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ChapterChapter

Individual Differences and Work BehaviorIndividual Differences and Work Behavior

33

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3-3Why Individual Differences Are Important: (1 of 2)

Why Individual Differences Are Important: (1 of 2)

• Individual differences have a direct effect on behavior• People who perceive things differently

behave differently• People with different attitudes respond

differently to directives• People with different personalities interact

differently with bosses, coworkers, subordinates, and customers

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3-4Why Individual Differences Are Important: (2 of 2)

Why Individual Differences Are Important: (2 of 2)

• Individual differences help explain:• Why some people embrace change and

others are fearful of it• Why some employees will be productive

only if they are closely supervised, while others will be productive if they are not

• Why some workers learn new tasks more effectively than others

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3-5Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle(1 of 3)

Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle(1 of 3)

• Different people are attracted to different careers and organizations as a function of their own:

• abilities

• interests

• personalities

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3-6Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle(2 of 3)

Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle(2 of 3)

• Organizations select employees on the basis of the needs the organization has• skills and abilities

• individual attributes such as values and personality

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3-7Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle(3 of 3)

Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle(3 of 3)

• Attrition occurs when:• individuals discover they do not like being

part of the organization and elect to resign, or

• the organization determines an individual is not succeeding and elects to terminate

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3-8

Each phase of the ASA cycle is

significantly influenced by the individual

differences of each person

Each phase of the ASA cycle is

significantly influenced by the individual

differences of each person

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Effective managerial practice requires that individual behavior differences be recognized, and when feasible, taken into consideration while carrying out the job of managing organizational behavior.

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3-10Individual Differences in the Workplace

Individual Differences in the Workplace

Ability and SkillsAbility and Skills AttitudesAttitudesPerceptionPerception

PersonalityPersonality

Work Behavior• Productivity• Creativity• Performance

Individual DifferencesIndividual Differences

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3-11The Basis for Understanding Work Behavior:The Basis for Understanding Work Behavior:

• To understand individual differences a manager must:

1.1. observe and recognize the differences

and

2.2. study relationships between variables that influence behavior

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Ability andAbility andSkillsSkills

PerceptionPerception AttitudesAttitudes

Hereditary andHereditary andDiversityDiversityFactorsFactors

PersonalityPersonality

Individual Differences Influencing Work Behavior:Individual Differences Influencing Work Behavior:

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Diversity FactorsDiversity Factors

Primary Dimensions (stable)

• Age• Ethnicity• Gender• Physical attributes• Race• Sexual / affectional

orientation

Primary Dimensions (stable)

• Age• Ethnicity• Gender• Physical attributes• Race• Sexual / affectional

orientation

Secondary Dimensions (changeable)

• Educational background• Marital status• Religious beliefs• Health• Work experience

Secondary Dimensions (changeable)

• Educational background• Marital status• Religious beliefs• Health• Work experience

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3-14Sex Differences in Management:Selected Results (1 of 2)

Sex Differences in Management:Selected Results (1 of 2)

Dimension Results

Behavior:

Task-orientedPeople-orientedEffectiveness ratings

Response to poor performerInfluence strategies

No difference.No difference.Stereotypical difference in evaluations of managers in laboratory studies: Males favored. No difference in evaluations of actual managers.Stereotypical difference: Males use norm of equity, whereas females use norm of equality.Stereotypical difference: Males use a wider range of strategies, more positive strategies, and less negative strategies. The difference diminishes when women managers have high self-confidence.

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3-15Sex Differences in Management:Selected Results (2 of 2)

Sex Differences in Management:Selected Results (2 of 2)

Dimension Results

Motivation No difference in some studies.Non-stereotypical difference in other studies: Female motivational profile is close to that associated with successful managers.

Commitment Inconsistent evidence regarding difference.

Subordinates responses

Stereotypical differences in responses to managers in laboratory studies; Managers using style that matches sex role stereotype are favored.No difference in responses to actual managers.

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Abilities and SkillsAbilities and Skills

• Ability – a person’s talent to perform a mental or physical task

• Skill – a learned talent that a person has acquired to perform a task

• Ability – a person’s talent to perform a mental or physical task

• Skill – a learned talent that a person has acquired to perform a task

Key AbilitiesKey Abilities

Mental AbilityMental Ability

Emotional Emotional IntelligenceIntelligence

Tacit KnowledgeTacit Knowledge

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AttitudesAttitudes

• Are determinates of behavior because they are linked with perception, personality, feelings, and motivation

• Attitude – a mental state of readiness• learned and organized through experience• exerting a specific response to people,

objects, and situations with which it is related

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3-18Attitudes: Implications for the Manager

Attitudes: Implications for the Manager

1. Attitudes are learned

2. Attitudes define one’s predispositions toward given aspects of the world

3. Attitudes provide the emotional basis of one’s interpersonal relations and identification with others

4. Attitudes are organized and are close to the core of personality

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Manager styleManager styleTechnologyTechnologyNoiseNoisePeersPeersReward systemReward systemCompensation planCompensation planCareer opportunitiesCareer opportunities

Manager styleManager styleTechnologyTechnologyNoiseNoisePeersPeersReward systemReward systemCompensation planCompensation planCareer opportunitiesCareer opportunities

Beliefs and valuesBeliefs and valuesBeliefs and valuesBeliefs and values

Feelings and emotionsFeelings and emotionsFeelings and emotionsFeelings and emotions

Intended behaviorIntended behaviorIntended behaviorIntended behavior

StimuliStimuli

Work Work environment environment factorsfactors

CognitionCognition

AffectAffect

BehaviorBehavior

““My supervisor is unfair.”My supervisor is unfair.”

““Having a fair supervisor is Having a fair supervisor is important to me.”important to me.”

““I don’t like my supervisor.”I don’t like my supervisor.”

““I’ve submitted a formal I’ve submitted a formal request to transfer.”request to transfer.”

The Three The Three Components Components of Attitudes: of Attitudes: Cognition, Cognition, Affect, Affect, BehaviorBehavior

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CognitionCognition

• What individuals know about themselves and their environment

• Implies a conscious process of acquiring knowledge

• Evaluative beliefs – favorable or unfavorable impressions that a person holds toward an object or person

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AffectAffect

• The emotional component of an attitude• Often learned from

• parents• teachers• peer group members

• The part of an attitude that is associated with “feeling” a certain way about a person, group, or situation

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Cognitive DissonanceCognitive Dissonance

• A discrepancy between attitudes and behaviors

• A mental state of anxiety

• Occurs when there is a conflict among an individual’s various cognitions after a decision has been made

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Changing AttitudesChanging Attitudes

The CommunicatorThe Communicator

The MessageThe Message

The SituationThe Situation

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3-24How to Increase Your Effectiveness in Changing Attitudes: (1 of 2)

How to Increase Your Effectiveness in Changing Attitudes: (1 of 2)

1. Concentrate on gradually changing the attitude over a period of time

2. Identify the beliefs or values that are part of the attitude and provide the attitude holder with information that will alter those beliefs or values

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3-25How to Increase Your Effectiveness in Changing Attitudes: (2 of 2)

How to Increase Your Effectiveness in Changing Attitudes: (2 of 2)

3. Make the setting (in which the attempted change occurs) as pleasant and enjoyable as possible

4. Identify reasons that changing the attitude is to the advantage of the attitude holder

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Attitudes and Job SatisfactionAttitudes and Job Satisfaction

• Job satisfaction – an attitude people have about their jobs

• Results from people’s perception of their jobs

• Results from the degree of fit between the individual and the organization

• Job satisfaction – an attitude people have about their jobs

• Results from people’s perception of their jobs

• Results from the degree of fit between the individual and the organization

• Key factors associated with job satisfaction:• Pay• Promotion opportunities• Supervision• Coworkers• Working conditions• Job security

• Key factors associated with job satisfaction:• Pay• Promotion opportunities• Supervision• Coworkers• Working conditions• Job security

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3-27Satisfaction-Performance Relationships:Three Views

Satisfaction-Performance Relationships:Three Views

2. Job Performance2. Job Performance

1. Job Satisfaction1. Job Satisfaction

3. Job Performance3. Job Performance

Job SatisfactionJob SatisfactionJob SatisfactionJob Satisfaction

Job PerformanceJob PerformanceJob PerformanceJob Performance

Job SatisfactionJob SatisfactionJob SatisfactionJob Satisfaction

CausesCauses

CausesCauses

““The satisfied worker is more The satisfied worker is more productive.”productive.”

““The more productive worker is The more productive worker is satisfied.”satisfied.”

RewardsRewardsRewardsRewards

Perceived EquityPerceived Equity

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PersonalityPersonality

• A relatively stable set of feelings and behaviors that have been significantly formed by genetic and environmental factors

• The relationship between behavior and personality is one of the most complex matters that managers have to understand

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3-29Some Major Forces Influencing Personality

Some Major Forces Influencing Personality

Individual Individual PersonalityPersonality

Cultural forcesCultural forces

Hereditary forcesHereditary forces

Family relationship Family relationship forcesforces

Social class / group Social class / group membership forcesmembership forces

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The Big FivePersonalityDimensions

Locus of Control

Self-efficacy Creativity

Personality and Behavior in Organizations

Personality and Behavior in Organizations

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ConscientiousnesConscientiousnesss

ExtroversionExtroversion

Emotional Emotional StabilityStability

AgreeablenessAgreeableness

Openness to Openness to ExperienceExperience

The Big Five Personality Dimensions

The Big Five Personality Dimensions

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Locus of ControlLocus of Control

• Locus of control of individuals – • Determines the degree to which they

believe their behaviors influence what happens to them

• Internals – believe they are masters of their own fate

• Externals – believe they are helpless pawns of fate, success is due to luck or ease of task

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Self-EfficacySelf-Efficacy

• Feelings of self-efficacy have managerial and organizational implications:

• Selection decisions

• Training programs

• Goal setting and performance

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3-34How to Develop Employee Creativity

How to Develop Employee Creativity

1. Encourage everyone to view old problems from new perspectives

2. Make certain people know that it is OK to make mistakes

3. Provide as many people with as many new work experiences as you can

4. Set an example in your own approach to dealing with problems and opportunities