Chapter 2: Personality and Learning Flashcards
Personality:
Stable set of psychological characteristics that influences the way an individual interacts with their environment, how they feel, think and behave. Determined by genetics and learning history
Disposition Approach:
An individual’s character and personality influence behavior
Situational Approach:
Factors in the workplace predict behavior and influence behavior
Internationalist Approach:
Both, understand behavior through personality and setting
Five-Factor Personality Model:
- Extraversion
- Emotional Stability
- Agreeableness
- Conscientiousness
- Openness to Experience
Extraversion:
Extent to which a person is outgoing, sociable, energetic
Emotional Stability
Degree to which a person has emotional control. People with high emotional stability are self-confident with high self-esteem
Agreeableness
Extent to which a person is friendly, approachable, sympathetic, cooperative
Conscientiousness
Degree to which a person is responsible, success orientated, motivated, hard working
Openness to Experience
Extent to which a person thinks flexibly and is receptive to new ideas (creative)
Locus of Control:
Person’s belief about the location of the factors that control behavior
Internal Locus of Control:
opportunity to control their own behavior resides in themselves
External Locus of Control:
luck, fate or other people determine their behavior
Self-Monitoring:
extent to which people regulate how they appear in social situations. High self-monitors are like actors and are flexible and adaptive
Self-Esteem:
degree to which a person has a positive self-evaluation
Behavioral Plasticity Theory:
events and social influences have more impact on people with low self-esteem because they are unsure of their own views so they look to others for confirmation
Positive/Negative Affectivity:
Emotions, moods, view on the world and others
Proactive Behavior:
talking initiative to improve or create new circumstances
Proactive Personality:
stable characteristics that reflect a tendency to initiate activities and change one’s environment
General Self Efficiency (GSE):
A general trait that refers to an individual’s belief on their ability to perform successfully in challenging situations. Motivational trait that develops over a lifetime
Core Self Evaluation:
Broad personality concept that reflects the evaluations people make about themselves and their self-worth
Learning:
Occurs when practice or experience leads to permanent change in behavior
Practical Skills:
job-specific skills, knowledge
Intrapersonal Skills:
problem solving, alternative processes, risk taking
Cultural Awareness:
learning the social norms and understanding organizations goal
How People Learn:
Operant Learning, Reinforcement, Positive reinforcement, Negative reinforcement
Operant Learning:
subjects learn to operate to achieve certain consequences. Ex. Skinner put a level in a rat cage that dispensed food
Reinforcement:
process by which stimuli strengthens behavior. Continuous, immediate, should be used every time the wanted behavior occurs
Positive Reinforcement:
Increased or maintain the probability of a behavior by the addition of a stimulus to the situation.
Negative Reinforcement:
Increase or maintains the probability of a behavior with the removal of a stimulus from the situation. Ex. making smokers pay $600 as a charge at work
Organizational Errors
- Confusing Rewards with Reinforcers: Can fail if the reward is not contingent with the specific behavior
- Neglecting Diversity in Preference for Reinforcers: Fail to appreciate individual differences. Ex. reinforcing a workaholic’s extra effort instead of rewarding different individuals
- Neglecting Important Sources of Reinforcement: Performance Feedback: providing information on past performance with the purpose of changing or maintaining performance. Should be positive, immediately, presented visually
Social Recognition:
informal acknowledgement, attention or approval
Extinction:
terminating reinforcement that is maintaining unwanted behavior
Ex. making coworkers stop laughing at someone’s jokes to make him stop telling them
Punishment:
following unwanted behavior with an unpleasant stimulus
Using Punishment Effectively:
Must provide and acceptable alternative for the punished behavior. Can provoke an emotional response from the person. Make Punishment is Bad. Punish Immediately. Don’t Reward Unwanted Behavior. Don’t Inadvertently Punish Desirable Behavior.
Observational Learning:
process of observing and imitating the behavior of others
Self-Efficacy:
Beliefs people have about their ability to successfully perform a task. Task specific mental evaluation (not generalized)
Self-Regulation:
Using learning to manage one’s own behavior
Discrepancy Production:
When people attain their goals they are likely to set higher goals
- Observe one’s own behavior
- Compare to others behaviors
- Set Goals to meet
- Execute the plans
- Reward with accomplishment
Organizational Behavior Modification:
use of learning principals to influence OB
Employee Recognition Programs:
formal programs that publically recognize and reward employees for specific behaviors. To be effective they must specify how a person will be recognized, for what behavior, the way they are going to be acknowledged and given a token for the behavior
Training:
planned activities that are designed to simplify knowledge and skill acquisition to change behavior and improve performance
Career Development:
ongoing process where individuals progress through a series of stages consisting of issues, themes and tasks. Assessment of interests and skills.
