Psychology Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

Attitudes

• Attitudes are evaluative statements, positive or negative, about objects, people, or events.
• They reflect feelings; the reasoning behind them may be unclear.
• Three components: Cognitive (beliefs), Affective (feelings), Behavioral (intentions).
• Example: Cognitive ("My pay is low."), Affective ("I'm angry."), Behavioral ("I'll look for another job.").
• Leon Festinger's theory suggests attitudes follow behavior; individuals adjust their statements to align with actions.
• Cognitive dissonance: incompatibility between attitudes or between attitudes and behavior. The importance of the elements, degree of influence, and rewards involved affect how much effort is spent resolving dissonance.

Job Attitudes

• Job satisfaction: Positive feeling about one's job based on evaluating its characteristics.
• Job involvement: Degree of psychological identification with one's job and its impact on self-worth.
• Organizational commitment: Identifying with an organization's goals and wishing to remain a member. This includes affective (emotional attachment), continuance (economic value of staying), and normative (moral obligation) commitment.
• Perceived organizational support (POS): Employees' belief that the organization values their contributions and well-being.

Measuring Job Satisfaction

• Single global rating: Uses a few general questions to assess overall job satisfaction.
• Summation score: Identifies key job elements, rates employee feelings about each on a scale, and totals for an overall score.

Causes of Job Satisfaction

• Interesting work (training, variety, independence, support, control) is a key factor.
• Pay satisfaction plateaus beyond a certain level; it motivates but doesn't guarantee happiness.
• Positive core self-evaluation (belief in one's competence) strongly relates to job satisfaction.

Responses to Job Dissatisfaction

• Exit: Leaving the organization.
• Voice: Trying to improve conditions.
• Loyalty: Waiting for conditions to improve.
• Neglect: Allowing conditions to worsen.

Outcomes of Job Satisfaction

• Improved job performance.
• Increased organizational citizenship behavior (helping beyond required duties).
• Higher customer satisfaction.
• Reduced absenteeism and turnover.
• Less workplace deviance (theft, substance abuse, etc.).

Managerial Implications

• Employee attitudes signal potential problems and influence behavior.
• High pay alone is insufficient for satisfaction; challenging, interesting work is crucial.
• Job satisfaction is linked to organizational effectiveness.

Project: Measuring Job Satisfaction

• Develop questions about job attitudes and satisfaction.
• Interview three employees (managerial, rank-and-file, janitorial) and measure their job satisfaction using either the single global rating or summation score method.
• Present findings (PowerPoint and written report) on September 11th, with a 10-minute presentation on September 14th.

Attitudes

• Attitudes are evaluative statements, favorable or unfavorable, about objects, people, or events.
• They reflect how someone feels about something.
• Attitudes have three components:
  • Cognitive: a description or belief (e.g., "My pay is low.")
  • Affective: the emotional feeling (e.g., "I am angry about my low pay.")
  • Behavioral: an intention to behave in a certain way (e.g., "I'm going to look for a better-paying job.")
• Leon Festinger's theory suggests attitudes may follow behavior; people adjust their statements to align with their actions.
• Cognitive dissonance is the incompatibility between attitudes or between behavior and attitudes. The importance of the elements, degree of influence, and rewards involved affect efforts to reduce dissonance.

Job Attitudes

• Job Satisfaction: Positive feeling about one's job based on evaluating its characteristics.
• Job Involvement: Psychological identification with one's job and its perceived impact on self-worth.
• Organizational Commitment: Identification with and desire to maintain membership in an organization. This includes:
  • Affective commitment: emotional attachment and belief in the organization's value.
  • Continuance commitment: perceived economic value of staying.
  • Normative commitment: obligation to remain due to moral or ethical reasons.
• Perceived organizational support (POS) is the degree to which employees believe the organization values their contributions and well-being.
• Measuring job satisfaction:
  • Single global rating method: uses a few general questions.
  • Summation score method: identifies key elements, asks about feelings toward each, and tallies responses.

Causes of Job Satisfaction

• Interesting, challenging work providing training, variety, independence, social support, and control contributes to satisfaction.
• Pay, beyond a certain level, doesn't significantly increase satisfaction, though it's still a motivator.
• Positive core self-evaluation (belief in one's worth and competence) strongly influences job satisfaction.

Responses to Job Dissatisfaction

• Exit: leaving the organization.
• Voice: attempting to improve conditions.
• Loyalty: waiting for conditions to improve.
• Neglect: allowing conditions to worsen.

Outcomes of Job Satisfaction

• Increased job performance.
• Organizational citizenship behaviors.
• Higher customer satisfaction.
• Reduced absenteeism and turnover.
• Less workplace deviance (e.g., theft, substance abuse).

Managerial Implications

• Managers should monitor employee attitudes as warnings of potential problems and because attitudes influence behavior.
• High pay alone isn't enough for satisfaction; challenging and interesting work is crucial.
• Job satisfaction is linked to organizational effectiveness.

Project Assignment

• Prepare questions about job attitudes and satisfaction.
• Interview three employees (managerial, rank-and-file, and janitorial) and measure their job satisfaction using either the single global rating or summation score method. Present findings in a PowerPoint presentation and written report by September 11th. Presentations are scheduled for September 14th (10 minutes each).

Explore the various components of attitudes including cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects. This quiz delves into job attitudes, such as job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment, while also examining Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory. Test your understanding of how attitudes influence behavior in the workplace.