Psychology Unit 3: Attitude, Value and Motivation

Attitudes: Evaluative statements or judgments about objects, people, or events. They reflect feelings about something and are often learned through experience or upbringing. They strongly influence behavior in various situations, but can change. An attitude has three components: cognitive, affective, and behavioral.

Cognitive: The opinion or belief segment, e.g., "My pay is low."
Affective: The emotional or feeling segment, e.g., "I am angry that my pay is low."
Behavioral: An intention to behave in a certain way, e.g., "I am going to look for another job that pays better."

Experience: Direct encounters shape attitudes.
Social Roles and Norms: Societal expectations influence attitudes in certain roles.
Classical and Operant Conditioning: Learned associations (e.g., positive or negative) influence attitudes.
Observing People in the Environment: Observing others' attitudes leads to adopting similar ones, especially those greatly admired.

Knowledge: Attitudes provide structure for understanding the world (making it more predictable).
Value-Expressive: Attitudes communicate core values and identity.
Adaptive: Attitudes help fit into and be accepted by social groups.
Ego-Defensive: Attitudes protect self-esteem or justify actions.

Learning Theory: Classical, operant, and observational learning can adjust attitudes.
Elaboration Likelihood Theory: Motivated thinking about a message leads to attitude change, or likeability of the speaker can lead to temporary attitude change.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory: Incompatibility between attitudes and behavior can cause attitude change to reduce tension.

Job Satisfaction: A positive feeling resulting from evaluating job characteristics.
Job Involvement: Degree to which a person identifies with, participates in, and considers job performance important to their self-worth.
Organizational Commitment: The degree to which an employee identifies with an organization and wants to maintain membership.
Perceived Organizational Support (POS): The degree to which employees feel their organization values their contribution and well-being.
Employee Engagement: The level of enthusiasm an employee feels for their job.

Basic Convictions: Values are fundamental beliefs of what is personally and socially preferable.
Content: Mode of conduct or end-state, what is considered important.
Intensity: How important the conduct or end-state is viewed.
Value System: A hierarchy of an individual's values ranked by intensity. Values tend to be stable, but they can change with questioning. Values and personality might have links.

Terminal Values: Desirable end states of existence (e.g., Freedom, Prosperity).
Instrumental Values: Preferable modes of behavior that achieve terminal values (e.g., Self-improvement, Ambition).

Values Change: Values shift across generations.
Cohorts: Researchers analyze generational work value differences. Studies show generational value differences (Veterans, Boomers, Xers, Nexters).

Learned: Values are learned and passed down through generations, varying based on culture.
Frameworks: Understood through frameworks like Hofstede's Framework and Globe Framework.

Six Value Dimensions: Power Distance, Individualism/Collectivism, Masculinity/Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long-Term/Short-Term Orientation, Indulgence/Restraint.
These dimensions categorize different cultural values. Power Distance, Individualism/Collectivism, Masculinity/Femininity show how different societies value achievement, respect for authority, and importance of group ties. Other characteristics include how societies view uncertainty and time/planning outlook as well as society's level of indulgence/restraint.

Nine Dimensions: Building on Hofstede's work, nine dimensions further analyze cultural variations. They include humane orientation, performance orientation, and in-group collectivism.

Processes: Accounts for intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward a goal.
Intensity: The effort level a person will put in.
Direction: The effort focused toward a beneficial outcome.
Persistence: How long a person sustains effort toward the goal.

Content Theories: Focuses on 'what' motivates individuals.
Hierarchy of Needs: Maslow's hierarchy of needs (Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging, Esteem, Self-Actualization).
Theory X and Theory Y: McGregor's contrasting views on employee motivation (Theory X - workers are lazy and must be controlled, Theory Y - workers are motivated and self-directed).
Two-Factor Theory: Herzberg's theory separating job satisfaction factors (motivators) from dissatisfaction factors (hygiene).
McClelland's Theory of Needs: Theory proposes three needs (achievement, power, affiliation) motivating individuals.

Process Theories: Focuses on 'how' motivation works.
Goal-Setting Theory: Specific and challenging goals lead to higher performance if accompanied by feedback.
MBO Programs: Applying goal-setting to organizational improvements.
Self-Efficacy Theory: Belief in one's ability to succeed influences motivation and actions. Components - Mastery experiences, Vicarious experiences, Verbal persuasion, and Emotional states.
Equity Theory: Comparing one's rewards and inputs to others' influences motivation (over/under-reward, distortion of inputs/outcomes).
Expectancy Theory: Motivation depends on the expectancy that effort will lead to performance and rewards, which are also valued by the individual. The key factor is the link between effort, performance, and rewards, in addition to personal goals.