HND - 3. Attitudes & Job

satisfactionLim Sei Kee @ cK

Evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people or events. Reflection of how one feels about something.

Component:◦ Cognitive – The opinion or belief segment of an

attitude.◦ Affective – The emotional or feeling segment of an

attitude.◦ Behavioral – An intention to behave in certain way

towards someone or something.

ATTITUDES

Types of attitudes:◦ Job satisfaction – Collection of feelings that an

individual holds toward his or her job.

◦ Job involvement – The degree to which a person indentifies with his or her job, actively participates in it, and considers his or her performance important to self-worth.

◦ Organizational commitment – The degree to which an organization identifies with a particular organization and its goals, and wishes to maintain membership in the organization.

Did you ever notice how people change what they say so it does not contradict what they do?

Research has generally concluded that people seek consistency among their attitudes and between their attitudes and their behavior.

Individuals seek to reconcile divergent attitudes and align their attitudes and behavior so they appear rational and consistent.

Attitudes and Consistency

Can we also assume from this consistency principle that an individual’s behavior can always be predicted if we know his or her attitude on a subject?

Unfortunately, the answer is more complex than merely a “Yes” or “No.”

◦ Dissonance : inconsistency.

◦ Cognitive Dissonance : Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.

◦ Desire to reduce dissonance would be determined by the importance of the elements creating the dissonance, the degree of influence the individual believes he or she has over the elements and the rewards that maybe involved in dissonance.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory.

Cognitive dissonance is a very powerful motivator which will often lead us to change one or other of the conflicting belief or action. To release the tension we can take one of three actions:

Change our behavior. Justify our behavior by changing the conflicting

cognition. Justify our behavior by adding new cognitions.

Example 1: Knowing that smoking is harmful (First cognition) while liking to smoke (second cognition). The Cognitive dissonance theory's conditions were met because those cognitions are dissonant

Example 2: Believing that lying is bad (First cognition) and being forced to lie (second cognition)

Example 3: Liking a friend (first cognition) while knowing that he hates your brother (second cognition)

Example 1: In such a case a person could create a new cognition by claiming that lots of old people smoke since they were young and they are still healthy

Example 2: In this case the person might change his behavior by not lying or even change his attitude by claiming that he believes in the lie

Example 3: In such a case the person can claim that his friend doesn't like his brother because he didn't have time to know him well.

People decide on their own attitudes and feelings from watching themselves behave in various situations.

This is particularly true when internal cues are so weak or confusing they effectively put the person in the same position as an external observer.

Self-Perception Theory

Self-Perception Theory provides an alternative explanation for cognitive dissonance effects.

For example Festinger and Carlsmith's experiment where people were paid $1 or $20 to lie.

Cognitive dissonance says that people felt bad about lying for $1 because they could not justify the act. Self-perception takes an 'observer's view, concluding that those who were paid $1 must have really enjoyed it (because $1 does not justify the act) whilst those who were paid $20 were just doing it for the money.

Note that this indicates how changing people's attitudes happens only when two factors are present:

They are aroused, feeling the discomfort of dissonance.

They attribute the cause of this to their own behaviors and attitudes.

Example If you hear a lot of rock music and do not particularly

dislike it, you will probably conclude that you do like it.

How do we measure job satisfaction?

An employee’s assessment of how satisfied or dissatisfied he or she is with his or her job is a complex summation of a number of discrete job elements.

Job Satisfaction

Determinant : ◦ Mentally Challenging work◦ Equitable Rewards◦ Supportive Working Conditions◦ Supportive Colleagues◦ Personality – Job Fit

JOB SATISFACTION

Satisfaction And ProductivityHappy workers are not necessarily productive

workers. Productivity is likely to lead to satisfaction.Organizations with more satisfied employees

tend to be more effective than organizations with fewer satisfied employees.

Happy organizations are more productive.

Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance

Satisfaction And AbsenteeismAlthough it certainly makes sense that

dissatisfied employees are more likely to miss work, other factors have an impact on the relationship.

Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance

Satisfaction And TurnoverSatisfaction is negatively related to turnover.Other factors: labor-market conditions,

expectations about alternative job opportunities, and length of tenure with the organization.

Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance

Effect of Job Satisfaction:◦ Productivity◦ Absenteeism◦ Turnover

Satisfaction and Productivity◦ Satisfied workers aren’t necessarily more

productive.◦ 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.

The Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance

Is employee satisfaction related to positive customer outcomes?

Satisfied employees increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Satisfied employees are more likely to be friendly, upbeat, and responsive- which customers appreciate.

Satisfied employees are less prone to turnover, customers are more likely to encounter familiar faces and receive experienced service.

Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction

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.

Job Satisfaction and OCB

Expressing dissatisfaction:◦ Exit : Dissatisfaction expressed through behavior

directed toward leaving the organization.

◦ Voice : Dissatisfaction expressed through active and constructive attempts to improve conditions.

◦ Loyalty : Dissatisfaction expressed by passively waiting for conditions to improve.

◦ Neglect : Dissatisfaction expressed through allowing conditions to worsen.

What about employee dissatisfaction?

Exit• Behavior

directed toward leaving the organization

Voice• Active and

constructive attempts to improve conditions

Neglect• Allowing

conditions to worsen

Loyalty• Passively

waiting for conditions to improve

Employee Responses to Dissatisfaction

Active

Passive

ConstructiveDestructive

What is cognitive dissonance and how is it related to attitudes?

What is the relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism? Turnover? Which is the stronger relationship?

Contrast exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect as employee responses to job dissatisfaction.

Do you agree that managers can create satisfied employees? Explain.

Presentation Q