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Bob Stretch Southwestern College
Robbins & Judge
Organizational Behavior
13th Edition
Attitudes and Job Satisfaction
Chapter Learning Objectives
๏ After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
- Contrast the three components of an attitude.
- Summarize the relationship between attitudes and behavior.
- Compare and contrast the major job attitudes.
- Define job satisfaction and show how it can be measured.
- Summarize the main causes of job satisfaction.
- Identify four employee responses to dissatisfaction.
- Show whether job satisfaction is a relevant concept in countries other than the United States.
Does Behavior Always Follow from Attitudes?
๏ Leon Festinger โ No, the reverse is sometimes true!
๏ Cognitive Dissonance: Any incompatibility between two
or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes
- Individuals seek to reduce this uncomfortable gap, or dissonance , to reach stability and consistency
- Consistency is achieved by changing the attitudes, modifying the behaviors, or through rationalization
- Desire to reduce dissonance depends on:
- Importance of elements
- Degree of individual influence
- Rewards involved in dissonance
Moderating Variables
๏ The most powerful moderators of the attitude-
behavior relationship are:
- Importance of the attitude
- Correspondence to behavior
- Accessibility
- Existence of social pressures
- Personal and direct experience of the attitude.
A ttitudes Predict B ehavior
Moderating Variables
What are the Major Job Attitudes?
๏ Job Satisfaction
- A positive feeling about the job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics
๏ Job Involvement
- Degree of psychological identification with the job where perceived performance is important to self-worth
๏ Psychological Empowerment
- Belief in the degree of influence over the job, competence, job meaningfulness, and autonomy
Another Major Job Attitude
๏ Organizational Commitment
- Identifying with a particular organization and its goals, while wishing to maintain membership in the organization.
- Three dimensions:
- Affective โ emotional attachment to organization
- Continuance Commitment โ economic value of staying
- Normative - moral or ethical obligations
- Has some relation to performance, especially for new employees.
- Less important now than in past โ now perhaps more of occupational commitment , loyalty to profession rather than a given employer.
Are These Job Attitudes Really Distinct?
๏ No: these attitudes are
highly related.
๏ Variables may be
redundant (measuring
the same thing under a
different name)
๏ While there is some
distinction, there is also
a lot of overlap.
Be patient, OB researchers are working on it!
Job Satisfaction
๏ One of the primary job attitudes measured.
- Broad term involving a complex individual summation of a number of discrete job elements.
๏ How to measure?
- Single global rating (one question/one answer) - Best
- Summation score (many questions/one average) - OK
๏ Are people satisfied in their jobs?
- In the U. S., yes, but the level appears to be dropping.
- Results depend on how job satisfaction is measured.
- Pay and promotion are the most problematic elements.
See E X H I B I T 3โ 2
Employee Responses to Dissatisfaction
Exit
- Behavior directed toward leaving the organization
Voice
- Active and constructive attempts to improve conditions
Neglect
- Allowing conditions to worsen
Loyalty
- Passively waiting for conditions to improve
See E X H I B I T 3โ 4
Active
Passive
Destructive Constructive
Outcomes of Job Satisfaction
๏ Job Performance
- Satisfied workers are more productive AND more productive workers are more satisfied!
- The causality may run both ways.
๏ Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
- Satisfaction influences OCB through perceptions of fairness.
๏ Customer Satisfaction
- Satisfied frontline employees increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.
๏ Absenteeism
- Satisfied employees are moderately less likely to miss work.
Global Implications
๏ Is Job Satisfaction a U. S. Concept?
- No, but most of the research so far has been in the U. S.
๏ Are Employees in Western Cultures More Satisfied With
Their Jobs?
- Western workers appear to be more satisfied than those in Eastern cultures.
- Perhaps because Westerners emphasize positive emotions and individual happiness more than do those in Eastern cultures.
See E X H I B I T 3โ 5
Summary and Managerial Implications
๏ Managers should watch employee attitudes:
- They give warnings of potential problems
- They influence behavior
๏ Managers should try to increase job satisfaction and
generate positive job attitudes
- Reduces costs by lowering turnover, absenteeism, tardiness, theft, and increasing OCB
๏ Focus on the intrinsic parts of the job : make work
challenging and interesting