CHAPTER 2

ATTITUDES AND
JOB
SATISFACTION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES … part 1

Define employee attitudes

Recognize the components of attitudes

The relationship between attitudes and behavior

Identify major job attitudes

WHAT IS ATTITUDES?
Attitudes are a person’s feeling about
objects, events or other people. The feelings
can be either positive or negative

Is an expression of some degree of

favorableness or unfavorableness toward the
particular situation or object at hand.

Example:
• “I like my job”  expressing the attitudes
about work
COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES
• The opinion or belief
Cognitive segment of an attitudes.

• The emotional or feeling

Affective segment of an attitude.

• An intention to behave in
Behavioral a certain way toward
someone or something.
COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES
• Evaluation
• My supervisor gave a
Cognitive promotion to a co-worker
who is less than me.
• My supervisor is unfair

Negative
• Feeling attitudes
Affective • I dislike my supervisor
towards
supervisor

• Action
• I’m looking forward for
Behavioral other
complained
work.
about
I’ve
my
supervisor to anyone who
would listen.
Example
“Discrimination is wrong”  this is an
evaluative statement.

“I don’t like Jon because he

discriminates against the minorities”
 the emotional or feeling of an
attitudes.

“Choose to avoid Jon because of

the feelings about him”  intention
to behave certain way towards
someone or something.
CONSISTENCY IN ATTITUDES
HAVE YOU EVER NOTICE HOW PEOPLE CHANGE WHAT
THEY SAY SO THAT IT DOESN’T CONTRADICT WHAT
THEY DO?
 Example:

A person complain about the national car, Proton.

But his father gives him a brand new Myvi, and
suddenly the national car are not so bad.
CONSISTENCY IN ATTITUDES
Research conclude that people seek consistency among
their attitudes and between their attitudes and behavior

Reconcile divergent attitudes, align attitudes and

behavior  appear rational and consistence

A study by Leon Festinger (1950’s) proposed the theory

of cognitive dissonance – incompatibility between two
or more attitudes, or between behavior and attitudes

Individuals attempt to reduce dissonance  discomfort

due to inconsistency
CONSISTENCY IN ATTITUDES
• Penyelidikan menyimpulkan bahawa orang mencari konsistensi di
antara sikap mereka dan antara sikap dan tingkah laku mereka
• Menyelaraskan sikap berbeza, menyelaraskan sikap dan tingkah
laku - muncul rasional dan konsisten
• Kajian oleh Leon Festinger (1950-an) mencadangkan teori
disonansi kognitif - ketidakserasian antara dua atau lebih sikap,
atau antara tingkah laku dan sikap
• Individu cuba mengurangkan kekecohan - ketidakselesaan
kerana tidak konsisten

• Disonansi kognitif merujuk kepada situasi yang melibatkan sikap,

kepercayaan atau tingkah laku yang bertentangan. Ini
menghasilkan rasa ketidakselesaan mental yang membawa
kepada perubahan dalam salah satu sikap, kepercayaan atau
tingkah laku untuk mengurangkan ketidakselesaan dan
mengembalikan keseimbangan.
DOES BEHAVIOUR ALWAYS FOLLOW
FROM ATTITUDES?
 Early research on attitudes assumed that attitudes
and behavior were related  ie:
People usually do things that they say
they like or avoid assignments they find distasteful
However, in the late 1960s the assumption that
relates attitudes and behavior has changed 
attitudes were unrelated to behavior, or only
slightly related
Recent research has demonstrated that
attitudes significantly predict future behavior
What Are The Major Job Attitudes?

Job
In OB, there satisfaction
As a human,
are 3 Job
people has
attitudes that involvement
thousands of
are work-
attitudes
related: Organizational
Commitment