Attitudes and Job Satisfaction - Comprehensive Study Notes

Attitudes: Definition and Components

• Attitudes are evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events.
• Three components of an attitude (ABC model):
  • Affective: The emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.
  • Behavioral: An intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.
  • Cognitive: The opinion or belief segment of an attitude.
• Summary of the components (A, B, C):
  • Affective = feelings toward the object/event.
  • Cognitive = beliefs or thoughts about the object/event.
  • Behavioral = intended or actual actions toward the object/event.
• Attitudes example (MGMT 340 class): Attitude, Behavioral, Cognitive
  • I like qualitative subjects that involve discussion (Affective)
  • I think it’s going to be an interesting class (Cognitive)
  • I am going to make this class a priority before work and socializing (Behavioral)

Attitudes and Behavior

• Which comes first?
  • Attitudes sometimes predict behavior (e.g., exercise is good for you, so you go for a walk).
  • Behavior sometimes forms attitudes (e.g., you feel good after walking, so you make walking a priority).
• This illustrates that the attitude–behavior relationship can be bidirectional and context-dependent.

Cognitive Dissonance

• Definition: Incompatibility between two or more attitudes, or between behavior and attitudes.
• Examples:
  • Attitude conflict: Chocolate cake tastes good but is unhealthy.
  • Behavior conflict: I ate the chocolate cake, but I also think chocolate cake is unhealthy.
• Consequence: Psychological discomfort that motivates inconsistency reduction (e.g., changing attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors).

Job-Related Attitudes: Job Satisfaction

• Definition: A positive feeling about the job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics.
• Simple mnemonic: I ♥ my job
• Significance: Job satisfaction influences motivation, performance, and organizational outcomes.

How do you measure Job Satisfaction

• Measurement method: Surveys.
• Response option scale: On a scale of one to five, rate your job satisfaction:
  • $1$ Strongly Dissatisfied
  • $2$ Dissatisfied
  • $3$ Neutral
  • $4$ Satisfied
  • $5$ Strongly Satisfied
• This scale allows quantification of overall satisfaction and comparisons across groups.

Survey of job satisfaction of academic librarians

• Mean (SD) for each item:
  • Salary: $ext{Mean}=3.38, ext{ SD}=1.24$
  • Training: $ext{Mean}=3.19, ext{ SD}=1.27$
  • Resources: $ext{Mean}=3.05, ext{ SD}=1.20$
  • Job Security: $ext{Mean}=4.11, ext{ SD}=0.90$
  • Recognition: $ext{Mean}=4.17, ext{ SD}=0.98$
  • Working Conditions: $ext{Mean}=3.22, ext{ SD}=1.25$
  • Recommendation: $ext{Mean}=4.24, ext{ SD}=0.82$
  • Sense of Achievement: $ext{Mean}=4.09, ext{ SD}=0.88$

Causes of Job Satisfaction

• Job conditions:
  • Spacious work areas
  • Adequate lighting
  • Comfortable work stations
  • Upgraded technology
  • Example: Zappos Work Station
• Pay:
  • Over $125{,}000$ → 61.6% job satisfaction
  • $35{,}000$ to $50{,}000$ → 41.2%
  • $15{,}000$ to $25{,}000$ → 36.3%
  • Less than $15{,}000$ → 41.8%
  • Source: Fall 2014 Nielsen Company survey of 5,000 U.S. households
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):
  • Refers to business initiatives that benefit society
  • Falls into three categories: social, environmental, economic

Outcomes of Job Satisfaction

• Job performance
• Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
• Customer satisfaction
• Life satisfaction

The Impact of Job Dissatisfaction

• Four main responses: Neglect, Exit, Loyalty, Voice
• Visualization cue: “I hate my job” (illustrative)

Other Important Job Attitudes

• Job Involvement
• Psychological Empowerment
• Organizational Commitment
• Perceived Organizational Support
• Employee Engagement

Summary

• Defined attitudes.
• Examined the link between attitudes and behavior.
• Identified important job attitudes.
• Detailed look at job satisfaction: causes and outcomes.
• Considered the impact of job dissatisfaction.

Implications for Managers

• Satisfied employees are:
  • Happier
  • More productive
  • More likely to stay with the organization
  • More likely to display OCB
• Job attitudes can be measured and improved.
• Improving employee job-related attitudes will result in:
  • Greater organizational effectiveness
  • Higher customer satisfaction
  • Increased profits