SUBJECT: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOR

CHAPTER NUMBER-2
CHAPTER NAME: - FOUNDATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR

Meaning of Individual Behavior: -

Individual behavior means some concrete action by a person. For instance, how a teacher behaves in the class
reflects his behavior. The behavior of an individual is influenced by various factors. Some of the factors lie
within himself, e.g., his instincts, personality traits, internal feelings, etc., while some lie outside him
comprising the external environment of which he is a part, e.g., weather conditions, events conveying some
information, and other peoples’ behavior that directly influence his behavior.

Foundations of Individual Behavior: -

1) Personal Factors/ Biographical Factors: - Personal factors include age, sex, education, abilities, marital
status, and number of dependents

1) Age: The issue of age is multifaceted and individualistic. It has impact on performance, turnover,
absenteeism, productivity, and satisfaction. performance is dependent on age. As age advances, performance
is likely to decline. Similarly, aging also has an impact on turnover. The older one grows, the less likely one is
to quit the job. Age-absence relationship depends on whether absenteeism is avoidable or unavoidable.

2) Sex: The issue of male and female employees has received considerable attention from academics,
sociologists, and researchers. Research has proved that problem solving ability, analytical skill, competitive
drive, motivation, leadership, sociability, or learning ability are not gender-dependent. However, in our male
dominated society, the presence of women employees in organization is not appreciated or encouraged.

3) Education: This has its effect upon individual behavior, largely through the level and type of education
received. Increased levels of education serve to increase an individual's expectations about positive outcomes.
These outcomes are generally perceived to be a more satisfying job, higher income level, and greater
alternative sources for occupational choice, i.e., the 'good life'. Disillusionment occurs when outcomes do not
match expectations.

4) Abilities: It refers to an individual's capacity to perform various tasks in a job. The ability of an individual is
made up of two sets of skills-intellectual and physical. Intellectual abilities are needed to perform mental
activities. IQ tests, for example, are designed to ascertain one's intellectual abilities. So, too, are popular
college admission tests like GRE, GMAT, and CAT.

5) Marital Status: This has an influence on absenteeism, turnover, and satisfaction. Married employees have
fewer absences, undergo less turnover, and are more satisfied with their jobs than the unmarried ones.
Marriage imposes additional responsibility, hence the need for a steady job and steady income.

6) Number of Dependents: There is correlation between the number of dependents an employee has and his
or her absences and satisfaction. The number of children an employee has is positively related to absence,
especially among females. Similarly, there is positive correlation between number of dependents and
satisfaction.

7) Creativity: This is yet another personal factor that influences individual behavior. Creativity refers to the
cognitive activity those results in a new or novel way of viewing or solving a problem. Creativity is highly
desirable, as it is from creativity that major inventions, scientific breakthroughs, and great works of music,
literature, and art emanate.

2) Environmental Factors: - Environmental factors include such variables as economics, social, political and
the like. The factors are mainly external and will influence (and are not generally influenced by) individual
behavior considerably:

I) Economic Factors: The economic environment is an important determinant of individual behavior. All work
is performed within economic framework that, both directly and indirectly, impinges on an organizational
environment. Economic environment is a synthesis of several factors, prominent among them being the
employment level, wage rates, economic outlook, and technological change.
i) Employment opportunities will have a strong influence on individual behavior. Fewer job opportunities
(create fear of losing the present job) increase the emphasis on job security and can change the basic
motivation pattern of the individual.

ii) Wages satisfy various individual needs. They provide food and shelter, are measures of achievement,
and can serve as a status symbol. Money is a complex variable and its effect on behavior varies tremendously.

iii) The general economic outlook also influences individual expectations, especially of those employed in
industries severely affected by economic cycles. In fact, some employees experience layoffs and re-calls in the
course of their working life, while others (e.g., public sector employees) are insulated from the economy.

iv) Technological change is considered as an economic factor because of its potential effects upon individual
job opportunities. Technological change has the strongest impact on lower level jobs, although increased
automation, robotics, computerization, and more sophisticated production technologies can affect individuals at
all level.

II) Cultural Environment: Cultural environment is made up of institutions and other forces that affect
society's basic values, perceptions, work ethics, preferences, and behaviors. People grow up in a particular
society that shapes their basic beliefs, values, and behaviors. Culture varies from country to country (even
within a country) and these variations result in different behaviors across countries.

III) Political Factors: The political climate in which an individual lives can affect individual behavior in several
ways. The stability of the government can affect employment opportunities, both in quantity and quality. A
politically unstable environment has difficulty in attracting industry and therefore experiences problems in
maintaining a steady level of employment.

3) Organizational (Systems & Rewards )Factors: - Individual behavior is also influenced by physical
facilities, organization structure and design, leadership, and reward systems.

i) Physical Facilities: Physical facilities such as lighting, ventilation, air-conditioning, decor, space provided
for each employee, equipment, and the like, have an influence on employee performance. In addition,
adequate provision of secretarial support and other staff can allow a senior manager to focus his or her
attention on issues more critical to the organization’s effectiveness.

ii) Organization Structure and Design: These have to do with the way in which the different groups and
departments in an organization are set up and the way in which, the reporting relationships and lines of
communication are established among different positions in the organization. The behavior and performance of
an individual is influenced by where that person fits into the overall structure and design of the organization.

iii) Leadership: An organization establishes a system of leadership and supervision to provide direction,
assistance, advice, and coaching to individual members. The leader's behavior is, therefore, a potential source
of influence on an individual.

iv) Reward Systems: Organizations establish reward systems to compensate their employees for good work
done. The behavior and performance of an individual is influenced by the reward system his or her organization
has established.

v) Work Related Behavior: An individual's behavior is influenced by what stage he or she occupies in an
organization.

4) Psychological Factors: - Psychological factors are an individual's mental characteristics and attributes that
can affect behavior. Though not always observable, their role in affecting individual behavior is considerable.
There are several psychological factors, but the more prominent among them are personality, perception,
attitudes, values and learning.

1) Personality: Personality refers to personal traits such as dominance, aggressiveness, persistence and other
qualities reflected through a person’s behavior. An individual’s personality determines the type of activities that
he or she is suited for, and the likelihood that the person would be able to perform the task effectively. Thus,
personality factors must be taken into account in determining the suitability of an individual for a position/task
in an organization.
2) Perception: Perception is the viewpoint by which one interprets a situation. For instance, a railway booking
clerk facing a well-dressed person perceives him to be of a high status and talks to him nicely, whereas he may
tend to ignore an ill-dressed person, or make him wait, though both the passengers want 'first class' tickets.

3) Motivation: Motivation refers to all the forces operating within a person to cause him or her to engage in
certain kinds of behavior rather than others. Even if all the factors are present to facilitate effective individual
behavior on a particular job, these factors would amount to nothing unless the person is motivated to perform
well.

4) Attitude: Attitude is a relatively permanent organizing or cognitive, perceptual, emotional, and motivational
process with respect to some aspect of our environment. It is primarily a learned predisposition to respond in a
consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object. Thus, an attitude is the way we
think, feel, and act toward some aspect of our environment.

5) Value: Milton Rokeach, a noted psychologist, has defined values as global beliefs that guide actions and
judgments across a variety of situations. He further said, "Values represent basic convictions that a specific
mode of conduct (or end-state of existence) is personally or socially preferable to an opposite mode of conduct
(or end-state of existence)". They contain a judgmental element, i.e., they carry an individual's ideas as to
what is right, good, or desirable. Values have both content and intensity attributes.

6) Learning: learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of prior
experiences.

Models of Individual Behavior: -

OB experts have constructed certain models which are useful in understanding individual behavior. The models
are: Theory X and Theory Y model, Economic and Self-actualizing model, Behavioristics and Humanistic model,
and Rational and Emotional model.

1) Theory X and Theory Y Model: Theory X assumes the individual to be lazy, non-creative, and in need of
constant prodding. Theory Y views the individual as having tremendous potential, which effective management
can channelize towards organizational goals. Obviously, depending on the individual manager’s philosophy of
human behavior, there may be a divergence of managerial practices in the same organization.

2) Economic and Self-Actualizing Model: The economic model of the human being conceptualizes the
individual as totally economic in orientation. The concept has been derived from the scientific management
philosophy of the late 1880s. At the heart of scientific management was the concern for standardizing jobs,
specializing work functions, and providing economic incentives to those whose performance was near or in
excess of standard performance. In contrast to the economic model is the self-actualizing model, which
postulates that an individual is motivated by the opportunity to grow, mature, and become all he or she is
capable of becoming.

The model underlines that the individual cannot be adequately described by economic or physiological
consideration alone. People strive for loftier goals, like self-fulfillment and self-actualization. Adherents of this
model see the individual as craving for personal growth, job competence, and self-fulfillment. Although
individuals may be temporarily side-tracked in this quest, they will eventually return to it. The challenge of an
organization, therefore, is to provide proper conditions for self-actualization.

3) Behavioristics and Humanistic Model: Some scholars believe that individuals can be described solely in
terms of behavior. These theorists are interested only in observable behavior as contrasted with thoughts or
feelings. In its most radical form, the behavioristics model holds that all behavior is environmentally
determined.

In the humanistic model, scholars believe that an individual is more philosophical than scientific. Humanists
see the individual as capable of surmounting irrational impulses through conscious reasoning. In their view,
people control their own destiny to a great degree and their potential cannot be under-estimated.

4) Rational and Emotional Model: In the rational model, an individual is perceived to be a highly rational
entity, having computer-like characteristics. Whenever faced with a problem, the individual is supposed to
collect all relevant information, analyze the data, and then arrive at a solution. Human beings are, thus,
deliberative, serious, and computational.
PERSONALITY

Meaning: The term personality has been derived from Latin word ‘personare’, which means ‘to speak through’.

Definition: - According to Gordon Allport, “Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of
those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment.”

Nature of Personality: -

1) Personality Traits: Personality is the sum of different traits of a person. Personality is not known by a single
trait. It is a composition of physical appearance, emotional attributes, sociability, objectivity, friendliness,
thoughtfulness and so on. Personality is characterized by major trait dimensions such as restraint, emotional
stability, objectivity, friendliness, personal relations and masculinity versus enimity, thoughtfulness, sociability,
general activity, ascendance, authoritarian, growth-oriented, mathematical, critical, satisfying and so on.

2) Personality Reflects Individual Differences: Because the inner characteristics that constitute an individual’s
personality are a unique combination of factors, no two individuals are exactly alike. Nevertheless, many
individuals tend to be similar in terms of a single personality characteristic. For instance, many people can be
described as “high” in sociability (the degree of interest they display in social or group activities), while others
can be described as “low” in sociability. Personality is a useful concept because it enables us to categorize
consumers into different groups on the basis of a single trait or a few traits.

3) Personality is Consistent and Enduring: An individual’s personality is commonly thought to be both

consistent and enduring.

4) Personality Can Change: Although personality tends to be consistent and enduring, it may still change
under certain circumstances. For instance, an individual’s personality may be altered by major life events, such
as the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, a divorce, or a major career promotion.

Determinants of Personality: -

1) Biological Factors: Biological characteristics of human biological system influence the way in which human
being tends to sense external event data, interpret, and respond to them.

i) Heredity: Is the transmission of the qualities from ancestor to descendant through a mechanism lying
primarily in the chromosomes of the germ cells. Heredity predisposes to certain physical, mental, and emotional
states. It has been established through research on animals that physical and psychological characteristics can be
transmitted through heredity. Such a conclusive proof is not available for human beings. Heredity plays an
important role in personality.

ii) Brain: It is the second factor, which is supposed to play role in personality. The structure of brain determines
personality though role of brain in personality formation.

iii) Physical Features: Third factor of determining personality foundation is physical characteristics and rate of
maturation. A person’s physical features have some influence on his personality because it will affect influence
on others and, in turn, will affect his self-concept. The rate of maturation also affects personality because
persons of varying maturity are exposed to different physical and social situations and activities differently.

2) Cultural Factors: Culture is traditionally considered as the major determined of an individual’s personality.
The culture largely determines what a person is and what a person will learn. The culture within which a person
is brought up is very important determinant of behavior of a person. It generally determines attitudes towards
independence, aggression, competition, and co-operation. Each culture expects and trains its members to behave
in the ways that are acceptable to the group. Despite the importance of cultural contribution to the personality, a
linear relationship cannot be established between personality and a given culture. One problem stems from the
existence of numerous subcultures within a given culture. Thus workers are not influenced by the same culture
as managers are.
3) Family and Social Factor: The development of the individual proceeds under the influence of many
socializing forces and agencies, from nuclear family to more distant or global groupings. In order to understand
the effects of a family on individual’s personality, we have to understand the socialization process and
identification process.

i) Socialization Process: The contribution of family and social group in combination with the culture is known
as socialization. Socialization initially starts with the contact with mother and later on the other members of the
family (father, sisters, and close relatives) and the social group play influential role in shaping an individual’s
personality.

ii) Identification Process: Identification starts when a person begins to identify himself with some other
members of the family. Normally a child tries to emulate certain actions of his parents. Socialization and
identification process is influenced by home environment, family members, and social groups.

a) Home Environment: Total home environment is a critical factor in personality development. For example,
children with markedly institutional upbringing or children in a cold, unstimulating home have a much greater
potential to be emotionally maladjusted than children raised by parents in a warm, loving, and stimulating
environment. The key variable is not the parents per se but rather the type of environment that is generated for
the child.

b) Family Members: Parents and other family members have strong influence on the personality development
of the child. The study by Newcomb showed the high correlation between attitudes of parents and children with
a further consistency in patterns. The relationship between parents and children was higher than that between the
children and their teachers. Besides parents, siblings (brothers and sisters) also contribute to personality.

c) Social Groups: Besides a person’s home environment and family members, there are other influences arising
from the social placement of the family as the person is exposed to agencies outside the home, particularly the
school, friendship, and other work groups. Similarly, socio-economic factors also affect personality
development.

4) Situational Factors: An individual’s personality may change in different situations. The demands of
different situations may call for different aspects of one’s personality. Therefore, we should not look at the
personality factor in isolation. Although certain generalizations can be made about personality, there exist
significant individual differences which are further influenced by situational factors. The relationship of the
above factors affects the formation and development of personality.

5) Other Factors

i) Temperament: Temperament and other non-intellectual personality traits are distributed according to the
normal distribution. Temperament is the degree to which one responds emotionally.

ii) Interest: The individual normally has many interests in various areas. The top executives in any organization
do not have interests in common. The organization should provide opportunities like job rotation and special
training programme to satisfy the interests of executives.

iii) Character: Character primarily means honesty. It is resistance to stealing and cheating others. Character is a
very important requirement for responsible jobs. It is likely that an individual may not steal under normal
circumstances. The situation needs to be considered to verify this part of the character of the individual.

iv) Schema: It is an individual's belief, frame of reference, perception, and attitude which the individual
possesses towards the management, the job, working conditions, pay, fringe benefits, incentive system, and
development programmes in the organization. It depends upon the individual’s belief towards religion,
government and the satisfaction derived from environment and cultural influences of his community.
v) Motives: Motives are the inner drives of the individual. They represent goal directed behavior of the
individual. A motive is a cognitive factor which operates in determining one’s behavior towards a goal.
Individuals differ in variables which determine the inner drives. The behavior of an individual to accomplish the
goal varies because of his inner drives.

Big Five Personality Traits: -

[Link] Core Traits Descriptive Characteristics of High Scorers

1. Extroversion Sociable, outgoing, talkative, assertive, gregarious

2. Agreeableness Cooperative, warm, caring, good-natured, courteous, trusting
3. Conscientiousness Dependable, hardworking, organized, self-disciplined, persistent, responsible
4. Emotional stability Calm, secure, happy, unworried.
5. Openness to experience Curious, intellectual, creative, cultured, artistically sensitive, flexible, imaginative.

In Brief: -
1) Extroversion reflects a person’s comfort level with relationships. Extroverts are sociable, talkative,
assertive, and open to establishing new relationships; Introverts are less sociable, less talkative, less
assertive, and more reluctant to begin relationships.
2) Agreeableness refers to a person’s ability to get along with others. Highly agreeable people value
harmony more than they value having their say or their way. They are co-operative and trusting of
others. People who score low on agreeableness focus more on their own needs than the needs of others.
3) Conscientiousness refers to the number of goals that a person focuses on. A highly conscientious
person focuses on relatively few goals at one time. He or she is likely to be organized, systematic,
careful, thorough, responsible, self-disciplined, and achievement-oriented.
4) Emotional Stability focuses on an individual's ability to cope with stress. The individual with positive
emotional stability tends to be calm, enthusiastic, and secure. A person with low emotional stability
tends to be nervous, depressed, and insecure.
Openness addresses one’s range of interests. Extremely open people are fascinated by novelty and innovation.
They are willing to listen to new ideas and to change their own ideas, beliefs, and attitudes in response to new
information. On the other hand, people with low levels of openness tend to be less receptive to new ideas and
less willing to change their minds. They also tend to have fewer and narrow interests and be less curious and
creative.

PERCEPTION

1. What do you mean by Perception

Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order
to give meaning to their environment. What one perceives can be substantially different from objective
reality. Perception is important in the study of OB because people’s behavior is based on their
perception of what reality is, not on reality itself.

2. Define perception.
According to Stephen P Robbins, “perception is defined as a process by which individuals organize and
interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.”

3. Explain the importance of perception.

1. Understanding human behavior: - Perception is referred to as perceiving things differently. So it
is very important for organizations to understand the behavior of individuals in an organization.
2. Creates a basis of perception so that their behavior can be predicted :- Organizations wants
people or employees to work for their betterment i.e. towards profit and this can happen when
there is standard or benchmark for quality. Perception acts as that base where the behavior is
predicted.
3. Need of various people can be determined: - Everybody is unique in an organization and their
demands are different, perception helps in understanding their needs, tastes and preferences.
 4. It is important for manager who wants to avoid making errors when dealing with people and
events in work ethic: - managers are those people who make decisions in an organization. So it
very important that they make error free decisions and this can happen when there is perception
mechanism in an organization.

4. Explain perception process.

Answer: -

BASIC ELEMENTS IN
ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI
OBSERVATION (SENSES)
PERCEPTUAL SELECTION
Taste, Hearing, Touch,
External Factors Internal Factors
PERCEPTUAL ORGANISATION
Size, intensity, Personality
Perceptual Grouping, Continu
INTERPRETATION
RESPONSE
Perceptual defense, Stereotyping,
Convert, Attitudes, Overt,

In brief:-

1. Environmental Stimulus: - This is the first step in the perception process. In this step, individual
receive stimuli from the environment through five senses. It is a tendency to selectively pay
attention to certain aspects of the environment.

2. Organizing/Observation: - It is important to receive the things which are important to you. An

individual receive information through five senses they are taste, hearing, touch, smell and sight.

3. Perceptual Selection: - Not all the stimuli expected by the human organism. An individual will
select the information on the bases of two important factors:-
a. External Factors:-
Nature: - In nature, Whether the object is visual or auditory depends upon the nature. It is
commonly said that pictures attract attention more readily than words and that too a picture
with human beings attract attention more than a picture of inanimate objects.
Location: - The best location of a visual stimulus for attracting attention is directly in the
front of the eyes and in the centre of the page.
Size: - Size plays an important role in perceptual selection. An individual will perceive things
which are either bigger or smaller in size.
Repetition: - The repetition principle states that repeated external information is having more
attention drawing than a non-repetitive one. The Ads that are shown in the T.V are following
the principle of repetition.
Contrast: - The principle of contrast states that external information which stands out against
the background, or which are not what people are expecting, will receive their attention.
 b. Internal Factors: - Internal factors influencing selection of stimuli include learning,
personality, age, motivation and interest. These factors relate to oneself.
Learning: - Learning has considerable influence on perception. It creates expentency in
people and people tend to perceive what they want to perceive.
Personality: - it is an individual way of looking at things. Personality plays an important role
in perceptual selection. An individual will expect things which are good gor him/her.
Age Difference: - Oder, senior executives complain about the inability of the new, young
ones to take tough decisions concerning terminating people or paying attention to details and
paper work.
Interest: - Perception in randomly influenced by the interests of the perceiver. A lecturer will
notice many details of students though he or she passes by a set of students by only one
glance.

4. Perceptual organization: - It is a process by which people group stimuli into recognizable

patterns. Selection gives way to organization, and the stimuli selected for attention now appear as a
whole.
I. Patterns selection gives way to organization and the stimuli selected for attention now appears
as a whole.
Perceptual Grouping: - The principle of grouping first defined by Gestalt psychologists includes
similarity, proximity, closure, continuity.
Principle of Similarity: - It is exemplified when objects of similar shape, size or color tend to be
grouped together. In an organization, all who were white collars may be perceived as a common
group when in reality each worker is a unique individual.
Principle of proximity: - it underlines the tendency to perceive stimuli which are near one another
as belonging together. For example several workers worker’s working on a machine are perceived
to be one group and the group as whole is held responsible for any failure in the machine.
Principle of Closure: - The principle of closure states that a person has a tendency to perceive a
whole when none exists. The person’s perceptual process will close the gaps which are unfilled
from sensory inputs.
Principle of Continuity: - Continuity is the tendency to perceive objects as continuity patterns.
The principle of continuity is related to the principle of closure, but there is a difference. Closure
aupplies missing information, where as the continuity principle says that a person will tend to
perceive continuous lines or patterns.

II. Figure Background: - It is considered to be the most basic form of perceptual organization.
The figure ground principle sates that the relationships of a target to its background influences
others. For example, in a noisy and crowded restaurant, one is able to hold a meaning
conversation with colleagues. This is possible because the person is capable of distinguishing the
sight and sound of the colleague (figure) from the sight and sound of the other people and objects
present (back ground).

III. Perceptual Constancy: - A more delicate part of perceptual organization is constancy, our
ability to perceive certain characteristics of an object as remaining constant, despite variations in
the stimuli that provide us with conflicting information. Such constancy amidst changing stimuli is
indispensible if we are to adjust to our world.

5. Interpretation: - After the data have been received and organized, the perceiver interprets or
assigns meaning to the information. In simple words, perception is said to have taken place only
after the data have been interpreted.
Stereotyping: - It is the tendency to assign attributes to someone solely on the basis of a category
of people to which that person belongs. The process of stereotyping hels individuals assigns
meaning to a mass of data. Example: Doctors, Advocates
Halo Effect: - The halo effects refers to the tendency of perceiving people in terms of good and
bad, and ascribing all good quality to one who is liked and all bad qualities to another who is
disliked.
Eg: Teacher giving marks to his favorite students.
Perceptual defense: - In individual is likely to put an defense when confronted with conflicting,
unacceptable stimuli. Eg: People tend to not indulge in conflict because they know the future.
Projection/Attribution: - Projection is a technique an individual uses to project himself in front of
others. Eg: If an individual likes someone he projects himself as good.
 6. Response: - This is the last stage of the perception process. The perception process is successful
when an individual gives response to the stimuli. This can happen through;
The process of changing: - it describes those things which are right or wrong. In individual will
perceive those things which are right.
The process of reacting: - It describes an individual to react in an favorable and unfavorable
manner.

5. How are our perceptions of our own actions different from our perceptions of the actions of others?

Answer – One of the more interesting findings from attribution theory is that there are errors or biases
that distort attributions. There is substantial evidence that we have a tendency to underestimate the
influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal or personal factors. This is the
fundamental attribution error. There is also a tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes
to internal factors such as ability or effort while putting the blame for failure on external factors such
as luck. This is the self-serving bias and suggests that feedback provided to employees will be
distorted by recipients.

6. Explain the factors contributing or affecting or influencing perception.

Answer:-
1. Perceiver: - When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that
interpretation is heavily influenced by personal characteristics of the individual perceiver. The
more relevant personal characteristics affecting perception are attitudes, motives, interests, past
experiences, and expectations. The person who perceives the objects, events and environment. The
individual factors like the learning process, motivational level and the interest shown to the target
act as primary indicators in affecting the perception. The secondary factors are the inner needs and
drives of the individual and these constitute the personal factors of an individual.

2. Situations: -The context in which we see objects or events is important. Elements in the
surrounding environment influence our perceptions. The time at which an object or event is seen
can influence attention, as can location, light, heat, or any number of situational factors. When the
information is perceived then the situations too play a important role. Cause the information
perceived depends upon the situations.

3. Target: - Characteristics of the target that is being observed can affect what is perceived. Motion,
sounds, size, and other attributes of a target shape the way we see it. Because targets are not
looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to its background influences perception, as does
our tendency to group close things and similar things together. What we see is dependent on how
we separate a figure from its general background. Persons depends on the cultural background,
his/her gestures, how he/she interacts with others matters a lot in the process of perceiving the
person/ object is the target here.

7. What are the errors of perception?

Answer:
1. Halo effect
2. Selective perception
3. Stereo typing
4. Perceptual defense
5. Expectancy effects

8. What do you mean by Impression Management?

Answer: Impression management is a goal-directed conscious or unconscious process in which people attempt
to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event; they do so by regulating and
controlling information in social interaction with self-presentation, in which a person tries to influence the
perception of their image.
Impression management also called self presentation is the process by which people seek to manage and control
the other people perception regarding them. There is often a tendency for people to try to present them so as to
impress others in a socially desirable way.

Factors of Impression Management

Impression motivation: Employees may be motivated to control how their superior perceives them. (Degree
depends on goals. Their value and different between perception and delude perception)

Impression construction: Specific type of impression people like and want to carry.

ATTITUDES

1. What do you mean by attitude?

Answer: - It may be defined as a tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards object, people or
events. Attitude is a state of mind of an individual towards something. It remains unchanged for a long
period of time unless he is influenced by External forces. Attitude is evaluative statements that can be either
favorable or unfavorable.

2. Define Attitude.

Answer: - According to P.R Lawrence, “attitudes represent the cluster of beliefs, assessed feelings and
behavioral intentions towards an object”.

3. Explain the characteristics of attitude.

Answer: - Attitude can be characterized in the following ways:

a. Consistency: - Attitudes are formed when it is done on consistent basis rather than on one time basis.
So it is very important that the information is done constantly.
b. Interconnectedness: - Attitudes happen when there is a connection between two objects or events for
that matter. Cause individuals try to link different links or even associations to things and relate
attitudes.
c. Simplicity: - Attitudes must be simple and clear in understanding, cause difficult attitudes are not
understandable and the results are in negative form.
d. Cognitive dissonance: - It refers to a paradoxical situation between two attitudes i.e between good and
bad attitude. For example, a individual goes to yoga in the morning and in the evening smokes with his
friends.

4. Explain the components of attitude. (ABC Model)

Answer: - Affect, Behavior, and Cognition

a. AFFECTIVE- A component is the person’s emotions or feelings about object of that attitude. It is
referred to as a response in an emotional way that expresses an individual’s degree of preference
for an entity. For an example: from heart, I love my job.

b. BEHAVIOURAL – The intention is a verbal indication or typical behavioural tendency of an

individual. (Intention to act I am going to get to work early with a smile on my face)

c. COGNITIVE: - The response is a cognitive evaluation of the entity that constitutes an

individual’s beliefs about the object. (From brain- my job is interesting). “C” component include
the beliefs, opinions and information the person has about the object of the attitude.

5. Explain the types of attitude.

Answer: - Types of Attitudes: Individual may have a member of attitude regarding different aspects of life. But
field of OB focus only on the study of job-related attitudes.

Focus on 3 Attitudes:-

a. Job satisfaction
b. Job involvement
c. Organizational commitment.

In brief: -
a. Job satisfaction: - Important widely study of attitudes. It refers to an individual’s general attitude
towards his or her job. As the positive emotional state that results when an individual evaluates his
job or job experience. Job satisfaction is an emotional response to a job. This response can be
inferred. Job Satisfaction is that an Individual driven from his job depends on the extent to which
outcomes meet his expectations. Job satisfaction reflects others attitude of employees.

Determinants of job satisfaction:

According to [Link], there are 6 job dimensions that represent the most important
characteristics of a job.
1. The work itself:- Jobs include interesting tasks & provide opportunities to the employees to
learn & to shoulder responsibilities bring more satisfaction.
2. Pay: - If the compensation he receives for the work he does is comparable to that of others in
similar jobs in the organize employee have a positive Attitude.
3. Promotion opportunities: - Level of satisfaction will higher in a job that provides him on
opportunity to move up in the organizational hierarchy than in a job.
4. Supervision: -
Employee whose supervision offers him technical help & behavioural support in times of
need will experience more satisfaction in his job.
5. Co-workers:
Employee will experience a higher level of job satisfaction when his follow workers
are cooperative & able to offer him technical Assistance.
6. Working conditions:
Good working conditions have a positive impact on job satisfaction.

b. Job involvement:-
New concept in field of ob refers to the extent to which a person identifies himself
psychologically with his job actively participates in it, & considers that his performance in the job
contributes to his self-worth. Employees who are highly involved with their jobs strongly identify
themselves with the kind of work they do & strive to deliver quality work. Work hard to levels of
job involvement lead to lower absenteeism & employee turnover levels.

c. Organizational commitment:-
This refers to an employee’s satisfaction with a particular organization & its goals. Who are
highly committed is a strong supporter of the values & goals of the organization and he want to
strive hard to achieve the goals of the organization. Org. Commitment of an employee is affected
by a numbers of personal & organizational variables.

7. Explain the functions of attitudes (Attitudes & Behavior)

Answer: Functions of Attitudes or Attitudes & Behavior:-

1. The Adjustment Function: - Attitudes often help people to adjust to their work environment. Well-
treated employees tend to develop a positive attitude towards their job, management and the
organization in general while berated and ill treated organizational members develop a negative
attitude. In other words, attitudes help employees adjust to their environment and form a basis for
future behavior.
2. Ego-Defensive Function: -Attitudes help people to retain their dignity and self- image. When a young
faculty member who is full of fresh ideas and enthusiasm, joins the organization, the older members
might feel somewhat threatened by him. But they tend to disapprove his creative ideas as ‘crazy’ and
‘impractical’ and dismiss him altogether.
3. The Value-Expressive Function: - Attitudes provide individuals with a basis for expressing their
values. For example, a manager who values hard and sincere work will be more vocal against an
employee who is having a very casual approach towards work.
4. The Knowledge Function: - Attitudes provide standards and frames of reference that allow people to
understand and perceive the world around him. If one has a strong negative attitude towards the
management, whatever the management does, even employee welfare programmes can be perceived as
something ‘bad’ and as actually against them.

8. Explain the ways of changing attitude.

Answer: Some of the possible ways of changing attitudes are described below:-
1. Providing New Information: - Sometimes a dramatic change in attitude is possible only by
providing relevant and adequate information to the person concerned. Scanty and incomplete
information can be a major reason for brewing negative feeling and attitudes.
2. Use of Fear: - Attitudes can be changed through the use of fear. People might resort to change
their work habit for the fear of fear of unpleasant consequences. However, the degree of the
arousal of fear will have to be taken into consideration as well.
3. Resolving Discrepancies: - Whenever people face a dilemma or conflicting situation they feel
confused in choosing a particular course of action. Like in the case where one is to choose from
between two alternative courses of action, it is often become difficult for him to decide which is
right for him.
4. Influence of friends and peers: - A very effective way of changing one’s attitude is through his
friends and colleagues. Their opinion and recommendation for something often proves to be more
important. If for example, they are all praise for a particular policy introduced in the work place,
chances are high that an individual will slowly accept that even when he had initial reservations for
that.
5. Co-opting: - If you want to change the attitude of somebody who belongs to a different group, it is
often becomes very effective if you can include him in your own group. Like in the case of the
union leader who are all the time strongly against any management decision, can be the person
who takes active initiative in implementing a new policy when he had participated in that decision
making process himself.

9. How are attitudes formed?

Answer: Formation of Attitudes or Attitude formation:-

1. Direct experience with the object: - Attitudes can developfrom a personally rewarding or
punishing experience with an object. Employees form attitudes about jobs on their experience.
2. Operant Conditioning is a simple form of learning. It is based on the “Law of Effect” and
involves voluntary responses. Behaviors (including verbal behaviors and maybe even
thoughts) tend to be repeated if they are reinforced (i.e., followed by a positive experience).
3. Classical conditioning is another simple form of learning. It involves involuntary
responses and is acquired through the pairing of two stimuli. Two events that repeatedly
occur close together in time become fused and before long the person responds in the same
way to both events.
4. Social Judgment theory: - It explains as to how difficult people can be in these or those
situations. Because every individual is different and his thinking varies from people to people.
There are three things to be studied here: -
i. Why people get so agitated (disturbed)
ii. Why persuasion is so difficult to accomplish
iii. It offers a common sense plan
5. Cognitive-Consistency theory: - This theory was based on the assumption that people wish
to think of themselves as rational and strive for consistency. But the theory was concerned
with a single person with two or more attitudes about something. Thus inconsistencies
between people were not the primary focus; rather, dissonance theory sought to explain the
dynamics involved in the consistency of attitudes we hold individually. The theory of
cognitive dissonance suggests that people seek to minimize dissonance and discomfort it
causes.
6. Vicarious learning: - This refers to formation of attitudes by observing behavior of others
and consequences of that behavior. It is through vicarious learning processes that children
pick up the prejudices of their parents.
 7. Family and peer group: - A person may learn attitudes through imitation of parents. If
parents are always fighting in house then similar attitudes are formed within an individual and
he tends to repeat this behavior in the public.
8. Neighborhood: - The neighborhood we live in has a certain structure in terms of its having
cultural facilities, religious grouping has an impact on the individual and this paves way for an
individual to showcase his attitude in the public. It’s because of them that the living style and
communication is decided.

10. Write a note on how to measure attitudes.

Answer: Measurement of attitudes: -
1. Likert's Scale: - For the Likert scale, various opinion statements are collected, edited and
then given to a group of subjects to rate the statements on a seven -point continuum:
1=Strongly disagree
2=Disagree
3= Tend to disagree
4= Neither agree or disagree
5= Tend to Agree
6=Agree
7= Strongly agree

The subjects express the degree (one to seven) of their personal agreement or disagreement with each of the
statements. Only those items which in the analysis best differentiate the high scorers and the low scorers of the
sample subjects are retained and the scale is ready for use.

2. Rating Scale: -
The most common approach for measuring job satisfaction is the use of rating scales.
These scales fall in to two general categories. These scales fall in to two categories. One
is called tailor-made scales, which are constructed for a particular setting or a project. The
second set comprises standardized scales which, below their use, have been developed to
establish group norms on the scales and to ensure reliability and validity of the measuring
instruments.
3. Critical Incidents:-
The critical incidents approach to the measurement of job satisfaction was developed by
Herzberg and his associates in their research on the two factor theory of motivation.
Employees were asked to describe incidents on their jobs when they were particularly
satisfied or dissatisfied.
4. Interviews: - Personal Interviews are yet another method of measurement of satisfaction.
Employees are interviewed individually and the responses reveal their satisfaction or
dissatisfaction.
5. Action tendencies: - These represent the inclinations people have to avoid or approach
certain things. By gathering information about how they feel like acting with respect to
their jobs.

11. Explain the barriers of attitudes

Answer: Barriers of Attitudes: -

1. Prior commitment:-When people feel a commitment towards a particular course of

action that has already been agreed upon and thus it becomes difficult for them to
change or accept the new ways of functioning.
2. Insufficient information:- It also acts as a major barrier to change attitudes.
Sometimes people simply see any reason to change their attitude due to unavailability
of adequate information.