Chapter 3 – Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

What are attitudes?

-          Attitudes are evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events.

–    Cognitive component of an attitude is the opinion or belief segment of an attitude.

–    Affective component is the emotion or feeling segment of an attitude.

–    Behavioral component of an attitude is an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory -

-         any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes

Our desire to reduce dissonance depends upon:

·       Importance of elements creating dissonance

·       Degree of individual influence over elements

·       Rewards involved in dissonance

Note: People seek consistency among their attitudes and seek to reconcile divergent attitudes and behavior so they appear to be rational and consistent.

Measuring the A-B relationship

Recent research indicates that attitudes (A) significantly predict behaviors (B) when moderating variables are taken into account.

Moderating Variables include:

·       Importance of the attitude

·       Specificity of the attitude

·       Accessibility of the attitude

·       Social pressures on the individual

·       Direct experience with the attitude

“Self-perception theory” = when you use attitudes after the fact to make sense out of an action that has ALREADY occurred.

Types of Attitudes

1) Job Satisfaction

–     A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that an individual holds towards his or her job.

2) Job Involvement

–     Identifying with the job, actively participating in it, and considering performance important to self-worth.

3) Organizational Commitment

–        Identifying with a particular organization and its goals, and wishing to maintain membership in the organization

–        Affective, normative, and continuance commitment – Note: what are these? Why are they different? Please be sure you know J

4) Perceived Organizational Support

–        Degree to which employees feel the organization cares about their well-being.

5) Employee Engagement

–        An individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for the organization.

An Application: Attitude surveys 

- A way to capture attitude data via questionnaires about various workplace factors (job, work groups, supervisors and the organization)

Attitudes and Diversity

-         A growing field of study and important in all organizations today.  Understanding and changing attitudes about others is important for managers and organizations. Most companies are now training employees re: attitudes about diversity.

-         Training activities: Participating in diversity training that provides for self-evaluation and group discussions

-         Volunteer work in community and social service centers with individuals of diverse backgrounds

Job Satisfaction

How can we measure it?

–    Single global rating

–    Summation score

·       So…..how satisfied are people in their jobs?

·       Which facets seem to be causing dissatisfaction?

How Can Employee Express Dissatisfaction?

Exit – Behavior directed towards leaving the organization

Neglect – Allowing conditions to worsen

Voice – Active and constructive attempts to improve conditions

Loyalty – Passively waiting for conditions to improve

(Also note that job satisfaction relates to OCB (going above and beyond what is required formally) through fairness.  Trust is also important)

Job Satisfaction and Employee Performance

Satisfaction and Productivity

o      Satisfied workers are more productive AND more productive workers are more satisfied!

o      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.

Satisfaction and 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.

Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction

Satisfied workers provide better customer service.

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.

Note: Dissatisfied customers increase employee job dissatisfaction.