Exam 1

organizational behavior (OB)

the study of what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations

organizations

groups of people who work interdependently toward some purpose

organizational effectiveness

an ideal state in which an organization has a good fit with its external environment, effectively transforms inputs to outputs through human capital, and satisfies the needs of key stakeholders

open systems

the view that organizations depend on the external environment for resources, affect that environment through their output, and consist of internal subsystems that transform inputs to outputs

human capital

the knowledge, skills, abilities, creative thinking, and other valued resources that employees bring to the organization

stakeholders

individuals, groups, and other entities that affect, or are affected by, the organization’s objectives and actions

values

relatively stable, evaluative beliefs that guide a person’s preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations

corporate social responsibility (CSR)

organizational activities intended to benefit society and the environment beyond the firm’s immediate financial interests or legal obligations

evidence-based management

the practice of making decisions and taking actions based on research evidence

inclusive workplace

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a workplace that values people of all identities and allows them to be fully themselves while contributing to the organization

surface-level diversity

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the observable demographic or physiological differences in people, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, age, and physical disabilities

deep-level diversity

differences in the psychological characteristics of employees, including personalities, beliefs, values, and attitudes

work–life integration

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the degree that people are effectively engaged in their various work and nonwork roles and have a low degree of role conflict across those life domains

MARS model

a model depicting the four variables—motivation, ability, role perceptions, and situational factors—that directly influence an individual’s voluntary behavior and performance

motivation

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the forces within a person that affect his or her direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behavior

ability

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the natural aptitudes and learned capabilities required to successfully complete a task

role perceptions

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the degree to which a person understands the job duties assigned to or expected of him or her

task performance

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the individual’s voluntary goal-directed behaviors that contribute to organizational objectives

organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs)

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various forms of cooperation and helpfulness to others that support the organization’s social and psychological context

counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs)

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voluntary behaviors that have the potential to directly or indirectly harm the organization

personality

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the relatively enduring pattern of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize a person, along with the psychological processes behind those characteristics

five-factor (Big Five) model

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the five broad dimensions representing most personality traits: conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to experience, agreeableness, and extraversion; also known as the “Big Five”

conscientiousness

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a personality dimension describing people who are organized, dependable, goal-focused, thorough, disciplined, methodical, and industrious

 

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agreeableness

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a personality dimension describing people who are trusting, helpful, good-natured, considerate, tolerant, selfless, generous, and flexible

neuroticism

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a personality dimension describing people who tend to be anxious, insecure, self-conscious, depressed, and temperamental

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 openness to experience

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a personality dimension describing people who are imaginative, creative, unconventional, curious, nonconforming, autonomous, and aesthetically perceptive

extraversion

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a personality dimension describing people who are outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive

Machiavellianism

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a personality trait of people who demonstrate a strong motivation to achieve their own goals at the expense of others, who believe that deceit is a natural and acceptable way to achieve their goals, who take pleasure in outwitting and misleading others using crude influence tactics, and who have a cynical disregard for morality

dark triad

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a cluster of three socially undesirable (dark) personality traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy

narcissism

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a personality trait of people with a grandiose, obsessive belief in their superiority and entitlement, a propensity to aggressively engage in attention-seeking behaviors, an intense envy of others, and tendency to exhibit arrogance, callousness, and exploitation of others for personal aggrandizement

 

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psychopathy

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a personality trait of people who ruthlessly dominate and manipulate others without empathy or any feelings of remorse or anxiety, use superficial charm, yet are social predators who engage in antisocial, impulsive, and often fraudulent thrill-seeking behavior

organizational politics

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the use of influence tactics for personal gain at the perceived expense of others and the organization

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counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs)

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voluntary behaviors that have the potential to directly or indirectly harm the organization

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

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an instrument designed to measure the elements of Jungian personality theory, particularly preferences regarding perceiving and judging information

values

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relatively stable, evaluative beliefs that guide a person’s preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations

moral intensity

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the degree to which an issue demands the application of ethical principles

mindfulness

a person’s receptive and impartial attention to and awareness of the present situation as well as to one’s own thoughts and emotions in that moment

moral sensitivity

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a person’s ability to recognize the presence of an ethical issue and determine its relative importance

 

 

power distance

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a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture accept unequal distribution of power in a society

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collectivism

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a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture emphasize duty to groups to which they belong and to group harmony

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individualism

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a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture emphasize independence and personal uniqueness

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achievement-nurturing orientation

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a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture emphasize competitive versus cooperative relations with other people

uncertainty avoidance

a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture tolerate ambiguity (low uncertainty avoidance) or feel threatened by ambiguity and uncertainty (high uncertainty avoidance) 

self-concept

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an individual’s self-beliefs and self-evaluations

self-enhancement

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a person’s inherent motivation to have a positive self-concept (and to have others perceive him or her favorably), such as being competent, attractive, lucky, ethical, and important

self-verification

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a person’s inherent motivation to confirm and maintain his or her existing self-concept

 

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self-efficacy

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a person’s belief that he or she has the ability, motivation, correct role perceptions, and favorable situation to complete a task successfully

locus of control

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a person’s general belief about the amount of control he or she has over personal life events

perception

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the process of receiving information about and making sense of the world around us

selective attention

the process of attending to some information received by our senses and ignoring other information

confirmation bias

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the processing of screening out information that is contrary to our values and assumptions, and to more readily accept confirming information

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mental models

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knowledge structures that we develop to describe, explain, and predict the world around us

categorical thinking

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organizing people and objects into preconceived categories that are stored in our long-term memory

stereotyping

the process of assigning traits to people based on their membership in a social category

stereotype threat

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an individual’s concern about confirming a negative stereotype about his or her group

attribution process

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the perceptual process of deciding whether an observed behavior or event is caused largely by internal or external factors

self-serving bias

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the tendency to attribute our favorable outcomes to internal factors and our failures to external factors

fundamental attribution error

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the tendency to see the person rather than the situation as the main cause of that person’s behavior

 

self-fulfilling prophecy

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the perceptual process in which our expectations about another person cause that person to act more consistently with those expectations

positive organizational behavior

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a perspective of organizational behavior that focuses on building positive qualities and traits within individuals or institutions as opposed to focusing on what is wrong with them

halo effect

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a perceptual error whereby our general impression of a person, usually based on one prominent characteristic, colors our perception of other characteristics of that person

false-consensus effect

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a perceptual error in which we overestimate the extent to which others have beliefs and characteristics similar to our own

 

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recency effect

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a perceptual error in which the most recent information dominates our perception of others

 

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primacy effect

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a perceptual error in which we quickly form an opinion of people based on the first information we receive about them

contact hypothesis

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a theory stating that the more we interact with someone, the less prejudiced or perceptually biased we will be against that person

global mindset

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an individual’s ability to perceive, appreciate, and empathize with people from other cultures, and to process complex cross-cultural information

emotions

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physiological, behavioral, and psychological episodes experienced toward an object, person, or event that create a state of readiness

attitudes

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the cluster of beliefs, assessed feelings, and behavioral intentions toward a person, object, or event (called an attitude object)

cognitive dissonance

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an emotional experience caused by a perception that our beliefs, feelings, and behavior are incongruent with one another

emotional labor

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the effort, planning, and control needed to express organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions

emotional intelligence (EI)

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a set of abilities to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion in oneself and others

job satisfaction

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a person’s evaluation of his or her job and work context

exit–voice–loyalty–neglect (EVLN) model

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the four ways, as indicated in the name, that employees respond to job dissatisfaction

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continuance commitment

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an individual’s calculative attachment to an organization

affective organizational commitment

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an individual’s emotional attachment to, involvement in, and identification with an organization

norm of reciprocity

a felt obligation and social expectation of helping or otherwise giving something of value to someone who has already helped or given something of value to you

trust

positive expectations one person has toward another person in situations involving risk

stress

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an adaptive response to a situation that is perceived as challenging or threatening to the person’s well-being

general adaptation syndrome

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a model of the stress experience, consisting of three stages: alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion

stressors

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any environmental conditions that place a physical or emotional demand on the person

work–life integration

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the degree that people are effectively engaged in their various work and nonwork roles and have a low degree of role conflict across those life domains

employee engagement

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individual emotional and cognitive motivation, particularly a focused, intense, persistent, and purposive effort toward work-related goals

motivation

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the forces within a person that affect his or her direction, intensity, and persistence of effort for voluntary behavior

drives

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hardwired characteristics of the brain that correct deficiencies or maintain an internal equilibrium by producing emotions to energize individuals

needs

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goal-directed forces that people experience

four-drive theory

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a motivation theory based on the innate drives to acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend that incorporates both emotions and rationality

*Drive to acquire.*

This is the drive to seek, take, control, and retain objects and personal experiences.

D*rive to bond.*

This drive produces the need for belonging and affiliation.

*Drive to comprehend.*

We are inherently curious and need to make sense of our environment and ourselves

*Drive to defend.*

This is the drive to protect ourselves physically, psychologically, and socially.

Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory

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a motivation theory of needs arranged in a hierarchy, whereby people are motivated to fulfill a higher need as a lower one becomes gratified

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extrinsic motivation

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occurs when people are motivated to engage in an activity for instrumental reasons, that is, to receive something that is beyond their personal control

intrinsic motivation

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occurs when people fulfill their needs for competence and autonomy by engaging in the activity itself, rather than from an externally controlled outcome of that activity

 

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need for power (nPow)

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a learned need in which people want to control their environment, including people and material resources, to benefit either themselves (personalized power) or others (socialized power)

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need for affiliation (nAff)

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a learned need in which people seek approval from others, conform to their wishes and expectations, and avoid conflict and confrontation

 

need for achievement (nAch)

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a learned need in which people want to accomplish reasonably challenging goals and desire unambiguous feedback and recognition for their success

 

expectancy theory

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a motivation theory based on the idea that work effort is directed toward behaviors that people believe will lead to desired outcomes

*E-to-P expectancy.*

This is the individual’s perception that his or her effort will result in a specific level of performance.

*P-to-O expectancy.*

This is the perceived probability that a specific behavior or performance level will lead to a specific outcome.

*Outcome valences.*

A *valence* is the anticipated satisfaction or dissatisfaction that an individual feels toward an outcome