Chapter 7 - Positive Organizational Behavior and Psychological Capital Flashcards
1
Q
Positive Organizational Behavior (POB)
A
- the study and application of positive oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed, and effectively managed for performance improvement in today’s workplace.
- Based on theory and research
- Valid measures
- “State-like” and thus open to development
- Managed for performance improvement
2
Q
Four Positive Psychological Resources
A
HERO:
- hope
- efficacy
- resiliency
- optimism
3
Q
Positive Psychology
A
- is to use scientific methodology to discover and promote the factors that allow individuals, groups, organizations, and communities to thrive
- It is concerned with optimal human functioning instead of pathological human functioning
4
Q
Three levels of Positive Psychology
A
- Valued subjective experiences (Well-being, contentment, and satisfaction (in the past); hope and optimism (for the future); and flow and happiness (in the present).
- Positive individual traits (The capacity for love and vocation, courage, interpersonal skill, aesthetic sensibility, perseverance, forgiveness, originality, future mindedness, spirituality, high talent, and wisdom
- Civic virtues and the institutions that move individuals toward better citizenship (Responsibility, nurturance, altruism, civility, moderation, tolerance, and work ethic)
5
Q
H-R-W well-being
A
- Health (both physical and mental)
- Relationships (both intimate and social)
- Work (both performance and satisfaction)
- interactive, reciprocal determination between one’s health, relationships, and work
- Figure 7.1 page 174
6
Q
Sonja Lyubomirsky’s H-R-W well-being determination
A
- Half is attributed to a genetic, dispositional “hard-wiring”
- About 10 percent seems to be the result of life’s circumstances
- The remaining 40 percent of one’s happiness, positivity, or H-R-W well-being is is determined by intentional activity
7
Q
self-efficacy
A
- Confidence
- refers to an individual’s ability to execute courses of action required to deal with prospective situations
- state-like and open for development
8
Q
self-reflection
A
- people reflect back on their actions/experience with a specific event/task to then cognitively process how strongly they believe they can successfully accomplish this event/ task in the future
- that serves as the theoretical basis for self-efficacy
9
Q
Specific Self-Efficacy
A
- is state-like
- is highly variable depending on the specific task and is cognitively processed by the individual before any effort is expended
10
Q
General Efficacy
A
- trait-like
- is the opposite of specific self-efficacy
- is relatively stable over time and across situations
- is like a personality trait
11
Q
Self-efficacy vs. self-esteem
A
- self-esteem is a global construct of one’s evaluation and belief of overall worthiness, whereas self-efficacy is one’s belief about a task-and context-specific capability
- self-esteem is stable and trait-like, whereas self-efficacy is changing over time as new information and task experiences are gained and developed and is state-like
- self-esteem is aimed at any aspect of one’s current self, whereas self-efficacy is a current assessment of one’s future success at a task
12
Q
Self-efficacy vs. expectancy concepts
A
- Both involve perceptions of ability, skill, knowledge, experience with the specific task, complexity of the task
- effort-performance expectancy - psychomotor reactions such as emotions, stress, and physical fatigue
- with behavior-outcome expectancy is a judgment of the probable consequence such behavior will produce an outcome
- the individual’s self-efficacy evaluation will usually come before any behavior outcome expectancies are even considered
13
Q
Self-efficacy vs. attribution/locus of control
A
- Those who make internal attributions about their behavior and its consequences (success or failure) believe they are in control of their own fate (e.g., “It is my effort or ability that makes the difference”) and assume personal responsibility for the consequences of their behavior
- Externals, on the other hand, make attributions to the circumstances (“The task was too hard”) or to luck and do not take personal responsibility for the consequences of their behavior
- locus of control attributions are causal beliefs about action-outcome contingencies, whereas self-efficacy is an individual’s belief about his or her abilities and cognitive resources that can be marshaled together to successfully execute a specific task
14
Q
Self-Efficacy evaluation/perception
A
- Choice behaviors - The decision to perform the specific task in this context
- Motivational effort - The amount of effort that will be expended to accomplish the task
- Perseverance - The level of persistence that will be forthcoming despite problems, disconfirming evidence, and adversity. those with high self-efficacy will bounce back, be resilient when meeting problems or even failure, whereas those with low self-efficacy tend to give up when obstacles appear
- Facilitative thought patterns - efficacy judgments influence self-talks such as those with high self-efficacy might say to themselves
- Vulnerability to stress - those with low self-efficacy tend to experience stress and burnout because they expect failure, whereas those with high self-efficacy enter into potential stressful situations with confidence and assurance and thus are able to resist
stressful reactions
15
Q
Profile of a High Performer
A
- highly efficacious individual who really gets into the task
- gives whatever effort it takes to successfully accomplish the task
- perseveres when meeting obstacles, frustrations, or setbacks
- has positive self-thoughts and talks; and is resistant to stress and burnout
- expect to succeed and gain favorable, positive outcome incentives
- focus on the opportunities worth pursuing, and view obstacles as surmountable
16
Q
Sources of Efficacy (page 178-180)
Also Figure 7.1 page 181
A
- Mastery experiences or performance attainments
- Vicarious Experiences or Modeling
- Social Persuasion
- Physiological and Psychological Arousal
17
Q
Implications of Self-Efficacy for Effective Training #1 Mastery experience and performance attainment
A
Trainees must learn they are the cause of their performance.
- Plenty of practice so mastery (as defined by the training objectives) is reached
- Break learning into series of obtainable endpoints to help self-confirmation of skills.
- Provide feedback on progress (not shortfalls) and contributions
18
Q
Implications of Self-Efficacy for Effective Training #2 Vicarious experience and modeling
A
Model(s) used should have similar demographic attributes, and the training being done should be similar to what the trainees will be doing back on the job.
- Carefully select models used in the training to have similar characteristics as the trainees.
- Set up training so that trainees perceive performance is due to the capability of the model and not other factors.
- Models should take a task-diagnostic perspective (i.e., focus on task and if mistake is made, interpret as way to learn rather than personal inadequacy).
19
Q
Implications of Self-Efficacy for Effective Training #3 Social persuasion
A
All comments have impact, so feedback must be phrased positively to build trainee confidence.
- Set trainees up for success so feedback comments can be very positive.
- Trainers must be careful and sensitive to keep positive things that are said and done in the presence of the trainee.
20
Q
Implications of Self-Efficacy for Effective Training #4 Physical and psychological arousal
A
Make sure trainees experiencing physical or psychological symptoms interpret them as the nature of the training task and not some personal inadequacy (i.e., lack of ability).
- Trainees must understand that the need to exert considerable physical (or psychological) effort does not mean a lack of personal capability.
- Getting trainees physically and psychologically fit may help arouse motivation to learn and be successful.
21
Q
Magnitude of a Task
A
- measures the level of task difficulty that a person believes he or she is capable of executing, and strength indicates whether the magnitude is strong and likely to produce perseverance when difficulties are encountered
22
Q
Guided Mastery
A
which includes instructive modeling to acquire a skill or competency, guided skill perfection, and then transferring the training back to the job to ensure self-directed success.
23
Q
Cognitive Mastery Modeling
A
- learn thinking skills and how to apply them by observing the decision rules and reasoning strategies successful models use as they arrive at solutions to problems and make effective decisions
24
Q
Greatest impact of BMT was when:
Behavioral Modeling Training (BMT)
A
a. both negative and positive models were presented;
b. practice included trainee-generated scenarios;
c. trainers were instructed to set goals;
d. trainees’ supervisors were also trained; and
e. rewards and sanctions were instituted in the trainees’ work environment.
25
Optimism / Optimists
- is a major construct in positive psychology and has long been recognized by both psychologists and people in general
- drawback of overly optimistic: optimistic managers may become distracted from making the necessary action plans to attain goals or contingency plans for clearly impending problems
- make external (not their fault), unstable (temporary setback), and specific (problem only in this situation) attributions
26
Pessimism / Pessimists
is known to lead to passivity, failure, social estrangement, and, in its extreme, depression and mortality
- make internal (their own fault), stable (will last a long time), and global (will undermine everything they do) attributions
27
Learned Optimism (Seligman)
- This says that anyone, including pessimists, can learn the skills to be an optimist
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Hope
- A positive motivational state that is based on an interactively derived sense of successful (a) agency (goal-directed energy), and (b) pathways (planning to meet goals).
- More simply, this meaning of hope consists of both the “willpower” (agency) and the “waypower” (pathways)
- Perhaps conceptually the term closest in meaning to hope is self-efficacy
29
Resiliency (page 192)
- is defined as “a class of phenomena characterized by patterns of positive adaptation in the context of significant adversity or risk
- as the capacity to rebound or bounce back from adversity, conflict, failure or even positive events, progress and increased responsibility
- involves flexibility, adjustment, adaptability, and continuous responsiveness to change and uncertainty that can otherwise represent a source of psychological strain and challenge one’s well-being over the long term
30
An individual’s positive psychological state of development that is characterized by:
HERO:
(1) having confidence (self-Efficacy) to take on and put in the necessary effort to succeed at challenging tasks;
(2) making a positive attribution (Optimism) about succeeding now and in the future;
(3) persevering toward goals and, when necessary, redirecting paths to goals (Hope) in order to succeed; and
(4) when beset by problems and adversity, sustaining and bouncing back and even beyond (Resiliency) to attain success
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Psychological Capital
Defined as “an individual's positive psychological state of development”
- characterized by having high levels of HERO; the four elements of Hope, (Self-)Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism
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Developmental dimensions - Hope
| figure 7.4 page 195
- Goals and pathways design
- Implementing obstacle planning
- influenced by goals, pathways, and agency
- work-related goals that were personally valuable and reasonably challenging and that included a clear beginning and end point
33
Developmental dimensions - Realistic optimism
| figure 7.4 page 195
- Building efficacy /Confidence
- Developing positive expectancy
- Building efficacy in pathway generation and obstacle planning
- Building confidence in identifying and planning to overcome obstacles increased expectations of goal achievement
34
Developmental dimensions - Efficacy/ Confidence
| figure 7.4 page 195
- Experiencing success/Modeling others
- Persuasion and arousal
- Practice setting up step-wise techniques to accomplish goals (sub-goals, vicarious learning, emotional arousal, etc).
35
Developmental dimensions - Resiliency
| figure 7.4 page 195
- Building assets/Avoid risks
- Affecting the influence process
- build awareness of personal assets like talents, skills, and social networks.
- leverage resources to accomplish a given goal
36
Subjective Well-Being (SWB)
| aka happiness
1. Happiness is a process, not a place. “Happiness is an ongoing process that requires a way of experienced life and the world that includes positive attitudes, meaning, and spirituality. Being truly rich is as much about the attitudes within us as the circumstances surrounding us.”
2. There is actually an optimal level of happiness. Those “too happy” may perform less well at school and work, and even be less healthy (e.g., may ignore symptoms or required regiments).
3. Though not linear, happiness is clearly related to health and longevity, relationships, and effectiveness at work.
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Guidelines for developing and sustaining happiness
1. Practicing gratitude and positive thinking (expressing gratitude, cultivating optimism, and avoiding overthinking and social comparison);
2. Investing in social connections (practicing acts of kindness and nurturing social relationships);
3. Managing stress, hardship, and trauma (developing strategies for coping, learning to forgive);
4. Living in the present (increasing flow experiences, savoring life’s joys);
5. Committing to your goals;
6. Taking care of your body and soul (practicing religion and spirituality, meditation, physical exercise, and acting like a happy person).
38
Emotional Labor
- to express false, not natural expression, positive emotions such as smiling, most seasoned customers can easily pick up the difference
- the appropriate display of negative emotions typically means masking those emotions
- the process of managing feelings and expressions to fulfill the emotional requirements of a job
- has dysfunctional consequences for the employees doing it (e.g., stress and burnout) but also detracts from effective customer service
39
Intelligence
- added support for the nature (biological) argument of intelligence
- Binet’s IQ basically measured two relatively narrow dimensions: mathematical/logical and verbal/ linguistic
- Gardner recognized these two plus initially five others. In developing these seven multiple intelligences or MIs, - he found that intelligence was not entirely genetic and fixed at birth, but instead it could be nurtured and grown
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Three Criteria to be Considered an Intelligence
(1) measurable,
(2) valued by the person’s culture, and
(3) a strength that the person defaulted to when challenged to be creative or solve a problem.
41
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
| Figure 7.3 page 204
Original:
1. Logical/mathematical (Processes analytically, calculates, quantifies)
2. Verbal/linguistic (Thoughts through words, uses words to nurture)
3. Interpersonal (Understands others, processes through interaction, empathizes, humor)
4. Intrapersonal (Thinks in quiet, likes to be alone, goal oriented, independent, perseveres)
5. Visual/spatial (Uses mental models, thinks three dimensionally, pictures how to get places or solve problems)
6. Musical (Sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm, found in both performers and listeners)
7. Bodily/kinesthetic (Physical movement, involves whole body, processes by jumping or dancing)
New:
8. Naturalist (Needs to be with/survive in nature, strength in categorization in nature or urban world)
9. Existential (Not religion per se, knows why he or she is here, personal mission)
10. Emotional (Emotionally mature, recognizes own anger, reacts to emotions of self and other)
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Cognitive Abilities Related to Job Performance
1. Verbal comprehension (Comprehend what is read or heard, understand what words mean and the relationships to one another)
2. Numerical (Make fast and accurate arithmetic computations)
3. Spatial visualization (Perceive spatial patterns, imagine how an object would look if position in space were changed)
4. Perceptual speed (Quickly identify visual similarities and differences, carry out tasks needing visual perception)
5. Memory (Rote memory, retain and recall past incidents/experiences)
6. Inductive reasoning (Identify logical sequence from specific to general)
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Emotional Intelligence (EI)
- The capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships
- emotional set points like temperament are inherited
- temperament is not destiny and is malleable
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5 Emotional intelligence dimensions
1. Self-awareness (Self-understanding; knowledge of true feelings at the moment)
2. Self-management (Handle one’s emotions to facilitate rather than hinder the task at hand; shake off negative emotions and get back on constructive track for problem solution.
3. Self-motivation (Stay the course toward desired goal; overcome negative emotional impulses and delay gratification to attain the desired outcome)
4. Empathy (Understand and be sensitive to the feelings of others; being able to sense what others feel and want)
5. Social skills (The ability to read social situations; smooth in interacting with others and forming networks; able to guide others’ emotions and the way they act)
