ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
INDRANILMUTSUDDI
Attitudes
Types of Attitudes
Nature of Attitudes
Attitudes are understood as the beliefs,
feelings and action tendencies of an
individual or group of individuals towards
objects, ideas and people.
Attitudes can be described as mental states
of readiness, learned and organized
through experience, exerting a specific
influence on a person’s response to people,
objects and situations with which it is
related.
About Attitudes….
Attitudes are learned.
Attitudes refer to feelings & beliefs of
individuals or group of people.
These feelings & beliefs define one’s
predispositions towards given aspects of
the world.
Attitudes can fall anywhere.
Attitudes are organized & are core to an
individual.
Components of Attitude
Affective Cognitive
Attitude
Behavioral
Tendency
Components of Attitude
Cognitive Component: It refers to what
we know or we think that we know about
an object, situation or an individual.
Affective Component: It consists of the
feelings a person has towards an object,
situation or an individual.
Behavioral Tendency Component: It is
the way an individual is inclined towards an
object, situation or an individual.
Attitude & Behavior Relationship
Affective
Component
Behavior towards
Cognitive
Attitude object, situation,
Component
person
Behavioral
Tendency
Component
The Attitude Behavior Cognition
(ABC) Model of Attitude
Managerial Style
Technology
Stimuli Noise
Work Related Factors Peers
Reward System
Career opportunities
My supervisor is unfair
Cognition Beliefs & values Having a fair supervisor
Is important to me
Affecting Feelings & emotions I don’t like my supervisor
Stage
Behavior Intended Behavior I am going to request for
a transfer
Attitude Formation
Experience with
The object
Mass Classical
Communication Conditioning
Attitudes
Economic Operant
Status Conditioning
Family &
Neighborhood Social Learning
Peer Groups
Functions of Attitudes
Ego
Adjustment
Defensive
Attitudes
Value
Knowledge
Expression
Difficulties in Changing Attitudes
Escalation of Commitment
Cognitive Dissonance
Insufficient Information
Escalation of Commitment
It refers to the prior commitment of people
to a particular cause & their unwillingness
to change.
Extension of groupthink could lead to
escalation of commitment.
The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Desire to reduce dissonance
• Importance of elements creating dissonance
• Degree of individual influence over elements
• Rewards involved in dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance
The discomfort experienced by
people feeling cognitive dissonance
leads to efforts to reduce the tension
by:
Changing the attitudes
Changing the behavior
Rationalizing the inconsistency
Measuring the A-B Relationship
Recent research indicates that the
attitudes (A) significantly predict
behaviors (B) when moderating variables
are taken into account.
Moderating Variables
• Importance of the attitude
• Specificity of the attitude
• Accessibility of the attitude
• Social pressures on the individual
• Direct experience with the attitude
Ways of Changing Attitudes
Changing attitudes of the self:
Be aware of one’s own attitudes
Think for self
Realize that there are few, if any, benefits from
harboring negative attitudes
Keep an open mind
Get into continuous education & development
programs
Build a positive self-esteem
Stay away from negative influences.
Ways of Changing Attitudes
Changing attitudes of the Employees:
Give feedback on a regular basis.
Accentuate positive attitude.
Be the role model
Provide new information
Use fear & coercion
Use rewards
Influence of friends/peers
Applying co-opting approaches
Work Related Attitudes
Job Satisfaction
Organizational Commitment
Involvement & Participation
Psychological Ownership
Self-Perception Theory
An Application: Attitude Surveys
Sample Attitude Survey
Job Satisfaction
It refers to the general attitude of the
employees towards their jobs & the
organization.
Job Satisfaction
Measuring Job Satisfaction
Single global rating
Summation score
How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs?
Job satisfaction declined to 50.7% in 2000
Decline attributed to:
Pressures to increase productivity
Less control over work
A Model of Job Satisfaction
Low
Turnover
Organizational Job Low
Factors Satisfaction Absenteeism
Outcomes
Expected/valued
Group Factors
Outcomes High
Turnover
Received Job
Individual
Dissatisfaction
Factors
High
Absenteeism
The Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee
Performance
Satisfaction and Productivity
Satisfied workers aren’t necessarily more
productive.
Worker productivity is higher in organizations
with more satisfied workers.
Satisfaction and Absenteeism
Satisfied employees have fewer avoidable
absences.
Satisfaction and Turnover
Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.
Organizations take actions to cultivate high
performers and to weed out lower performers.
Causes of Job Satisfaction
Organizational factors:
Wages
Promotions
Nature of Work (work content, challenges,
skill variety, task identity etc)
Organizational policies & procedures
Working Conditions
Causes of Job Satisfaction
Group factors:
Size
Supervision
Individual factors:
Personality variables
Expectations
Interests
General life satisfaction
Performance & Job Satisfaction
Perceived
Equity of rewards
Extrinsic
Rewards
Job
Performance
Satisfaction
Intrinsic
Rewards
Lawler-Porter Model of Performance & Job Satisfaction
Responses to Job Dissatisfaction
How Employees Can Express
Dissatisfaction
Organizational Commitment
It is the relative strength of an individual’s
identification with and involvement in a
particular organization.
Components
Affective Normative Continuance
Component Component Component
It is based on the
It is based on the
Emotional Belief that
Costs an employee
Attachment to the Commitment is
Associates with
organization “the right” thing
Leaving the orgn.
“to do”
Causes of Organizational Commitment
Employability
Personal
Traits
Organizational
Job/Role Commitment Organizational
Expectations Propensity Commitment
Experienced
meaningfulness
Job Choice Initial Work
factors Experience Experienced
responsibility
Psychological
Ownership
Psychological Ownership
It is the state in which an individual feels as
though the target of ownership (or a piece
of ownership) is their own.
It develops through empowerment, self-
management opportunities, expanded
roles, and participation in organizational
problem solving.
Job Satisfaction and OCB
Satisfaction and Organizational
Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
Satisfied employees who feel fairly treated by
and are trusting of the organization are more
willing to engage in behaviors that go beyond
the normal expectations of their job.
Causes & Consequences of Psychological
Ownership
Antecedent Conditions Consequent Conditions
Organizational
Citizenship
Behavior
Information
(intimate Assumption of
Involvement Knowledge) Psychological
Opportunities Responsibility
Ownership
Influence Satisfaction
Investing of Organizational
Oneself Commitment
Assumption of
Personal Risk for
The target of
Ownership
Management of Employee Attitudes
Organizational Structure
Organizational Climate
Organizational Culture
Working Conditions
Job Design Employee attitudes,
Impact of Technology beliefs, feelings &
Security intentions
Organizational Policies
Pay & Rewards
Co-workers
Financial Impact of Attitudes (tools)
HR Accounting
Behavioral Accounting
Procedure for assessing Financial
Impact of Attitudes
Identifying & measuring relevant attitudes
Identifying & measuring relevant “Cost
Items”
Pricing behavioral “Cost Items”
Identifying the relationship b/w Attitudes &
Behavioral “cost items”
Estimating the Financial Impact of Attitude
Changes
Values
Types of Values –- Rokeach Value Survey
Values in
the
Rokeach
Survey
Values in
the
Rokeach
Survey
(cont’d)
Mean Value
Rankings of
Executives, Union
Members, and
Activists
Dominant Work Values in Today’s
Workforce
Values, Loyalty, and Ethical
Behavior
Ethical Values and
Behaviors of
Leaders
Ethical Climate in
the Organization
