Understanding

Human Behavior
by: Dubrin

c1
 Individual Differences, Mental Ability, &
Personality

• The importance of understanding

individual differences & human
capability when managing a very
successful enterprise.
Individual Differences
 Variations in how they respond to
the same situation based on
personal characteristics
 7 Consequences of individual Differences
that have major impact on managing
people
1. People differ in productivity
2. Quality of work varies because people
vary in their propensity for achieving
high-quality results.
3. Empowerment is effective with some
workers, but not with all.
7 Consequences of individual Differences that
have major impact on managing people
4. A given leadership style does not work
with all people
5. People differ in their need for contact
with other people
6. Company management will find that
commitment to the firm varies
considerably
7. Workers vary in their level of self-steem
 Demographic Diversity
• Workers vary widely with respect to background, or
demographic characteristics, & these difference sometimes
affect job performance & behavior.
Demographic Diversity
Refers to the differences in background factors relating to
the workforce that help shape workers attitudes and
behavior.
Key Sources of Demographic Diversity
1. Gender
2. Generational and age differences
3. Ethnicity
 Sex and Gender Differences
Sex Differences
refers to actual biological differences, such as
height of men versus that of women.
Gender Differences
refers to differences in the perception of male
and female roles.
Gender differences in personality
1. Women are better able to understand nonverbal
communication.
2. Women are more expressive of emotion
3. The average women is more trusting & more nurturing than
the average men
Equity
. treated fairly, such as
Refers to people being
people in a department getting the salary increase
they deserve.
Equality
Refers to people sharing equally, such all
people in a department receiving an identical
salary increase.
 Ethnic, Racial, & Cultural Differences
• Differences in job performance & behavior are
sometimes to ethnic group and racial differences.
However, these differences are usually more
attributable to culture differences that to ethnicity
itself.
• For example, it is part of the culture of European
countries to take long breaks, American may take
45 minutes, Philippines may be 15 minutes
 Mental ability or Intelligence
How mental ability relates to job performance?
• Is the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge,
including solving problems
• I s a major source of individual differences that
affect job performance & behavior
• Intelligent workers can best solve abstract
problems. Few people seriously doubt that mental
ability is related to job performance.
 Components of Intelligence
Consist of two factors
1. General factors
2. Special factors
Special Factors Contributing to Overall Mental Aptitude
1. Verbal comprehension
the ability to understand the meaning of words and
their relationship to one another, & to comprehend
written & spoken information.
2. Word Fluency
the ability to use words quickly & easily, without an
emphasis on verbal comprehension
3. Numerical
the ability to handle numbers, engage in mathematical
.
analysis, and to arithmetic calculations.
4. Spatial
the ability to visualize form in space and manipulate objects
mentally.
5. Memory
having a good recall for symbols, words, & list of numbers, along
with other associations.
6. Inductive Reasoning
the ability to discover a rule or principle & apply it in solving a
problem, & to make judgments & decisions that are logically sound.
7. Perceptual Speed
the ability to perceive visual details, to put quick similarities &
differences , & perform tasks requiring visual perception
 Multiple intelligences
• Is the theory that people know & understand the world in
distinctly different ways, or look at it through different lenses.
Individuals Posses Eight Different Types of Intelligence in
Varying Degrees
1. Linguistic
2. Logical- Mathematical
3. Musical
4. Spatial
5. Bodily-kinesthetic
6. Intrapersonal
7. Interpersonal
8. Naturalist
Neuroticism

.
traits associated with this personality factor include being anxious,
insecure, angry, embarrassed, & worried. A person of high
emotional stability – is calm & confident & usually in control.
Extraversion
traits associated with this personality include being social,
gregarious, assertive, talkative, and active.
Openness to experience
Traits associated with this factor include being imaginative, broad-
minded, intelligent, & artistically sensitive.
Agreeableness
this factor reflects the person’s interpersonal orientation . An
agreeable person is friendly & cooperative. Is a plus for customer
service. Traits associated with the agreeableness factor include
being courteous, flexible, trusting, cooperative, forgiving,
softhearted, & tolerant.
Conscientiousness
.
generally implies dependability. It consists of subfactors & other
related traits; Industriousness. Order, self-control, responsibility,
traditionalism, virtue, hardworking, achievement oriented &
persevering.
Self-monitoring behavior
the self-monitoring traits refers to the process of observing &
controlling how we appear to others.
Risk taking & thrill seeking
Some people crave constant excitement on the job & are willing to
take risk their lives to achieve thrills.
Optimism
refers to a tendency to experience positive emotional states & to
typically believe that positive outcomes will be forthcoming from
most activities.
 Emotional Intelligence
• Refers to qualities such as understanding one’s own self feelings,
empathy for others, and the regulation of emotion to enhance
living.
• It has to do with the ability to connect with people and
understand their emotions
Four Key Factors:
1. self-awareness
2. Self-management
3. Social awareness
4. Relationship management
 C-3 = Learning, Perception, & Attribution
Now Ask Yourself: What is the relevance of employees
learning to the welfare of a firm?
Learning
Is a relatively permanent change in behavior based on practice or
experience.
Methods of learning complex material
1. Modeling & shaping
2. Cognitive learning
3. E-learning
Two important processes that help in learning complicated
skills
1. Modeling 2. Shaping
Modeling

perform that skill.

.
Occurs when you learn a skill by observing another person

Shaping
Occurs when a person learns through the reinforcement or
rewarding of small steps that build up to the final or
desired behavior.
@ complicated skills are learned
@ learner receives positive reinforcement
@ improve his ability to perform the task
 Cognitive Learning
• Cognitive Learning Theory
emphasizes that learning takes place in a complicated
manner involving much more than acquiring habits and
small skills.
A Theory emphasize the goal orientation of the safety
and health specialist, along with the person’s reasoning
and analytical skills.
Another type of learning in organization that fits a cognitive
theory explanation is informal learning.
Informal learning
is any learning that occurs in which the organization does not
determine or design the learning process.
• Informal learning is divided into four types
1. Practical skills .
Examples: job-specific skills & knowledge, & technical
competence.
2. Intrapersonal skills
Examples: Problem solving, critical thinking, exploring
boundaries for risk taking, & stress mgt.
3. Interpersonal skills
Examples: peer-to-peer communication, presentation skills, and
conflict resolution
4. Cultural awareness
Examples: professional awareness, professional advancement,
social norms, understanding company goals, quality
standards, company expectations & priorities.
• E-learning
.
 Is a Web-based form of computer learning.
 Innovation in learning have taken place in both schools &
industry through the use of distant learning, technology-
based learning, and e-learning.
 Many employees are geographically disperse
 Difficult to gather them in one place for learning.
Four learning orientations or styles
1. concrete experiences
2. observation and reflection
3. formation of abstract concepts & generalization
4. testing implications of concepts in new situations
• Perception
deals with the various. ways in which people
interpret things in the outside world & how they act on
the basis of these perceptions.
 Attitudes, Values, & Ethics
• Attitude
 is a predisposition to respond that exert an influence on a
person’s response to a person, a thing or idea or situation.
 Attitudes are important part of organizational behavior,
because they are linked, with perception, learning, emotions,
and motivation.
Components of Attitudes
1. Cognitive
refers to the knowledge or intellectual beliefs an
individual might have about an object, an idea, a person, a
thing, or a situation.
2. Affective

task.
.
refers to the emotion connected with an object or

3. Behavioral
refers to how a person acts.
 Foundation Concepts of
Motivation
Motivational methods and Programs

Motivation
 Is the process by which behavior is mobilized and
sustained in the interest of achieving organizational goals.
Three classic need theories of motivation
1. the need hierarchy
2. two factor theory
3. the achievement-power-affiliation triad
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Arranges human needs into a. pyramid -shaped model with
basic physiological needs at the bottom and self
actualization needs at the top .
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy
.