UNIT II – INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR

Part I: Learning,
Attitudes and Job
Satisfaction

Part II: Motivation

Part III: Personality &

Values

Part IV: Perception,

Decision Making and
Emotions
UNIT II –
INDIVIDUAL
BEHAVIOUR
PART I

LEARNING,
ATTITUDES
AND JOB
SATISFACTION
LEARNING
 Any relatively permanent change in
behavior that occurs as a result of
experience.
LEARNING ATTITUDE BEHAVIOR

 Allcomplex behavior is a learned behavior

 If we want to predict and explain behavior, we
must understand how people learn
 Learning involves change in behavior
 It is continuous process, which occurs all the time
 We cannot see learning but we can see changed
behavior as a consequence of learning
 Learning changes attitude of individuals to a large
extent
 An individual reacts to any situation or responds to
instructions in particular fashion, that fashion or style
is caused due to learning
THEORIES OF LEARNING
THEORIES OF LEARNING

 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
 OPERANT CONDITIONING
 SOCIAL LEARNING
 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
 Behaviorist theory developed by Ivan Pavlov
 “Classical conditioning can be defined as a
process in which a formerly neutral stimulus
when paired with an unconditional stimulus,
becomes a conditioned stimulus that illicit a
conditioned response. (Luthans ,1995)
 A type of conditioning in which an individual
responds to some stimulus that would not
ordinarily produce such a response
 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Pavlov carried out this experiment in three sequential stages:
Stage I: He presented meat (unconditional stimulus) to the dog
He noticed a great deal of salivation (unconditional response)
Stage II: He only rang up the bell (neutral stimulus), the dog had no
salivation
Stage III: Pavlov was to accompany the offering of meat to the dog
along with ringing up of bell

After doing this several times, Pavlov rang up only bell

(without offering of meat to the dog). This time the dog
salivated to the ringing up of bell alone
Pavlov concluded that the dog has become classically conditioned to
salivate (response) to the sound of the bell (stimulus)
APPLICATIONS OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
 Thus, learning can take place based on stimulus –
response (SR) connections
 This stimulus – response connection (S-R) can be
applied in management
 For eg.: when a CEO visits an organization,
production charts are updated, individuals put on a
good dress, window panes are cleaned and floors are
washed. What all one has to do is to just say that the
Top Boss is visiting. You will find that all above work is
undertaken (response) without any instructions.
Because the people in the organization have learned
the behavior (conditioned). It has caused a permanent
change in the organization
 LIMITATIONS OF CLASSICAL
CONDITIONING
Classical conditioning is passive:
 Something happens and we react in a specific
way. It is elicited in a response to specific,
identifiable events.
 As such, it can explain simple reflective behaviours
 But most behavior – particularly the
complex behavior of individual organizations
is emitted rather than elicited.
 It is voluntary rather than reflective.
 OPERANT CONDITIONING
 This theory deals with Response—Stimulus (R-S)
connection
 The concept was originated by B.F. Skinner
 A type of conditioning in which desired voluntary
behavior leads to a reward or prevents a punishment
 Operant conditioning focuses on using either
reinforcement or punishment to increase or decrease a
behavior
 Through this process, an association is formed between
the behavior and the consequences for that behavior
 Skinner felt that more complex behavior couldn’t be
explained by Classical Conditioning concept. He states
that most human behavior operates based on the
environment
 OPERANT CONDITIONING
 Operant Conditioning is concerned primarily with learning as
a consequence of behavior (R-S)
 In Operant Conditioning particular response occurs as a
consequence of many stimulus situations
 Stimulus typically serves as a cue for a particular response
 Behaviour is a function of consequences
 It is voluntary in nature.
 Reinforcement increases the probability of occurrence
 If we create learning consequences, the probability of specific
forms of behavior increases.
 For example an individual would work hard(R) because he knows
that he would be able to get praise, or even promotion (S)
 Operant Conditioning has greater impact on learning as
compared to Classical Conditioning.
 Operant vs. Classical Conditioning
 Type of Behavior: Classical conditioning involves making
an association between an involuntary response and a
stimulus, while operant conditioning is about making an
association between a voluntary behavior and a
consequence
 Incentives: In operant conditioning, the learner is also
rewarded with incentives, while classical conditioning
involves no such enticements
 Active or Passive: Classical conditioning is passive on the
part of the learner, while operant conditioning requires
the learner to actively participate and perform some type
of action in order to be rewarded or punished
Key Concepts of Classical
Conditioning

•Unconditioned stimulus
•Unconditioned response
•Conditioned stimulus
•Conditioned response
Key Concepts of Operant
Conditioning

• Reflexive (unlearned) behavior

• Conditioned (learned) behavior
• Reinforcement
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
 People can learn through observation and direct experience
 It is achieved while interacting with individuals
 In social learning people observe, alter and even construct a
particular environment to fit in the social behavioral pattern
 Social learning is practiced in organizations by observing
various cultural and social practices
 An appropriate behavior can be predicted that would
contribute towards achieving higher individual satisfaction
level and organizational goals
 The influence of a (role) model is central to the theory of
Social Learning
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
The following processes determine the extent of influence that a model
may have:
• Attention Process
 Human tendency to get attracted to impressive models especially those, which suits
the individual’s temperament and match expectations
• Retention Process
 Models retention will depend upon the attractiveness of the model
 Advertising agencies therefore project attractive models in promotion to their product or
services
• Motor Reproduction Process
 Deals with evaluating the impact of the model on individual
 Does individual display the same behavior as is displayed by the model?
 If the learning were effective then the learner would be able to display a desired
(reproduction) pattern of behavior
• Reinforcement Process
 Individuals will be able to display positive behavior or even attitude if a particular activity
is rewarded by way of positive incentives
 An accountant would be able to maintain accounts correctly and produce a balance sheet
when needed if he is encouraged, his work is appreciated or he is given monetary or non-
monetary incentives
SHAPING BEHAVIOR
 Shaping can be defined as ‘Systematically reinforcing each
successive step that moves an individual closer to the desired
response.’

APPLICATION OF REINFORCEMENT TO SHAPE BEHAVIOUR

 Various material inputs in the organization can be put to its

optimum utilization if the employees display positive attitude
towards organizational systems, processes, activities and have an
appropriate interpersonal behavior

 This is possible if a manager is able to identify human

requirements (needs) try and satisfy them in an unambiguous
manner

 This can be achieved by applying reinforcement to individuals in

the course of their performance
TYPES OF REINFORCEMENT
 Positive reinforcement
 Providing a reward for a desired behavior
 Eg. An array of awards in defense services is to stimulate bravery
during peace and war environment amongst soldiers and improve
over all efficiency
 Negative reinforcement
 Removing an unpleasant consequence when the desired behavior
occurs
 Eg. No Pay-cuts on achieving monthly sales targets
 Punishment
 Applying an undesirable condition to eliminate an undesirable
behavior
 For eg. Giving a black card on coming late for work
 Extinction
 Withholding reinforcement of a behavior to cause its cessation
 Ignoring an individual in organization for his unsuitable behavior
 POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

Positive re-enforcement is institution of reward for a

particular desired behavior

The intensity of reward must stimulate a desired behavior

• The reward should match the expected behavior graph and

need spectrum of awards
• Monetary rewards activate some people while others would
Positive be happy with just a praise or recognition
reinforcement to • The reinforcement or rewards should be contingent to the
degree of performance
be effective • Higher the performance required, higher must be the
should have recognition (Reward system)
• Rewards must be given on time
following pre- • Delay in awards may not have desired effect and the impact
requisites: of reward would be lost.
• Reinforcement must be applicable universally without any
structural variations
• Disparity in rewards is counter-productive
 NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT

Both, positive and negative reinforcement techniques are for

strengthening desired behaviors

In former employees put in their best and work hard to get

financial and other rewards but in the later case of reinforcement
employees work in such a way that they do not invite negative
comments or reprimand from superiors

In organizations acts For commission of desired acts a reward is given

are committed or while rewards can also be given for displaying
omitted behavior by terminating undesired consequences

Parking of vehicle at right places, following instructions on

training, abiding by safety regulations are the forms of negative
reinforcement, because employees would follow instructions to
avoid negative consequence of undesired behavior
 PUNISHMENT

It is a method of decreasing frequency of occurrence of

unpleasant behavior and a tool generally used by organizations
for correction or modification of individual behavior

Punishment can be reduction of salary, non-granting of increment,

fine and even removal from service
• The gravity or the scale of punishment will depend upon the nature of behavior
displayed by an individual

Punishment is awarded to an individual for undesired consequences

of behavior
• It is generally treated as an unpleasant consequence contingent upon undesired behavior
• It is corrective in nature and intended to reduce probability of its recurrence
• Punishment acts as deterrence to other individuals and prevent them from doing an
undesired act
 PUNISHMENT….contd.

• It should not be given collectively to a group

Some • It should be awarded to an individual who is

habitual of undesired behavior

Do’s • It should focus on an act deserving punishment

and not the subject person

and • It should be used sparingly and not as a matter

of routine
Don'ts: • It should be corrective in nature and not
punitive
 EXTINCTION

Extinction refers to withdrawing of reinforcement or reward so that the happening becomes

less frequent and ultimately dies off

The method involves withdrawing positive reinforcement earlier granted.

Eliminating any reinforcement is called extinction

For example students are given extra coaching for higher performance. Over a period of time
this positive re-enforcement leads to students increased dependency on coaching by a teacher.
So if this facility is withdrawn, it is with the aim of modifying behavior by extinction, so that
the students form the habit of self-study and therefore the learning takes place that leads to
behavior modification in a group

Ignoring a lazy person in a group is some of the forms of extinction. Because it is expected that
extinction would lead to behavior modification
 SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT
 Continuous Reinforcement
 A desired behavior is reinforced each time it is demonstrated
 Intermittent Reinforcement
 A desired behavior is reinforced often enough to make the behavior
worth repeating but not every time it is demonstrated

Intermittent Reinforcement Schedules:

 Fixed-Interval Schedule
 Rewards are spaced at uniform time intervals
 Critical factor is time
 As a manager, one has to apply reinforcement schedule on a fix interval of time
 Daily wagers will look forward to get their salary at the end of the day and those
on piece rate of payment would work hard to earn maximum
 Variable-Interval Schedule
 Rewards are initiated after a fixed or constant number of responses
 Promotion, upgradation, or incentives in salary structure coming on different
timings that are not on a pre-fixed basis motivate individuals and increment in
productivity is achieved
 SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT
Intermittent Reinforcement Schedules:

 Fixed-Ratio Schedule
 Administration of reward system after the individual accomplishes a
particular volume of work
 Eg. A worker is paid or a reinforcement is administered after
manufacturing of particular pieces of product under piece rate of
payment
 Variable-Ratio Schedule
 Similar to fixed-ratio schedule but quantity is not fixed
 Reinforcement is awarded to an individual based on the situation to
situation
 Eg. a sales person may be awarded a higher commission on the sales
he made irrespective of volume of sales
 SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT

Fixed-ratio
Intermittent Schedules of Reinforcement
Intermittent Schedules of Reinforcement
 BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION
OB Mod
 The application of reinforcement concepts to individuals
in the work setting
 OB MOD ORGANIZATIONAL APPLICATIONS

Well Pay versus Reduces absenteeism by rewarding

Sick Pay attendance, not absence

The leader should set

Employee The use of punishment can
Discipline an example for his be counter-productive
subordinates

Developing Social learning theory must be Developing a sense of

Training applied and a role model
Programs displayed during training belonging to the organization

Individuals should lay down personal standards,

Self- objectives relating to personal growth, identify
Reduces the need for external management control
management various courses of action to adopt and modify self-
attitude and behavior

Develop sense of responsibility Develop positive attitude towards

Mentoring Mentors must display model
amongst the subordinates who subordinates, job in hand and
behavior so that subordinates
Programmers should be able to take higher jobs achieve a sound personality based
emulate them
and work for the organization on culture and social values
ATTITUDE
ATTITUDE
 An attitude is a fairly stable evaluative
tendency to respond consistently to some
specific object, situation, person or
category of people
 Attitudes are tendencies to respond to the
target of the attitude
 Thus, attitudes often influence our
behaviour toward some object, situation,
person or group
 Example:
o I like Subhash Ghai’s
movies
o Lady Gaga is a very nice
performer

Belief + Value = Attitude Behaviour

• Most attempts at attitude change are initiated by a communicator
who tries to use persuasion of some form to modify the beliefs
or values of an audience that supports a currently held attitude.

• Persuasion that is designed to modify or emphasize certain

values is emotionally oriented, whereas persuasion designed to
modify or emphasize certain beliefs is rationally oriented.
 Attitudes are complex
 Attitudes represents an individual's degree of like or
dislike for an item
 Attitudes are generally positive or negative views
of a person, place, thing or event
 Attitudes are judgments
 Attitudes tend to persist unless something is done
to change them
 KNOWN
TO OTHERS
BEHAVIOR
SEA LEVEL

UNKNOWN
TO OTHERS

VALUES – STANDARDS – JUDGMENTS

ATTITUDE
MOTIVES – ETHICS - BELIEFS
 COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES
The emotional
Affective or feeling
Cognitive
segment of an
attitude
The opinion or Behavioral

belief segment of
an attitude An intention to
behave in a certain
way toward
someone or
Attitude something

36
COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES
Cognitive Affective
Component – Component –

The description of The emotional or

beliefs in the way feeling segment
things are of an attitude

It consists of belief, Related to person’s feelings about another

ideas, values and other person, object or situation, which may be
information that an positive, negative or neutral.
individual may possess
or has faith in
for eg.
for eg. - I am angry over how little I am paid
- My pay is low - I do not like Ravi because he is not hard
working 37
- We should work
hard
COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES

• An intention to behave in a certain way towards

someone or something.

• Related to impact of various situations or objects

that lead to individual’s behaviour based on
Behavioral cognitive and affective components

Component • for eg.:

• “I am going to look for another job that pays
better”
• “I would like to disassociate myself with Ravi
and therefore I would avoid him.”

38
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE THREE
COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES
Viewing attitudes as made up of three components helps
with understanding of the potential relationship between
attitudes and behavior

Cognitive and affective components are bases for

behavior

Former two components cannot be seen, only the

behavior component can be seen. Former is important
because it is a base for formation of attitude

However, when we refer to attitude essentially we mean

the affect part of the three components
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
Cognitive Dissonance Theory, developed by Leon Festinger (1957),
is concerned with the relationships among cognitions

A cognition, for the purpose of this theory, may be thought of as a

piece of knowledge. The knowledge may be about an attitude, an
emotion, a behavior, a value and so on.

For example, the knowledge that you like the color red is a cognition

People’s attitudes or beliefs can be consonant (in line), dissonant (at

odds), or not related to each other

Two cognitions are said to be dissonant if one cognition follows from

the opposite of another
 COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
Cognitive Dissonance: Any incompatibility an individual might
perceive between two or more attitudes or between behavior and
attitudes

If dissonant, we experience psychological discomfort

Individuals seek to reduce this uncomfortable gap, or

dissonance, to reach stability and consistency

Consistency is achieved by changing the attitudes, modifying

the behaviors, or through rationalization of the discrepancies
• Importance of elements creating that dissonance
Desire to reduce • Degree of individual influence over the elements causing
dissonance depends on: dissonance
• Rewards involved in dissonance
Measuring the A-B Relationship
 Recent research indicates that the attitudes (A)
significantly predict behaviors (B) when
moderating variables are taken into account.

Attitudes Predict Behavior

Moderating Variables
 MODERATING VARIABLES
The most powerful moderators of the attitude-behavior relationship are:
## Importance of the
attitude
• The important attitudes are
the ones that reflect
fundamental values, self-
interest or identification
with groups or individuals
that a person values
• Important attitudes tend to
show a positive relationship
with behaviour
## Correspondence to behavior
• The more closely the attitude and the behavior
are matched, the stronger the relationship
• Accessibility: Attitudes that we remember
easily are more likely to predict our behavior
• Existence of social pressures: Discrepancies
between attitudes and behavior are more
likely to occur when social pressures to
behave in a certain way hold exceptional
power
• Personal and direct experience of the
attitude
 CHANGING ATTITUDES

Barriers to changing attitudes:

• Prior commitment
• Insufficient information
Methods to overcome barriers and change attitudes:
• Providing new information
• Use of fear
• Resolving Discrepancies
• Influence of friends and peers
• Using the co-opting approach
• By using Role-model
• By improving working conditions
 Methods to overcome barriers and change
attitudes:

1.OFFERING NEW INFORMATION

• When new information his provided to a person it may
help him/her to change his/her beliefs and eventually
change attitude
• Very often lack of insufficient information may be the
cause of negative attitude
2.BY USING FEAR
• By using right measure of fear, fear can also force a
person to change his attitude
• Ex. If late coming three times is considered a ½ day
leave, then the worker may change his attitude and avoid
late comings in the future.
 Methods to overcome barriers and change
attitudes:

3. BY RESOLVING DISCREPANCIES
• Attitudes can be changed by resolving discrepancies
between attitudes and behaviour.
• Eg.: A fresh graduate may select one job of 3 to 4
jobs offered to him. But sometime later he may feel
to have made a wrong choice and thus develops
negative attitude towards his selected job and if he
feels that it was only a temporary feeling then he
may have negative attitude towards other jobs
offered to him.
 Methods to overcome barriers and change
attitudes:

5.BY USING CO-OPTING APPROACH

• Co-opting means to try to change the attitude of an
individual by making persons who complain to
become personally involved in changing the situation
or improving things
• Eg.: A person complains about problems in Accounts
department. So his boss assigns that person some
specific jobs in the Accounts department so that the
person can see for himself /herself how hard the
department works.
 Self-Perception Theory
Examples:
• "I must have really
This theory as proposed by Daryl Bem, suggests that
people develop attitudes and opinions by observing
been tired, I slept a
their own behavior and drawing conclusions from it long time."

• "I must not like him,

I was really rude to
This theory also downplays the role of him."
internal thoughts and emotions in attitude
formation • "I must really like
this course, I studied
Let’s say, for example, that you are a fan of classical music. really hard for the
According to self-perception theory, you didn’t decide that you like exam."
classical music because you think it’s the best type of music or
because listening to it makes you feel good. You decided that you like
classical music based on the fact that you listen to it a lot. Thus, we
learn about ourselves and form self-judgments the same way we
learn about and judge others – by observation
MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES
## Job Satisfaction:
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
MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES
## Organizational Commitment:
• Identifying with a particular organization and its
goals, while wishing to maintain membership in the
organization.
• Three dimensions:
• Affective Commitment – An emotional attachment
to organization and a belief in its values
• Continuance Commitment – The perceived
economic value of staying with the organisation as
compared to leaving it
• Normative Commitment– The moral or ethical
obligations to stay in the organisation
 MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES

Organizational Commitment
• Positive relationship with job productivity and
performance but of a modest degree

• Relationship between commitment and performance

strongest for newer employees and considerably weaker
for experienced employees

• Negative relationship with absenteeism and turnover

 OTHER 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 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.
 JOB SATISFACTION
Job satisfaction is defined as "the extent
to which people like (satisfaction) or
dislike (dissatisfaction) their jobs"
 WHAT CAUSES JOB SATISFACTION ?

Social Enjoying
Pay the work
The Work Component
Itself itself is
– not almost
– there is a always the
correlated
– the strong facet most
strongest correlation
after Advancement Supervision Coworkers strongly
individual
correlation with how correlated
reaches a
with people view with high
level of
overall the social levels of
comfortabl
satisfaction context of their job
e living
work satisfaction
 OUTCOMES OF JOB SATISFACTION
• Satisfied workers are more productive and
Job Performance more productive workers are more satisfied!
• The causality may run both ways

Organizational
• Satisfaction influences OCB through
Citizenship perceptions of fairness
Behaviors

Customer • Satisfied frontline employees increase

Satisfaction customer satisfaction and loyalty

• Satisfied employees are moderately less likely

Absenteeism to miss work
 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.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of the impact of job

satisfaction on the bottom line, most managers are either
unconcerned about or overestimate worker satisfaction
 MEASURING JOB SATISFACTION

Single Global RatingOnly a few general questions Remarkably accurate

Method

Summation Scoreand
Identifies key elements in the job
asks for specific feeling about
Method them

Decline attributed to:

How Satisfied AreJob satisfaction declined to 50.7%
• Pressures to increase productivity
• Less control over work
in 2000
People in Their Jobs?
 CONSEQUENCES OF JOB DISSATISFACTION

Destructive to Constructive

Exit Voice
Passive to Active

Neglect Loyalty
CONSEQUENCES OF JOB DISSATISFACTION
 JOB SATISFACTION AND OCB
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.

OCB – Discretionary behaviors that contribute to

organizational effectiveness but are not part of
employees’ formal job description
 LESSONS FOR MANAGERS
Employee attitudes give warnings of potential problems and
influence behavior

Satisfied and committed employees exhibit behaviors that increase

organizational outcomes

Managers must measure job attitudes in order to improve them

Most important elements a manager can focus on are the intrinsic parts
of the job: making the work challenging and interesting

High pay is not enough to create satisfaction

CASE STUDY
Hemlatha as an entrepreneur, wants to find out
‘how she can make her employees work harder.
Right after completing her graduation she had
taken this job. Her father passed away
suddenly due to an attack and she was left with
limited resources to take her father’s business.
She changed the philosophy of the organisation.
She wanted her employees to work on their
own to come out with innovative ideas in
solving their problems. On the other hand, the
employees developed an attitude towards
Hemlatha being very rude in her approach
towards them.
CASE STUDY..contd
There was lot of commotion. Her instruction to the
supervisors to increase the production went in vain.
Though the employees were paid well, their
absenteeism increased. Finally Hemlatha called on
her employees in desperation. She announced that
those employees who are failing to give the expected
productivity might have to undergo a cut in their
salary.
1. If you were the entrepreneur, what
would you do in this situation ?
2. Suggest a possible solution in this case.
3. Explain the different attitudes you
find in the case.