I_O Psychology 3 Flashcards
Priority 2
What developmental theory was Tiedeman and O’Hare’s Decision Making Model based on.
Erikson’s eight psychosocial crisis resolutions: trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, generativity, integrity.
What are the assumptions underlying the scientific management approach to I/O psychology?
Scientific methods can be employed to find the best way of doing a particular job. Dividing jobs into their smallest components and paying workers by piece results in best productivity.
What were Taylor’s assumptions in designing his scientific management approach?
Worker motivation affects performance; most workers are motivated exclusively by economic incentives; most workers need constant supervision.
What are the assumptions underlying the human relations approach in I/O psychology?
That worker performance is affected primarily by social factors, including attitudes toward supervisors and coworkers, and informal group norms.
What is the “Hawthorne effect?”
An improvement in worker productivity as a result of increased attention. Named for the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric, where the company experimented with environmental conditions; regardless of the changes, productivity improved because of the extra attention workers received by virtue of being experimental subjects.
What are the assumption of the systems approach in I/O psychology?
An organization is an open system receiving input from within and without; changes in one part affect all other parts; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
What are the assumptions of a situational/contingency approach in I/O psychology?
Workers have diverse needs; organizations vary and, as a result, no one managerial strategy will work for all organizations at all times. Related to a systems approach.
Compare American and Japanese management philosophies.
American vs. Japanese, respectively: short- vs. long-term employment; individual vs. consensual decision making; individual vs. collective responsibility; rapid vs. slow evaluation and promotion; specialized vs. non-specialized career paths; segmented vs. holistic knowledge of organization.
What is Theory Z?
An attempt to combine the best of American and Japanese management philosophies, advocating consensual decision-making, slow promotion, holistic organization knowledge (from Japanese approach) with individual responsibility (from American approach). It compromises between them with long-term (rather than life-long) employment and a moderately specialized career path.
What is total quality management (TQM)?
Management emphasis on product quality, often involving a flattening of company management, reduced manager-non-manager ratio, increased teamwork and emphasis on fairness, and, for workers, increased skill and task variety and significance, autonomy, and feedback.
Name Lewin, Lipitt, and White’s three leadership styles.
Autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire. Productivity is highest under autocratic leaders, esp. with routine work. Democratic leaders have the most satisfied, creative, and autonomous workers.
Factor analysis has revealed what two dimensions of leadership styles?
Consideration (person-oriented) and initiating structure (task-oriented, rule-following). These are independent dimensions.
What personality traits are associated with effective leadership?
No clear evidence of a relationship. Effectiveness is moderated by characteristics of supervisees, task type, and work environment.
What are theory X and theory Y leadership styles?
Theory X similar to scientific management, assuming work is inherently aversive, workers lack ambition and need direction, and motivation arises from lowest-level needs. Theory Y similar to human relations, assuming work is natural, workers are self-directed, responsible, and require freedom and autonomy.
What is Fiedler’s Contingency (LPC) theory?
A leader’s style can be inferred from her/his description of her/his least preferred coworker (LPC): those that describe their LPCs in positive terms tend to be relationship-oriented; those that describe LPCs in negative terms tend to be task- and achievement-oriented.
What are the three factors Fiedler says affect a leader’s ability to influence subordinates (a situation’s favorableness)?
Leader-subordinate relationships, task structure, and leader’s ability to enforce compliance. Low LPC leaders perform best in the extremes of favorableness (high or low) and high LPC leaders are best in moderate favorableness, implying that no leadership style is effective in all situations.
