Chapter THREE

Attitudes and Job

Satisfaction

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. Definition. Attitude = a favorable or unfavorable
evaluative reaction toward something or someone,
exhibited in ones beliefs, feelings, or intended behavior
(Myers, p. 36). It is a social orientation - an underlying
inclination to respond to something either favorably or
unfavorably.
2. Components of attitudes.
a. Cognitive - our thoughts, beliefs, and ideas about
something. When a human being is the object of an attitude,
the cognitive component is frequently a stereotype, e.g.
"welfare recipients are lazy"
b. Affective - feelings or emotions that something evokes.
e.g. fear, sympathy, hate. May dislike welfare recipients.
c. Conative, or behavioral - tendency or disposition to act in
certain ways toward something. Might want to keep welfare
recipients out of our neighborhood. Emphasis is on the
tendency to act, not the actual acting; what we intend and
what we do may be quite different.
 Attitudes

Attitudes Cognitive component

The opinion or belief
Evaluative segment of an attitude.
statements
or Affective Component
judgments The emotional or feeling
concerning segment of an attitude.
objects,
people, or Behavioral Component
events. An intention to behave in a
certain way toward someone or
something.
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 The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance
•Any incompatibility between two or more
attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.
•Individuals seek to reduce this gap, or
“dissonance”
Desire
Desireto
toreduce
reducedissonance
dissonancedepends
dependson
on
• •Importance
Importanceofofelements
elementscreating
creatingdissonance
dissonance
• •Degree
Degreeof
ofindividual
individualinfluence
influenceover
overelements
elements
• •Rewards
Rewardsinvolved
involvedinindissonance
dissonance

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Cognitive dissonance refers to a situation
involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs, or
behaviors.
This produces a feeling of mental discomfort
leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes,
beliefs, or behaviors to reduce the discomfort
and restore balance.
For example, when people smoke
(behavior) and they know that smoking
causes cancer (cognition), they are in a
state of cognitive dissonance.
 Measuring the A-B Relationship
• Recent research indicates that attitudes (A)
significantly predict behaviors (B) when
moderating variables are taken into account.
A B

Moderating
ModeratingVariables
Variables
• •Importance
Importanceof ofthe
theattitude
attitude
• •Specificity
Specificityof
ofthe
theattitude
attitude
• •Accessibility
Accessibilityof
ofthe
theattitude
attitude
• •Social
Socialpressures
pressureson onthe
theindividual
individual
• •Direct
Directexperience
experiencewith
withthe
theattitude
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.
And, B A!

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 Types of Attitudes
Job Satisfaction
A collection of positive and/or negative feelings
that an individual holds toward his or her job.

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

Organizational Commitment
Identifying with a particular organization and
its goals, and wishing to maintain
membership in the organization (Affective,
Normative, and Continuance Commitment)
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 Types of Attitudes, cont’d.
Perceived Organizational Support (POS)
Degree to which employees feel the organization cares
about their well-being.

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

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An Application: Attitude Surveys
Attitude Surveys
Eliciting responses from employees through
questionnaires about how they feel about their
jobs, work groups, supervisors, and the
organization.

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Attitudes and Workforce Diversity
• Training activities that can reshape employee
attitudes concerning diversity:
–Participating in diversity training that provides for
self-evaluation and group discussions.
–Volunteer work in community and social serve
centers with individuals of diverse backgrounds.

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Job satisfaction, employee satisfaction or work
satisfaction is a measure of workers' contentment with
their job, whether they like the job or individual
aspects or facets of jobs, such as nature of work or
supervision. Job satisfaction can be measured in
cognitive, affective, and behavioral components.
 Job Satisfaction
• Measuring Job Satisfaction
–Single global rating
–Summation score
• How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs?
–In general, people are satisfied with their jobs.
–Depends on facets of satisfaction—tend to be less
satisfied with pay and promotion opportunities.

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 Causes of Job Satisfaction

• Pay only influences Job Satisfaction to a point

–After about $40,000 a year, there is no relationship
between amount of pay and job satisfaction.

• Personality can influence job satisfaction

–Negative people are usually not satisfied with their
jobs
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 How Employees Can Express
Dissatisfaction
Exit Voice
Behavior directed Active and
toward leaving the constructive attempts
organization. to improve
conditions.
Loyalty Neglect
Passively waiting for Allowing conditions
conditions to improve. to worsen.

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 The Effect of Job Satisfaction on
Employee Performance
• Satisfaction and Productivity
–Satisfied workers are more productive AND more
productive workers are more satisfied!
–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.

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 Job Satisfaction and OCB
• Satisfaction and OCBs
–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.

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 Job Satisfaction and Customer
Satisfaction
• 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.
• Dissatisfied customers increase employee job
dissatisfaction.
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 Chapter Check-Up: Attitudes

In general, when we think of attitudes and organizations, we think of

1) Job Satisfaction
2) Happiness
3) Job Involvement
4) Mood at work
5) Organizational Commitment
6) 1 and 2
7) 1, 3, and 5

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 Chapter Check-Up: Attitudes
Ernesto is the known as the Donut Hut King---every day he brings donuts and coffee to the office for everyone. He says it helps
everyone think more clearly! Ernesto is demonstrating

1. Job satisfaction
2. Organizational citizenship
behavior
3. Productivity
4. Job involvement
5. Conscientiousness

Write down three things someone could do at

work that would constitute an OCB. Compare
your list with a neighbor’s.
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