Organisational Behaviour
Attitudes
Chapter Learning Objectives
• After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
– Contrast the three components of an attitude.
– Summarize the relationship between attitudes and behavior.
– Compare and contrast the major job attitudes.
– Define job satisfaction and show how it can be measured.
– Summarize the main causes of job satisfaction.
– Identify four employee responses to dissatisfaction.
– Show whether job satisfaction is a relevant concept in
countries other than the United States.
3-2
Case discussion
• The Alligator River Story
What Are Attitudes?
Evaluative statements or judgements
concerning objects, people or events
Cognitive component
Affective component
Behavioural component
What Are Attitudes?
Cognitive component
The opinion or belief segment
Affective component
The emotional or feeling segment
Behavioural component
An intention to behave in a certain
way toward someone or something
What Are Attitudes?
Cognitive
Beliefs & Discrimination is
Opinions wrong.
Affective
I don’t like John Negative
Feelings & because he attitude
Emotions discriminates against toward John
minorities.
Behaviour
Intention I’m going to avoid
John.
See Exhibit 3-1 Robbins and Judge, 2011:73
Question:
Does Behavior Always Follow from Attitudes? Why?
Attitudes and Consistency
Research:
People seek consistency among their
attitudes and between attitudes and
behaviour.
Inconsistency results in forces to regain
equilibrium by altering either the attitudes
or the behaviour or developing a
rationalisation.
EG smoking/health,
health costs/govt tax
Cognitive Dissonance
Leon Festinger, late 1950s:
link between attitudes and behaviour.
Cognitive Dissonance:
Any incompatibility between two or more
attitudes or between behaviour and
attitudes.
Leads to discomfort and desire for
equilibrium.
Cognitive Dissonance
Importance
of the Elements
Cognitive Degree of
Dissonance Personal Influence
Rewards
Involved
Factors in Attitude Formation
• Personality
• Conditioning (family, culture, peer
group, social class, role)
• Direct experience
• Social communication
story: stonemasons
Factors influencing Attitude change
• Group membership
• Mass media
• Forced contact
• Rewards
• Communication
• Persuasion
Major Job Attitudes
Job Satisfaction:
Positive feeling about one’s job
Job Involvement:
Identification with job
Organisational Commitment:
Identification with organisation / goals and desire to
maintain membership
Perceived Organisational Support:
Feels valued and cared for
Employee Engagement: Robbins, 2010:78
Involvement, satisfaction, enthusiasm
Attitudes: Job Satisfaction
How to measure JS?
One general question or summation of job facets
Factors that contribute to JS?
Mentally challenging work, equitable rewards,
supportive working conditions, supportive fellow
employees, personality-job fit (Robbins, 2010:82, 89)
Why are managers interested in JS?
1. Responses to job dissatisfaction
2. Impact on dependent variables
Responses to Job Dissatisfaction
Active
Exit Voice
Destructive Constructive
Neglect Loyalty
Passive
Employee Responses to Dissatisfaction
• Exit
– Dissatisfaction expressed by behaviour
directed towards leaving the organisation
• Voice
– Dissatisfaction expressed by active and
constructive attempts to improve conditions
• Loyalty
– Dissatisfaction by passively waiting for
conditions to improve
• Neglect
– Dissatisfaction expressed by allowing
conditions to worsen
Productivity
Absenteeism
Job Satisfaction
and Employee
Performance Turnover
Deviance, OCB,
Customer Satisfaction
OCB: Organizational citizenship behavior
Job Satisfaction & Performance
Satisfaction and Productivity
- Happy workers are not necessarily productive workers,
but new research suggests a moderate (+) relationship
(Robbins & Judge, 2011:84).
- Productivity may lead to satisfaction
Job Satisfaction & Performance
Satisfaction and Absenteeism
- Moderate negative relationship (+0.40)
Satisfaction and Turnover
- Negative relationship (stronger than absenteeism)
NB moderating factors
Satisfaction and Workplace
Deviance
- Predictor of behaviours eg substance abuse, theft,
undue socialising, tardiness.
Job Satisfaction & Performance
Satisfaction and organisational citizenship
behaviour (OCB)
JS moderately (+) related to OCB
(Robbins & Judge, 2011:85).
JS and customer satisfaction
JS positively related to customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Dissatisfied customers can increase JD.
Talking Points
Can managers create satisfied employees?
What links can you make between job satisfaction
and motivation?
Consider how leaders influence attitudes.
Page: 94
Question:
“Managers should do everything they can to enhance
the job satisfaction of their employees.” Do you
agree or disagree? Support your position.
“It doesn’t matter how employees say they feel about
their employers. What really matters in terms of
behavior is whether they have better options out
there.” Is there any evidence to support or refute
this statement?