I-O Psych Study Guide #3

Intrinsic motivation

the drive to engage in an activity for its own sake, stemming from internal satisfaction, curiosity, or enjoyment rather than external rewards like money or praise.

Extrinsic motivation

drive fueled by external factors—such as money, praise, fame, or avoiding punishment—rather than personal enjoyment.

Self-efficacy

Perceptions of one’s ability to complete a task or goal successfully

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need Theory

• all human beings are aroused by biological and instinctive needs

• Behaviors are done to satisfy those needs

• More basic needs are at the bottom of the hierarchy

Herzberg’s two-factor theory

job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are driven by separate factors.

• Satisfaction and dissatisfaction determined by two distinct factors

  • Motivators (e.g., recognition, interesting work) 

  • Hygienes (e.g., supervision, salary, working conditions)

Expectancy theory (VIE)

• Main assumption: Behaviors result from conscious choice from alternatives/options

  • Alternatives are evaluated in terms of valence, instrumentality, expectancy

  • Assumes individuals are rational

equity theory

Your perception of fairness at work affects your motivation, attitudes, and behaviors

goal-setting theory

• Goals affect behavior in four ways: 

  • Direct attention to a task, task element

  • Mobilize on-task effort

  • Enable persistence to attain goals

  • Help facilitate strategies that can be used

specific and challenging goals, along with appropriate feedback, lead to higher performance and motivation. It highlights that clear, difficult goals (rather than vague, easy ones) drive focus, effort, and persistence, often applied using the SMART framework

control theory

• motivational theory with negative feedback loop

  • Comparing performance feedback to a goal, standard

explains motivated behavior through negative feedback loops, where individuals compare current work performance against a standard (goal)

self-efficacy theory

a person's belief in their ability to succeed in specific situations directly influences their motivation, behavior, and performance

job characteristics theory

• Emphasis on matching individuals to jobs, changing jobs to fit individual’s needs

  • Builds on Herzberg’s model

  • An intrinsic motivation theory! 

• Motivation is determined by joint effects of individual’s personality and the characteristics of the job

• Every job is described by five core job dimensions

• These contribute to three critical psychological states

These lead to specific personal and work outcomes

If expectancy is 0 according to VIE, what does that mean for motivation

the overall motivation to act is 0, resulting in no effort or action taken.

What are the major levels of Maslow’s hierarchy?

physiological needs, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

How do we get to higher levels of the hierarchy?

individuals must satisfy lower-level needs before progressing to meet higher-level growth needs

In two-factor theory, what are motivators?

intrinsic, job-content-related elements that actively encourage high performance and cause feelings of job satisfaction (e.g., recognition, interesting work) 

What are hygienes?

extrinsic, related to job context, environmental elements (e.g., supervision, salary, working conditions) that prevent job dissatisfaction.

Which lead to job satisfaction or dissatisfaction in two-factor theory?

Satisfaction comes from motivators; dissatisfaction comes from lack of hygienes

 In VIE, how is valence defined?

• Expected satisfaction from the outcome

  • If we’ll be satisfied, the outcome has positive valence

 In VIE, how is instrumental defined?

Relationship between performing a behavior and the likelihood of a certain resulting outcome.

• Will a good performance review lead to other outcomes (promotion)?

 In VIE, how is expectancy defined?

Likelihood of meeting our goals while exerting effort

• Will working 60 hours per week result in a good performance review?

 In equity theory, what is most likely to occur if someone feels that their job is unfair?

take action to reduce the distress caused by the perceived inequity.

• The most common response is to reduce their input (e.g., work less hard, take longer breaks) to match their output, or to quit the job entirely

skill variety

The degree to which a job requires diverse skills and talents, preventing monotony.

• Example: A graphic designer who creates logos, edits videos, and builds website layouts, rather than doing only one of these tasks.

task identity ?

The degree to which an employee completes a whole, identifiable piece of work from start to finish.

• Example: A custom furniture maker who builds an entire chair, from design to finishing, rather than just assembling a leg.

task significance

The degree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of others.

• Example: A nurse or a paramedic whose job directly impacts patient survival.

autonomy

The amount of freedom, independence, and discretion provided to the employee for scheduling work and determining procedures.

• Example: A sales representative who sets their own hours and chooses which clients to pursue.

feedback

The direct and clear information provided by the job itself about the effectiveness of performance.

• Example: A teacher immediately knowing if a lesson was effective by student engagement, or a programmer seeing if code runs successfully. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

What is job satisfaction?

A positive emotional state resulting from a cognitive appraisal of your job or job experiences

What is the best way for researchers to measure job satisfaction?

Specific facets of satisfaction with pay, supervisor, and so on.

• We typically tend to examine as a global approach

• Or we can examine it at the facet level

• Determining satisfaction with different aspects of the job

• Common measures: Job Descriptive Index (JDI), Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS), the Faces Scale of Job Satisfaction

What are the antecedents of job satisfaction? 

• Job characteristics

• Personal characteristics

• Social factors

• Growth opportunities

major tenets of job characteristics theory and its implications?

• Every job is described by five core job dimensions

• These contribute to three critical psychological states

• These lead to specific personal and work outcomes

What are the consequences of job satisfaction with respect to turnover and absenteeism?

High job satisfaction reduces employee turnover and absenteeism, fostering higher productivity, commitment, and organizational loyalty. Conversely, low satisfaction directly increases turnover intentions and raises absenteeism due to reduced engagement, often leading to higher costs, poorer customer service, and lower morale.

organizational commitment

• Relative strength of an individual’s identification with and involvement in a particular organization

• Second-most job attitude studied at work

  • Somewhat positively correlated with job satisfaction (~.3-.4)

  • Often broader than job satisfaction, and typically more stable over time

normative commitment

reflects your obligation to continue your employment

• Sometimes also called moral commitment

• “This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me”

If you’re high in in this commitment, you tend to believe that you ought to stay with the organization regardless of what it offers

affective commitment

your Emotional Attachment to the Organization!

• Characterized by: 

  • Strong belief in/acceptance of the organization’s goals and values

  • Willingness to exert effort on behalf of organization

  • Strong desire to remain part of the organization

  • “I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career in this organization”

continuance commitment

concerns whether you will stay with the Organization

• Costs that are associated with leaving the organization vs. staying

  • Sometimes referred to as a sunk-cost commitment

• High commitment may be due to: leaving could cost retirement savings (high sacrifice), no other options (low alternatives)

• “Too much of my life would be disrupted if I decided I wanted to leave my organization”

There are three main factors that help determine job performance—what are they? 

ability, motivation, and the environment.

identify the Big Five Factors of personality

• Openness (Creative, Curious)

• Conscientiousness (Dependability, Achievement Motivated):

• Extraversion (Sociable, Assertive)

• Agreeableness (Cooperative, Trusting)

• and Neuroticism (Emotional Stability vs. Stability)

• (OCEAN)

Which factor is the strongest predictor of good job performance in the big five factors of personality?

Conscientiousness

different principles of good design in Human Factors

• Ergonomics (Physical Interaction): Matching equipment to human capabilities to minimize injury.

• Affordances: Designing controls that look and feel like how they are meant to be used (e.g., a handle that looks like it should be pulled).

• Feedback: Providing immediate tactile or visual confirmation of control activation.

• Consistency (Stereotypes): Following user expectations (e.g., clockwise increases value).

• Visibility: Ensuring the control's position or state is easily identifiable.

• Safety: Minimizing the risk of accidental activation and reducing fatigue.

What kind of controls are good for forceful movements?

• Best controls: large levers, pedals, cranks, or big handles

• Why: they allow users to apply more strength and use larger muscle groups (arms/legs), reducing strain and increasing efficiency

What kind of controls are good for Precise movements?

• Best controls: small knobs, dials, joysticks, touchscreens, or buttons

• Why: they allow for fine motor control using fingers and small muscle movements, improving accuracy

What is turnover?

the percentage of employees who leave an organization—voluntarily or involuntarily—and need to be replaced within a specific period

What are the consequences of turnover?

• Increased costs

• Lower productivity

• Loss of experience/knowledge

• Decreased morale

• Disrupted teamwork

• Poor customer service

• Increased workload for remaining employees

• Lower organizational stability

What are the antecedents of counterproductive work behaviors? (CWBs)

situational stressors (e.g., injustice, role ambiguity, high workload) and individual differences (e.g., low self-control, personality traits like high neuroticism or low agreeableness).

identify jobs that are most likely to encounter physical assault or violence

Common in safety services, community/social services, healthcare, education, and transportation

•Contact with the public

•Involved in the exchange of money

•Working in settings with alcohol

•Delivering passengers, goods, or services

•Having a mobile workplace (e.g., working in a field office or in sales)

•Working with unstable persons (e.g., health care, social services, criminal justice settings)

•Working alone or in isolated settings 

What are the different antecedents for accidents on the job? 

•Emphasis on productivity

•Greater stress, either in work or outside of work

•Individual differences

•Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability negatively related to accidents

•Use of goal-setting (individual or group)

Universal precautions

•Protocol of protection against diseases

•Disposal of sharp objects in special containers

•Disposable gloves for blood, fluids

•Disinfecting body fluid spills immediately

•Use of aprons, masks

OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration)

has regulations to protect workers from Exposure to Harmful or Toxic Substances. It sets and enforces workplace safety standards, provides training, and requires employers to reduce hazards like falls, machinery accidents, and harmful substance exposure

graveyard shift

a work shift that takes place late at night through early morning (usually around midnight to 8 a.m.).

night shift

• the period of time scheduled for work at night, as in a factory or other institution.

• necessary for many types of jobs: transportation, medicine, IT jobs

long shifts

• extended, consecutive working periods that exceed the standard 8-hour workday, often lasting 10 to 16 hours or more.

• Employees with long shifts can suffer from fatigue

flextime

employees get to determine (either partially or in whole) the hours that they work

•Occurs for about 30% of employees in US

•Benefits company because personal business can be completed on employee’s own time

•Less absences and tardiness, small boost to job satisfaction

rotating shifts

a work schedule where employees switch between different shift times (like day, evening, and night) on a regular basis.

What is role ambiguity?

occurs when employees lack clear information about their job responsibilities, expectations, or performance goals, causing confusion and uncertainty

Role conflict

when an employee faces competing or incompatible expectations from different roles or responsibilities.

You’re being asked to do things that clash with each other, making it hard to satisfy everyone.

Example:

• Your manager tells you to finish a project quickly, but also expects it to be perfect with no mistakes

What is burnout?

Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, reduced personal accomplishment