Download Work-Related Attitudes

Chapter Five
Work-Related Attitudes: Prejudice, Job
Satisfaction, and Organizational
Commitment
Three Good Reasons Why You Should
Care About . . . Work-Related Attitudes
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We are all potential victims of prejudice and
discrimination on the job; nobody is immune
The more people are satisfied with their jobs and
committed to their organizations, the less likely
they are to be absent and voluntarily resign
Changing attitudes is not impossible. There are
specific things that practicing managers and their
organizations can do to enhance the work-related
attitudes of employees (attitudes are learned)
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Job Attitudes (Morale)
Work-related attitudes are the thoughts and feelings
people have about everything related to their jobs,
whether it’s the work itself, superiors, coworkers,
subordinates, or even the food in the company
cafeteria
Four major targets to consider:
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Prejudice: attitudes toward others
Job satisfaction: attitudes toward the job as a whole; pay,
supervision, etc. (measures cognitive component)
Organizational commitment: attitudes toward the organization
Job involvement: job activities are the specific target
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Anatomy of Prejudice
Stereotypes are beliefs that
people who belong to
certain groups possess
certain characteristics
Prejudice may be defined
as negative feelings about
people belonging to certain
groups
Discrimination is a form of
negative behavior
associated with a given
stereotype
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Prejudice versus Discrimination
Prejudice is an attitude consisting of negative beliefs (known as
stereotypes), negative feelings about those beliefs, and negative
predispositions toward people described by those stereotypes.
These attitudes sometimes (but not always) lead to behavior
consistent with that attitude – that is, discrimination
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Bases for Prejudice
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Age
Physical Condition
Gender (being female)
Sexual Orientation
Race and National Origin
Religion
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Women at the Top
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Managing a Diverse Workforce
Affirmative Action Plans generally involve
efforts to give employment opportunities to
qualified individuals belonging to groups that
traditionally have been disadvantaged
Diversity Management Programs are efforts
to celebrate diversity by creating supportive,
not just neutral, work environments. They can
also be used to train people to embrace
individual differences
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Affirmative Action
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Diversity Management Practices
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Theories of Job Satisfaction
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Two-factory theory (Herzberg’s
motivational theory)
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Value theory (Expectancy)
Social information processing
model
Disposition model
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Two-Factor Theory
A theory that
conceives of
satisfaction and
dissatisfaction as
separate variables,
rather than conceiving
of job satisfaction as
falling along a single
continuum
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Value Theory
A theory that focuses on discrepancies between
what people want from a job and what they
actually receive from the job, particularly in
terms of outcomes that they value highly (e.g.,
pay, learning opportunities)
Satisfaction is a function of unmet expectations.
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Social Information Processing Model
The idea that people’s attitudes toward
their jobs are based on information
they get from other people
Attitudes can be learned by observing
others on the job (Schein’s:
Organizational Socialization-’learn the
ropes’.
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Dispositional Model
The conceptualization
proposing that job
satisfaction is a
relatively stable
disposition of an
individual – that is, a
characteristic that
stays with people
across situations
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Consequences of Job Dissatisfaction
Employee Withdrawal: Actions such as chronic
absenteeism and voluntary turnover (i.e.,
quitting one’s job) that enable employees to
escape from adverse organization situations
Job Performance: no relationship, one reason
since people don’t control their job activities
directly
Organizational Citizenship Behaviors:
Activities that enhance social relationships and
cooperation with the organization but go beyond
formal job requirements
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Do Attitudes Predict Behavior
(not always)
If strongly held and no outside influences
Specific attitude predicts specific behavior:
specific attitude against littering leads to specific
behavior of no littering
General attitude does not predict behavior:
General attitude towards the environment does
not predict specific behavior of littering.
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Job Satisfaction and Absence
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Turnover
 Unfolding model of voluntary turnover: A
conceptualization that explains the cognitive processes
through which people make decisions about quitting or
staying on their jobs
 Decision depends on:
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Shock to the system: An attention-getting event that gets
employees to think about their jobs (e.g., merger with another
company)
Decision frames: A set of internalized rules and images
regarding how to interpret something that has occurred (e.g.,
based on what I know from the past, is there an obvious
response?)
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Promoting Job Satisfaction
Pay people fairly (intrinsic rewards)
 Improve the quality of supervision
 Decentralize organizational power
 Match people to jobs that fit their
interests
 Job enrichment
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Lawler-Porter Model
Performance leads to Job Satisfaction (JS)
Performance leads to:
 Intrinsic
rewards: Higher order
motivators such as feeling good about a job
well done. (strong relationship to JS)
 Extrinsic rewards: (weak relationship)
Rewards lead to satisfaction moderated
by perceived equity of the reward
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Organizational Commitment
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The extent to which an individual identifies and is involved
with his or her organization and/or is unwilling to leave it
Continuance Commitment: The strength of a person’s
desire to continue working for an organization because he
or she needs to do so and cannot afford to leave
Affective Commitment: The strength of a person’s desire
to work for an organization because he or she agrees with
its underlying goals and values
Normative Commitment: The strength of a person’s desire
to continue working for an organization because he or she
feels obligations from others to remain there
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Organizational Commitment
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Why Commitment Matters
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Committed employees are less likely to
withdraw
Committed employees are willing to make
sacrifices for the organization
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Developing Commitment
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Enrich jobs
Align the interests of the
company with those of the
employees
Recruit and select new
employees whose values
closely match those of the
organization
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Changing Attitudes

Communicator: Prestige and Trust
 Message:
logical argument, fear, repetition
 Medium: face-to-face
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Process: Elaboration Likelihood Model
 Central
processing: cognitive
 Peripheral processing: expert source
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Other Theories (changing attitudes)
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Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger): After choosing one of
two job offers, the accepted job is viewed more positively
and the job not accepted is viewed more negatively.
Self-perception theory (Bem): Behavior determines
attitude, ‘if I keep talking to this person I must like this
person’.
Reactance Theory (Brehm): People cherish their freedom,
and when they lose control they fight to regain their
freedom. If told you can’t have something you like it even
more and increase your drive to attain it.
Balance Theory (Heider): People like to have their
beliefs consistent with the beliefs of people they like.
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