VALUES, ATTITUDE AND

JOB SATISFACTION
3-1

Robbins & Judge

Organizational Behavior
14th Edition

By: Awal Al Kabir

PART-I

Values

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Work Values
A workers personal convictions about what

outcomes one should expect from work and

how one should behave at work.
The most general and long-lasting feelings and
beliefs people have that contribute to how they
experience work.
Values can be intrinsic (i.e., related to the
nature of work itself) or extrinsic (i.e., related to
the consequences of work).

Types of Values - Rokeach Value

Survey

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Values in
the
Rokeach
Survey

EXHIBIT

3-1a

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reserved.

Values in
the
Rokeach
Survey
(contd)

EXHIBIT

3-1b

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reserved.

Work Values Generations

EXHIBIT

3-3

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reserved.

PART-II

Attitudes

Evaluative statements either favorable or

unfavorable concerning objects, people or events

Attitudes reflect how one feels

about something

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

The opinion or belief segment of an

attitude
Affective The emotional or feeling segment of
an attitude
Behavioral An intention to behave in a
certain way toward someone or something

Attitudes

Attitudes
Evaluative
statements or
judgments
concerning
objects, people,
or events.

Cognitive component

The opinion or belief

segment of an attitude.
Affective Component

The emotional or feeling

segment of an attitude.
Behavioral Component

An intention to behave in a
certain way toward someone or
something.
310

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Components of Attitude

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Self-Perception Theory
Attitudes are used after the fact to make sense out of an
action that has already occurred.

313

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Consistency of Attitudes
People seek consistency among their attitudes
and between their attitudes and their
behavior
When there is an inconsistency, the individual may

alter either the attitudes or behavior, or develop a

rationalization for the discrepancy.

Self-Perception Theory
The view that behavior influences
attitudes
Argues that attitudes are used after the fact

to make sense out of an action that has

already occurred rather than as devices that
precede and guide action.

Tend to infer attitude from behavior when

you have had few experiences regarding an

issue.

The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

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

Desire
Desireto
toreduce
reducedissonance
dissonance
Importance
Importanceof
ofelements
elementscreating
creatingdissonance
dissonance
Degree
Degreeof
ofindividual
individualinfluence
influenceover
overelements
elements
Rewards
Rewardsinvolved
involvedinindissonance
dissonance

316

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Leon Festinger
THEORY OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE (1957)
BASIC HYPOTHESIS

The existence of dissonance, being psychologically

uncomfortable, will motivate the person to try and reduce
the dissonance and achieve consonance

Attitude

Behavior inconsistent
with the attitude

Creation of
dissonance

Attitude: Im not going to smoke cigarettes anymore)

Smoke cigarettes

Behavior:

Some Options
1) Change behavior (e.g., Throw pack away)

2) Change cognitions (e.g., Smoking isnt all that bad; I dont

really smoke that much)

3) Add supporting cognitions (e.g., Smoking relaxes me it helps

me think better

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
FESTINGER & CARLSMITH (1$ - $20 Study)

Perform
boring task

Asked to tell participant

that the task was
interesting

$1
$20

Which group rated the task as more interesting after lying,

those paid $1 or $20?

Key is lack of sufficient external justification for ones behavior

Rate
task

TOY STUDY
Children rate desirability of toys

Told not to play with the most desirable toy

MILD THREAT

SEVERE THREAT

Children did not play with the desired toy

Children rate the desirability of the toys a 2nd time after not playing with
the desired
Which group viewed the desirable toy most attractive?

Moderating Variables
3-21

The most powerful moderators of the attitude-

behavior relationship are:

Importance of the attitude

Correspondence to behavior
Accessibility
Existence of social pressures
Personal and direct experience of the attitude

Attitudes predict behavior, as influenced by

moderating variables.

Predicting Behavior from Attitudes

3-22

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.

Major Job Attitudes

1.Job Satisfaction
2.Job Involvement
3.Psychological Empowerment
4.Organizational Commitment
Affective commitment
Continuance Involvement
Normative commitment

5.Perceived Organizational Support

6.Employee Engagement

What Are the Major Job Attitudes?

3-24

1.Job Satisfaction
A

positive feeling about the job resulting from an

evaluation of its characteristics.

2.Job Involvement
Degree

of psychological identification with the

job where perceived performance is important to
self-worth.

3.Psychological Empowerment
Belief

in the degree of influence over the job,

competence, job meaningfulness, and autonomy.

Another Major Job Attitude

3-25

4.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 to a given employer.

And Yet More Major Job Attitudes

3-26

5.Perceived Organizational Support (POS)

Degree to which employees believe the organization
values their contribution and cares about their wellbeing.
Higher when rewards are fair, employees are involved
in decision-making, and supervisors are seen as
supportive.
High POS is related to higher OCBs and performance.

6.Employee Engagement
The degree of involvement, satisfaction with, and
enthusiasm for the job.
Engaged employees are passionate about their work
and company.

PART-III

Job Satisfaction
A positive feeling about the job resulting from an
evaluation of its characteristics.
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.

Causes of Job Satisfaction

3-28

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.

Causes of Job Satisfaction

Need Fulfillment: Satisfaction is based on the extent to
which a job satisfies a persons needs.

Discrepancies: Satisfaction is determined by the extent

to which an individual receives what he or she expects from
a job.

Value Attainment: Satisfaction results from the extent

to which a job allows fulfillment of ones work values.

Equity: Satisfaction is a function of how fairly an

individual is treated at work.

Trait/Genetic Components: Satisfaction is partly a

function of personal traits and genetic factors.

Responses to Job Dissatisfaction

EXHIBIT

3-6

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How Employees Can Express Dissatisfaction

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Employee Responses to Dissatisfaction

3-32

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

Outcomes of Job Satisfaction

3-33

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.

More Outcomes of Job Satisfaction

3-34

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.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of the impact of

job satisfaction on the bottom line, most managers
are either unconcerned about or overestimate
worker satisfaction.

What are the 5 hidden reasons People

Leave their job?

Correlates of Job Satisfaction

Variables Related
with Satisfaction
Motivation

Direction of
Relationship
Positive

Strength of
Relationship
Moderate

Job Involvement

Positive

Moderate

Organizational Citizenship behavior

Positive

Moderate

Organizational Commitment

Positive

Strong

Absenteeism

Negative

Weak

Tardiness

Negative

Weak

Turnover
Moderate

Negative

Heart Disease
Moderate

Negative

Perceived Stress

Negative

Pro-Union Voting
Moderate

Negative

Job Performance

Positive

Life Satisfaction
Moderate

Positive

Strong

Weak

Managerial Implications
3-39

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, and theft, and increasing OCB

Focus on the intrinsic parts of the job: make

work challenging and interesting

Pay

is not enough

Advice to Managers
Realize that some workers are going to be more satisfied than others with

the same job simply because they have different personalities and work
values. Also realize that you can take steps to increase levels of job
satisfaction because it is determined not only by personality but also by the
work situation.

Try to place newcomers in work groups whose members are satisfied with

their jobs.

Ask workers what facets of their jobs are important to them, and do what

you can to ensure that they are satisfied with these facets.

Because job satisfaction has the potential to impact workers behaviors in

organizations and their well-being, use existing measurement scales to

periodically survey your subordinates levels of job satisfaction. When
levels of job satisfaction are low, follow the advice in the preceding step.

Recognize that workers evaluations of job facets, not what you think about

them, determine how satisfied workers are and that changing some facets
may have longer-lasting effects on job satisfaction than changing others.

23

Advice to Managers
Do not assume that poor performers are dissatisfied with their jobs or that

good performers are satisfied with their jobs.

Do not assume that workers who are absent are dissatisfied or that they
were not motivated to come to work. Absence is also a function of ability to
attend.
Manage absenteeism. Dont try to eliminate it, and keep in mind that a
certain level of absence is often functional for workers and organizations.
Realize that turnover has both costs and benefits for an organization and

that you need to evaluate both. In particular, before becoming concerned

about worker turnover, examine the performance levels of those who quit.

If workers do only what they are told and rarely, if ever, exhibit

organizational citizenship behavior, measure their levels of job satisfaction,

identify the job facets they are dissatisfied with, and make changes where
possible.

Even if job satisfaction does not seem to have an effect on important

behaviors in your organization, keep in mind that it is an important factor in

worker well-being.