Psychology Chapter 5: Attitudes and Motivation

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Questions and Answers

What are the components of an attitude?

Cognitive, Affective, Behavioural (correct)

Affective, Behavioural, Environmental

Cognitive, Affective, Physical

Cognitive, Emotional, Social

What does cognitive dissonance imply about behaviors and attitudes?

Dissonance leads individuals to justify inconsistent behaviors.

Attitudes change to align with behaviors over time.

Behaviors are always independent of attitudes.

Behaviors are likely to be consistent with attitudes to avoid dissonance. (correct)

How would you categorize the statement, 'I enjoy working in my organization'?

Neutral statement

Affective statement (correct)

Cognitive statement

Behavioral statement

Which type of attitude involves evaluative statements about specific subjects?

Evaluative attitudes Signup and view all the answers

What typically happens when a person's behavior contradicts their attitudes?

They undergo cognitive dissonance. Signup and view all the answers

What is a key component of Flow Theory according to Csikszentmihalyi?

Subjective experience of optimal motivation Signup and view all the answers

Which antecedent is important for achieving a positive affect in motivational work design?

Match between task demands and individual skills Signup and view all the answers

What is a significant consequence of entering a state of flow?

Intense concentration Signup and view all the answers

Which principle of motivational work design involves integrating different job tasks?

Combining tasks Signup and view all the answers

According to Hackman and Oldham's concepts, what psychology aspect is essential for transforming high motivation into effective work behavior?

Immediate performance feedback Signup and view all the answers

What is one benefit of team training mentioned in the content?

Improved emotional intelligence Signup and view all the answers

Which generation is referred to as Millennials?

1981-1993 Signup and view all the answers

What is a primary focus of changes in work according to the content?

Succession planning for talented employees Signup and view all the answers

What are two approaches to managing cultural diversity mentioned in the material?

Categorization and elaboration Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best represents the concept of emotional intelligence in a team context?

Conflict resolution ability Signup and view all the answers

What is one implication of the faster rate of innovation for workers?

Increased need for general skills and self-regulation Signup and view all the answers

What is a key challenge of reduced supervision in teams?

Lower accountability among team members Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes an implication of an increase in the complexity of work?

The need for job analysis of intellectual work Signup and view all the answers

What does the content suggest is a necessary skill for success in team environments?

Strong interpersonal abilities Signup and view all the answers

How does global competition affect companies?

It promotes more imaginative companies Signup and view all the answers

Which generational cohort follows Generation X?

Generation Y Signup and view all the answers

What is a key factor in adapting to new work environments?

Personal initiative Signup and view all the answers

What role do small niches play in the complexity of work?

They create opportunities for customization Signup and view all the answers

What do technological innovations result in concerning personnel?

Reduction of jobs in production Signup and view all the answers

Which characteristic is increasingly important in a complex work environment?

Cultural adaptability and teamwork Signup and view all the answers

What implication does temporary work significantly address?

Greater employability through flexibility Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary characteristic of a team as defined in the content?

A small group working on a clearly defined, challenging task together. Signup and view all the answers

What is included in the definition of a team regarding its members' roles?

Some roles may be duplicated within the team. Signup and view all the answers

Which factor is crucial for a team to achieve its objectives according to the definition?

The team must work closely and interdependently. Signup and view all the answers

What is the appropriate size range for a team as mentioned in the content?

2-15 members Signup and view all the answers

According to the definition, what type of objectives should a team have?

Clear, shared, and challenging team-level objectives derived from their task. Signup and view all the answers

What must team members have to enable them to meet the team’s objectives?

Autonomy, authority, and resources. Signup and view all the answers

What is a misconception about teamwork that can arise from the definition provided?

Team members can work best independently. Signup and view all the answers

What does organizational identity in teamwork pertain to?

A shared perception of goals and responsibilities. Signup and view all the answers

Which element is NOT one of the core components of teamwork?

Communication skills Signup and view all the answers

What type of team emphasizes genuine autonomy and influence?

Project and development teams Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a dimension of teamwork that involves learning opportunities?

Autonomy Signup and view all the answers

What defines the boundaries of a team within an organization?

Organizational context Signup and view all the answers

Which type of team is typically responsible for specific strategic tasks?

Strategy and policy teams Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an example of a coordination mechanism in teamwork?

Closed loop communication Signup and view all the answers

Which factor is primarily relevant when considering teamwork to perform tasks?

Task interdependencies Signup and view all the answers

Which of these components focuses on how teams manage pressures and stress?

Team orientation Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Psychological Approach to Studying Work in a Changing Environment

Studying work involves a psychological approach, crucial in understanding the changing nature of work.
Key figures in the field are Chmiel (2008), Arnold & Randall (2016), and Howes & Muchinsky (2022).
Relevant books and chapters are referenced.

Introduction

A key question is what changes will occur in the next 50-100 years.
Two answers are given: erroneous forecasts (e.g., Eastern countries) and slower changes (e.g., computer technology).
Causes of change in work include extrapolating trends, small causes creating large effects, and countermovements.

Limiting Conditions for Changes

Human beings are conservative, reluctant to accept new technology.
Organizations exhibit a conservative approach, preferring established hierarchies.
Methods to understand the future of work include the work of software designers and the scenario approach.

10 Trends of the Future of Work

Work's unity in space and time is dissolving, impacting coordination and culture.
Job and career concepts are evolving.
Work's pace of innovation is accelerating.
Work complexity is increasing, with implications for unskilled workers, social competencies, self-esteem, and intellectual work analysis.
Personal initiative is compared to adaptability to new demands within a globalized marketplace impacting smaller and larger organizations.
Supervisory roles are reducing/more distributed.
Cultural diversity within the workforces is growing.

Dissolution of the Unity of Work in Space and Time

Telework presents issues such as volunteerism, privacy concerns, commitment to collaborative work, and control.
Implications include difficulties with face-to-face coordination, cultural conflicts, and potential miscommunication.

Change of Job and Career Concepts

Job reductions in production and service sectors (re-engineering) are on the rise.
Hiring numbers are declining in some sectors.
Temporary work and project-based work are becoming more common.
Career concepts are evolving, with lifetime employment less common, and greater focus on adaptability and employability.

Faster Rate of Innovation

Two approaches to innovation exist; those with creativity and initiative, and whether innovation is a process or product-focused approach.
Learning faster includes general skills, self-regulation, self-training, learning by mistake, and a learning organizational culture, balancing a curiosity vs. uncertainty avoidance approach.

Increase of Complexity of Work

Small niches are increasing.
Increased customer demands for customization.
Increasing demands impact unskilled workers, with questions about wages and social competence.
Job analysis is needed for intellectual work, impacting self-esteem and self-efficacy.

3 Changes in Work World Focused on US

Succession planning, identifying and developing talented employees
Comparing generational differences (Generations X, Y, or Millennials) in work, with implications for recruiting
Current and future generations will have diverse work and learning styles.

Chapter 2. Work Socialization and the Meaning of Work

This chapter is about the socialization of the workplace and the meaning of work.

Attitudes and Behavior

Thinking about managerial skills of supervisors
Measuring job satisfaction.
Attitudes encompass cognitive, affective, and behavioral components.
The theory of planned behavior (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1977) explores factors that influence attitudes and behaviors.

Linking Attitudes and Behavior

Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger, 1957) explains behaviors that may contradict attitudes
The theory of planned behavior (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1977) details factors that contribute to behavior.

Job Satisfaction

Job characteristics (personality, job characteristics) and distributive justice influence job satisfaction.

Organizational Commitment

Organizational commitment is how an individual feels about their relationship with the organization.
Antecedents and effects (of commitment) include workplace experiences, and personality.
Outcomes relate to employee retention (turnover).

Other Work Attitudes

Employee engagement represents active involvement in the job.
Job involvement suggests how invested a person feels in the job.
Elements of fairness (justice) include an important component in the workplace.

Attitude Change: Persuasion and Influence

Elaboration Likelihood Model, Heuristic/Systemic Model
Attitude strength
Persuasion and influence

Wider Influences on Behavior at Work

Emotion and behavior influence how people react to the workplace in terms of outcomes, stress, and more
Perception and behavior, personal constructs theory, and interpersonal perceptual shortcuts

Decision Making

Bounded Rationality Theory (Simon, 1972)
Intuitive decision making is more suitable for problems where the domain knowledge is vast or deep and the task requires judgment.

Social facilitation - Your performance may be better when another persons/people are around.
Social loafing - Reducing effort and performance when amongst others, because they are not being observed/held accountable for individual performance.
Personal identity & social identity relates to how a person views themself and perceives a result of being part of a social group, and can impact how others/people feel about these groups in a social context.
Conformity
Obedience to Authority

Chapter 3. Work Design: Jobs and Roles

Job analysis is the collection and analysis of job-related information, using different methods, to find information about the job from the point of view of human resources.
Types of information include work activities, performance, job context, machines, job-related outcomes, and personnel requirements.
Methods for job analysis, including quantitative and descriptive methods, include critical incident technique, repertory grid, ability requirements scale; questionnaire analysis (PAQ).

Job Classification Systems

ISCO (International Standard Classification of Occupations), DOT (Dictionary of Occupational Titles) and O*NET (Occupational Information Network) provide job classification systems and/or frameworks and/or lists; including occupational groupings.

Strategic Job Modeling (SJM)

SJM is a framework that brings together a description of work in terms of tasks and competencies from a strategic context (work requirements) and a people context (capabilities from the people side).

Competency Framework

Competencies are behaviors that deliver desired results.
The Great Eight Competencies are an example of this approach.

Types of Teams in Organizations

Strategies, policy, production, services, project, action and performing teams are categorized
Dimensions such as frequency and task type (routine to strategic).

What Do Teams Do?

Teams enable improved performance for a task or group of related tasks.

Dimensions of Teamwork

These dimensions, including Task significance, completeness, autonomy, opportunities for learning, and varied demands.

Why Work in Teams?

Teams facilitate organizational strategy.
Teams promote learning and quality management (Cohen and Bailey, 1997).
Teams improve team's performance and outcome(s).

Benefits of Teamwork for Employees and Organizations

Employee benefits include job satisfaction, empowerment, commitment, and involvement.
Organizational benefits include efficiency, adaptability, reduced costs (cost-savings), and increased innovation.

What Makes an Effective Team?

This section details the inputs, processes, and outputs of team performance, including task design, team skills, organizational support, resources, objectives, reflexivity, conflict, and outcomes (Aston Team Performance Inventory, West, Markiewicz, and Dawson, 2006)

Ability and Personality

High-ability (intelligent) people perform well in teams.
Teams composed of conscientious people and high-extraversion perform better.
Belbin's Team Roles Model outlines complementary roles needed in teams.

Generic Teamwork Skills

Teamwork skills include active listening, communication, social perceptiveness, self-monitoring, altruism, warmth, and patience.
The importance of inter-personal skills is noted
Steven's & Campion's knowledge, skills, and abilities framework is discussed.

Influences on Decision-Making within Teams

Potential barriers include ignoring new information, social conformity, air time, hierarchical structure, groupthink, social loafing, and brainstorming issues.

Task Focus and Cooperative Context

Constructive controversy within teams is explored.
Steps within the cooperative context are noted.
Error management in teams is recognized.
Types of conflict are noted.

Creativity and Innovation

Identifying stages (exploration, ideation, selection, implementation) associated with creativity development
Team creativity is noted
Process of problem solving
Team dynamics and interpersonal skills are important aspects.

Reflexivity

This section describes the phases of reflection within teams
Stages of reflection include
- Reflection on events.
- Planning includes assessing problems, scaling priorities, and understanding plans.
- Team action encompasses magnitude, novelty, radicalness, and efficiency.

Evaluation of the Teams' Outputs

Team effectiveness, innovation, inter-team relationships, member satisfaction, and team attachment drive positive organizational outcomes.

Chapter 6. Stress and Health at Work

This chapter covers work stress and health and the impact in the workplace.
This describes job stress as a social problem.
The changing nature of work, with an increase in mental and emotional demands, leads to a rise in stress in the workplace.
The chapter explores the multiple viewpoints on job stress as a stimulus, a response, and as a mediational processing.
Coping methods, including problem-oriented and emotion-oriented coping.

Individual Differences and Job Stress

Genetic, acquired, and dispositional characteristics (e.g., coping styles, personality traits) contribute to job stress

Theoretical Models of Job Stress

Various theoretical models of job stress exist, including the demand-control (Job Strain) model, the Vitamin model, and the Effort-Reward Imbalance model
Additional models such as the job resources model, and the job demands-resources model explain how job resources and job demands relate to job stress.
Initial stress models explored and described
These frameworks consider job and environmental circumstances as relevant to job well-being

Interventions to Prevent or Reduce Stress

Organizations and individuals can implement primary and secondary prevention strategies.
Treatment and/or rehabilitation are noted to prevent stress at work.
Methods for reducing stress are identified as an important aspect of promoting workplace wellbeing.

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Description

This quiz covers key concepts in psychology related to attitudes, cognitive dissonance, and flow theory. Test your understanding of how attitudes influence behavior in organizational settings and the importance of motivational work design. Perfect for students exploring these fundamental psychological principles.