Module B This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following...

Module BModule B

This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:• any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;• preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; • any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

Social Psychology Goes to Work: Applying Social Psychology to Work

Settings and Entrepreneurship

Copyright 2006, Allyn and Bacon


Social Psychology Goes to WorkSocial Psychology Goes to Work

• Work-Related Attitudes: The Nature and Effects of Job Satisfaction

• Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Prosocial Behavior at Work

• Leadership: Influence in Group Settings

• The Social Psychology of Entrepreneurship


Social Psychology Goes to WorkSocial Psychology Goes to Work

• Industrial-Organizational Psychologists—specialize in studying all forms of behavior and cognition in work settings


Work-Related AttitudesWork-Related Attitudes

• Job satisfaction—attitudes individuals hold concerning their jobs – The causes of job satisfaction

• Organizational factors– Being the only member of their ethnicity in the workplace is a

concern for ethnic minority workers.

• Personal factors

• The influence of genetic factors on personality– Result is that job satisfaction is very stable over time and jobs.



– The effects of job satisfaction• Job satisfaction is only weakly correlated to job

performance. – Many jobs do not allow for variations in performance.

– Many other factors influence job performance.

– Job satisfaction may be a result of good job performance rather than a cause of it.


Organizational Citizenship BehaviorOrganizational Citizenship Behavior• Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)—people helping each

other at work that is not a required part of their jobs

– It is performed voluntarily without external rewards.

– Five categories of OCB

• Altruism (helping others perform their jobs)

• Conscientiousness (doing more than is required)

• Civic virtue (showing concern for the organization)

• Sportsmanship (displaying tolerance)

• Courtesy (preventing interpersonal conflicts)


Organizational Citizenship BehaviorOrganizational Citizenship Behavior– What factors are related to helping at work?

• Belief that one is being treated fairly according to the principles of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice (trust in one’s boss and the organization)

– Also influences how much employees are willing to help customers, as well as coworkers

• Reciprocity (trading favors)

– The outcome may depend on if one is giving or receiving a favor.

• Employees’ perceptions regarding the breadth of their jobs• Strong organizational commitment (attitudes toward the organization)


Attitudes and Helping at WorkAttitudes and Helping at Work

• What are your thoughts?What are your thoughts?– Have you been an employee in a work environment in which

job satisfaction was low? • If so, what factors were responsible for creating the low levels of job

satisfaction?• Did you or your coworkers engage in any behaviors indicative of

feeling dissatisfied with your jobs?– If so, what were these behaviors?

– What are ways that employers can increase the amount of organizational citizenship behavior shown by their employees?


LeadershipLeadership

• Leadership—the process though which one member of a group (its leader) influences other group members toward attainment of shared group goals



– Why do some people become leaders?

• Great Person Theory of Leadership—leaders possess certain traits that set them apart from other persons and that are possessed by all leaders no matter where or when they live

– Recent research shows that leaders do differ from others.

• Leaders tend to possess the following traits:– Drive, self-confidence, creativity, leadership motivation, and a high

level of flexibility– Regarding the “Big Five” dimensions of personality, leaders tend

to be high in extraversion, openness to experience, and agreeableness.



– What do leaders do?• Initiating Structure (production orientation)—a key

dimension of leader behavior in which leaders are primarily concerned with getting the job done

• Consideration (person orientation)—a key dimension of leader behavior in which leaders focus on establishing good relations with their subordinates and on being liked by them

– Leaders who are high on both dimensions may be superior leaders.

• Other dimensions of leader behavior– Autocratic (makes all decisions) versus participative dimension– Directive (micro-manage) versus permissive dimension

» The best style of behavior depends on the situation



– Transformational Leaders—leaders who, because of several characteristics, exert profound effects on their followers

• Viewed as being charismatic, which is a result of demonstrating:– Idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and

individualized consideration

• Also show high levels of self-confidence, excellent communication skills, an exciting personal style, and are skilled at impression management

• These leaders wield great influence over many people.– Followers become more dependent on these leaders while at the same time

they feel more empowered because of them.



– Transactional Leaders—leaders who direct their groups by rewarding them for desired behavior, by taking action to correct mistakes or departures from existing rules, and who generally strengthen existing structures and strategies within an organization

• This type of leader is more typical and can be very effective in most ordinary work settings.

– Transformational leaders appear to perform better than transactional leaders in uncertain, chaotic work environments.


EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship• Entrepreneurs—individuals who recognize an

opportunity for a new business and start one – Why do some people become entrepreneurs?

• Social factors: Modeling (observational learning)• Cognitive factors: Optimistic bias, planning fallacy, the perception of

low levels of risk• Personal factors: High in extraversion, low in openness to experience

– What influences the success of entrepreneurs?• Social factors: Social skills (effective at social interaction, social

perception, persuasion, and making good first impressions)


EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship

• Cognitive factors: Engage in counterfactual thinking significantly less frequently, focus on the future and not the past; Good at knowing when to stick with something and when to switch strategies (i.e., avoiding the pitfalls of sunk costs)

– Regulatory Focus Theory—in regulating their own behavior, individuals adopt one of two contrasting perspectives: a promotion focus, in which they focus on attaining positive outcomes, or a prevention focus, in which they focus on avoiding negative outcomes

» Which focus is more effective depends on the availability of better alternatives


Leadership and EntrepreneurshipLeadership and Entrepreneurship

• What are your thoughts?What are your thoughts?– Have you encountered good leaders in the

workplace?• If so, what characteristics made them good leaders in that

work environment?

– What are possible drawbacks of transformational leaders in the workplace?

– What makes some people likely to become successful entrepreneurs?

Module B This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following...

Documents

Transcript of Module B This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following...