Sources and Consequences of Attitudes.

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Sources and Consequences of Attitudes.
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Objectives

• Define attitudes
• Describe job satisfaction and its relationship to
  productivity
• Explain the theory of cognitive dissonance

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Summary (cont.)

• Discuss the relationship between attitudes and
  behaviors
• Examine attitude change

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Key Variables Affecting Individual Behavior
Values
Motivation
Attitudes
IndividualBehavior
Perception
Personality
Learning
Ability
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Attitudes
Evaluative statements favorable or unfavorable
about objects, people, or events reflect how
one feels about something
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Job Satisfaction
Refers to an individuals general attitude toward
the job when people speak of employee attitudes,
often means job satisfaction
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What Determines Job Satisfaction?

• Evidence indicates that the most important
  factors conducive to job satisfaction are
• Mentally challenging work
• Equitable rewards
• Supportive working conditions
• Supportive colleagues

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Satisfaction and Productivity

• Evidence shows that satisfactions effect on
  productivity is fairly small
• Productivity can be increased
• More by removing outside constraints than by
  influencing satisfaction
• By introducing organizational rewards for
  productivity, such as
• Verbal Recognition
• Pay Level
• Probabilities for Promotion

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Cognitive Dissonance
Inconsistencies betweentwo or more of a persons
attitudes or between a persons behavior and
attitudes
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Reducing Dissonance

• If elements creating dissonance are relatively
  unimportant, pressure to correct imbalance will
  be low
• Degree of influence over the elements will impact
  how we react to dissonance
• Rewards influence the degree that we are
  motivated to reduce dissonance

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The Attitude-Behavior Relationship

• Social constraints moderate behavior
• Although some hold contradictory attitudes,
  pressures are toward consistency
• Other things besides attitudes influence behavior
• Attitudes do influence behavior

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Perception
Process by which people organize and interpret
their sensory impressions in order to give
meaning to their environment
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Factors Influencing Perception

• Operate to shape and sometimes distort perception
• Reside in the perceiver
• Part of the object or target being perceived
• Exist in the context of the situation in which
  the perception is made

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Attribution Theory

• Judging people differently depending upon meaning
  attributed to a behavior
• Determine whether caused internally or
  externally, depending upon
• 1. Distinctiveness - different behavior in
  different situations
• 2. Consensus - same behavior in similar
  situations
• 3. Consistency - same behavior over time

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Fundamental Attribution Error

• In Others
• Underestimating influence of external factors
• Overestimating influence of internal factors
• Self-Serving Bias
• Attributing success to internal factors
• Blaming external factors for failure

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Shortcuts to Judging Others

• Selectivity - choosing bits of data depending on
  the interests, background, experience, and
  attitudes of observer
• Assumed Similarity - perceptions of others more
  influenced by what the observer is like or thinks
• Stereotyping - basing perception on group
  membership or association
• Halo Effect - drawing a general impression on the
  basis of a single characteristic, such as
  intelligence, sociability, or appearance