HUMAN

BEHAVIOR IN
ORGANIZATION
Chapter 3: Values, Attitudes, and Job Satisfaction
VALUES

 Values refer to the importance a person attaches to

things or ideas that served as guide to action. Values
are enduring beliefs that one’s mode of conduct is
better than the opposite mode of conduct.

 An example of a belief is the importance placed by a

person on academic titles or degrees and the doubt
casted on the ability of a person without sufficient
academic qualifications.
VALUES

 The definition implies that values are made of a set of

beliefs. Values may be attached to things or ideas like
loyalty (to the company or friends), teamwork, honor,
obedience, honesty, and the like.
HOW PEOPLE LEARN
VALUES?
How People Learn Values

 Values are not inborn, they are learned. As they grow,

people learn values through any or all of the following:

1. Modeling
2. Communication of attitudes
3. Unstated but implied attitudes
4. Religion
How People Learn Values

 Modeling
Parents, teachers, friends, and other people oftentimes
become models to persons who would later exhibit good
behavior in the workplace.

 Communication of Attitudes
When a person often hears from acquaintances the risk of
buying products imported from a certain country, the person
may develop negative values about the country.
How People Learn Values

 Unstated but Implied Attitudes

If a person sees joy and happiness in every member of his
family whenever another member graduates from college, the
person will develop the same values impliedly exhibited.

 Religion
The just and fair treatment of people is a value that is
taught by priest and ministers of various religious sects.
Persons who are exposed to the teaching develop values that
support such beliefs.
Type of Values

Values may be classified in various ways. A classification

that is most relevant to the workplace indicates that values are
of the following types:

1. Achievement – this is a value that pertains to getting things

done and working hard to accomplish goals;

2. Helping and concern for others – this value refers to the

person’s concern with other people and providing
assistance to those who need help;
Type of Values

3. Honesty – this is a value that indicates the person’s

concern for telling the truth and doing what he thinks is
right; and

4. Fairness – This is a value that indicates the person’s

concern for impartiality and fairness for all concerned.
Individual versus Organizational Values

Organization have values that may or may not be

compatible with the values of the individual workers.
There is value incongruence if the individual’s value is not
in agreement with organization’s value. As a result of such
incongruence, conflicts may arise over such things as
goals or the manner in which the goals will be achieved.
Espoused versus Enacted Values

 Espoused values
are what members of the organization say they value. A
business organization, for instance, may state that it highly values
its good relationship with customers.

 Enacted Values
If the employees of the said company give priority to calls from
relatives and friends rather than responding immediately to
customer’s inquiries, they are not actually practicing the values
espoused by the company.
Instrumental and Terminal Values

 Terminal Values
represent the goals that a person would like to achieve in his or
her lifetime. Ex. Happiness, love, pleasure, self-respect, and
freedom.

 Instrumental Values
refer to preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving the
terminal values. Ex. Ambition, honesty, self-sufficiency, and
courageousness.
ATTITUDES

 Attitudes form the basis for job satisfaction in the

workplace. Attitudes are feelings and beliefs that
largely determine how employees will perceive their
environment, commit themselves to intended actions,
and ultimately behave.

 Attitudes reflect how one feels about something.

The Main Components of Attitudes

 Attitudes consist of the following components:

1. Cognitive component - of an attitude refers to the opinion or belief

segment of an attitude.

2. Affective component - of an attitude refers to the emotional or

feeling segment.

3. Behavioral component – of an attitude refers to the intention to

behave in a certain way toward someone or something.
Cognitive
(Evaluation)

My boss is fickle-minded:
he cannot stick to his
decision

Negative
Affective Attitude
(feeling) Toward
I hate my boss
boss

Behavioral
(Action)
I am requesting for a transfer

THE COMPONENT OF AN ATTITUDE

Differences in Personal Disposition

 Positive affectivity
refers to personal characteristic of employees that inclines
them to be predisposed to be satisfied at work. People who have
positive affectivity are optimistic, upbeat, cheerful, and courteous.

 Negative affectivity
is a personal characteristics of employees that inclines them to
be predisposed to be dissatisfied at work. People who have
negative affectivity are generally pessimistic, downbeat, and
irritable.
HOW ATTITUDES ARE
FORMED?
How Attitudes are Formed

Attitudes are formed through learning. The two methods

that mostly influence attitude formation are direct experience
and indirect means of social learning.

 Direct experience - among the information stored in the

human mind, those that were gathered through direct
experience are the most accessible.

 Indirect means – the result of social interactions with the

family, peer groups, religious organizations, and culture.
Effects of Employee Attitudes

Attitudes provide clues to the behavioral intentions or

inclinations of an employee. The manner in which a person will
act can be gleaned from his attitudes.

Employee attitudes may be classified as either:

 Positive job attitudes

 Negative job attitudes
Effects of Employee Attitudes

 Positive job attitudes

indicate job satisfaction and are useful in predicting
constructive behaviors like serving customers beyond official
working hours, and performing excellently in all aspects of their
jobs.
 Negative job attitudes
includes those concerning job dissatisfaction, lack of job
involvement, low commitment to the organization, and strong
negative words.
Effects of Employee Attitudes

 Negative job attitudes

When employees are d issatisfied with their jobs, they will have
a strong tendency to engage in any or all of the following:

1. Psychological withdrawal like daydreaming on the job;

2. Physical withdrawal like unauthorized absences, early
departures, extended breaks, or work slowdowns; and
3. Aggression, like verbal abuse or dangerous actions
against another employee.
JOB SATISFACTION

 In a strict sense, however, job satisfaction refers to the

positive feeling about one’s job resulting from an
evaluation of its characteristics. When the feeling
about one’s job is not positive, the appropriate term is
job dissatisfaction.
JOB SATISFACTION

 When people are satisfied with their jobs, the following

benefits become possible:

1. High productivity
2. A strong tendency to achieve customer loyalty
3. Loyalty to the company
4. Low absenteeism and turnover
5. Less job stress and burnout
6. Better safety performance
7. Better life satisfaction
Factors Associated with Job Satisfaction

These are certain factors associated with job satisfaction.

They are the following:

 Salary-adequacy of salary and perceived equity compared

with others.

 Work itself – the extent to which job tasks are considered

interesting and provide opportunities for learning and
accepting responsibility.
Factors Associated with Job Satisfaction

 Promotion opportunity- chances for further advancement.

 Quality of supervision – the technical competence and the

interpersonal skills of one’s immediate superior;

 Relationship with co-workers – the extent to which co-

workers are friendly, competent, and supportive.
Factors Associated with Job Satisfaction

 Working conditions- the extent to which the physical work

environment is comfortable and supportive of productivity.

 Job security – the beliefs that one’s position is relatively

secure and continued employment with the organization is
a reasonable expectation.
JOB INVOLVEMENT

 Job involvement is another positive employee attitude.

It refers to the degree to which a person identifies with
the job, actively participates in it, and considers
performance important to self-worth.

 A positive self-image is a result of a person’s holding a

meaningful job and actively performing it.