The Psychological Contract set of expectations held by an individual with respect to what he or she will contribute to the organization and what the organization will provide in return.

Individual Contributions The Psychological Contract Organizational Inducements

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Understanding Individuals in Organizations

The Person-Job Fit – Reasons for poor person-job fit: • Organizational selection procedures are imperfect.

• Both people and organizations change over time.

• Adopting new technologies changes the skills needed by employees.

• Each individual is unique and each job is unique.

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Personality and Individual Behavior

• Personality

– The relatively stable set of psychological and behavioral attributes that distinguish individuals.

Agreeableness Conscientiousness The “Big Five” Personality Traits Negative Emotionality Extroversion Openness

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Personality

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) A popular questionnaire that some organizations use to assess personality types.

• Is a useful method for determining communication styles and interaction preferences.

• Has questionable validity and reliability.

Personality Types – Extraversion (E) versus Introversion (I) – Sensing (S) versus Intuition (N) – Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F) – Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Other Personality Traits

Locus of Control

extent to which people believe they control their own fate.

• •

Internal locus of control —

individuals who believe they are in control of their lives.

External locus of control —

individuals believe that external forces dictate what happen to them.

Self-Efficacy

– person’s belief about his or her capabilities to perform a task.

Authoritarianism

– person’s belief that power and status differences are appropriate in hierarchal systems.

Machiavellianism

- Behavior directed at gaining power and controlling the behavior of others.

Self Esteem

– person’s belief that they are worthwhile.

Risk Propensity

– person’s willingness to take chances and make risky decisions.

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Emotions

Emotions- intense feelings directed at someone or something 6 basic emotions: Anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust and surprise.

• Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

– The extent to which people are self-aware, can manage their emotions, can motivate themselves, express empathy for others, and possess social skills.

Self-awareness Managing Emotions Dimensions of EQ Motivating oneself Empathy Social skills

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Attitudes

Attitudes – Complexes of beliefs and feelings that people have about specific ideas, situations, or other people.

Cognitive Dissonance – The conflict individuals experience among their own attitudes.

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Work-Related Attitudes

• Job Satisfaction or Dissatisfaction – An attitude that reflects the extent to which an individual is gratified or fulfilled by his or her work.

• Job Satisfaction and Work Behaviors – Job satisfaction is influenced by personal, group, and organizational factors.

– Satisfied employees are absent less often, make positive contributions, and stay with the organization.

– Dissatisfied employees are absent more often, may experience stress which disrupts coworkers, and may be continually looking for another job.

– High levels of job satisfaction do not necessarily lead to high job performance.

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Perception and Individual Behavior

• Perception – The set of processes by which an individual becomes aware of and interprets information.

• Selective Perception – The process of screening out information that we are uncomfortable with or that contradicts our beliefs.

– If selective perception causes someone to ignore important information it can become quite detrimental.

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Perceptual Processes

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Perception and Individual Behavior

• Stereotyping

– The process of categorizing or labeling people on the basis of a single attribute (e.g., gender and race).

– Stereotyping may cost the organization valuable talent, violate federal anti-bias laws, and is likely unethical.

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Perception and Attribution

• Attribution

– A mechanism through which we observe behavior and attribute a cause to it.

Attribution Consensus Consistency Distinctiveness

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Personality Types

– Type A personality • Extremely competitive (aggressive), devoted to work, have a strong sense of time urgency (impatient).

• Have a lot of drive and want to accomplish as much as possible as quickly as possible.

– Type B personality • Less competitive, less devoted to work, have a weaker sense of time urgency.

• Less likely to experience personal stress or to come into conflict with other people.

• More likely to have a balanced, relaxed approach to life.

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Stress -

Stress

A person’s response to a strong stimulus (

stressor

).

Causes – Personal and Job-Related Factors • Negative Personal Consequences    Behavioral Psychological Medical • Negative Work-related Consequences   Poor quality work output and lower productivity.

Job dissatisfaction, low morale, and a lack of commitment.

 Withdrawal through indifference and absenteeism.

• Burnout  A feeling of exhaustion that may develop when someone experiences too much stress for an extended period of time.

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Causes of Work Stress Organizational Stressors Task Demands • Quick decisions • Incomplete informa tion for decisions • Critical decisions Physical Demands • Temperature extremes • Poorly designed office • Threats to health Role Demands • Role ambiguity • Role conflict Interpersonal Demands • Group pressures • Leadership styles • Conflicting personalities

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Managing Stress

Stress Management Strategies for Individuals Regular Exercise Relaxation Time Management Support Groups

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Creativity in Organizations

• Creativity – The ability of an individual to generate new ideas or to conceive of new perspectives in existing ideas.

• The Creative Individual – Background experiences and creativity • Many creative individuals were reared in creative environments.

– Personal traits and creativity • Creative persons have personal traits of openness, an attraction to complexity, high levels of energy, independence, autonomy, strong self-confidence, and a strong belief in their own creativity.

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The Creative Process (cont’d)

• Enhancing Creativity in Organizations

– Make creativity part of the organization’s culture.

• Set goals for revenues from creative products and services.

– Reward creativity; refrain from punishing creative failures.

• Some ideas work out as expected, others don’t work out as intended.

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Workplace Behaviors

Types of Workplace Behaviors Performance Behaviors Withdrawal Behaviors Organizational Citizenship

Performance Behaviors The total set of work-related behaviors an organization expects an individual to display.

Withdrawal Behaviors Absenteeism occurs when an individual does not show up for work when expected for legitimate or feigned reasons. It may be a symptom of other work-related problems.

Turnover occurs when individuals quit their jobs for work-related or personal reasons.

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