MGMT 3123 Exam #1 Review ]

Quiz

1. A company wants to test the effectiveness of a new training program by giving some employees the new program and others the old one. However, they don't randomly assign employees to groups, but instead let the employees choose which program they take. What flaw is present in this research method?

2. Explain how "considering the opposite" can help mitigate cognitive biases in decision-making.

3. Define "Machiavellianism" as a personality trait and describe how individuals high in this trait may behave in an organization.

4. What does the research on personality in organizations suggest about the influence of personality in structured versus unstructured situations?

5. What is overplacement, and how does it differ from other forms of overconfidence?

6. A manager sends out a survey asking employees to rate their job satisfaction. What kind of research method is this, and is it sufficient to prove a causal relationship?

7. Explain how multitasking might increase the likelihood of exhibiting the fundamental attribution error.

8. Describe "naïve realism" and give an example of how it might appear in a business context.

9. What is the "overclaiming of responsibility" bias, and why does it tend to occur in group work?

10. Why might written communication be more prone to miscommunication than speaking to others directly?

Quiz Answer Key

1. The research method is flawed because the employees were not randomly assigned to groups. This means there could be pre-existing differences between the groups that could affect the results, meaning it isn’t clear whether the new training program or these differences are the main cause of the different outcomes between the groups.

2. "Considering the opposite" helps mitigate cognitive biases by forcing one to actively brainstorm ways in which their assumptions, plans, or beliefs might be flawed. This encourages a more balanced evaluation of the situation and reduces the likelihood of relying solely on information that supports existing views.

3. Machiavellianism is a personality trait characterized by a tendency to be manipulative and deceitful in order to achieve one's goals. Individuals high in Machiavellianism may be willing to exploit others and bend rules within an organization to advance their own agendas.

4. Research suggests that personality has a greater influence on a person's behavior in unstructured environments than in highly structured environments. This is because unstructured environments provide individuals with more freedom to act according to their disposition.

5. Overplacement is the form of overconfidence in which an individual believes they are better than others (more productive, more skilled, more knowledgeable, etc.), which is often a misunderstanding of their performance relative to their peers. Unlike other forms of overconfidence, which center on the individual’s own future performance, overplacement concerns an individual’s beliefs about their current standing.

6. The survey is an example of a correlational survey. This method can only demonstrate a relationship between variables but is not sufficient to prove a causal relationship. A correlational survey measures the level of one variable, like job satisfaction, but cannot isolate one factor that may cause it.

7. Multitasking can increase the likelihood of exhibiting the fundamental attribution error because it divides our attention, making it harder to consider situational factors that may influence others’ behavior. With limited mental resources available, we are more likely to default to dispositional (personality-based) attributions rather than analyzing the context.

8. Naïve realism is the belief that one's own perceptions and interpretations of the world are objective and unbiased, while others' perceptions are seen as biased. In a business context, this can lead to conflict, as individuals on different sides of a discussion believe their position to be the only logical one.

9. The overclaiming of responsibility bias is the tendency for individuals to overestimate their contributions to a group effort. It occurs because people have more awareness of their own efforts than of the efforts of others, leading them to overestimate their personal impact.

10. Written communication can be more prone to miscommunication than direct speaking because it lacks the immediate feedback and clarification present in face-to-face conversations. Writers tend to assume their message is clear, while they might miss the need to address confusion or ambiguity that an immediate listener might flag.

Glossary of Key Terms

• Assimilation: In communication, the process of distorting information to fit existing cognitive schemas or beliefs. It's the process of "filling in the gaps" with information that is not necessarily present.

• Confirmation Bias: The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.

• Conscientiousness: A personality trait characterized by being organized, responsible, dependable, and achievement-oriented.

• Correlational Survey: A research method that examines the relationship between two or more variables but does not establish causation.

• Curse of Knowledge: A cognitive bias where someone assumes others have the background knowledge needed to understand something when they do not.

• Experimental Method: A research method that manipulates one or more variables to determine their causal effect on another variable.

• Fundamental Attribution Error: The tendency to overemphasize personality-based explanations for others’ behaviors, while minimizing situational factors that may be relevant.

• Illusion of Transparency: The cognitive bias where a person believes they are communicating more clearly than they actually are.

• Machiavellianism: A personality trait characterized by a tendency to be manipulative and deceitful in order to achieve one’s goals.

• Naïve Realism: The belief that one’s own perceptions and interpretations of the world are objective and unbiased, while others’ are seen as biased.

• Overclaiming of Responsibility: The tendency to over estimate one's contributions to a group effort.

• Overconfidence: The tendency to be more confident in one’s abilities, predictions, or judgments than is justified by objective data.

• Overplacement: The form of overconfidence in which an individual believes they are better than others, which is often a misunderstanding of their performance relative to their peers.

• Proactivity: A personality trait characterized by the tendency to actively shape the situations that one experiences in their life, especially on the job.

• Qualitative Interviews: A research method that gathers rich, detailed information through open-ended conversations with participants.

• Random Assignment: Assigning participants to different groups in a study in a way that gives each participant an equal chance of being placed in any group.