Chapter 3: Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

Attitudes:Attitudes are evaluative statements either favorable or unfavorable about objects, people, or events. They reflect how we feel about something. When an employee says I like my job, he is expressing his attitude about his work. Main Components of Attitudes:

Typically, researchers have assumed that attitudes have three components --- Cognitive Component: The opinion of belief segment of an attitude. Example: My colleagues are behaving unfair to me. (Evaluation) Affective Component: The emotional or feeling segment of an attitude. Example: I have an aversion to the environment of my job. (Feeling) Behavioral Component: An intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something. Example: I want to leave this job and looking for another. (Action) Example:The following exhibit illustrates how the three components cognitive, affect, and behavior are related. In this example, an employee didnt get a promotion he thought he deserved; a coworker got it instead. The employees attitude towards his supervisor is illustrated as follows: the employee thought he deserved the promotion (cognition), the employee strongly dislikes his supervisor (affect), and the employee is looking for another job (behavior). Although often we think that cognition causes affect, which then causes behavior, in reality these components are often difficult to separate.

Does Behavior always follow from attitudes?

Early research of psychologists assumed that attitudes were related to behavior-attitudes that people hold determine what they do. People seek consistency among their attitudes and behavior. They do this by altering either the attitudes or the behavior or by developing a rationalization for the discrepancy. Behavior does not follow up attitude always, but sometimes it can be changed or shaped by attitude, but it remains within a certain limit. Attitude seldom follow behavior, and under few conditions it does, such as when the attitude is potent, and strong, or when something has happened that changed ones behavior as well as his attitude about it. How satisfied are people in their jobs?People are always looking for better options. As they have limitless demand, cannot be satisfied with their current position and seek for higher positions repeatedly. Thats why; they are always displeased with their job and constantly look for improved one. Job satisfaction level vary a lot depending on age, payment, promotion activates etc.But in some case, an employee can have satisfaction with his job, if he has certain interest in working with that sector or if he had no other option, such as old aged persons. Personality also influences peoples job satisfaction. Negative people are usually not satisfied with their jobs. Those with positive core self-evaluation are more satisfied with their jobs. However, those who are satisfied with their job are tending to be less satisfied with their pay and with promotion opportunities. So, its that, people cannot gain complete satisfaction with his/her job. What are the major job attitudes?

A person can have thousands of attitudes, but OB focuses our attention on a very limited number of work-related attitudes. Most of the research in OB has looked at three attitudes: job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment. A few other attitudes attracting attention from researchers include perceived organizational support and employee engagement. Job Satisfaction: The term job satisfaction describes a positive feeling about a job, resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics. A person with a high level of job satisfaction holds positive feelings about his or her job, while dissatisfied person holds negative feelings. When people speak of employees attitudes, they usually mean job satisfaction. Job Involvement: Related to job satisfaction is job involvement. Job involvement measures the degree to which people identify psychologically with their job and consider their perceived performance level important to self-worth. High level of both job involvement and psychological empowerment are positively related to organizational citizenship and job performance. In addition, high job involvement has been found to relate to a reduced number of absences and lower resignation rates, also increasing job satisfaction. Organizational Commitment: Organizational commitment is the degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization. There are three separate diminutions to organizational commitment. Affective commitment: An emotional attachment to an organization and a belief in its value. Continuance commitment: The perceived economic value of remaining with an organization compared with leaving it. Normative commitment: An obligation to remain with an organization for moral or ethical reasons. Perceived Organizational Support: POS is the degree to which employees believe an organization values their condition and cares about their well-being. For example, an employee believes his organization would accommodate him if he had a childcare problem or would forgive an honest mistake on his part. Employee Engagement: An individuals involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for the work he or she does. Impact of Satisfied or Dissatisfied Employees:Home Depot Canada, Xerox, Sears, Roebuck and Co., and a flock of other organizations are paying a lot more attention to job satisfaction these days. Job satisfaction affects many of the individual behaviors. There are consequences when employees like their jobs and when they dislike their jobs. A useful template to organize and understand the consequences of job dissatisfaction is the exit-voice-loyalty-neglect (EVLN) model. This theoretical framework is helpful in understanding the consequences of dissatisfaction. Exhibit illustrates the frameworks four responses, which differ from one another along two dimensions: constructive/destructive and active/passive. The responses are defined as follows:

Exit: The exit response involves directing behavior toward leaving the organization, including looking for a new position as well as resigning. Employee turnover is a well-established outcome of job dissatisfaction, particularly for employees with better job opportunities elsewhere. Voice: The voice response involves actively and constructively attempting to improve conditions, including suggesting improvements, discussing problems with superiors, and understanding some forms of union activity. Voice is often researched purely as a positive or constructive response, such as directly trying to solve the problem with management or actively helping to improve the situation. However, voice can also be more confrontational, such as by filing formal grievances. In the extreme, some employees might engage in counterproductive behaviors to get attention and force changes in the organization. Loyalty: The loyalty response involves passively but optimistically waiting for conditions to improve, including speaking up for the organization in the face of external criticism and trusting the organization and its management to do the right thing. The most widely held view is that loyalists are employees who respond to dissatisfaction by patiently waitingsome say suffering in silencefor the problem to work itself out or get resolved by others. Neglect: The neglect response involves passively allowing conditions to worsen, including chronic absenteeism or lateness, reduced effort and increased error rate. Research clearly establishes that dissatisfied employees tend to have higher absenteeism; the relationship between satisfaction and job performance is more complex.The use of any of these four EVLN alternatives depends on the person and situation. One determining factor is the availability of alternative employment. With poor job prospects, employees are less likely to use the exit option. Employees who identify with the organization are also more likely to use voice rather than exit.

Personality is another influence on the choice of action. People with high conscientiousness are less likely to engage in neglect and more likely to engage in voice Some experts suggest that employees differ in their EVLN behavior depending on whether they have high or low socialism. Finally, past experience influences our choice of action. Employees who were unsuccessful with voice in the past are more likely to engage in exit or neglect when experiencing job dissatisfaction in the future. Attitude vs. Capacity:

AttitudeCapacity

1.Attitude is what one can do right now with current resources and skills.Capacity is what maximum that one can do with proper training and right equipment.

2.Ability is related to mental power.Capacity is related to physical power.

3.Ability is practically possible.Capacity is available or possible to be done.

4.But one may not be able to climb because of his laziness.One may have the capacity to climb six floors.

Attitude vs. Behavior:

AttitudeBehavior

1.Attitude is a person's inner thoughts and feelings.Behavior is usually an outward expression of attitude.

2.Attitude is reaction of circumstances influenced by environment.Behavior is reaction of circumstances received by born and earlier stage or learning.

3.Attitude is short term evaluative statements.Behavior is long term statements.

4.Attitude is thought-oriented.Behavior is action-oriented.

5.Attitude is rapidly changeable. Behavior does not change and shaped in a limit.

6.Attitude is build up from societal influences.Behavior is build up from influences of family and generation by generation.

7.For example: a manager may like his boss, it is his attitude toward his boss.For example: manager must obey his boss and always have to give him a smile, it is his behavior.