eleventh edition

organizational behavior

stephen p. robbins
Chapter 3

Attitudes, and Job

Satisfaction
 Attitudes

Attitudes Cognitive component

The opinion or belief segment
Evaluative of an attitude.(My pay Is low)
statements or
judgments Affective Component
concerning The emotional or feeling segment
of an attitude.(I am angry because
objects, of my pay)
people, or
events. Behavioral Component
An intention to behave in a certain
way toward someone or something.
(I need to look out for another job)
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 Attitudes
Evaluative statements or judgments concerning
objects, people, or events.
Three components of an attitude:

The emotional or
feeling segment
The opinion or of an attitude
belief segment of
an attitude
An intention to behave
in a certain way
toward someone or
something
See
SeeEEXXHHI IBBI ITT 3–1
3–1
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 Does Behavior Always Follow from Attitudes?
Cognitive Dissonance: Any incompatibility between two or more
attitudes or between behavior and attitudes
– Individuals seek to reduce this uncomfortable gap, or
dissonance, to reach stability and consistency
– Consistency is achieved by changing the attitudes,
modifying the behaviors, or through rationalization
• Eg Coke and Pepsi :
• Smoking injurious to health

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Three samples each of the 12 brands purchased from markets across the city,
analysed in April-August and found to contain pesticides residues are Pepsi, Mountain
Dew, Diet Pepsi, Mirinda orange, Mirinda Lemon, Blue Pepsi, 7-Up, Coca Cola, Fanta,
Limca, Sprite and Thumbs Up.
These pesticides included potent carcinogens which can cause cancers and reduce
bone mineral density.

PEPSI RESPONSE:
Terming the claims of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) as highly
exaggerated, Pepsi today reiterated that all its products were not just safe but
meeting all international standards. Amidst bans and protest against pesticide
contamination in soft drinks, Pepsi, in a press note issued today claimed that regular
testing and stringent quality norms for all soft drink products were being strictly
followed to guarantee consistent quality and purity .
 Dissonance

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toreduce
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••Importance
Importanceofofelements
elementscreating
creatingdissonance(tobacco
dissonance(tobaccocan
cancause
causedeath)
death)
••Degree
Degreeofofindividual
individualinfluence
influenceover
overelements(I
elements(Ican
cancontrol
controlitit) )
••Rewards
Rewardsinvolved
involvedinindissonance(
dissonance(Single
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earningmember
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sohave
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 What are the Major Job Attitudes?
• Job Satisfaction
– A positive feeling about the job
resulting from an evaluation of its
characteristics
• Job Involvement
– Degree of psychological identification
with the job where perceived
performance is important to self-worth
• Psychological Empowerment
– Belief in the degree of influence over
the job, competence, job
meaningfulness, and autonomy

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 Another Major Job Attitude
• Organizational Commitment
– Identifying with a particular organization and its goals, while wishing
to maintain membership in the organization.
– Three dimensions:
• Affective – emotional attachment to organization
• Continuance Commitment – economic value of staying
• Normative - moral or ethical obligations
– Has some relation to performance, especially for new employees.
– Less important now than in past – now perhaps more of occupational
commitment, loyalty to profession rather than a given employer.

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 And Yet More Major Job Attitudes…

• Perceived Organizational Support (POS)

– Degree to which employees believe the organization values
their contribution and cares about their well-being.
– Higher when rewards are fair, employees are involved in
decision-making, and supervisors are seen as supportive.
– High POS is related to higher OCBs and performance.
• Employee Engagement
– The degree of involvement with, satisfaction with, and
enthusiasm for the job.
– Engaged employees are passionate about their work and
company.
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 An Application: Attitude Surveys
Attitude Surveys
Eliciting responses from employees through
questionnaires about how they feel about their jobs,
work groups, supervisors, and the organization.

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 Sample Attitude Survey

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 Job Satisfaction

• Measuring Job Satisfaction

– Single global rating: Whole job (single rating 1-5)
– Summation score: Job facets(Add the ratings for
final score)

Job Satisfaction
A collection of positive and/or negative
feelings that an individual holds toward his or
her job.
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 What causes job satisfaction?
• Compensation and benefits
• Supervision
• Communication
• Teamwork
• Work environment
 The Effect of Job Satisfaction on
Employee Performance
• Satisfaction and Productivity
– Worker productivity is higher in organizations with
more satisfied workers.
• Satisfaction and Absenteeism
– Satisfied employees have fewer avoidable
absences.
• Satisfaction and Turnover
– Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.
– Organizations take actions to retain high
performers and to weed out lower performers.

3–15
 Job Satisfaction and OCB
• Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship
Behavior (OCB)
– Satisfied employees who feel fairly treated by and
are trusting of the organization are more willing to
engage in behaviors that go beyond the normal
expectations of their job.

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 Job Satisfaction and Customer
Satisfaction
• Satisfied employees increase customer
satisfaction because:
– They are more friendly, upbeat, and responsive.
– They are less likely to turnover which helps build
long-term customer relationships.
– They are experienced.
• Dissatisfied customers increase employee job
dissatisfaction.

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 Responses to Job Dissatisfaction

E X H I B I T 3–5
E X H I B I T 3–5
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 How Employees Can Express
Dissatisfaction
Exit Voice
Behavior directed toward Active and constructive
leaving the organization. attempts to improve
conditions.

Loyalty Neglect
Passively waiting for Allowing conditions to
conditions to worsen.
improve.Having faith in
management.

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 Values
Values
Basic convictions that a specific
mode of conduct or end-state of
existence is personally or socially
preferable to an opposite or
converse mode of conduct or
end-state of existence.

Value System
When we rank an individuals
values in terms of their intensity
we obtain persons value system
 Importance of Values
• They lay the foundation for understanding
of the attitudes, motivation, and behaviors
of individuals and cultures.
• Influence our perception of the world
around us.
• Represent interpretations of “right” and
“wrong.”
• Imply that some behaviors or outcomes are
preferred over others.
Types of Values –- Rokeach Value
Survey
Terminal Values
Desirable end-states of
existence; the goals that a
person would like to achieve
during his or her lifetime.

Instrumental Values
Preferable modes of behavior
or means of achieving one’s
terminal values.
 Values in the
Rokeach
Survey

Source: M. Rokeach,
The Nature of Human
E X H I B I T 3–1
E X H I B I T 3–1
Values (New York: The
Free Press, 1973).
 Values in the
Rokeach
Survey
(cont’d)

Source: M. Rokeach,
The Nature of Human
E X H I B I T 3–1 (cont’d)
E X H I B I T 3–1 (cont’d)
Values (New York: The
Free Press, 1973).
 Mean Value Rankings of
Executives, Union Members,
and Activists

E X H I B I T 3–2
E X H I B I T 3–2