Individual Behavior, Personality & Values Flashcards
What are the four factors that directly influence
individual behaviour and performance.
Motivation, Ability, Role Perceptions, Situational Factors
What is the definition of motivation?
Motivation represents the forces within a person that affect his or her
direction, intensity and persistence of voluntary behavior.
What is direction?
Direction refers to the path along which people steer their effort (and can also be referred to as goal direction).
What aspect of the MARS model is direction a sub-component of?
Motivation
What is the definition of intensity?
Intensity is the amount of effort allocated to the
goal. Intensity is all about how much people push themselves to complete a
task.
What aspect of the MARS model is intensity a sub-component of?
Motivation.
What is the definition of persistence?
Persistence is the measure of how much time an employee spends on a goal - and whether they reach the goal or give up beforehand.
What aspect of the MARS model is persistence a sub-component of?
Motivation.
What is the definition of Ability?
Ability includes both the natural aptitudes and the learned capabilities required to complete a task successfully.
What aspect of the MARS model is natural aptitudes as sub component of?
Ability.
What is the definition of natural aptitudes?
Aptitudes are the natural talents that
help employees learn specific tasks more quickly and perform them better.
What is the definition of learned abilities?
Learned capabilities are the skills and knowledge that you currently possess. These capabilities include the physical and mental skills and knowledge you have acquired.
What aspect of the MARS model is learned abilities a sub component of?
Ability.
Aptitudes and learned capabilities are part of what part of the MARS model?
Ability
Abilities can also be referred to as what?
Competencies
Why is it good to match peoples competencies with the job requirements?
Because a good match tends to increase employee performance and wellbeing.
What are the four job matching strategies?
- Select candidates who already have the required competencies for the job.
- Train employees who lack specific aptitudes or capabilities for the job.
- Redesign the job to match the persons current abilities.
- Allow employees to modify their job to match their work style.
What is the definition of role perceptions?
Role perceptions refer to how clearly people
understand the job duties (roles) assigned to or expected of them.
What are the three forms of role perceptions (also called job clarity) that someone would need to know to be able to do a job right.
- What the specific duties are.
- The priority of their duties.
- The preferred behaviors/conduct required to complete their duties.
What are the advantages of role clarity?
Employees with role clarity perform work more accurately and efficiently, allows employees to coordinate better & motivates employees by contextualizing their efforts.
What is the definition of situational factors?
Refers to conditions beyond the employee’s immediate control that constrain or facilitate behavior and performance.
Why are the four factors in the MARS model important?
Because they effect all voluntary behaviors and performance in the workplace.
What are the different kinds of workplace behaviors and performance mentioned in the MARS model?
- Task Performance
- Org citizenship
- Counterproductive work behaviors
- Joining/staying with the organization
- Maintaining attendance
What is the definition of task performance?
Task performance refers to goal-directed behaviours under the individual’s control that support organizational objectives.
What are the three kinds of task performance?
- Proficient task performance.
- Adaptive task performance.
- Proactive task performance.
Define proficient task performance.
Proficient task performance refers to performing work efficiently and accurately. It involves accomplishing assigned work at or above the expected standards of quality, quantity and other indicators of effectiveness.
Define adaptive task performance.
Adaptive task performance refers to how well employees modify their thoughts and behaviour to align with and support a new or changing environment. Essentially, adaptive task performance is about how well employees respond to change in the workplace and in their job duties.
Define proactive task performance.
Proactive task performance refers to how well employees take the initiative to anticipate and introduce new work patterns that benefit the organisation. Proactive behaviours bring about change in oneself, co-workers and the workplace to contribute to what is perceived to be a better future for the organisation.
In what context is adaptive and proactive task performance relevant?
Adaptive and proactive task performance are also important when the nature of the work is ambiguous.
Define organizational citizenship.
Organizational citizenship includes various forms of cooperation and helpfulness to others that support the
organization’s social and psychological context.
Are organizational citizenship behaviors required?
Yes and no. Some organizations do, and some don’t as part of the job description.
What are the positive effects of engaging in org citizenship behaviors?
Hint: for individuals and teams.
- Higher individual performance.
2. Higher team performance.
What are the negative effects of engaging in org citizenship behaviors?
- Higher rates of work/family conflict.
2. Lower effort expended on core role tasks.
Define counterproductive work behaviors.
CWBs are voluntary behaviours that have the potential
to directly or indirectly harm the organisation.
What are the advantages of retaining employees (from an org effectiveness perspective)?
Much of an organisation’s intellectual capital is the knowledge carried around in employees’ heads.
What are downsides of high employee turnover?
Loss of intellectual capital, high costs to replace leavers and reduced capacity/services offered (in some sectors).
What factors effect regular work attendance behaviors?
Situational factors, motivation to attend, work relates stress/dissatisfaction, amount of sickleave available, absence norms, values/personality.
What is presenteeism?
Presenteeism occurs when people
attend work even though their capacity to work is significantly diminished by illness, fatigue, personal problems or other factors.
Why do people do presenteeism?
- Low job security.
- Lack financial security/sick leave.
- org/team norms.
- Personality.
What is the definition of personality?
Personality is the relatively enduring pattern of thoughts, emotions and behaviours that characterise a person, along with the psychological processes behind those characteristics.
What are personality traits?
Traits are broad concepts that allow us to label and understand individual differences.
What are the two aspects that determine personality?
Nature and nurture.
What is nature (with regards to personality)?
Nature refers to our genetic or hereditary origins—the genes that we inherit from our parents - and it these can influence our attitudes, decisions and behaviors.
Define nurture (with regards to personality)?
Nurture refers to our socialization, life
experiences and other forms of interaction with the environment.
Why does personality become more stable over time?
People form a clearer and more
rigid self-concept as we get older. This increasing clarity of ‘who we are’ serves as an anchor for our behaviour because the executive function—the part of the brain that manages goal-directed behaviour—tries to keep our behaviour consistent with our self-concept.
What is the acronym for the five factor model?
CANOE.
What is the five factor model?
This model distills a range of traits into five broad personality dimensions that can be used to measure clusters of traits.
Define conscientiousness.
Measures the extent to which people are organised, dependable, goal-focused, thorough, disciplined, methodical and industrious.
What is low conscientiousness associated with?
People with low conscientiousness tend to be careless, disorganised and less thorough.
Define agreeableness.
This dimension includes the traits of being trusting, helpful, good-natured, considerate, tolerant, selfless, generous and flexible.
What is low agreeableness associated with?
People with low agreeableness tend to be uncooperative and intolerant of others’ needs as well as more suspicious and self-focused.
Define neuroticism.
Neuroticism characterizes people who tend to be anxious, insecure, self-conscious,
depressed and temperamental.
What is low neuroticism associated with?
People with low neuroticism (high emotional stability) are poised, secure and calm.
Define openness to experience.
It generally refers to the extent to which people are imaginative, creative, unconventional,
curious, non-conforming, autonomous and aesthetically perceptive.
What is low openness to experience associated with?
Those who score low on this dimension tend to be more resistant to change, less open to new ideas and more conventional and fixed in their ways.
Define extraversion.
Extraversion characterises people who are outgoing, talkative, energetic, sociable and assertive.
What is the difference between extraverts and introverts?
Extraverts get their energy from the outer world whereas introverts get their energy from the internal world, such as personal reflection on
concepts and ideas.
What personality dimension is the best predictor of good job performance?
Conscientiousness.
What behavior type (and sub-types) is conscientiousness a weak predictor of?
- Behavior = task performance
2. Subtype = adaptive performance & proactive performance.
What personality dimension is the 2nd best predictor of good job performance?
Extraversion.
What kinds of behavior is agreeableness positively associated with?
Org citizenship.
What kinds of behavior is agreeableness negatively associated with?
Counterproductive work behavior.
What behavior is openness to experience positively associated with?
Weakly predicts proficient task performance (task performance), and is a good predictor of adaptive and proactive performance.
What behaviors are low neuroticism personality scores associated with?
- Task performance (specifically adaptive performance and proactive performance) - and also vice versa.
- Org citizenship (very weak)
- Counterproductive work behaviors (very weak)
What are some criticisms of the ‘Big Five’ personality model?
The Big Five model has been criticized for failing to capture some elements of personality (specifically honesty and interpersonal characteristics).
Define Honesty (as personality trait).
Focuses on measuring an employee’s concern for fairness and humility. The ‘bad’ end of this is considered Machiavellianism.
Define Interpersonal Characteristics (as personality trait).
This dimension captures other-oriented concerns such as consideration, willingness to forgive and being supportive. At the other end, this dimension captures self-oriented concerns, including a readiness to retaliate, a tendency towards prejudice and a feeling of independence from others.
What is the most popular type of personality testing?
MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) test.
What are some issues with the Myers Briggs test?
- Not a good predictor of job performance.
- Issues with measurement.
- Questionable value in leadership prediction.
What personality construct (cluster of traits) is associated with counterproductive work behaviors?
The Dark Triad.
What are the traits that make up The Dark Triad?
Machiavellianism, Narcissism, Psychopathy.
Define Narcissism.
Narcissists are characterised by extreme self-aggrandisement. They tend to have an overly positive view of themselves, enjoy being the centre of attention and have a strong sense of entitlement. They typically exaggerate their accomplishments and avoid negative feedback about themselves.
Define Machiavellianism.
People with Machiavellian values are comfortable with getting more than they deserve, and believe that deceit is a natural and acceptable way to achieve this goal.
Define Psychopathy.
This is characterized by a lack of concern for others, a disregard for rules, a lack of empathy and an absence of remorse when others are hurt by one’s actions. People who exhibit psychopathy use charm to avoid negative reactions from others, are highly impulsive and can remain calm in stressful situations.
Define resilience.
Considered to be the positive adaptation after a negative event, it captures
individuals’ ability to ‘bend and not break’ in the face of adversity.
What is the mediator of resilience.
- Self efficacy (which means having a can do attitude).
Define values.
Values, a concept that we are stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations.
What are the different types of values (by entity).
- Personal values
- Shared values
- Organizational values
- Cultural values
What are the main differences between values and personality traits?
- Values = what we ought to do vs Personality traits = what we tend to do.
- Personality traits usually compliment vs Values sometimes oppose one another.
- Values tend to be influenced by socialization (nurture) vs personality being innate (nature).
What is the dominant model of personal values measurement?
Schwartz’s list of 57 values.
What are the four quadrants of Schwartz’s model?
- Openness to change
- Self-Transcendence
- Conservation
- Self enhancement
What is the openness to change quadrant of Schwartz’s value model about?
It is about the extent to which a person is motivated to pursue innovative ways.
What is the opposite quadrant to the ‘openness to change quadrant’ of Schwartz’s value model?
Conservation quadrant.
What is the conservation quadrant of Schwartz’s value model about?
Measures the extent to which a person is motivated to preserve the status quo.
What is the self-enhancement quadrant of Schwartz’s value model about?
Measures how much a person is motivated by self-interest.
What is the opposite quadrant to the self-enhancement’ quadrant of Schwartz’s value model?
The self-transcendence quadrant.
What is the self-transcendence quadrant of Schwartz’s value model about?
It is about the motivation to promote the welfare of others and nature
What are some factors that influence the link between values and behavior?
- The situation.
2. Actively thinking about & understanding your values.
What is values congruence?
This refers to how similar a persons values are to an organizations.
What is person-job congruence? Is it good or bad?
This is where a persons values are matched with their job. It’s good for a persons overall wellbeing.
What is person-org value congruence? Is it good or bad?
- This is where a persons values are matched by their orgs values.
- It’s mostly good. It leads to higher satisfaction, loyalty, org citizenship and lower stress.
Do organizations want employees to be completely value congruent?
No, it’s good to have some value differences - as it stimulates discussion.
What is espoused-enacted value congruence?
This refers to how consistent the values apparent in our actions (enacted values) are with what we say we believe in (espoused values).
What is organization–community values congruence?
This refers to the similarity of an organization’s dominant values with the prevailing values of the community or society in which it conducts business.
What are ethics?
Ethics refers to the study of moral principles or values that determine whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad.
What are the three ethical principles?
- End-result ethics.
- Duty based ethics.
- Social contract ethics.
Define end result ethics.
This ethical perspective advises us to seek the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
Define duty based ethics.
s. This ethical perspective states that the ‘rightness’ of our actions is determined by a set of universal standards or duties to others.
Define social contract ethics.
This ethical perspective states that we should engage in behaviors that contribute to the common good, as determined by the norms of a community.
What are the other three things (that aren’t the ethical principles) that influence the ethical-ness of a decision.
- Moral intensity.
- Moral thresholds
- Moral sensitivity.
What is moral intensity?
Moral intensity is the degree to which an issue demands the application of ethical principles.
What are moral thresholds?
?
What is moral sensitivity?
Moral intensity is the degree to which an issue demands the application of ethical principles.
What influences a persons moral sensitivity?
- Empathy.
- Being female.
- Amount of experience with moral dilemmas.
- Mindfullness.
What is the formal title for the intuitive approach for looking at moral dilemmas?
Moral foundation theory.
What is moral foundation theory made up of?
- Individualizing moral foundations.
2. Binding moral foundations.
What are individualizing moral foundations?
Individualising moral foundations reflect a dominant concern about the rights of individuals.
What are binding moral foundations.
Binding moral foundations are concerned with actions that increase a sense of community and cohesion.
What are strategies orgs use to promote ethical behavior?
- Code of conduct.
- Anon reporting.
- Ethics audits/third parties.
- Creating a set of shared values ‘corporate culture’ (this is the most effective).
What are Hofstedes five dimensions of culture?
- Individualism
- Collectivism
- Uncertainty avoidance
- Power distance
- Achievement orientation.
What are some issues with cross cultural comparisons?
- Too many studies with small/narrow samples.
- Assumption that each country has one culture (often not true).
- Continues to rely on the IBM study from 40 years ago (v old).
