Introduction

to Industrial/
Organizational (I/O)
Psychology

Block II

INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
PROCESSES

25
 INTRODUCTION
The second block of this course consists of three units. The first unit discusses
about the various work related attitude in organizations. You will be explained
about the meaning, causes and consequences of employee attitude. Further, the
nature of job satisfaction will be discussed highlighting its historical antecedents,
meaning and dimensions followed by assessment techniques. The outcomes of
job satisfaction will also be explained. At the end of the unit, the concepts of
organizational citizenship behavior and organizational commitment will also
be explained
The second unit of this block is devoted to the understanding of the nature of
work motivation. It deals with the definition and meaning of work motivation.
Various theories of motivation and their applications in organizational context
have been explained in this unit. The Indian perspectives are also highlighted
in this unit.
In the third and last unit of this block explains the concept of stress and
also focuses on the sources, causes and consequences of stress. Further, the
techniques of stress management will also be discussed in this unit.

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Unit 2 Work Attitudes*
Structure
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Objectives
2.2 Definition, Characteristics and Nature of Job Satisfaction
2.2.1 Definition of Job Satisfaction
2.2.2 Characteristics of Job Satisfaction
2.2.3 Nature of Job Satisfaction

2.3 Antecedents of Job Satisfaction

2.3.1 Personal Characteristics
2.3.2 Work Situation Characteristics

2.4 Outcomes of Job Satisfaction

2.4.1 Job Performance
2.4.2 Withdrawal Behaviours
2.4.3 Workplace Deviance
2.4.4 Safety Performance
2.4.5 Customer Satisfaction
2.4.6 Life Satisfaction

2.5 Organizational Commitment

2.5.1 Concept of Organizational Commitment
2.5.2 Components of Organizational Commitment
2.5.3 Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction

2.6 Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB)

2.6.1 Types of OCB
[Link] Courtesy

[Link] Altruism

[Link] Sportsmanship

[Link] Conscientiousness

[Link] Civic Virtue

2.7 Let Us Sum Up

2.8 Unit End Questions
2.9 Glossary
2.10 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
2.11 Suggested Readings and References
27
*
Dr Nidhi Mallik, IP University, Delhi
Individual Level
Processes 2.0 INTRODUCTION
Job satisfaction refers to the degree to which individuals like their jobs. Some
people enjoy work and find it to be a central part of life. Others hate to work
and do so only because they must. This job attitude has been the subject of
extensive research in the domain of industrial-organizational psychology and
organizational behaviour. A thorough account of the meaning, causes and
consequences of employee attitude will be presented in this unit. First, the nature
of job satisfaction will be discussed highlighting its historical antecedents,
meaning and dimensions. Second, some major assessment techniques will be
discussed. Third, an account of the antecedents or predictors of job satisfaction
will be put forth. The outcomes of job satisfaction will also be explained. At
the end of the unit, the concepts of organizational citizenship behaviour and
organizational commitment will also be explained.

2.1 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to:
• Explain the meaning, antecedents of job satisfaction;
• Describe the meaning and types of organizational citizenship behaviour;
• Identify the concept and components of organizational commitment.

2.2 DEFINITION, CHARACTERISTICS AND

NATURE OF JOB SATISFACTION
2.2.1 Definition of Job Satisfaction
In the past hundred years, job satisfaction has been defined by several
organizational behaviour scholars and researchers. The following are few of
the definitions:
The most-used research definition of job satisfaction is by Locke (1976),
who defined it as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the
appraisal of one’s job or job experiences”.
Cook et al. (1981) defined job satisfaction as “an attitude which manifests
itself in evaluation of the job and of the employing organization as contributing
suitably to the attainment of one’s personal objectives”.
Lambert, Barton, and Hogan (1999) defined the term as “the fulfillment or
gratification of certain needs that are associated with one’s work.”
Spector (1997) defines it as “the extent to which people like (satisfaction) or
dislike (dissatisfaction) their jobs”.

2.2.2 Characteristics of Job Satisfaction

The above definitions reflect few of the characteristics of job satisfaction:
1) Job satisfaction is an emotional response to a job situation. As such it cannot
be seen, it can only be inferred.
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2) Job satisfaction is the extent to which the working environment meets Work Attitudes
the Job Satisfaction needs and expectations of employees. It is a result of
employees’ perception of how well their job provides outcomes that are
viewed as important.
3) Job satisfaction is an evaluation of the job and of the organization that
shows up in significant work behaviours such as productivity, absenteeism,
turnover, workplace deviance, organizational citizenship and so forth. Job
satisfaction can thus be understood as an important job attitude.
Job satisfaction is reflected in terms of attitude of employees. As an attitude,
it has three elements: affective, cognitive and Behavioural. The affective
component is the emotional response to the job situation and is reflected in the
statement “I feel good about my job”. The cognitive element is the appraisal on
the extent to which the job fulfills important needs associated with one’s work.
It is illustrated in the statement “My job helps me to achieve my goals”. The
Behavioural component is the intention to engage in specific Behaviours as
manifested in productivity, absenteeism, turnover and forms of organizational
citizenship. It is reflected in the statement “I want to give my best on the job”.
Although viewing job satisfaction as made of three components is helpful in
understanding its complexity, the term as it is generally used, essentially refers
to the affect part of the three components. Thus the statement “I like my job”
best exemplifies job satisfaction and signifies that it is primarily an individual’s
affective reaction to a particular job that results from the person’s comparison
of actual outcomes with those that are desired, anticipated, or deserved.

2.2.3 Nature of Job Satisfaction

For almost one hundred years, employee job satisfaction has been targeted by
research. The origin of these studies dates back to at least 1911, when Taylor
began to study employees and their job duties to develop better ways to train
workers. By 1927, the study of employee’s positive or negative reaction to their
jobs had fully begun to take hold when Elton Mayo first studied the effect of
lighting at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works in Chicago. These studies
showed that lighting had little connection to worker productivity, creating the
fundamental groundwork for future studies that asked about other factors that
may have an impact on employees. The Hawthorne Studies continued until
1932, and in the five-year interval, the research widened to include factors such
as temperature, fatigue, breaks, and working hours. Mayo’s work may seem
marginally relevant to job satisfaction today, but he discovered that the mere
act of studying workers and providing them with more attention increased their
motivation and productivity. Mayo had stumbled upon the essence of human
motivation, marking a new era of humanistic job satisfaction research, and
revolutionising the research and theories of job satisfaction.
Job satisfaction has now become one of the most frequently measured
organizational variable in both research and applied settings. There are multiple
reasons for interest in this work attitude. First, organizations and researchers
are interested in simply assessing the current state of employee job satisfaction.
They are often concerned with employee well-being and psychological
health, and some form of job satisfaction measurement is therefore included
in employee opinion surveys. Second, understanding the influences on job 29
Individual Level satisfaction is important for improving organizational functioning. Significant
Processes lines of research have therefore focused on the role of personal, work-related
and organizational variables in job satisfaction. Third, job satisfaction has
important implications for work outcomes within an organization. Interest has
thus been in the empirical examination of job satisfaction and its relationship
with such outcomes as performance, withdrawal behaviours, organizational
citizenship behaviours and other work behaviours.

2.3 ANTECEDENTS OF JOB SATISFACTION

Various studies have examined the antecedents or predictors of job satisfaction.
Two distinct models of job satisfaction are apparent in these studies. The first
model focuses on personal characteristics such as age, years of service, gender,
occupational rank, educational level, personality and cultural factors. The
second model places emphasis on the individual’s work situation including the
nature of the work, pay, promotional opportunities, supervisor, work group and
working conditions. The two sets of variables are discussed in the following
sections.

2.3.1 Personal Characteristics

Following are few of the personal characteristics of an individual which
influences their level of job satisfaction:
Age and years of experience – In general, research on age and tenure differences
in job satisfaction suggest that older and more experienced workers are more
satisfied with their jobs than are younger and less experienced workers (e.g.,
Wright and Hamilton, 1978; Janson and Martin, 1982). This relationship holds
true for blue-collar and white-collar employees and for men and women. Several
explanations have been put forward for this relationship. First, it is attributed
to the more realistic job expectations of older employees owing to age and
maturity. Second, it is reasoned that age and experience usually bring increased
confidence, responsibility and sense of accomplishment thus contributing to
higher levels of satisfaction. Third, there is an indication that older people may
actually have “better” or more highly rewarded jobs.
Gender – Research evidence on gender differences in job satisfaction is Job
Satisfaction inconsistent and contradictory. In general, women are paid less
than men, their opportunities for promotion are fewer and they believe that
they have to work harder than men to receive comparable rewards. These
differences manifest in their satisfaction with their jobs. Thus gender relates to
job satisfaction only to the extent that other factors vary with gender.
Occupational level – The level at which individuals work within an
organization has some influence on their satisfaction. In general, executives
express more positive job attitudes than do first-line supervisors, who, in turn,
are usually more satisfied than their subordinates are. Higher-level jobs offer
greater opportunities for growth, challenge, autonomy and responsibility.
Thus, employees’ job satisfaction tends to increase with each level within the
organizational hierarchy.
Education – Educational level is found to be related to job satisfaction. While
30 some researchers have found positive relationships between education levels
and job satisfaction, others have found a slight negative correlation, especially Work Attitudes
for higher levels of education. The explanation is that better-educated persons
have higher expectations and believe that their work should provide greater
responsibility and fulfillment. Many jobs however do not satisfy these
expectations resulting in lower levels of satisfaction. However, evidence on
this relationship is still inconclusive.
Personality – Research on positive and negative affectivity, the “Big Five”
personality attributes and core self evaluations indicate that personality variables
are related to job satisfaction and that they are partly heritable. Firstly, it has
been shown that persons high in positive affectivity are happier in their work
than those who are high on negative affectivity. While positive affectivity is
described by high energy, enthusiasm and pleasurable engagement, negative
affectivity is characterised by distress, unpleasurable engagement and
nervousness (Heller, 2002). Secondly, evidence suggests that people high on
extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness (dimensions of the “Big
Five”) report higher levels of job satisfaction than those who are low on these
dimensions. Finally, core self-evaluation (Judge & Bono, 2001; Judge, Locke,
Durham, & Kluger, 1998) has been found to correlate with employee job
satisfaction. Core self-evaluation has four facets: self - esteem, generalised self-
efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability (low neuroticism). Research
evidence found that these personality factors measured in childhood showed a
direct relationship to job satisfaction some 30 years later. Those scoring high
on esteem and self-efficacy, low on neuroticism and having an internal locus
of control, as measured in their childhood, showed significantly higher job
satisfaction in their middle adult years.
Cultural factors – Cross-cultural research on job satisfaction suggests that
employees in Western cultures have higher levels of job satisfaction than
those in Eastern cultures. It is reasoned that individuals in Eastern cultures
value negative emotions while those in Western cultures emphasise positive
emotions and individual happiness. Evidence also indicates that among the
Asian countries, employees in India are happier with their work environment,
teamwork, supervision and training at the workplace.

2.3.2 Work Situation Characteristics

Following are few of the work related characteristics that influences the
individual’s level of of job satisfaction:
The work itself – Of all the major situational influences on job satisfaction,
the nature of the work itself best predicts overall job satisfaction, as well as
other important outcomes like employee retention (Judge & Church, 2000).
When employees were asked to evaluate different facets of their job such as
supervision, pay, promotion opportunities, co-workers, and so forth, the content
of the work – including job challenge, autonomy, variety, and scope, together
called as “intrinsic job characteristics”– emerged as the most important job
facet. It was found that interesting and challenging work, work that is not boring
and a job that provides status; were some of the most important ingredients of
a satisfying job. Thomas & Tymon (1997) suggested that when employees feel
their work is meaningful and that they are responsible for their outcomes, they
show higher levels of effort and attention to doing tasks well. Similarly, Cappelli 31
Individual Level (2000) highlighted the importance of intrinsic rewards when participants rated
Processes interesting work, open communications, and opportunities for advancement as
the top three things they desire in their jobs.
Pay – Wages and salaries represent a significant, but complex, multidimensional
factor in job satisfaction. Employees often view pay as a reflection of how
management view their contribution to the organization and thus influences the
satisfaction they derive from their job. However, more important than actual
pay, it is the perceived equity or fairness of one’s pay that has been found to
be related to job satisfaction. As long as people feel their pay is fair, they can
express relatively high satisfaction with it, at least within broader limits.
Promotions – Promotional opportunities have a significant impact on job
satisfaction. However, since promotions take on different forms, they seem to
have a varying effect on job satisfaction. For example, individuals who are
promoted on the basis of seniority often experience job satisfaction but not as
much as those who are promoted on the basis of performance. Additionally, a
promotion with a 10% salary rise is typically not as satisfying as one with a 20%
salary rise. These differences help explain why executive promotions may be
more satisfying than promotions that occur at the lower level of organizations.
Supervision – The nature of supervision provided can also have a significant
impact on job satisfaction. Studies have shown that employees who have
positive interactions with supervisors are generally more satisfied at work
(Bruce and Blackburn, 1992). Positive interactions tend to include constructive
feedback, effective communication, and a focus on quality rather than quantity
(Schroffel, 1999). Positive supervisory relationships are also those that treat the
employees with respect, that promote staff cohesion but allow for individual
thinking, and that fulfill employee’s functional and interpersonal needs.
Supervision is a complex variable however, and it is unrealistic to assume that
job satisfaction can be guaranteed as long as supervisors interact positively
with their employees. Individual personality characteristics may, for example,
affect the employee’s needs and management expectations. For example,
Schroffel (1999) suggests that employees who have more experience desire less
supervision and employees with less experience prefer more supervision. Also,
studies have shown that organizational setting can affect the employee’s desired
supervisory relationship. In chaotic, ambiguous, or otherwise unstructured job
settings, employees tend to prefer more structured supervision. Conversely,
in jobs where tasks are clearly defined and workers are well trained, a less
structured supervisory style is preferred Job Satisfaction (House and Mitchell,
1974).
Work group – The importance of co-worker social support has been investigated
for decades. As far back as the Hawthorne Studies of the 1920’s, research has
shown that workers who belong to a social group and have friendships on the
job tend to be more satisfied (Maynard, 1986). Maynard suggests further that
employees who lack social support at work experience more stress, have less
coping techniques, and are generally less satisfied. Fellow employees can satisfy
many social needs, and sympathetic and supportive co-workers can increase job
satisfaction. Co-workers are also vital for evaluating the equity and fairness of
one’s pay and work requirements, and social needs studies have shown that
32 coworker job satisfaction can influence one’s own job satisfaction.
Working conditions – Working conditions have a modest effect on job satisfaction. Work Attitudes
If the working conditions are good (e.g. clean, attractive surroundings), the
employees will find it easier to carry out their jobs. If the working conditions
are poor (e.g. hot, noisy surroundings), they will find it more difficult to get
things done.

2.4 OUTCOMES OF JOB SATISFACTION

The extent to which employees like or dislike their jobs has important
consequences for workplace conduct. Feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction
with one’s job can be a predictor of productivity, organizational citizenship,
withdrawal and other work behaviours. The specific outcomes of job satisfaction
have been discussed in the following sections.

2.4.1 Job Performance

The notion that a “happy worker is a productive worker” has long been examined
by organizational behaviour researchers. Studies reflect that, job satisfaction can
predict performance though only to a moderate extent. There are several factors
that seem to weaken and modify the impact of job satisfaction on performance
like complexity of the job, autonomy to the employees, working conditions,
task structure, previous experience, task abilities, requisite skills etc.

2.4.2 Withdrawal Behaviours

Withdrawal behaviours constitute such actions as chronic absenteeism and
voluntary turnover that enable employees to escape from adverse organizational
situations. Although voluntary turnover is permanent, while absenteeism is a
short-term reaction, both are ways of withdrawing from dissatisfying jobs.

2.4.3 Workplace Deviance

Job dissatisfaction predicts a lot of specific behaviours, including unionization
attempts, substance abuse, stealing at work, undue socialising and tardiness.
Researchers argue that these behaviours are indicators of a broader syndrome
that can be termed as workplace deviance counterproductive Behaviour
or antisocial behaviour. Robinson and Bennett (1995) defined workplace
deviance as “voluntary behaviour of organizational members that violates
significant organizational norms, and in so doing, threatens the well-being of
the organization and/or its members”. They used the multidimensional scaling
technique to classify workplace deviances into two types: organizational
deviance and interpersonal deviance (when the deviance is directed at
members of the organization). The first type, organizational deviance refers
to deviant behaviours targeting the organization such as theft, sabotage, being
late to work or leaving early, withdrawing effort from work or taking extended
breaks. The second type, interpersonal deviance refers to deviant acts toward
co-workers, supervisors, and subordinates in the workplace. They may include
such Behaviours as making fun of others, acting rudely, arguing, or engaging in
physical aggression. Both are destructive and lead to unfavorable outcomes.

2.4.4 Safety Performance

Accidents and injuries at work are a serious matter – both for employees who are 33
hurt and their organizations. Attempts have therefore been made to examine the
Individual Level potential causes of accidents and to reduce workplace injuries. A critical notion
Processes that has emerged from research is that employee attitudes and their job-related
stress are significantly related to the occurrence of accidents, health and job
safety. These studies have found that job satisfaction is a significant predictor
of lower accident rates and that employee job satisfaction is as important as
eliminating physical hazards in the workplace to promote job safety. It has been
demonstrated that in organizations using the so-called high-performance work
systems, not only are employees satisfied, but they also perform their jobs very
safely (Barling, Kelloway, & Iverson, 2003).

2.4.5 Customer Satisfaction Management

Management of service organizations is especially concerned with pleasing
customers. Customer satisfaction thus represents an important goal of such
organizations that can probably be achieved with a happy workforce. Research
evidence indeed suggests that job satisfaction has a positive effect on customer
satisfaction. There are two main reasons for this relationship. First, satisfied
employees are more likely to be friendly, upbeat and responsive. This naturally
evokes positive emotions and appreciation from customers. Second, satisfied
employees are less likely to quit their jobs, so they have better knowledge and
skills to serve clients. Lower turnover also gives customers the same employees
to serve them, so there is more consistent service. There is also some evidence
that customers build their loyalty to specific employees, not to the organization,
so keeping turnover low tends to build customer loyalty (Chesbrough & Teece,
1998).

2.4.6 Life Satisfaction

The interplay between job and life satisfaction is an emerging area of study.
Researchers have speculated that there are three possible forms of the
relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction: (1) spillover, where
job experiences spill over into non-work life and vice versa; (2) segmentation,
where job and life experiences are separated and have little to do with one
another; and (3) compensation, where an individual seeks to compensate for a
dissatisfying job by seeking fulfillment and happiness in his or her non-work
life and vice versa.
Self-Assessment Questions (SAQ I)
State whether the following are statements ‘True’or ‘False’:
1) The nature of supervision provided can also have a significant impact on
job satisfaction. ( )
2) Job satisfaction can be reflected in terms of attitude of employees. ( )
3) Job dissatisfaction is a significant predictor of lower accident rates. ( )
4) Job satisfaction predicts a lot of specific behaviours, including unionization
attempts, substance abuse, stealing at work, undue socialising and
tardiness. ( )

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 Work Attitudes
2.5 ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT
Organizational commitment is of considerable interest to organizational
psychologists because of two primary reasons: 1) It is a broad attitudinal
construct. It is theory-based, holds significant integrative potential, and is more
manageable than other forms of organizational attitudes. 2) It is significantly
related to favourable organizational outcomes. At the individual level of
analysis, commitment predicts important employee behaviours such as staff
turnover, absenteeism, organizational citizenship or extra-role behaviours, and
performance (Allen & Meyer, 1996; Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Steers, 1977).
Furthermore, when aggregated to the organizational subunit level, high levels
of commitment are associated with elevated levels of customer satisfaction and
sales achievement (e.g., Gelade& Young, 2005).

2.5.1 Concept of Organizational Commitment

Organizational commitment is defined as an individual’s feelings about
the organization as a whole. It is the psychological bond that an employee
has with an organization and has been found to be related to goal and value
congruence, behavioural investments in the organization, and allegiance to the
organization.
Over the years, two basic approaches have been used to study organizational
commitment: attitudinal (Allen & Meyer, 1990; Mowday, Steers &
Porter, 1979) and behavioural (Becker, 1960). In the attitudinal approach,
organizational commitment is viewed as a positive individual orientation
toward the organization. It is defined as “an affective attachment to the goals
and values of the organization, and to the organization for its own sake, apart
from its purely instrumental worth” (Buchanan, 1974). According to Porter et
al. (1974) organizational commitment is the relative strength of an individual’s
identification with and involvement in a particular organization.
According to Mowday, Steers and Porter (1979), organizational commitment
represents a state in which an individual identifies with a particular organization
and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in order to facilitate these
goals.
These authors describe three components of commitment: 1) A strong belief in
and acceptance of the organization’s goals and values. 2) A willingness to exert
considerable effort on behalf of the organization. 3) A strong desire to maintain
membership in the organization. The commitment-related Behaviour approach
focuses on a behavioural pattern guided by internalized normative pressures to
act in ways that meet organizational goals and interest (Wiener, 1982).
Wiener and Gechman (1977) argued that the pattern of Behaviour resulting
from commitment should possess the following characteristics: (1) it should
reflect personal sacrifices made for the sake of the organization; (2) it should
show persistence – that is, the behaviours should not depend primarily on
environmental controls such as reinforcements or punishment, and (3) it should
indicate a personal preoccupation with the organization, such as devoting a
great deal of personal time to organization related actions and thoughts. Thus,
according to the behaviourists, organizational commitment is demonstrated 35
Individual Level by “overt manifestations of commitment” (Mowday, Steers, & Porter, 1979)
Processes to the organization such as extra-role behaviours that link employees to their
respective institution.
In essence, organizational commitment can be viewed as follows:
1) Willingness of an individual to identify with and the desire not to leave an
organization for selfish interest or marginal gains;
2) Desire to contribute to the effectiveness of an organization;
3) Willingness to make personal sacrifice, to perform beyond normal
expectations and to endure difficult times with an organization; and
4) Belief in and acceptance of organization’s values and goals.

2.5.2 Components of Organizational Commitment

The model of organizational commitment proposed by Meyer and Allen
(1991) is the most popular and comprehensively validated multidimensional
model. Three components are contained in Meyer and Allen’s (1991)
organizational commitment model: affective, continuance, and normative.
Affective commitment is a feeling of emotional attachment demonstrated in
the statement, “I work here because the people are great and the work is fun.”
Continuance commitment is a feeling that the costs of leaving are too high or
it is too much trouble to go somewhere else. For example, “I’d leave if I knew
I could get another job that paid as much”. Normative commitment is a feeling
of obligation. For example, “I work here because they hired me when I needed
a job so I owe it to them.” The three components are now described in details
below.
• Affective commitment
It refers to the employees’ perceptions of their emotional attachment to or
identification and involvement with their organization and its goals. It results
from and is induced by an individual and organizational value congruency. As
a result, it becomes almost natural for the individual to become emotionally
attached to and enjoy continuing membership in the organization (O’Reily&
Chatman, 1986, Meyer & Allen, 1984). Steers (1977) identified factors
which helps to create intrinsically rewarding situations for employees to
be as antecedents of affective commitment. These factors include such job
characteristics as task significance, autonomy, identity, skills variety and
feedback concerning employee job performance, perceived organizational
support or dependence (the feeling that the organization considers what
is in the best interest of employees when making decisions that affect
employment conditions and work environment), and the degree that
employees are involved in the goal setting and decision-making processes.
• Continuance commitment
It refers to employees’ perceptions of the costs associated with leaving the
organization. It is the willingness to remain in an organization because
of personal nontransferable investments in the form of close working
36
 relationships with coworkers, retirement investments, career investments Work Attitudes
and acquired job skills which are unique to a particular organization, years
of employment in a particular organization, involvement in the community
in which the employer is located, and other benefits that make it too costly
for one to leave and seek employment elsewhere. Meyer and Allen (1974)
explained that if employees share continuance commitment with the
employer, it makes it very difficult for them to leave the organization.
• Normative commitment
It refers to the employees’ perceptions of their obligation to their
organization. Such a feeling of obligation often results from what Wiener
(1982) characterised as “generalised value of loyalty and duty.” This is an
almost natural predisposition to be loyal and committed to institutions such
as family, marriage, country, religion and employment organization as a
result of socialisation in a culture that places a premium on loyalty and
devotion to institutions. This view of commitment holds that an individual
demonstrates commitment behaviour solely because she or he believes it is
the moral and right thing to do. This feeling of moral obligation is measured
by the extent to which a person feels that he or she should be loyal to his or
her organization, make personal sacrifice to help it out and not criticize it.

2.5.3 Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction

By now you might be confused between the concept of job satisfaction and
organizational commitment. So, let us discuss about the differences between
commitment and job satisfaction in this section:
1) Job satisfaction is a response to a specific job or facet of the job while
commitment is more of a global response to an organization. Job satisfaction
can thus be viewed as a micro work attitude while organizational commitment
is more macro in its orientation of the individual to the organization.
2) Job satisfaction implies an effective response to one’s job as opposed
to organizational commitment that refers to the strength of employee
identification to the entire organization. Therefore, organizational
commitment tends to be more consistent than job satisfaction over time.
Although day-to-day events in the workplace may affect an employee’s
level of job satisfaction, such transitory events do not significantly alter his
or her attachment to the overall organization (Mowday et al., 1982).
3) Job satisfaction reflects immediate affective reactions to the job and job
facets (Locke, 1976). Thus, it forms soon after organizational entry. On
the other hand, due to its macro orientation, organizational commitment is
thought to develop more slowly, and after the individual possesses a firm
understanding of not only the job and job facets but also of organizational
goals and values, performance expectations and their consequences, and
the implications of maintaining membership in the organization (Mowday
et al., 1982). Consequently, commitment is seen as forming and stabilizing
sometimes after organizational entry.
4) Job satisfaction and organizational commitment differ in the ways they
contribute to work behaviours, especially turnover. Job satisfaction tends to 37
Individual Level be correlated with turnover intention, whereas organizational commitment
Processes shows stronger correlation with actual turnover.

2.6 ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP

Behaviour (OCB)
It refers to the tendency of showing voluntarily commitment by an employee
to perform extra job that is not part of his or her contractual tasks and does
not get any extra reward for the task. Organizational citizenship behaviour has
been studied since the late 1970s. Over the past three decades, interest in these
behaviours has increased substantially. Dennis Organ is considered as the father
of OCB who expanded upon Katz’s (1964) original work.
Organ (1988) defined OCB as the “individual behaviour that is discretionary,
not explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate
promotes the effective functioning of the organization” (1988: 4.)

2.6.1 Types of OCB

Following are few of the types of OCB that have been categorized on basis of
research and studies. Let us discuss them accordingly:
[Link] Courtesy
An employee may show the tendency of OCB by being extra polite with
their colleagues, e.g. will not speak loudly to avoid disturbance to other; will
counsel their colleague having any grievance.
[Link] Altruism
Certain employees show the tendency of altruistic behaviour by helping others
without expecting anything in return. For example, they may stay beyond the
working hours to help their colleague in completing his/her target.
[Link] Sportsmanship
This principle means an employee decides to stay in good spirits even if
situations do not favour them. For example, an employee refrains from
complaining or gossiping about the rejection of a decision by the boss.
[Link] Conscientiousness
An employee who has high level of conscientiousness, he/she feels morally
responsible towards a task and tries to complete it more carefully. He or she can
go beyond their job description to ensure that the goal or target of the team is
achieved.
[Link] Civic Virtue
Employees owing to have this kind of OCB represent their organizations
positively in front of outsiders and speak favorably about their organization to
others. Civic virtue leads to a high sense of community and strong interpersonal
ties between the co-workers.
You must have understood by now that the employees, who show organizational
38 citizenship Behaviour, feel more committed and liable towards their organization.
They feel their work to be meaningful and purposive. They show high level of Work Attitudes
performance and have good control over their tasks.
Self-Assessment Questions (SAQ II)
Fill in the following blanks:
1) Certain employees show the tendency of .............................. behaviour by
helping others without expecting anything in return.
2) Job satisfaction reflects immediate affective reactions to the ..........................
and job facets (Locke, 1976).
3) ........................... refers to the employees’ perceptions of their emotional
attachment to or identification and involvement with their organization and
its goals.
4) .............................. refers to employees’ perceptions of the costs associated
with leaving the organization.

2.7 LET US SUM UP

It can be summed up from the above unit that, job satisfaction is an important
attitudinal variable both in organizational research and in applied settings. It is
understood as an individual’s affective reaction to his/her job and can be studied
as global or facet satisfaction. Numerous measures of assessing job satisfaction
have been developed. There are several antecendents of job satisfaction including
both personal and work situation characteristics. Organizational commitment is
defined as an individual’s feelings about the organization as a whole. At the end
the concept of OCB was discussed, which refers to the tendency of showing a
voluntarily commitment by an employee to perform extra job that is not part of
his or her contractual tasks and does not get any extra reward for the task.

2.8 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) Describe the nature, characteristics and antecedents of job satisfaction.
2) Discuss components of job satisfaction.
3) What are the components of organizational commitment?
4) Explain the concept and types of organizational citizenship behaviour.

2.9 GLOSSARY
Job satisfaction : Individual’s affective reaction to a particular
job that results from a comparison of actual
outcomes with those that are desired,
anticipated or deserved.
Global satisfaction : An overall affective reaction based on all
characteristics of the job and the work
environment.
Facet satisfaction : Affective response to specific aspects of the
job. 39
Individual Level Organizational : The psychological bond that an employee
Processes commitment has with an organization that has been found
to be related to goal and value congruence,
Behavioural investments in the organization,
and allegiance to the organization.
Affective commitment : Employees’ perceptions of their emotional
attachment to or identification and involvement
with their organization and its goals.
Continuance commitment : Employees’ perceptions of the costs associated
with leaving the organization.
Normative commitment : Employees’ perceptions of their obligation to
their organization.
Organizational citizenship : The tendency of showing voluntarily
Behaviour commitment by an employee to perform extra
job that is not part of his or her contractual
tasks and does not get any extra reward for the
task.

2.10 ANSWERS TO SELF ASSESSMENT

QUESTIONS (SAQ)
SAQ-I
1) True
2) True
3) False
4) False
SAQ- II
1) altruistic
2) job
3) Affective commitment
4) Continuance commitment

2.11 SUGGESTED READINGS AND REFERENCES

Barling, J., Kelloway, E.K., & Iverson, R.D. (2003). High-quality work, job
satisfaction, and occupational injuries. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(2),
276-283.
Brayfield, A. H., &Rothe, H. F. (1951). An index of job satisfaction. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 35, 307–311.
Bruce, W.M., Blackburn, J.W. (1992), Balancing Job Satisfaction and
Performance: A Guide for Human Resource Professionals, Connecticut, CT:
40 Quorum Books.
Cappelli, P. (2000). A market driven approach to retaining talent. Harvard Work Attitudes
Business Review, 78(1), 103-111.
Chesbrough, H. W., & Teece, D. J. (1996). When is Virtual Virtuous? Organising
for Innovation. Harvard Business Review, 74, 65-73.
Cook, J. D., Hepworth, S. J., Wall, T.D., & Warr, P.B. (1981) Experience of
Job Satisfaction Work: A Compendium and Review of 249 Measures and Their
Use. San Francisco: Academic Press
Douglas, S. C. &Martinko, M. J. (2001). Exploring the role of individual
differences in the prediction of workplace aggression. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 86(4), 547-559.
Fox, S., Spector, P. E. & Miles, D. (2001). Counterproductive work Behaviour
(CWB) in response to job stresssors and organizational justice: Some mediator
and moderator tests for autonomy and emotions. Journal of Vocational
Behaviour, 59(3), 291-309.
Hackett, R.D. and Guion, R.M. (1985). A re-evaluation of the absenteeism
-job satisfaction relationship. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision
Processes, 35, 340-381.
Heller, D. J. (2002). The confounding role of personality and trait affectivity
in the relationship between job and life satisfaction. Journal of Organizational
Behaviour, 815- 835.
Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (1959). The motivation to work
(2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
House, R.J., & Mitchell, T.R. (1974). Path-goal theory of leadership. Journal of
Contemporary Business, 3, l-97.
Janson, P., & Martin, J. K. (1982). Job satisfaction and age: A test of two views.
Social Forces, 60(4), 1089-1102.
Judge, T. A., & Bono, J. E. (2001). Relationship of core self-evaluations
traits— self-esteem, generalised self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional
stability— with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis. Journal
of Applied Psychology, 86, 80-92.
Luthans, F. (1995). Organizational Behaviour (7th ed.). New Delhi: McGrawHill,
Inc.
Locke, E. A. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. In M. D. Dunnette
(Ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 1297-1343).
Chicago: Rand McNally.
Law, S. K., Wong, C., & Chen, X. Z. (2005). The construct of organizational
citizenship Behaviour: Should we analyze after we have conceptualized? In
D. L. Turnipseed (Ed.), Handbook of organizational citizenship Behaviour
(pp. 47–65). New York: Nova Science Publishers.
LePine, J. A., Erez, A., & Johnson, D. E. (2002). The nature and dimensionality
of organizational citizenship Behaviour: A critical review and meta-analysis.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(1), 52-65. 41
Individual Level Markham, S. & McKee (1995). Group absence Behaviour and standards: A
Processes multilevel analysis. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 1174-1190.
Maynard, M. (1986). Measuring work and support network satisfaction. Journal
of Employment Counseling, March, 9-19.
Robinson, S. L., & Bennett, R. J. (1995). A typology of deviant workplace
Behaviours: A multidimensional scaling study. Academy of Management
Journal, 38(2), 555-572.
Schroffel, A. (1999). How does clinical supervision affect job satisfaction? The
Clinical Supervisor, 18, 91-105.
Skarlicki, D. P., Folger, R., &Tesluk, P. (1999). Personality as a moderator
in the relationship between fairness and retaliation. Academy of Management
Journal, 42(1), 100-108.
Smith, P.C., Kendall, L.M., & C.L. Hulin, C.L. (1969). The Measurement of
Satisfaction in Work and Retirement: A Strategy for the Study of Attitudes.
Chicago: Rand McNally.
Spector, P. E. (1997). Job satisfaction: Application, assessment, causes, and
consequences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Spencer, D. G., & Steers, R. M. (1981). Performance as a moderator of the
job satisfaction-turnover relationship. Journal of Applied Psychology, 66, 511-
514.
Schultz, D.P., & Schultz, S.E. (2002). Psychology and Work Today: An
Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology (8th ed.). Delhi:
Pearson Education References

42
 Work Attitudes
UNIT 3 WORK MOTIVATION*
Structure
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Objectives
3.2 Meaning of Work
3.3 Nature of Work Motivation
3.3.1 Defining Work Motivation

3.3.2 Characteristics of Work Motivation

3.3.3 Process of Motivation

3.4 Classification Of Motives at Work

3.4.1 Primary and Secondary Motives

3.4.2 Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

3.5 Theoriesof Motivation

3.5.1 Content Theories of Motivation

[Link] Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

[Link] Alderfer’s Erg Theory

[Link] Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory

[Link] Mcclelland’s Learned Needs Theory

3.5.2 Process Theories of Motivation

[Link] Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

[Link].1 Managerial Implications of Expectancy Theory

[Link] Equity Theory

[Link].1 Managerial Implications of Equity Theory

[Link] Goal-Setting Theory

[Link].1 Managerial Implications of Equity Theory

3.5.3 Reinforcement Theory of Motivation

[Link] Managerial Implications Of Reinforcement Theory

3.6 Indian Perspectives of Motivation

3.7 Let Us Sum Up
3.8 Unit End Questions
3.9 Glossary
3.10 Answers to Self Assessment Questions (SAQ)
3.11 Suggested Readings and References
43
*
Dr Nidhi Mallik, IP University, Delhi
Individual Level
Processes 3.0 INTRODUCTION
Motivation has long been the topic of interest for both managers and
organizational researchers. There are two primary reasons for this continued
interest. First, motivation is an integral part of the performance equation at
all levels. It is therefore an important topic to be understood for pragmatic
reasons. Second, motivation is seen as the fundamental building block in the
development of useful theories of effective management practice. It is indeed
an important topic in many subfields in the study of managing organization
including leadership, managerial ethics, decision making and organizational
change. It is not surprising, therefore, that this topic has received a lot of
attention and generated many approaches toward understanding it. This unit is
devoted to the understanding of the nature of work motivation. Various theories
of motivation and its Indian perspective are also highlighted in this unit.

3.1 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to:
• Explain the meaning of work and work motivation;
• Explain the main types of motives at work;
• Analyze the different motivational theories and their implications in
organizations; and
• Identify the Indian perspectives towards motivation.

3.2 MEANING OF WORK

Work has been defined variously by authors and researchers from several
streams. A broad definition that encompasses conceptualisations of work across
social and behavioural sciences has been offered by Budd &Bhave (2010).
He defined work as a purposeful human activity involving physical or mental
exertion that is not undertaken solely for pleasure and that has economic value.
The first part of this definition (“purposeful human activity”) distinguishes work
from the broader realm of all human effort. The second part (“not undertaken
solely for pleasure”) separates work from leisure, while allowing for work to
be pleasurable and thereby recognising that there can sometimes be a nebulous
boundary between work and leisure. The final part (“that has economic value”)
allows work to be more encompassing than paid employment by also including
unpaid caring for others, self-employment, subsistence farming, casual work in
the informal sector, and other activities outside the standard boundaries of paid
jobs and career aspirations.
Work and its related motivational variables have also been defined from the
point of view of the worker. Roe (1956) described work as the main focus of an
individual’s activities and thoughts. Lofquist and Dawis (1969) defined work
as a focal point for the development of one’s way of life, and a vehicle for one’s
total adjustment throughout life.
These two definitions emphasise the impact of work on individual lives. Work
as a human activity serves several important functions for an individual:
44
• Economic function – Work provides goods and services, either directly Work Motivation
through self-production or indirectly through earned income. Mainstream
economic thought highlights this function by conceptualising work as an
abstract quantity of productive effort that has tradable economic value. It is
seen as something that individuals do in order to earn income and maximise
their individual or household utility.
• Social relation function – Work consists of human interactions that are
experienced in and shaped by social networks, norms and power relations.
It thus serves a social relation function by allowing individuals to seek
approval, status, sociability, and power.
• Personal fulfillment function – The nature of one’s work – such as the
job tasks, rewards, relations with co-workers, and supervision – can affect
one’s cognitive and affective states. Ideally, work is a source of personal
fulfillment and psychological well-being because it can satisfy human needs
for achievement, mastery, self-esteem, and self-worth (Turner, Barling,
& Zacharatos, 2002). But lousy work – work with mindless repetition,
abusive co-workers or bosses, excessive physical or mental demands, or
other factors – can have negative psychological consequences.
• Identity function – Since work is such a major part of many people’s
lives, it can be conceptualised as a source of identity, that is, it provides an
understanding and meaning to life (Leidner, 2006). This can occur on several
levels. The personal identity dimension focuses on stable and consistent
attributes and traits that an individual sees as making him or herself unique
(Turner & Onorato, 1999). This can contain biographical information,
including descriptors related to one’s work. The social identity approach
focuses on how individuals further construct their identities by categorizing
themselves into various groups (Hogg, 2006). This might include one’s
occupation, employer, and other work-related group constructs.

3.3 NATURE OF WORK MOTIVATION

The study of motivation is concerned with why people behave in a certain
way. The basic underlying question is ‘why do people do what they do?’ An
important objective of the study of motivation is accounting for purposiveness
of behaviour. The term ‘motivation’ is derived from the Latin word movere
which means ‘to move’. Taken literally, motivation is the process of arousing
movement but the term ordinarily applies to the arousal of one kind of movement
– behaviour. However, the study of motivation is not restricted to the process
of evoking behaviour, but it also includes an analysis of the conditions which
sustain activity and which regulate its patterning. It is also concerned with why
people choose a particular course of action in preference to others, and why
they continue with a chosen action, often over a long period, and in the face of
difficulties and problems.

3.3.1 Defining Work Motivation

In an attempt to understand the concept of motivation and highlight its complexity,
several definitions have been offered. Atkinson (1964) defines motivation as
“the contemporary (immediate) influence on direction, vigor, and persistence of
45
Individual Level action”, while Vroom (1964) defines it as “a process governing choice made by
Processes persons among alternative forms of voluntary activity”. Campbell and Pritchard
(1976) suggest that “motivation has to do with a set of independent/ dependent
variable relationships that explain the direction, amplitude, and persistence of
an individual’s behaviour, holding constant the effects of aptitude, skill, and
understanding of the task, and the constraints operating in the environment”.
Kanfer (1990) describes motivation as “a set of psychological processes involved
with the arousal, direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary actions that
are goal directed”. All definitions appear to have four common denominators
which may be said to characterize the phenomenon of motivation.
That is, when we discuss motivation, we are primarily concerned with:
1) Activation of behaviour – It has to do with the drive or energy behind our
actions and is demonstrated by the arousal of goal-directed behaviour.
2) Direction of behaviour – It is concerned with the paths people choose
toward meeting their goals and is seen by the regulation of behaviour
toward specific goals.
3) Persistence of behaviour – It has to do with continued efforts in the
achievement of goals often in the face of obstacles and is demonstrated by
sustained activity over a period of time.
4) Intensity of behaviour – It is concerned with the extent of effort put in
to achieve a goal and is seen in the concentration and vigor that goes into
pursuing the goal.
A definition of work motivation that covers these denominators is presented by
Katzell and Thompson (1990) who defines it as a “broad construct pertaining to
the conditions and processes that account for arousal, direction, magnitude, and
maintenance of effort in a person’s job”.
Pinder (1998) defined work motivation as “a set of energetic forces that originate
both within as well as beyond an individual’s being, to initiate work-related
behaviours, and to determine its form, direction, intensity, and duration”. There
are two noteworthy features of this definition. First, motivation is identified as
an energizing force – it is what induces action in employees. Second, this force
has implications for the form, direction, intensity, and duration of behaviour.
That is, it explains what employees are motivated to accomplish, how they will
attempt to accomplish it, how hard they will work to do so, and when they will
stop.
More recently, Robbins (2005) defines work motivation as “the willingness
to exert high levels of effort towards organizational goals, conditioned by
the effort’s ability to satisfy some individual needs”. Three key elements can
be seen in this definition: effort, organizational goals, and needs. The effort
element is a measure of intensity or drive. A motivated person tries hard. But
high levels of effort are unlikely to lead to favorable job performance unless the
effort is channeled in a direction that benefits the organization. Therefore, one
must consider the quality of the effort as well as its intensity. The effort that is
directed toward, and is consistent with, organizational goals is the kind of effort
that managers and organizations should be seeking. Finally, motivation is a
46
need-satisfying process. A need refers to some internal state that makes certain Work Motivation
outcomes appear attractive. An unsatisfied need creates tension that stimulates
drives within an individual. These drives lead to a search behaviour to find
particular goals that, if attained, will satisfy the need and reduce the tension.
When the individuals’ needs are compatible with the organization’s goals, they
may exert high levels of effort that are beneficial for the organization.
Work motivation is thus concerned with factors that energize, channel, sustain
and amplify work performance toward organizational goals. Gaps between
motivation and performance exist whenever people avoid starting something
new, resist doing something familiar, stop doing something important and
switch their attention to a less valued task, or refuse to “work smart” on a new
challenge and instead use old, familiar but inadequate solutions to solve a new
problem (Clark, 1998).

3.3.2 Characteristics of Work Motivation

From a review of motivational definitions, several characteristics of work
motivation can be identified:
• Motivation is an individual psychological phenomenon that allows for a
person’s uniqueness to be demonstrated at the workplace.
• It is assumed to be under the person’s control. Behaviours that are influenced
by motivation, such as effort expended, are seen as purposive rather than
random.
• The direction of a person’s behaviour toward organizational goals is
determined by work motivation.
• It describes concerted effort often in the face of obstacles until the goal is
accomplished.
• It leads individuals to invest greater cognitive effort to enhance both the
quality and quantity of work performance.
• It is distinct from performance; other factors besides motivation (e.g.,
ability and task difficulty) influence performance.
• It is multifaceted. People may have several different motives operating at
once. Sometimes, these motives may conflict with one another.
• Motivation is directly related to performance of an individual.

3.3.3 Process of Motivation

Motivation as a process starts with a physiological or psychological deficiency
or need that activates behaviour or a drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive.
Thus, motivation consists of three interacting and interdependent elements:
Needs – Needs are created whenever there is a physiological or psychological
imbalance. For example, a need exists when cells in the body are deprived of
food and water or when a person is deprived of friends and other companions.
Although psychological needs may be based on a deficiency, sometimes they
are not. For example, an individual with a strong need to get ahead may have a
history of consistent success. 47
Individual Level Drives – Drives are set up to alleviate needs. They are action-oriented and
Processes provide an energising thrust toward achieving a certain goal or accomplishing
a certain task. Needs for food and water are translated into the hunger and thirst
drives, and the need for friends becomes a drive for affiliation.
Incentives – Incentive is anything that can mitigate a need and decrease the
intensity of the drive. Thus attaining an incentive tends to restore physiological
or psychological balance and reduces the drive. Eating food, drinking water and
obtaining friends will tend to restore the balance and reduce the corresponding
drives. Food, water and friends are the incentives in these examples.

3.4 CLASSIFICATION OF MOTIVES AT WORK

The various needs and motives can be categorized in a number of ways – for
example, the division into primary and secondary motives; or into extrinsic and
intrinsic motivation.

3.4.1 Primary and Secondary Motives

Primary motives are unlearned, physiological needs that include hunger, thirst,
sleep, sex, avoidance of pain and maintenance of body temperature. These needs
arise from the basic requirements of life and are important for survival of the
human race. They are, therefore, virtually universal, but they vary in intensity
from one person to another. For example, a child may need more sleep than an
older person. These needs may also be conditioned by social practice. If it is
customary to eat three meals a day, then a person tends to become hungry at
three times of the day, even though two meals might just be adequate. Similarly,
if a coffee hour is introduced at work, coffee drinking may become a satisfying
habit as well as a social need.
Secondary motives are learned, social motives that arise as a result of interaction
with other people and develop as people mature. Included in this category are
affiliation – desire to associate with others; recognition – need for frequent
tangible proof that one is getting ahead; status – need to have a high rank in
society, power – need to control and influence others; achievement – drive to
accomplish something, autonomy – drive for independence; security and safety
– desire to be secure; and defensiveness – desire to defend oneself from blame,
criticism, ridicule and censure. Secondary needs are strongly conditioned by
experience, vary in type and intensity among people, and are subject to change
across time within any individual. These needs cannot usually be isolated and
work in combination to influence behaviour. Nearly all action that management
takes will affect secondary needs; therefore managerial plans should consider
the effect of any proposed action on the secondary needs of employees.

3.4.2 Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation is related to tangible rewards such as salary and fringe
benefits, promotion, contract of service, the work environment and conditions
of work. Individuals are extrinsically motivated when they engage in work in
order to obtain some goal that is apart from the work itself. Extrinsic motivation
thus requires an instrumentality between the activity and some separable
consequences such as tangible or verbal rewards, so that satisfaction comes not
48
from the activity itself but rather from the extrinsic consequences to which the Work Motivation
activity leads.
Intrinsic motivation is related to psychological rewards such as the opportunity to
use one’s ability, a sense of challenge and achievement, receiving appreciation,
positive recognition and being treated in a caring and considerate manner.
Individuals are intrinsically motivated when they seek enjoyment, interest,
satisfaction of curiosity, self-expression, or personal challenge in the work.
Intrinsic motivation thus involves people doing an activity because they find it
interesting and derive spontaneous satisfaction from the activity itself.
Self Assessment Questions (SAQ I)
State whether the following statements are ‘True’ or ‘False’:
1.) Intrinsic motivation is related to psychological rewards such as the
opportunity to use one’s ability, a sense of challenge and achievement. ( )
2.) Attaining a drive tends to restore physiological or psychological balance
and reduces the incentive. ( )
3.) Attention is an individual psychological phenomenon that allows for a
person’s uniqueness to be demonstrated at the workplace. ( )
4.) The term ‘motivation’ derives from the Latin word movere which means ‘to
move’. ( )

3.5 THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

There are many competing theories which attempt to explain the nature of
motivation. These theories center on three different aspects of motivation:
the individual’s predisposition, the cognitive process, and the consequences
deriving from the individual’s action. Based on these aspects, there are three
types of theories of motivation:
• Content theories – These theories are concerned with identifying people’s
needs and their relative strengths, and the goals they pursue in order to
satisfy these needs.
• Process theories – These theories are concerned more with how behaviour
is initiated, directed and sustained and attempt to identify the relationship
among the dynamic variables, which make up motivation.
• Reinforcement theory (outcome theories) – This theory seeks to explain
what types of consequences motivate different people to work. It focuses
on how environment teaches us to alter our behaviours so that we maximize
positive consequences and minimize adverse consequences.

3.5.1 Content Theories of Motivation

Content (or need) theories of motivation focus on factors internal to the individual
that energize and direct behaviour. In general, such theories regard motivation
as the product of internal drives that compel an individual to act or move toward
the satisfaction of individual needs. Major content theories of motivation are
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Alderfer’s ERG theory, Herzberg’s motivator-
49
hygiene theory, and McClelland’s learned needs or three-needs theory.
Individual Level [Link] Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Processes
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory (1954) proposes that humans are motivated
by multiple needs and that these needs exist in a hierarchical order. Maslow
identified five general types of motivating needs:
• Physiological needs: These are the most basic human physical needs,
including food, water, and other conditions necessary for survival. In the
organizational setting, these are reflected in the needs for pleasant working
conditions and salary.
• Safety needs: These are the needs for a safe and secure physical and
emotional environment and freedom from threats and emotional distress.
In an organizational workplace, safety needs reflect the needs for safe jobs,
fringe benefits and job security.
• Social needs: These needs reflect the desire to be accepted by one’s peers,
have friendships, be loved, and be part of a group. In the organization,
Fig. 5.1 Maslow’s
these needs influence the desire for good relationships with coworkers and
Needs Hierarchy
supervisors and participation in a work group.
• Esteem needs: These needs relate to the desire for a positive self-image
and to receive attention, recognition, and appreciation from others. Within
an organization, esteem needs reflect a motivation for recognition, an
increase in responsibility, high status, and credit for contributions to the
organization.
• Self-actualization needs: These represent the need for self-fulfillment,
which is the highest need category. They concern developing one’s full
potential, increasing one’s competence, and becoming a better person. Self-
actualization needs can be met in the organization by providing people with
opportunities for growth, creativity, advancement and achievement.
Maslow suggested that a substantially satisfied need no longer motivates; it is
the lowest level of ungratified need in the hierarchy that motivates behaviour;
and lower-level needs (physiological and safety needs) must be met before
upper- level needs (social, esteem and self-actualization) can be motivational.
Thus, individuals must have safe working conditions, adequate pay to take care
of one’s self and one’s family, and job security before they will be motivated
by increased job responsibilities, status, and challenging work assignments.
Because of the ease of its application, Maslow’s theory has received wide
recognition, particularly among plasticizing managers.
[Link] Alderfer’s ERG Theory
The ERG theory is an extension of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Alderfer (1972)
suggested that needs could be classified into three categories, rather than five.
These three types of needs are existence, relatedness, and growth. These needs
encompass the needs proposed by Maslow and they can be satisfied within the
work environment.
• Existence needs are concerned with physical survival and include the needs
for food, water, shelter and physical safety. Organizations can satisfy these
50 needs through pay, fringe benefits, a safe working environment and job
security.
• Relatedness needs involve interactions with other people and the Work Motivation
associated satisfaction in terms of emotional support, respect, recognition
and belongingness. These needs can be satisfied on the job by developing
interpersonal relationships with co-workers and mentors and off the job by
having family and friends.
• Growth needs are those related to the attainment of one’s potential. These
needs can be satisfied by using our skills and abilities to the fullest. A job
can satisfy growth needs if it involves challenge, autonomy and creativity.
The ERG theory differs from the hierarchy of needs in several ways:
1) The ERG model does not assume a rigorous progression from one level
to the other. Instead, it accepts the likelihood that all three levels might
be active at any time – or even that just one of the higher levels might be
active.
2) It suggests that if an individual is continually unable to meet upper-level
needs, the person will regress and return to the lower-level needs and then
progress again. For example, if employees cannot find emotional support
or recognition on the job (relatedness needs), they may demand higher pay
or better health coverage (existence needs) as compensation for failing to
satisfy the other needs.
3) The model proposes that growth needs are not only unlimited but are actually
awakened each time some satisfaction is attained. Thus while Maslow
suggested that a satisfied need no longer motivates us, ERG model predicts
that a satisfied need may actually increase its strength. For example, if a job
provides a great deal of challenge and creativity, our growth needs might
become stronger, leading us to seek greater challenges at work.
[Link] Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory
On the basis of research with engineers and accountants, Frederick Herzberg
(1968) developed the Motivation-hygiene theory. He asked his subjects to think
about the times they felt especially good or bad about their jobs. Tabulating the
reported good and bad feelings, Herzberg concluded that there are two sets of
needs: the hygiene needs, which produce job dissatisfaction and the motivator
needs, which produce job satisfaction. Taken together, the hygiene factors and
motivators are known as Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation. Hygiene
factors (lower needs) are factors which ‘surround the job’ rather than the
job itself; they are related to job context. These involve features of the work
environment such as company policy, supervision, interpersonal relations,
working conditions and salary and benefits. The hygiene factors dissatisfy
employees when they are absent.
However, their presence brings employees only to a neutral state and by
themselves, they are not strongly motivating. For example, a worker will only
turn up to work if a business has provided a reasonable level of pay and safe
working conditions but these factors will not make him work harder at his job
once he is there. The motivation needs (higher needs) motivate employees to high
job performance and promote satisfaction. These needs are internal to the work
itself; they are allied to job content, and include factors such as achievement,
51
responsibility, recognition, growth, advancement and recognition.
Individual Level The motivation factors operate to build motivation, but their absence is not
Processes strongly dissatisfying. These are the characteristics that people find intrinsically
rewarding and serve as strongly motivating factors. Thus, the managers can
imply these factors to motivate the subordinates accordingly.
[Link] McClelland’s Learned Needs Theory
McClelland’s theory (1971) suggests that needs are amplified or suppressed
through self-concept, social norms, and past experience. Therefore, needs can
be “learned”. Three of the primary needs in this theory are as follows:
• Need for achievement (nAch) – The desire to excel, to achieve in relation
to a set of standards and to purse and attain goals.
• Need for affiliation (nAff) – The desire for friendly and close interpersonal
relationships.
• Need for power (nPow) – The desire to control one’s environment and
to influence others. People with a strong need for achievement want to
accomplish reasonably challenging goals through their own effort. They
prefer tasks with a moderate degree of risk and those that provide immediate
and precise feedback information on progress toward a goal.
High achievers find accomplishment of a task to be intrinsically satisfying; they
do not expect or necessarily desire the accompanying material rewards. Also,
when high achievers select a goal, they tend to be totally preoccupied with
the task until it is successfully completed. They tend to be realistic about their
abilities and tend to persist in their efforts to accomplish goals.

3.5.2 Process Theories of Motivation

Process (or cognitive) theories of motivation focus on conscious human
decision processes as an explanation of motivation. The process theories are
concerned with determining how individual behaviour is energized, directed,
and maintained in the specifically willed and self-directed human cognitive
processes. Process theories of motivation are based on early cognitive theories,
which posit that behaviour is the result of conscious decision-making processes.
The major process theories of motivation are expectancy theory, equity theory,
goal-setting theory, and reinforcement theory.
[Link] Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
Vroom (1964) suggested that motivation is a product of three factors: expectancy,
one’s estimate that effort will lead to successful performance; instrumentality,
one’s estimate that performance will result in certain outcomes or rewards; and
valence, the extent to which expected outcomes are attractive or unattractive.
This relationship is stated in the following formula:
Expectancy × Instrumentality × Valence = Motivation
• Expectancy: Expectancy is the strength of belief that one’s work-related
effort will result in a given level of performance. For example, a person
selling insurance policies may know from experience that volume of sales
52
 is directly related to the number of sales calls made. Expectancies are stated Work Motivation
as probabilities and range from 0.0 to 1.0. In some situations, employees
may believe that they can unquestionably accomplish the task (p =1.0).
In other situations, they expect that even their highest level of effort will
not result in the desired performance level (p = 0.0). Normally, employee
estimates of expectancy lie somewhere between the two extremes.
• Instrumentality: Instrumentality represents the employee’s belief that a
specific performance level will lead to specific outcomes or rewards. This
belief is stated as a probability ranging from 0.0 to 1.0. Thus, if an employee
sees that promotions are usually based on performance data, instrumentality
will be rated high. However, if the basis for such decisions is unclear or
managerial favoritism is suspected, a low instrumentality estimate will be
made.
• Valence: Valence refers to the strength of a person’s preference for
receiving a reward. It is the anticipated satisfaction or dissatisfaction that
an individual feels toward an outcome. It ranges from positive to negative.
Outcomes have a positive valence when they are consistent with our values
and satisfy our needs; they have a negative valence when they oppose our
values and inhibit need fulfillment. Valence for a reward is unique to each
employee and is thus a reflection of individual differences. For example, if
an individual has a strong need for social interaction, working alone from
home will have a strong negative valence. On the other hand, if a person
prefers solitary activities and has a high desire to excel, working away from
home with opportunities for career advancement may have a strong positive
valence.
Expectancy theory claims that motivation is a multiplicative function of all
three components. This means that for an individual to be highly motivated,
all three components of the expectancy model must be high. It also implies that
if any one of these three components is zero, the overall level of motivation
will be zero. So, for example, even if an employee believes that her effort will
result in performance, which will result in reward, motivation will be zero if the
valence of the reward she expects to receive is zero.
Porter and Lawler (1968) published an extension of the Vroom expectancy
model, which is known as the Porter-Lawler expectancy model. The basic
premise of the model is the same as Vroom’s. But it extends the model by
stating that motivation alone does not predict successful performance. It is a
function of two other factors:
Skills and abilities – Motivation alone cannot ensure successful performance
of a task. The employee should also have the abilities and skills required to
successfully perform the task.
Role perceptions – The employee should have a clear perception of his role
in the organization and an accurate knowledge of the job requirements. This
will enable him to focus his efforts on accomplishing the assigned tasks. Thus
although the basic premise of the model is the same as for Vroom’s model, it is
more complex.
53
Individual Level [Link].1 Managerial Implications of Expectancy Theory
Processes
The expectancy model is a valuable tool for helping managers design a
motivational climate that will stimulate appropriate employee behaviour.
It provides clear guidelines for increasing employee motivation by altering
expectancies, instrumentalities and outcome valences. These are discussed
below:
Increasing effort-performance expectancies – Effort - performance
expectancies can be increased by training employees to do jobs more effectively,
by providing sufficient time and resources, by giving supportive feedback and
by following employees’ suggestions about ways to change their jobs. Selecting
people with required skills and knowledge, matching employees to jobs and
communicating tasks required for the job are also an important part of this
process.
Increasing performance-outcome instrumentalities – The most obvious way
to improve outcome expectancies is to measure performance accurately and
distribute more valued rewards to those with higher job performance. However,
in addition to a having a high performance-based reward system, companies
need to regularly communicate the system through examples, anecdotes and
public ceremonies, and clearly demonstrate the link between valued rewards
and performance.
Increasing outcome valences – Performance outcomes influence work effort
only when those outcomes are valued by employees. This implies that companies
must develop individualized reward systems so that employees who perform
well are offered a choice of rewards. Incentive systems that allow employees to
choose from a menu of available alternatives like a pay raise, additional vacation
days, improved insurance benefits or daycare facilities may serve to increase
the satisfaction with the rewards that they receive. There are also performance
outcomes that have negative valences that reduce the effectiveness of existing
reward systems. For example, when there is peer pressure to perform at the
minimum standard, formal rewards may not serve as motivators. Companies
must therefore minimize the presence of such counter-valent outcomes.
Expectancy theory remains one of the better theories for predicting work
effort and motivation. It has been applied to a wide variety of studies, such
as predicting student motivation to participate in teaching evaluations, using a
decision support system, leaving the organization and engaging in organizational
citizenship behaviours. However, the theory seems to ignore the role of emotion
in employee behaviour.
[Link] Equity Theory
Equity theory (Adams, 1963) suggests that individuals engage in social
comparison by comparing their efforts and rewards with those of relevant
others. The perception of individuals about the fairness of their rewards relative
to others influences their level of motivation. Equity exists when individuals
perceive that the ratio of efforts to rewards is the same for them as it is for others
to whom they compare themselves. Inequity exists when individuals perceive
that the ratio of efforts to rewards is different for them than it is for others to
54 whom they compare themselves.
There are two types of inequity—under-reward and over-reward. Under- Work Motivation
reward occurs when a person believes that she puts in more effort than another,
yet receives the same reward, or puts in the same effort as another for a lesser
reward. For instance, if an employee works longer hours than her coworker, yet
they receive the same salary, the employee would perceive inequity in the form
of under-reward. Conversely, with over-reward, a person will feel that his
efforts to rewards ratio is higher than another person’s, such that he is getting
more for putting in the same effort, or getting the same reward even with less
effort.
The theory suggests that there are four possible referents for comparison:
• Self-inside: The employee compares his experiences in the present position
with the experiences of those holding a similar position in the same
organization.
• Self-outside: The employee compares his experiences in the present
position with the experiences of those holding a similar position in another
organization.
• Other-inside: The employee compares his experience in the present position
with the experience of another individual or group of individuals holding a
different position but belonging to the same organization.
• Other-outside: The employee compares his experiences in the present
position with that of another individual or group of individuals holding a
different position and belonging to a different organization.
Whatever be the source of referent comparison, individuals are motivated
to reduce perceived inequity and may attempt to reduce inequity in various
ways:
• Change the inputs – A person may change his or her level of effort; an
employee who feels under-rewarded is likely to work less hard.
• Change the outcomes – A person may try to change his or her rewards, such
as by asking for a raise or making unauthorized use of company resources.
• Change the comparison with other’s inputs – A person may change the
behaviour of the reference person, perhaps by encouraging that person to
put forth more effort.
• Change the comparison with other’s outcomes – A person may change
the outcome of the reference person perhaps by asking the boss to stop
giving favourable treatment to him/her. • Change the comparison other – A
person experiencing inequity may change the reference person and compare
him or herself to a different person to assess equity.
• Change one’s perception – A person may believe that the co-worker is
doing more or that the higher outcomes that the other receives are no better
that his/hers.
• Leave the field – A person may avoid thinking about the inequity by
keeping away from the office, moving to another department or quitting the
job. 55
Individual Level While research suggests that under-reward motivates individuals to resolve
Processes the inequity, research also indicates that the same is not true for over-reward.
Individuals who are over-rewarded often engage in cognitive dissonance,
convincing themselves that their efforts and rewards are equal to another’s.
Evidence also reveals that some employees decrease their motivation and effort,
others increase it and still other show no change in response to over-reward
inequity.
[Link].1 Managerial Implications of Equity Theory
Equity theory has important implications for ways of motivating people. The
three key one are discussed below:
Avoiding underpayment – Companies that attempt to save money by reducing
employees’ salaries may find that employees respond in different ways to settle
scores. For example, they may steal, shave a few minutes off their work, or
otherwise withhold production. In extreme cases, they may go on strike. Thus
making people feel underpaid is an unwise decision and ineffective managerial
practice.
Avoiding overpayment – Overpaying employees to motivate them is also an
ineffective strategy mainly for two reasons: (a) Increases in performance in
response to overpayment inequity is only temporary. As time goes on, people
begin to believe that they actually deserve the higher pay they are getting and
drop their level of work down to normal. (b) Overpaying one employee implies
that other are being underpaid. When the majority of employees feel underpaid,
they will lower their performance resulting in a net decrease in productivity and
widespread dissatisfaction.
Being open and honest with employees – Openness and honesty about pay
is critical because it helps employees understand the basis of their pay. This,
in turn, leads to trust in their company, motivating them to put forth the effort
required to excel.
[Link] Goal-Setting Theory
The goal-setting theory was developed primarily by Locke and Latham (1990).
It posits that people will be motivated to the extent to which they accept specific,
challenging goals and receive feedback that indicates their progress toward goal
achievement.
The basic components of goal-setting theory are:
• Goal acceptance – Effective goals need to be accepted by employees. Goals
that are not personally accepted will have little capacity to guide behaviour.
A powerful method of obtaining acceptance is to allow employees to
participate in the goal-setting process. Communicating the purpose and
necessity of the goal also ensures greater commitment to the goal.
• Specificity – Specific goals often involve clear, measurable quantitative
targets for improvement in the behaviour of interest. Research indicates that
specific performance goals are much more effective than those in which a
person is told to “do your best.”
56
• Challenge – Challenging goals are difficult but not impossible to attain. Work Motivation
They cause people to raise the intensity and persistence of their work effort
and fulfill a person’s achievement and self-actualization needs when they
are met. Empirical research supports the proposition that goals that are
challenging are more motivational than goals that are relatively easy to
achieve.
• Feedback – Feedback is any information that people receive about the
consequences of their behaviour. It is central to goal-setting because it
communicates what behaviours are appropriate or necessary in a particular
situation. An effective feedback is specific, relevant, timely, credible and
sufficiently frequent.
[Link].1 Managerial Implications of Goal Setting Theory
The theory of Goal-setting promotes superior performance by:
(1) increasing one’s persistence of effort;
(2) regulating one’s effort toward effective work behaviours;
(3) directing one’s attention to the assigned roles and tasks; and
(4) encouraging the development of goal attainment strategies or action plans.
(5) It implies that managers must assign specific, challenging goals; make sure
workers truly accept organizational goals; and provide frequent, specific
performance-related feedback.
(6) A systematic way of using goal-setting is with a management by objectives
program. Management by objective (MBO) emphasizes upon setting goals
in a participative manner, that are tangible, verifiable and measurable.
(7) It emphasizes four aspects: goal specificity, participation in decision-
making, an explicit time period and performance feedback.

3.5.3 Reinforcement Theory of Motivation

Reinforcement theory seeks to explain what types of consequences motivate
different people to work. Traditionally, it can be traced to the work of the
pioneering behaviourist B.F. Skinner (1953). It posits that behaviour depends on
its consequences. Behaviour that is accompanied by favorable consequences is
likely to continue, while behaviour that is followed by unfavorable consequences
is not likely to be repeated.
Based on this principle, reinforcement theory describes four contingency
methods of shaping behaviour:
1) Positive reinforcement – It occurs when behaviour is followed by a
favorable consequence that encourages the repetition of that behaviour. For
example, a supervisor may praise the employee for a job well done. In
this case, praise serves as a positive reinforcer that strengthens high-quality
work. Other common positive reinforcers are recognition, promotion,
money, approval, fringe benefits etc.

57
Individual Level 2) Negative reinforcement – It occurs when behaviour is accompanied by
Processes the removal of an unfavorable consequence that results in strengthening of
that behaviour. For example, an employee may work till late at the office
to revise a sales presentation to prevent being rebuked by the boss next
morning. In this example, rebuking serves as a negative reinforcer that
encourages avoidance behaviour.
3) Punishment – It occurs when the administration of an unfavorable
consequence discourages certain behaviour. Giving an employee a two-day
suspension from work without pay for showing up drunk is an example of
punishment.
4) Extinction – It occurs when the target behaviour decreases because
no reinforcement follows it. For example, research suggests that when
mangers stop congratulating employees for their good performance, that
performance tends to decline.
Schedules of Reinforcement
The effects of reinforcement depend heavily on the schedule according to which
reinforcers are delivered. The two major types of reinforcement schedules are
continuous and intermittent. A continuous reinforcement schedule reinforces
the desired behaviour each and every time it is demonstrated. For example, to
reinforce punctuality in an employee with a history of tardiness, the manager
might compliment the employee whenever he is punctual.
With intermittent or partial reinforcement, on the other hand, not every instance
of the desirable behaviour is reinforced, but reinforcement is given often
enough to make the behaviour worth repeating. Intermittent partial schedules
are distinguished by whether they are based on time (interval) or number of
behavioural events (ratio), and whether that interval or ratio is fixed or
variable.
The two dimensions result in four classes of intermittent schedules:
1) Fixed interval schedule – Reinforcement is given after uniform time
intervals. For example, being paid the salary on a monthly basis.
2) Fixed ratio schedule – Reinforcement is given after a fixed number of
responses. For example, being paid on a piece work basis or being given a
day off after serving a specific number of customers.
3) Variable interval schedule – Reinforcement is given after varying time
intervals. For example, randomly timed unannounced visits to a company
office by the audit staff or getting promotions after undefined time
intervals.
4) Variable ratio schedule – Reinforcement is given after a varying
(unpredictable) number of responses. For example, making a variable
number of calls to a potential customer for securing a sale. Continuous
reinforcement produces rapid learning for newly emitted, unstable or low-
frequency responses.
However, continuously reinforced responses extinguish more rapidly because
58 the shift to no reinforcement is sudden and easier to perceive. Intermittent
reinforcement, on the other hand, produces behaviour that is learned more Work Motivation
slowly but is more resistant to extinction. It is therefore more appropriate for
stable or high-frequency responses. Further, among the intermittent schedules,
the variable ones tend to lead to higher performance and produce a rapid rate of
responding than fixed schedules.
Variable schedules are also more resistant to extinction. Thus the best way to
promote fast learning and high resistance to extinction is to begin reinforcing
a desired behaviour on a continuous schedule until the behaviour is well
established and then shift to a variable intermittent schedule that is gradually
made more demanding.
[Link] Managerial Implications of Reinforcement Theory
Reinforcement concepts have been applied in the managerial setting using
organizational behaviour modification (OB Mod).
The typical OB Mod program follows a five-step problem-solving model:
1) Identify critical behaviours – Everything that an employee does is
not equally important in terms of performance outcomes. It is therefore
important to identify critical behaviours that make a significant impact on
the employee’s job performance.
2) Develop baseline data – It requires that the manager determines the number
of times the identified behaviour is occurring under present conditions.
3) Identify behavioural consequences – It involves performing a functional
analysis to identify the behavioural contingencies or consequences of
performance. It tells the manager the antecedent cues that emit the behaviour
and the consequences that are currently maintaining it.
4) Develop and implement an intervention strategy – It involves
implementing an appropriate intervention strategy that will entail changing
some elements of performance-reward linkage with the goal of making
high-level performance more rewarding.
5) Evaluate performance improvement – It requires that the observed
behavioural change be evaluated to ensure that learning had taken place.
A number of organizations have used OB Mod to improve employee
productivity; to reduce errors, absenteeism, tardiness and accident rates; and
to improve friendliness toward customers. Evaluation of reinforcement theory
Although the effectiveness of reinforcements in the form of rewards and
punishments has a lot of support in the literature, the theory has been criticized
for overlooking thoughts and feelings that are evoked by environmental
stimuli. The theory assumes that it is not necessary to study needs or cognitive
processes to understand motivation, but that it is only necessary to examine
the consequences of behaviour. However, increasing research on cognitive
processes has challenged this basic assumption of the theory.

3.6 Indian Perspectives of Motivation

The concept and knowledge of motivation can be found in our scriptures like
Bhagwad Gita and Vedas. The Neo Vedic scholars who were mostly influenced 59
Individual Level by Buddhism and Jainism have also mentioned about the concepts related to
Processes action and motivation. All of the religious books/ records reflect that all human
beings have desires. These desires drive them to engage in actions to make
themselves complete.
Since the Vedic times, the saints/philosophers in India have to understand the
forces that indulge people into specific actions, behaviour, goals, and attitudes.
They have also tried to understand the implications of individuals’ actions
(karma) on their life, suffering and salvation. According to them there are certain
motivating factors, which not only satisfies their basic needs of the individuals,
they also contribute towards an individuals’ peace, prosperity and progression.
These motivating factors are as follows:
Dharma (righteous actions)
Artha (wealth)
Kama (sexual desire)
Moksha (total freedom to be)
The above motivating factors talk about the people’s desire to achieve
materialistic as well as spiritual needs. According to Vedic philosophers, the
actions of humans are guided by their desires. By seeking possessions through
actions, they try to become perfect and complete. The human desires are a result
of the continuous interactions of their senses with the worldly objects. It results
in attraction (raga) and aversion (dvesha) to the dualities (dvandas) of life,
which in turn lead to attachments (or clinging) and desire-ridden actions. The
motives of individuals regulate their actions.
Self Assessment Questions (SAQ II)
Fill in the following blanks:
1) Continuously ....................... responses extinguish more rapidly because
the shift to no reinforcement is sudden and easier to perceive.
2) Dharma, Artha, moksha and kama are the ................................
3) The goal-setting theory posits that people will be motivated to the extent to
which they......................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
........................................................
4) ........................ is the strength of belief that one’s work-related effort will
result in a given level of performance.

3.7 LET US SUM UP

Work is an important activity in an individual’s life that serves not only
economic, but also social relation, personal fulfillment and identity functions
for an individual. Motivation at work is valuable as it serves to arouse, direct,
maintain and intensify effort toward specific goals. Motivation can be understood
as an inner directing force that influences people’s willingness to work toward
organizational goals. As a process, it is initiated when there is an internal need
60 that drives an individual toward actions directed at obtaining incentives.
Motivation at the workplace is a complex process of needs and drives, and Work Motivation
awareness of goals and incentives that motivate employees to exert effort.
However, results occur only when motivated employees are provided with the
opportunity to perform and when they have the resources and the ability to do so.
When an employee is productive and the organization takes note of it, rewards
are distributed that result in the satisfaction of employee’s original needs and
drives. There are several motives that can be classified as primary,secondary,
extrinsic and intrinsic. At the end, the Indian perspective of motivation was also
discussed.

3.8 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) Describe the meaning and functions of work.
2) Explain the concept of motivation by quoting suitable definitions.
3) Define motivation. Describe some of its important characteristics.
4) Discuss the process and content theories of motivation.
5) Explain the Indian Perspective of motivation.

3.9 GLOSSARY
Work : Human activity involving physical or mental
exertion that is not undertaken solely for
pleasure and that has economic value.
Motivation : Psychological process governing the arousal,
direction, intensity, and persistence of
voluntary actions that are goal directed.
Work motivation : Process that accounts for arousal, direction,
magnitude, and maintenance of effort in a
person’s job.
Need : Physiological or psychological deficiency that
creates a state of tension and imbalance.
Drive : Tension that provides an energising
thrust toward achieving a certain goal or
accomplishing a certain task.
Incentive : Anything that can mitigate a need and decrease
the intensity of the drive.
Primary motives : Unlearned physiological needs that arise from
the basic requirements of life and that are
important for the survival of human race.
Secondary motives : Learned social motives that arise as a result of
interaction with other people and that develop
as people mature.
Extrinsic motivation : Motivation promoted by factors external to
the individual and unrelated to the task being 61
performed.
Individual Level Intrinsic motivation : Internal desire to perform a particular task
Processes because it is enjoyable.
Hedonism : The doctrine holding that behaviour is
motivated by the desire for pleasure and the
avoidance of pain.
Self-actualisation : Highest need category in Maslow’s need
hierarchy that concerns developing one’s full
potential, increasing one’s competence, and
becoming a better person.
Task identity : The degree to which a job requires completion
of a whole or identifiable piece of work.
Task significance : The degree to which one’s job has a substantial
impact on the organization and/or larger
society.
Autonomy : The degree to which a job gives employees
the freedom, independence, and discretion
to schedule their work and determine the
procedures used in completing it.
Feedback : Information that people receive about the
consequences of their behaviour.
Expectancy : The individual’s belief that work-related effort
will result in a given level of performance.
Instrumentality : The individual’s belief that a specific
performance level will lead to specific
outcomes or rewards.
Valence : The anticipated satisfaction or dissatisfaction
that an individual feels toward an outcome.

3.10 ANSWERS TO SELF ASSESSMENT

QUESTIONS (SAQ)
SAQ I
1) True
2) False
3) False
4) True
SAQ II
1) reinforced
2) motivating factors

62
3) accept specific, challenging goals and receive feedback that indicates their Work Motivation
progress toward goal achievement
4) Expectancy

3.11 SUGGESTED READINGS AND REFERENCES

Adhikari, S.D. (2008) .Indian Psychology of Motivation. Edited book by
K. Rama Krishna Rao, Foundation Books. Online ISBN:9788175968448.
DOI: [Link]
Adair, J. G., Pandey, J., Begum, H. A., Puhan, B. N. and Vohra, N. (1995).
‘Indigenization and development of the discipline: Perceptions and opinions of
Indian and Bangladeshi Psychologists. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology,
26(4), 392–407.
Ajaya, S. (1983). Psychotherapy East and West: A Unifying Paradigm.
Honesdale, Pennsylvania: The Himalayan International Institute of Yoga
Science and Philosophy of the U.S.A.
Allport, G. W. (1954). The historical background of modern psychology.
In G. Lindzey (Ed.), Handbook of Social Psychology. Cambridge, MA:
AddisonWesley.
Barua, B. M. (1921). A History of Pre-Buddhistic Indian Philosophy. Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass. Bem, S. and Looren de Jong, H. (1997). Theoretical Issues
in Psychology: An Introduction. London: Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage.
Budd, J.W., &Bhave, D. (2010). The Employment Relationship. In [Link]
et al., (Eds.), Sage Handbook of Human Resource Management. London:
Sage.
Campbell, J. P., & Pritchard, R. D. (1976). Motivation theory in industrial and
organizational psychology. In M. D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of industrial
and organizational psychology. Chicago: Rand
Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety, San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass Deci, E. L. (1975). Intrinsic motivation. New York: Plenum.
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in
human behaviour. New York: Plenum.
Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of
work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behaviour and Human Performance, 16,
250–279.
Hogg, M. A. (2006). Social Identity Theory. In P. J. Burke (Ed.), Contemporary
Social Psychological Theories. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Hughes, Everett C. (1971). The Sociological Eye: Selected Papers. Chicago:
Aldine Atherton.
Hull, C. L. (1943). Principles of behaviour. New York: Appleton-Century-
Crofts. Kanfer, R. (1990). Motivation theory and industrial and organizational
psychology. In M. D. Dunnette& L. D. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial
and organizational psychology. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists
Press. 63
Individual Level Jex, S. M. & Britt W.T. 2014. Organizational Psychology, A Scientist-
Processes Practitioner Approach, John Wiley & Sons, Canada.
Katzell, R. & Thompson, D. (1990). An integrative model of work attitudes,
motivation, and performance. Human Performance, 3, 63-85.
Knights, D. & Willmott, H. (1989). Power and subjectivity at work. Sociology
, 23(4), 535-558 . Leidner, R. (2006). Identity and work. In M. Korczynski,
R. Hodson, and P. Edwards (Ed.), Social Theory at Work. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Luthans, F. (1995). Organizational Behaviour (7th Ed.). New Delhi: Tata
McGrawHill.
Lofquist, L. H., &Dawis, R. V. (1969). Adjustment to work. New York:
AppletonCentury-Crofts. Mayo, E. (1933). The human problems of an industrial
civilisation. New York: Macmillan.
Luthans, F. (1995). Organizational Behaviour (7th Ed.). New Delhi: Tata
McGrawHill, Inc.
McNally Clark, R. E. (1998). Motivating performance: Part 1 - Diagnosing and
solving motivation problems. Performance Improvement, 37(8), 39-46.
McShane, S.L., Glinow, M.A.N., & Sharma, R.R. (2008). Organizational
Behaviour (4th Ed.). New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Newstorm, J.W., & Davis, K. (2002).Organizational Behaviour: Human
Behaviour at Work. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill.
Robbins, S.P., Judge, T.A., & Sanghi, S. (2009). Organizational Behaviour.
Delhi: Person Education.
Robbins, S.P Judge, T.A.S Vohra, N (2016), Oraganizational Behaviour, New
Delhi : Pearson Education.
Sinha, D. (1993). ‘Indigenization of psychology in India and its relevance’.
In: V. Kim and J.W. Berry (Eds.), Indigenous Psychologies: Research and
Experience in Cultural Context pp. 30–43. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Turner, J. C., &Onorato, R.S. (1999). Social identity, personality, and the
selfconcept: A self-categorisation perspective. In T. R. Tyler, R. M. Kramer, &
O.P. John (Eds.), The psychology of the social self. NJ: Erlbaum.
Turner, N., Barling, J., &Zacharatos, A. (2002). Positive psychology at work.
In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York: Wiley.
Websites: [Link] accessed
on 12/8/2021

64
 Work Motivation
Unit 4 Stress and Wellbeing at
the Work Place*
Structure
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Objectives
4.2 Definition and Concept of Stress
4.3 Causes/Sources of Stress
4.4 Consequences of Stress
4.4.1 Effect of Stress on Health

4.4.2 Effect of Stress on Performance And Productivity

4.4.3 Effect of Stress on Inter Personal Relationships

4.5 Stress Management Techniques

4.5.1 Relaxation techniques

4.5.2 Meditation

4.5.3 Yoga

4.5. 4 Time Management

4.5.5 Cognitive Restructuring

4.5.6 Mindfulness

4.6 Let Us Sum Up

4.7 Unit End Questions
4.8 Glossary
4.9 Answers to Self Assessment Questions (SAQ)
4.10 Suggested Readings and References

4.0 INTRODUCTION
Nirav was a very studious boy. He pursued MBA and was a topper in his
institute. He was also able to secure a good job as a manager in one of the
leading multinational companies. Nirav was very excited about his new job.
Though, as he started working, his parents and friends started noticing change
in Nirav’s behaviour. He was always irritated, angry, barely interacted with
any one, was not eating and sleeping adequately. His colleagues also noticed
the change in his behaviour as they felt that otherwise effective and jovial Nirav
was becoming secluded and that was affecting his performance at work.
Samina was eldest child in her family and was a bright student. She wanted
to become a doctor when she grew up. However, her mother fell very sick and
Samina had to leave her studies and take care of her ailing mother and her three
65
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Dr Suhas Shetgovekar, IGNOU, Delhi
Individual Level younger siblings. Subsequent to death of her mother, Samina was not same as
Processes before. She started falling sick often and doctors could find no physiological
reasons for her sickness. She also lost interest in her studies and in fact did not
even bother to appear for her examination.
Ravi was sure that he will be promoted to senior manager’s post after this year’s
performance appraisal. He had worked very hard and felt that he deserved the
promotion. However, as the news with regard to promotions in his department
was announced, he was shocked to see that he was not promoted. Ravi felt
very frustrated after this news as he felt that his work and sincerity were not
appreciated by his superiors. He lost interest in his job and his productivity
started declining. The frustration experienced by him also affected his family
relationship and he started having fights with his spouse. This led to further
frustration and anger and Ravi ended up having a psychological breakdown.
Above are three different examples of individuals who experienced stress in
one way or other in their lives. Nirav was stressed due to the job pressure that
he experienced, with which he was not able to cope, and that had an impact on
his wellbeing. A very negative and tragic life experience of losing a parent led
Samina to experiencing stress that affected her physiological wellbeing. Stress
as a result of frustration experienced by Ravi led him to become psychologically
distressed and experiencing a psychological breakdown. The three examples
also imply that there are various reasons why a person may experience stress
and the symptoms of stress as displayed by the individuals also vary.
Though, one thing can be stated clearly, that is, if stress is not identified and
managed in time or on regular basis it can have detrimental effects on the
individual. His / her functioning and productivity will decrease and it can also
have a negative impact on the significant people in his/her life like parents,
spouse, children, friends and even colleagues. Stress has a negative impact on
both psychological and physiological well-being of a person and thus needs to
be dealt with adequately using suitable intervention strategies. Though, before
discussing the techniques of stress management in the present unit, we will
make an attempt to understand the concept of stress and will also focus on the
sources, causes and consequences of stress.

4.1 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit, you will be able to:
• Mention the concept and definition of stress;
• Discuss the sources and effects of stress; and
• Describe the techniques of stress management.

4.2 DEFINITION AND CONCEPT OF STRESS

After reading the above examples you may have developed some idea about
what is stress. In the present section of this Unit we will discuss about the
concept and nature of stress so as to develop a better understanding about this
term. The terms stress has been derived from ‘stringere’ that is a Latin word and
means ‘to draw tight’ (Cox, 1978).
66
It has today become a very commonly used term in every context whether Stress and Wellbeing
school, workplace, day to day life and so on. We often come across people who at the Work Place
say that they are stressed or Stress: An Introduction experiencing stress in their
lives. We ourselves experience stress often. The origins of stress can mainly be
traced to physical sciences (Schafer, 1998).
During the 17th century it was exceedingly used to denote affiliations and
hardships experienced by individuals and during the 18th century it came to be
described mainly in terms of pressure, strain or force (Cartwright and Cooper,
1997).
The initial conceptualization of stress mainly focused on stress as an external
stimulus. Though later it was described as a response of an individual to certain
disturbances. The study carried out by Cannon can be mentioned in this context,
where he mainly studied the fight and flight reaction. The focus of the study
by Cannon was on the effect that stress has on animals as well as humans.
Cannon also observed physiological changes in the participants of his study and
he attributed these changes, as displayed by individuals, to stress. Hans Selye
(1974) described stress as a response of the body to certain demand that is made
on it and he further stated that this response was nonspecific.
Baum et al. (1981) have defined stress as a “process in which environmental
events or forces, called, stressors, threatens an organism’s existence and
wellbeing”.
Schafer (1998, pg. 6) defined stress as “arousal of mind and body in response
to demands made on them”.
Both the above definitions focus on the demand and an individual’s response
to the same. Thus, the onus here is on the response of the individual. Though
the first definition focuses only on body the second definition brings in the
important aspect of mind, implying that stress is a response of both body as
well as mind.
Yet another definition of stress was given by Lazarus and Folkman (1984, pg.
19). They define stress as “a particular relationship between the person and
the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his/ her
resources and endangering his/ her wellbeing”. This definition emphasizes on
the relationship between person and the environment, though here the stress is
presented in a negative light, stress is not always negative and may have its own
advantages.
Lazarus and Folkman put forth the transactional model of stress and coping that
focuses on how an event is interpreted or appraised by an individual, which in turn
will determine the stress experienced by the individual. This model highlights
that stress and coping up with stress are being interrelated processes.
Truxillo et al. (2016, pg. 440) defined stress as “the body’s reaction to a
change that requires a physical, mental or emotional adjustment or response”.
This definition has further elaborated the response as being physical, mental
or emotional in nature. The above definitions mainly looked at stress from a
western perspective. If we describe stress from an eastern perspective, it denotes
absence or lack on inner peace (Seaward, 2014).
67
Individual Level While discussing the concept of stress it is also important to understand the
Processes term stressor, that can be described as situation, event, person or anything that
leads to the stress response.
Gerrig and Zimbardo (2005, pg. 430) defined stressor as a stimulus event that
places a demand on an organism for some kind of adaptive response”. At a
given point of time an individual may have various stressors in his/ her life. It
could be an upcoming official event, an impending report, examination and so
on. Stressors can also be described as varied external and internal stimuli that
may lead to stress. Stressors can be categorized into physical, psychological,
environmental, social and as life events. Stressors could range from adjusting
to change, financial issues and problems, life events like separation, divorce,
illnesses or death of a loved one, managing varied roles and responsibilities,
facing frequent challenging situations and even technological changes and
development.
Some of the stressors that an individual may have in one’s life are shown in
figure 4.1.

School/Work
Environment

Life Events
Role Stressors

STRESSORS
Interpersonal
Conflicts

Physical
Responsibilities condition

Fig. 4.1: Stressors (Agents causing stress)

4.3 CAUSES/SOURCES OF STRESS

As we have developed a clear idea about the concept of stress, we will now
move on to the sources of stress. Coleman (1970) categorized the sources or
the causes of stress in to three main categories, namely, Frustration, Conflict of
Motives and Pressure (Coleman, 1970).
• Frustration: Frustration can be described as occurring when a goal- oriented
behaviour of an individual is thwarted. As stated by Mangal (1984, pg. 46)
“a wide range of environmental obstacles, both physical and social and the
internal factors in the form of personal limitations, biological conditions
68 and psychological barriers may lead to frustration of our needs, motives
 and efforts”. For example, Ravi expected his promotion, however, when he Stress and Wellbeing
did not receive the same, he experienced frustration. at the Work Place

• Conflict of Motives: The next source is conflict of motives that can cause
stress as an individual has to choose between alternatives and decision
making in this regard can lead to stress.
• Pressure: Pressure is yet another source of stress that can be external or
internal. External pressures are result of demands from the environment,
responsibilities and obligations that are mainly social in nature as well as
demands and expectations of the significant persons in our lives.
Other sources of stress can be pointed out as follows:
• Interpersonal Relationships: Stress can also result due to ineffective
interpersonal relationships or interpersonal conflicts, family related issues,
lack of work life balance, work pressures and work overload and even
environmental pressures that could be due to noise pollution, crowding and
so on.
• Life events: Stress can be caused due to varied life events. These could
be death of a loved one, divorce or separation, losing one’s job, marriage
and so on. These could be termed as significant life events in one’s life that
may put pressure on the adjustment and coping resources of the person as
they expose the individual to certain new and unique challenges. Thus, life
events can lead to stress which in turn can have detrimental effects on the
day to day functioning as well as physical and psychological health of the
individual.
• Daily hassles: Similar to life events, daily hassles can also create stress.
Daily hassles like lack of time, work overload, daily roles, responsibilities
and duties and so on can lead to stress.
• Status insecurity: Individuals ( e.g. type A personality) may display status
insecurity, which is likely to stem from low self-esteem. Such individuals
will constantly compare themselves with others and will find themselves to
be inferior in their own eyes. They are also constantly striving to enhance
their self-esteem. These individuals often have a very high expectation from
themselves and are also highly critical about self. This will often drive them
to achieve and accomplish as much as possible.
• Drive towards self-destruction: The lifestyle led by certain individuals
(e.g. type A personalities) can take a toll on them and they often seek
escapism and thus in a way they may drive themselves on the path of self-
destruction. Individuals with type A are not only more prone to stress, as
was mentioned earlier, but they may display lower satisfaction with regard
to job, health, home and life. They may also experience lack of energy and
may experience more affective tension and symptoms of distress.
• Hostility: Schafer (2004, pg. 194) described hostility as “cynicism towards
others’ motives and values, easily and frequently aroused anger, and a
tendency to express that anger towards others.” Hostility in this context does
not relate to anger that leads to violent behaviour. But this is the irritability
and anger experienced by individuals who otherwise seem perfectly normal 69
Individual Level (Schafer, 2004). Such a hostility may be experienced in simple events in
Processes life, like someone spills tea on the office table, a family member does
not fold clothes and they are left in the sitting chair and so on, for which
individuals who are not hostile may barely [Link] long-term effect of
such hostility is negative as it not only affects one’s health but can also
affect one’s social relationships. Links have been found between hostility
and stress (Felsten,1996; Hackett et al, 2015). Thus, hostility can also be
termed as a factor that can make individuals more prone to stress.
• Perfectionism: Yet another factor that can lead to stress proneness is
perfectionism. Perfectionism can be described as expectations that an
individual may have from self and others or both and these expectations
are demanding in nature which seldom leaves chance for compromise.
Perfectionism can be categorized into internal perfectionism (expectations
from self) and external perfectionism (expectations from others). Individuals
with internal perfectionism will have high expectations from themselves
and this can not only affect their health but also their productivity. It can
also negatively affect their relationship and self-esteem. Individuals who
have external perfectionism will often find fault with others and are never
satisfied with how others work and this can lead them to experiencing
frustration as well as hostility.
• Procrastination: We discussed earlier that perfectionism may lead to
procrastination, but procrastination in itself is also a factor that could lead
to stress proneness. Procrastination can simply be described as not doing
things/ activities on time and keeping them for later. This can be because the
things or those activities are viewed as not appealing/ pleasant or difficult.
Procrastination can lead to stress because individuals who procrastinate
will not only feel guilty and indulge in condemnation of self, but there
could also be external repercussions (for example, examination fee not paid
in time, delay in submitting an important report and so on).
• Learned Helplessness/ Learned pessimism: The term learned helpless
was put forth by Seligman and it can be described as tendency to become
helpless when frequently faced with events that cannot be controlled.
Schafer (2004, pg. 215) defines learned pessimism as “the tendency to
interpret bad events as personally caused, part of a permanent pattern, and
pervasive into all parts of one’s life and the tendency to interpret positive
events as caused by luck or external forces, temporary, and limited to this
one aspect”.
Self Assessment Questions (SAQ I)
Fill in the following blanks:
1) Frustration can be described as occurring when a .......................................
of an individual is thwarted.
2) ................................... can be described as tendency to become helpless
when frequently faced with events that cannot be controlled.
3) ................................... can also be described as varied external and internal
stimuli that may lead to stress.
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4) Hans Selye (1974) described stress as a ....................................................... Stress and Wellbeing
....................................................................................................................... at the Work Place

4.4 CONSEQUENCES OF STRESS

Let us now discuss the consequences or the effects of stress on the individuals. We
will discuss the consequences of stress on an individuals’ health, performance,
productivity and interpersonal relationships:

4.4.1 Effect of Stress on Health

Stress has an impact on the physical health of an individual. A number of
illnesses like cardiovascular disorders, aches and pain, ulcers, hypertension,
diabetes, asthma, hyperthyroidism, and even cancer can be attributed to stress.
Stress can have an impact on the immune system of the individual and thus the
individual may become easily prone to varied infections and illnesses. Stress
can also accelerate ageing.
When an individual is experiencing stress, the resources and energy is diverted
from immune system to systems in the body that play more important role in
stress reactivity (as was also discussed under fight and flight response and
GAS) and thus, individuals who experience stress for long period of time are
prone to develop infections as their immune system is compromised. Stress can
lead to development of cardiovascular disorders in individuals. When there is
perception of stress, one of the physiological changes that occur is that pulse rate
increases as well as there is an increase in the blood pressure. As such the heart
tends to be on a rapid mode and works harder when stress is experienced. A
stress for a long period of time will have the heart working overtime for a longer
period of time and that can lead to development of cardiovascular disorders.
Further, lifestyle of the individual, including diet and nutrition, physical
exercise, consumption of alcohol and drugs and so on can also contribute to the
development of such disorders.
Prolonged stress can also cause hypertension as sympathetic nervous system
gets activated and blood pressure increases and remains increased for a longer
period of time. And prolonged hypertension can again lead to development
of cardiovascular disorders and could also lead to stroke and kidney related
disorders.
As a result of prolonged stress, an individual could also develop ulcers, irritable
bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel diseases. Stress is one of the factors
that can also lead to individuals developing asthma. Stress can also cause
hyperthyroidism, as experiencing stress for a prolonged period of time can
negatively affect thyroid, the gland that is responsible for metabolism as well
as regulation of various physiological functions. The functioning of the thyroid
can also get affected due to stress. Various hormones are also released as stress
is experienced and this can lead to increased levels of glucose in blood.
Further, stress can also cause anxiety and depression. When stress is experienced
by an individual, there is a release of neurotransmitters (the chemicals that
transmit signal between the neurons) Serotonin and Adrenalin. After the release
of these neurotransmitters, stress related hormones are released and these can
have an impact on area of brain relevant to memory and regulation of affect. 71
Individual Level When stress is experienced by an individual for a prolonged period of time,
Processes then there is a negative effect on the way these systems function and as a result
the individual is prone to developing anxiety and depression.
Further, depression can also be linked to extended activation of immune
system, that is a result of stress experienced by an individual over a period of
time (Crannage, 2018). Extreme stress can also lead to development of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Stress can also lead to indulgence of the individual in unhealthy coping
behaviour which can also involve substance use (alcohol, drug and so on). This
in turn can not only lead to addiction but can have detrimental effect on health.
Besides a person under stress may also engage in unhealthy lifestyle, like they
may not exercise, maintain healthy diet and may even indulge in unhealthy
eating behaviours. Thus, it can be said that stress can have a negative effect on
one’s physical health as well as mental health. Further, it can also impact one’s
lifestyle and behaviour which in turn have adverse effects on one’s overall
health.

4.4.2 Effect of Stress on Performance and Productivity

When we talk about performance and productivity, it could be overall
performance and productivity of the individual and it could also be performance
and productivity in the context of work. Before we go on to discuss performance
and productivity in the context of work, let us discuss about how stress can
impact cognitive functioning, that is a key to performance and productivity.
Stress can have a negative impact on cognitive functioning or performance of
the individual, which can be for a short term or for long period of time. In
fact, stress experienced over a long period of time may even lead to decline in
cognitive functioning and is also linked to occurrence of dementia (Scott et al,
2015).
Prolonged stress can affect memory, attention and concentration of the individual.
Individuals experiencing stress may also display ineffective decision making.
Stress can also lead to worrying constantly, forgetting, lack of organization, lack
of judgment and all these in turn can have an impact on the overall performance
and productivity of the individual. Stress has a negative effect on the executive
functioning of an individual that includes tasks like making plans, reasoning,
management of one’s life, problem solving and so on. And this can be attributed
to the overload that is created by stress, where the resources of the individual
are diverted towards coping with stress.
Thus, an individual under stress may not be able to remember well, indulge in
effective problem solving and may not be able to pay his/ her complete attention.
When an individual is experiencing stress, his/ her cognitive performance as
well as ability to make decisions can get negatively affected.
Under stress, individuals may also not be able to indulge in analyzing complex
situations or carry out manipulation of information (Kavanagh, 2005). Stress
that is experienced in day to day life can also result in negative mood that
is experienced by the individual, which in turn may lead to the individual
experiencing fatigue, which can further affect his/ her ability to pay attention
72 (Scott et al, 2015). While discussing about relationship between stress and
performance, the hypothesis related to the inverted- U needs to be discussed. Stress and Wellbeing
Inverted- U is also called as Yerkes-Dodson Law that denotes relationship at the Work Place
between arousal and performance. It was put forth by Robert Yerkes and John
Dillingham Dodson in 1908. The law says that an optimum level of stress is
required for an individual to perform and meet their targets, but if the stress
increases after an extent the performance of the individual deteriorates.
All this can not only impact their health but also their cognitive functioning
leading to detrimental impact on their performance and productivity. Let us
discuss about how stress can have an impact on performance and productivity
at workplace. When employees experience stress for a longer period of time, the
outcome could be affective exhaustion, decreased organizational commitment
and higher turnover amongst the employees (Kavanagh, 2005). Decreased
performance, job dissatisfaction and even absenteeism can be related with stress
(Miner, 1992). Most often individuals under stress take more time to complete
a task than an individual not experiencing stress. Individuals experiencing
stress may also display poor time management. Inability to manage time and
complete work as per deadlines can further cause stress. Such individuals may
also display lack of punctuality which can cost the organization man-hours.
Individuals experiencing stress may also remain absent from jobs for extended
period of time (absenteeism). This could mainly be because of the negative
impact that the stress can have on their physical and mental health. Individuals
under stress may also not be able to focus on their work activities and this
again can affect the productivity and even cause [Link]
can also get hampered when individuals are under stress and the likelihood of
individuals being prone to groupthink is also high. As a result of groupthink,
the members of a group may reach a consensus decision which may not be
correct or rational. Thus, stress can have a negative effect on interactions and
relationships at workplace, which in turn can affect team work.
Employees may also experience technostress, stress that is experienced due to
lack of ability to cope with advances in technology. In this context, we also need
to discuss about yet another term that is ‘Burnout’. Pestonjee (1999, pg. 23)
defined burnout as “the end of stress experienced but not properly coped with,
resulting in symptoms of exhaustion, irritation, ineffectiveness, discounting of
self and others and problems of health (hypertension, ulcers and heart problem)”.
Not only the quality of work of the individual experiencing stress will suffer but
stress can also have an impact on the work life balance of the individual.

4.4.3 Effect of Stress on Inter Personal Relationships

Individuals are not islands but are interdependent on each other. They cannot
function in isolation and rely on each other to carry out various activities as
well as for support. Thus, one of the important dimensions of an individual’s
life is his/ her relationship with others. Stress can also have an impact on the
individual’s relationships and can have an impact on his/her relationship with
others.
Inadequate coping strategies employed by the individuals may also lead to
behaviours that may negatively affect the individual’s relationship with others.
For instance, as a result of stress, the person may indulge in substance use
(consumption of alcohol and drug use) and such behaviours over a period of 73
Individual Level time can negatively affect his/ her relationship with others. Stress may also
Processes lead to interpersonal conflicts that again may result in negative effects on
relationships. Individuals who are under stress may say certain things or make
certain mistakes that they would otherwise refrain from doing. Even decision
making and problem-solving abilities of the person get affected and certain
decisions he/ she takes or problem solving strategies that he/ she may employ
can affect his/ her relationship with others and develop interpersonal conflicts.
Jobs and work-related activities have become more and more complex and the
stress experienced at work is also high and this can have a spill over in the
personal life of the individual. Often, individuals bottle up their stress and do
not deal with it or express it.

4.5 STRESS MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

You might know by now, that, stress can have several negative effects on
individuals, but stress is a condition which all of us face inevitably. So in order
to prevent ourselves from the negative effects of stress, let us now discuss about
few of the techniques which can help in managing stress and enhancing our
well- being:

4.5.1 Relaxation Techniques

As discussed earlier that, there are a number of physiological changes that take
place in the individual who is experiencing stress. These could range from rapid
breathing to increased heartbeat and pulse rate, tightening of muscles and so
on. In such a situation relaxation technique can be effectively used, especially,
to reduce the muscle tension experienced by the individual undergoing stress.
Relaxation techniques help not only in relieving stress but they also help in
dealing with anxiety, help sleep better, help in regulation of blood pressure,
reduce headaches and migraine and so on.
One such relaxation technique is Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation.
This technique involves deep muscle relaxation. The main assumption of this
technique is that relaxation and tension cannot occur at the same time, mainly
because both are as a result of two different autonomic nervous systems, that is,
sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. And these systems cannot
be active at the same time as they reciprocally inhibit each other.
The technique mainly involves contracting various body muscles and then
relaxing them. The exercise can be carried out for approximately 15 to 20
minutes and could be practiced twice a day.
The following needs to be kept in mind before practicing this technique (Ghosh,
2015):
1) It is to be practiced in a place that one finds comfortable.
2) Preferably it needs to be carried out at a time when there are least
distractions.
3) It needs to be carried out with belief in one self and should not be hurriedly
carried out.
74
4) Any drugs or medications should not be used for relaxation and those on Stress and Wellbeing
medication may practice after seeking medical advice. at the Work Place

5) Caution must be maintained by persons suffering from problems like

backaches, fractures and other injuries. The technique mainly starts with
breathing in, holding the breath and letting go.
It is important to be calm as well as comfortable while practicing this technique.
Eyes can be closed during the technique. Breathing exercise could be repeated
a few times and that can be followed by tensing and relaxing of different
muscles. This technique involves contracting and relaxing 16 muscle groups
alternatively. These muscles include arms, hands, shoulders, neck, forehead-
eyes-scalp, jaws - mouth, chest - trunk, stomach, lower back, buttocks, thigh,
foot-calf (Ghosh 2015).
The contracting and relaxing of muscle is to be carried out as follows:
• Bend the arms up to the elbow, hold for few seconds and relax.
• Hands can be clenched in a fist, hold for some time and open.
• Shoulders can be pulled in upward direction, held in this position for a
while and then released.
• For relaxing the neck, head can be pushed back for a few seconds and then
brought in the original position. Similarly, chin can be brought down towards
the chest, for a few seconds and then brought in the original position.
• For chest, deep breaths to be taken, held for few seconds and then relaxed.
• Stomach can be pulled in for a few seconds and then relaxed.
• For thighs, knees can be pulled together for a while and then relaxed by
drifting them apart.
• Buttocks can be squeezed together and relaxed.
• For feet, pull your toes up in the direction of your knees, hold this position
briefly and then relax by letting go.
Heels can be pressed against the ground for a few seconds and the relaxed by
letting go. Post exercise it is important to remain relaxed Before you open your
eyes count backwards from ten to one and then rub your palms together and put
them on your eyes. Then, eyes can be opened slowly and the feeling of being
relaxed can be enjoyed.

4.5.2 Meditation
Meditation is yet another technique that can be used to deal with stress.
Meditation is the English word for Sanskrit term ‘Dhyana’. It can be described
as a process of “quieting the mind in order to spend time in thought for relaxation
with a goal to attain inner state of awareness and intensify personal and spiritual
growth” ([Link] definition/4949/meditation).
Meditation will relax your body and thus the negative impact of stress on the
body is reduced. Meditation not only leads to relaxation of body but it also helps
75
Individual Level in increasing self-awareness. And regular practice of meditation will have long
Processes term benefits. There are different types of meditation (Villines, 2017, Welch,
2019).
Some of these are briefly explained as follows:
Mindfulness meditation: This mainly includes becoming aware about
one’s thoughts. It involves sitting in a place without any distractions and
non-judgmentally observing one’s thoughts and emotions. Transcendental
meditation: This involves chanting of a ‘mantra’/ chant or a word repeatedly in
certain manner. This again can be done in a quiet place. One can sit straight but
comfortably and practice this meditation for 15 to 20 minutes.
Guided meditation: As the name suggests, in this meditation, there is often
a guide who will take you through the meditation process. This meditation
mainly involves visualisation of certain images that you may find relaxing. It
also involves utilising one’s senses. The person may be asked to sit in a quiet
and calm place with eyes closed and visualise certain images that he/ she finds
relaxing.
Vipassana meditation: The main aim of this meditation is self-observation in
order to transform oneself. It requires attention to be paid to different bodily
sensations in order to create a connection between body and mind.
Loving kindness meditation (Metta meditation): This meditation includes
directing love and kindness towards others. The individual is required to sit
straight but in a comfortable position in a quiet place. He/ she is then required
to take a few deep breaths and repeat to oneself words that express kindness to
self, then to family, friends and other significant people in his/ her life and then
to everyone.
The benefits of meditation include not only reduction of stress but it can also
help in managing anxiety, promoting affective health, enhancing self awareness,
increasing the span of attention and so on. Initially it can be practiced once in a
day for a few minutes and later on the duration can be increased and it can also
be practiced twice a day.

4.5.3 Yoga
You all must be aware that we celebrate International Day of Yoga on 21st
June every year. Such is the effectiveness of Yoga that it is now promoted at
International level in order to create awareness and promote practice of Yoga
amongst the individuals so as to help them enhance their health and wellbeing.
Yoga as a practice originated in India and the term Yoga is derived from Sanskrit
meaning ‘to unite’, indicating a union of consciousness and body ([Link]
[Link]/en/events/yogaday/). The main goal of Yoga is self realisation (Balaji,
2012). Yoga finds its mention in Bhagwad Gita, where a whole chapter is
devoted to it. Three main types of yoga have been mentioned in this regard.
Karma Yoga: That is yoga related to one’s actions. Bhakti Yoga: Yoga related
to devotion. Jnana Yoga: That is Yoga related to knowledge. There is also a
fourth type that was put forth by Patanjali, He introduced Ashtang Yoga, that is,
power yoga. This yoga involves a movement or a flow from posture to posture
76 (Balaji, 2012).
4.5.4 Time Management Stress and Wellbeing
at the Work Place
Effective and systematic management of time could be a key to stress
management. Time is a precious resource and time management basically
involves making the best use of the time that one has. It also includes planning,
controlling the waste of time, implementation of various techniques to manage
time as well as carrying out evaluation that can help one improve. Seaward
(2014, pg. 147) explains time management as “prioritization, scheduling and
execution of responsibilities to personal satisfaction”. Main aspects that have
been reflected in this definition are: prioritization, scheduling and execution.
Prioritization: Prioritization involves listing tasks and responsibilities according
to their priority or how important and urgent they are to be carried out. Here the
difference needs to be made between what is urgent and what is important.
Scheduling: It involves grouping smaller tasks together (e.g. going to meet a
friend and shopping) as well as breaking complicated tasks in to smaller tasks
(e.g. studying the whole course, chapter wise).
Execution: This has to do with actually carrying out the task as mere planning
and scheduling is not enough. Thus, one needs to be motivated enough to carry
out the task. One way to motivate oneself is by self rewarding one’s self for
every completed task. These rewards could be tangible or intangible or big or
small. Though, it is a good idea to motivate oneself intrinsically to carry out the
task.

4.5.5 Cognitive Restructuring

Cognitive restructuring can be described as “a process of replacing stress
provoking negative thoughts and beliefs with more constructive and realistic
ones which reduce cognitive appraisal of the threat” (Ghosh, 2015 pg. 185).
Thus, cognitive restructuring mainly involves changing the thinking process
and making it more rational and positive. For instance, if a student gets very
low marks in an examination, instead of thinking oneself as a failure, he/ she
can take a learning lesson and decide to try harder next time.

4.5.6 Mindfulness
Mindfulness denotes awareness about ones thinking, the way one feels, physical
sensations and one’s surrounding in the present moment and thus contributes
towards enhancing well being. It mainly involves becoming non-judgmental in
one’s awareness about one’s thoughts and feelings. It mainly involves paying
attention to things that generally we do not notice as we are too occupied with
our lives, thinking about future and past and are seldom focusing on present.
Mindfulness is often termed as a contrast to automatic pilot mode (or a default
mode) where we do things without much thought or attention. Often, we are
doing certain activities like driving, household chores or even eating which
we may do by not paying our complete attention to the task and most often
our attention and thought process may be somewhere else rather than on these
activities. Thus, we are in auto pilot mode.
Whereas, mindfulness involves becoming aware and focusing our attention on
these activities. The main characteristics of mindfulness according to Kabat-
77
Individual Level Zinn (1990) are being nonjudgmental, cultivating patience, being open minded,
Processes having trust, non-striving, acceptance and letting go. In fact Kabat-Zinn was
also responsible for starting a program on Mindfulness- Based Stress Reduction
in 1997 at University of Massachusetts Medical School.
It is also important that when mindfulness is practiced, one involves in
observing one’s experiences including thoughts, feelings and physiological
sensations. Though when one is focusing at varied experiences, it is to be done
one at a time. Besides observation, it also involves description of what is being
observed but this is to be done non-judgmentally. Practicing mindfulness can
have a positive impact on an individual’s body and mind. It not only helps
in dealing with certain illnesses by strengthening one’s immune system but it
also helps deal with stress and promote positive mental health. Even memory,
attention, problem solving and decision making can improve with the help of
mindfulness.
It can also enhance one’s self esteem and can play a role in building and
maintaining positive relationships.
Self Assessment Questions (SAQ II)
State whether the following are Statments‘True’ or ‘False’:
1) Effective and systematic management of time could be a key to stress
management.
2) Anxiety can be described as “a process of replacing stress provoking
negative thoughts and beliefs with more constructive and realistic ones
which reduce cognitive appraisal of the threat”.
3) Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation is a technique that involves deep
muscle relaxation.
4) Under stress, individuals may also not be able to indulge in analysing
complex situations or carry out manipulation of information.

4.6 LET US SUM UP

It can be summed up from the present unit that, stress can be defined as a
“process in which environmental events or forces, called, stressors, threatens
an organism’s existence and wellbeing”. After defining the concept of stress,
various causes of stress were also discussed in this unit. The consequences of
stress were discussed later.
The unit also discussed about the different techniques with the help of which
one can manage stress. The unit ends with the discussion on relevance of time
management. Effective and systematic management of time could be a key to
stress management.

4.7 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) Define stress and discuss its causes.
2) What are the various causes of stress?
78 3) Discuss the different techniques of managing stress.
4) Write Short Notes on the following: Stress and Wellbeing
at the Work Place
a) Consequences of stress
b) Effective time management

4.8 GLOSSARY
Biofeedback : Biofeedback can be described as a process
that is noninvasive in nature and helps in
comprehending the effect of stress on one’s
body.
Meditation : It can be described as a process of quieting
the mind in order to spend time in thought for
relaxation with a goal to attain inner state of
awareness and intensify personal and spiritual
growth.
Mindfulness : Mindfulness denotes awareness about
ones thinking, the way one feels, physical
sensations and one’s surrounding in the
present moment.
Yoga : Yoga as a practice originated in India and the
term Yoga is derived from Sanskrit meaning
‘to unite’, indicating a union of consciousness
and body. The main goal of Yoga is self
realisation. Yoga mainly involves bodily
postures (Asanas), breathing exercises and
meditation that are to be carried out in a
specific manner.
Cognitive restructuring : Cognitive restructuring can be described as a
process of replacing stress provoking negative
thoughts and beliefs with more constructive
and realistic ones which reduce cognitive
appraisal of the threat.
Delegation : Delegation is assigning the task to someone
else.
Time management : Time management can be explained as
prioritisation, scheduling and execution of
responsibilities to personal satisfaction.

4.9 ANSWERS TO SELF ASSESSMENT

QUESTIONS (SAQ)
SAQ I
1) goal oriented behaviour
2) Learned helplessness
79
Individual Level 3) Stressors
Processes
4) response of the body to certain demand that is made on it.
SAQ II
1) True
2) False
3) True
4) True

4.10 SUGGESTED READING AND REFERENCES

Asanas retrieved from [Link] on 11th
November, 2019 at 1:20 pm.
Bartram, D., & Gardner, D. (2008). Coping with Stress. In Practice, 30, 228-
231.
Bjarnadottir, A. (2019). Mindful Eating 101 — A Beginner’s Guide. Retrieved
from [Link] on 7th
November, 2019 at 7:00 pm.
Balaji, D. P. V. (2012). Stress and Yoga. Journal of Yoga and Physical Therapy
2, 109. doi:10.4172/2157-7595.1000109
Calucchia, C. (2019). Transcendental Meditation: Meditation for Busy Minds.
Retrieved from [Link]
meditation on 7th November, 2019 at 8:00 pm.
Ghosh, M. (2015). Health psychology: Concepts in Health and Wellbeing.
New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. International Day of Yoga.
Retrieved from [Link] yogaday/ on 9th November,
2019 at 10: 00 pm.
Ghosh, M. (2015). Health Psychology: Concepts in Health and Wellbeing. New
Delhi: Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Hawton, K., Salkovskis, P., Kirk, J., & Clark, D. (1989). Cognitive Behaviour
Therapy for Psychiatric Problems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hawton, K., Salkovskis, P., Kirk, J., & Clark, D. (1989). Cognitive Behaviour
Therapy for Psychiatric Problems. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Meditation
retrieved from [Link] meditation on 11th
November, 2019 at 4: 00 pm.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living:Using the wisdom of your body
and mind to face stress, pain and illness. New York: Delacourt.
Mindfulness retrieved from [Link] mindfulness/
definition#how-cultivate-mindfulness on 6th November, 2019 at 3:00 pm.
Sanderson, C. (2013). Health Psychology. USA: John Wiley and Sons Inc.
Schafer, W. (1998). Stress Management for Wellness. United States: Thomson
Wadsworth.
Villines, Z. (2017). What is the Best Type of Meditation? Retrieved from https://
80 [Link]/articles/[Link] on 6th November, 2019 at
9:30 am.