1. Microsoft® PowerPoint Presentation to Accompany
Organizational Behavior
SEVENTH EDITION
Gregory Moorhead and Ricky W. Griffin

2. Foundations of Individual Behavior
Chapter 4
Foundations of Individual Behavior

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Learning Objectives
Discuss psychological contracts, the person-job fit, and the nature of individual differences.
Define “personality” and describe personality attributes that affect behavior in organizations.
Explain the role of attitudes in organizations and identify specific job-related attitudes that may affect behavior.
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4. Learning Objectives [continued]
Describe perceptual processes and the role of attributions in organizations.
Discuss creativity and the creative process in organizations.
Explain how workplace behaviors can directly and indirectly influence organizational effectiveness.
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5. People in Organizations
Understanding the individual-organization interface and the role of individual differences in determining workplace behaviors is of special relevance to managers.
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6. Psychological Contracts
A psychological contract is a person’s overall set of expectations regarding what he/she will contribute to the organization and what the organization will provide in return.
Thus, unlike a business contract, a psychological contract is not written on paper, nor are all of its terms explicitly negotiated.
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7. Figure 4.1 The Psychological Contract
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8. People in Organizations
Person-Job Fit
The extent to which the contributions made by the individual match the inducements offered by the organization.
Individual Differences
Personal attributes that vary from one person to another.
Individual differences include personality, attitudes, perception, and creativity.
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9. Personality and Organizations
The relatively stable set of psychological attributes that distinguish one person from another.
The “Big Five” Personality Traits
A set of fundamental traits that is especially relevant to organizations.
The Myers-Briggs Framework
This framework differentiates people in terms of four general dimensions: sensing, intuiting, judging, and perceiving. Higher and lower positions in each of the dimensions are used to classify people into one of sixteen different personality categories.
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10. Personality and Organizations [continued]
The “Big Five” Personality Traits
Agreeableness—The ability to get along with others.
Conscientiousness—The number of goals on which a person focuses.
Negative Emotionality—Characterized by moodiness and insecurity; those with little negative emotionality are better able to withstand stress.
Extraversion—The quality of being comfortable with relationships; the opposite extreme, introversion, is the characterized by more social discomfort.
Openness—The capacity to entertain new ideas and to change as a result of new information
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11. Figure 4.2 The “Big Five” Personality Framework
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12. Other Personality Traits at Work
Locus of Control
The extent to which people believe that their behavior has a real effect on what happens to them.
People who believe individuals are in control of their lives have an internal locus of control.
Those who think forces beyond their control dictate what happens to them have an external locus of control.
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13. Other Personality Traits at Work [continued]
Self-Efficacy
The belief in one’s capabilities to perform a task.
Self-Esteem
The extent to which a person believes that he or she is a worthwhile and deserving individual.
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14. Other Personality Traits at Work [continued]
Authoritarianism
The extent to which a person believes that power and status differences are appropriate within hierarchical social systems such as organizations.
Machiavellianism
People with this personality trait behave in ways to gain power and control over the behavior of others.
Risk Propensity
The degree to which a person is willing to take chances and make risky decisions.
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15. Attitudes in Organizations
Complexes of beliefs and feelings that people have about specific ideas, situations, or other people. Attitudes are the mechanisms through which most people express their feelings.
How Attitudes Are Formed (Attitude Structure)
Affect is a person’s feelings toward something.
Cognition is the knowledge a person presumes to have about something.
Intentions are the component of an attitude that guides a person’s behavior.
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16. Attitudes in Organizations [continued]
How Attitudes Are Formed (Attitude Structure)
Cognitive Dissonance is the anxiety experienced when a person simultaneously holds two contradictory or incongruent sets of knowledge or perceptions.
Attitude Change occurs because attitudes are not as stable as personality attributes. Attitudes are altered when new information becomes available, the object or person or their relevance changes, or changes occur that reduce dissonance.
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17. Key Work-Related Attitudes
Job Satisfaction
Reflects the extent to which a person is gratified or fulfilled by his or her work.
Is determined by individual needs and aspirations, relationships to co-workers and supervisors, working conditions, work policies, and compensation.
A satisfied employee tends to be absent less often, to make positive contributions, and to stay with the organization.
In contrast, a dissatisfied employee may be absent more often, may experience stress that disrupts coworkers, and may be continually looking for another job.
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18. Key Work-Related Attitudes [continued]
Organizational (Job) Commitment
Is a person’s identification with and attachment to an organization.
A highly committed person will probably see herself/himself as a true member of the firm, overlook minor sources of dissatisfaction, and see herself/himself staying with the organization longer.
Is increased by extrinsic rewards, role clarity, and participative management.
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19. Affect and Mood in Organizations
Positive Affectivity
People with a positive affectivity are upbeat and optimistic, have an overall sense of well-being, and see things in a positive light.
Negative Affectivity
People characterized by negative affectivity are generally downbeat and pessimistic, see things in a negative way, and seem to be in a bad mood.
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20. Perception in Organizations
The set of processes by which an individual becomes aware of and interprets information about the environment.
Basic Perceptual Processes
Selective Perception
The process of screening out uncomfortable or contradictory information that conflicts with a person’s beliefs.
Stereotyping
The categorizing or labeling of people on the basis of a single attribute.
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21. Figure 4.3 Basic Perpetual Processes
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22. Perception and Attribution
Attribution Theory
Suggests that individuals observe behavior and then attribute internal or external causes to it in an attempt to explain why people behave as they do.
Behavior Observation and Evaluation
Consensus is extent to which other people in the same situation behave in the same way.
Consistency is the degree to which the same person behaves in the same way at different times.
Distinctiveness is the extent to which the same person behaves in the same way in different situations.
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23. Figure 4.4 The Attribution Process
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24. Creativity in Organizations
Creativity is the ability to generate new ideas or to conceive of new perspectives on existing ideas.
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25. The Creative Individual
Background Experiences
Researchers have observed that many creative individuals were raised in environments that nurtured creativity.
Personal Traits
Creative individuals share common personality traits:
Openness, an attraction to complexity, a high level of energy, independence, autonomy, strong self-confidence, and a strong belief that one is creative.
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26. The Creative Individual [continued]
Cognitive Abilities
Cognitive abilities are an individual’s powers to think intelligently and to analyze situations and data effectively.
Creativity is also linked with the ability to think divergently and convergently.
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The Creative Process
Preparation
Usually the first stage in the creative process; includes education and formal training and on-the-job experiences.
Incubation
The stage of less intense conscious concentration during which a creative person lets the knowledge and ideas acquired during preparation mature and develop.
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28. The Creative Process [continued]
Insight
The stage when thoughts and ideas that were maturing during incubation come together to produce a breakthrough.
Verification
In the final stage of the creative process, the validity or truthfulness of the insight is determined through experimentation and trials.
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29. Figure 4.5 The Creative Process
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30. Enhancing Creativity in Organizations
Ways to enhance and promote creativity:
Make creativity a part of the organization’s culture through explicit goals.
Reward creative successes and be careful not to punish creative failures.
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31. Types of Workplace Behavior
A pattern of action by organizational members that directly or indirectly influences the organization’s effectiveness.
Performance Behaviors
All the work-related behaviors that the organization expects the individual to display.
Dysfunctional Behaviors
Absenteeism occurs when an individual does not show up for work.
Turnover occurs when people quit their jobs.
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32. Types of Workplace Behavior [continued]
Organizational Citizenship
The extent to which an individual makes a positive overall contribution to the organization.
A complex mosaic of individual, social, and organizational variables determine organizational citizenship behaviors.
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