Attitudes & job Satisfaction

Description
Describes contrasts the three components of an attitude, summarizes the relationship between attitudes and behavior, compares and contrasts the major job attitudes, Define job satisfaction and shows 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.

Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

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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.

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Attitudes

Evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events. Three components of an attitude:
Affective Cognitive

The opinion or belief segment of an attitude

The emotional or feeling segment of an attitude

Behavioral

Attitude
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An intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something
See E X H I B I T 3–1

Does Behavior Always Follow from Attitudes?
? Leon Festinger – No, the reverse is sometimes true! ? Cognitive Dissonance: Any incompatibility between two or more

attitudes or between behavior and attitudes
reach stability and consistency

? Individuals seek to reduce this uncomfortable gap, or dissonance, to ? Consistency is achieved by changing the attitudes, modifying the

behaviors, or through rationalization
? Importance of elements

? Desire to reduce dissonance depends on:
? Degree of individual influence
? Rewards involved in dissonance

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Moderating Variables
relationship are:
? Importance of the attitude
? Correspondence to behavior ? Accessibility ? Existence of social pressures

? The most powerful moderators of the attitude-behavior

? Personal and direct experience of the attitude.

Attitudes

Predict

Behavior

Moderating Variables
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Predicting Behavior from Attitudes
? Important attitudes have a strong relationship to behavior. ? The closer the match between attitude and behavior, the

stronger the relationship: ? Specific attitudes predict specific behavior ? General attitudes predict general behavior ? The more frequently expressed an attitude, the better predictor it is. ? High social pressures reduce the relationship and may cause dissonance. ? Attitudes based on personal experience are stronger predictors.

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? Job Satisfaction

What are the Major Job Attitudes?
? 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 (Organizational Citizenship Behaviors) 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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Are These Job Attitudes Really Distinct?
? No: these attitudes are

highly related. ? Variables may be redundant (measuring the same thing under a different name) ? While there is some distinction, there is also a lot of overlap.
Be patient, OB researchers are working on it!
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Job Satisfaction
? One of the primary job attitudes measured.
? Broad term involving a complex individual summation of a

number of discrete job elements.
? How to measure?
? Single global rating (one question/one answer) - Best

? Summation score (many questions/one average) - OK

? Are people satisfied in their jobs?
? In the U. S., yes, but the level appears to be dropping.

? Results depend on how job satisfaction is measured.
? Pay and promotion are the most problematic elements.
See E X H I B I T 3–2

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Causes of Job Satisfaction
? Pay influences job satisfaction only to a point.
? After about $40,000 a year (in the U. S.), there is no

relationship between amount of pay and job satisfaction. ? Money may bring happiness, but not necessarily job satisfaction.

? Personality can influence job satisfaction.
? Negative people are usually not satisfied with their jobs. ? Those with positive core self-evaluation are more satisfied

with their jobs.
See E X H I B I T 3–3

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Employee Responses to Dissatisfaction
Active
Exit
• Behavior directed toward leaving the organization

Voice
• Active and constructive attempts to improve conditions

Destructive
Neglect
• Allowing conditions to worsen

Constructive
Loyalty
• Passively waiting for conditions to improve

Passive
See E X H I B I T 3–4

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Outcomes of Job Satisfaction
? Job Performance
? Satisfied workers are more productive AND more

productive workers are more satisfied! ? The causality may run both ways.
? Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

? Satisfaction influences OCB through perceptions of

fairness.

? Customer Satisfaction
? Satisfied frontline employees increase customer satisfaction

and loyalty.

? Absenteeism
? Satisfied employees are moderately less likely to miss

work.

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More Outcomes of Job Satisfaction
? Turnover
? Satisfied employees are less likely to quit. ? Many moderating variables in this relationship. ? Economic environment and tenure ? Organizational actions taken to retain high performers and to weed out lower performers

? Workplace Deviance
? Dissatisfied workers are more likely to unionize, abuse

substances, steal, be tardy, and withdraw.

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Global Implications
? Is Job Satisfaction a U. S. Concept?
? No, but most of the research so far has been in the U. S.

? Are Employees in Western Cultures More Satisfied With Their

Jobs?
? Western workers appear to be more satisfied than those in

Eastern cultures. ? Perhaps because Westerners emphasize positive emotions and individual happiness more than do those in Eastern cultures.
See E X H I B I T 3–5

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Summary and Managerial Implications
? Managers should watch employee attitudes:
? They give warnings of potential problems ? They influence behavior

? Managers should try to increase job satisfaction and generate

positive job attitudes
? Reduces costs by lowering turnover, absenteeism, tardiness,

theft, and increasing OCB
? Focus on the intrinsic parts of the job: make work challenging

and interesting
? Pay is not enough

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