions and why do they arise?

Situation + need that needs to be fulfilled

Emotions react with:

• Facial expression

• Action tendency

• Subjective feeling

• Appraisal

• Physiological response

Affective events theory

Emotions (short-term) vs. mood (long-term)

Emotional labor in customer service jobs

Emotions should be in accordance with display rules

• Customer service job

• Caring professions

• Social control jobs

Strategies

• Surface acting → expressed

• Deep acting → felt (maybe they act like that because they are dealing with their own problems)

• Genuine emotional labor (genuinely empathizing)

Emotional dissonance

• Expressed vs felt (surface acting)

Deep acting vs surface acting

The ability model of emotional intelligence

• Perceiving

• Understanding

• Managing

• Using

An example of EI test: Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test

Emotional intelligence relates to teamwork and good managers