Lecture 5 Flashcards
Self-Regulation
Managing competing motivations, especially shortterm and long-term goals. (eg. I want that cookie, but I also want to lose weight)
Hot and Cool Self-regulatory systems
- Long-term goals are taken over by the hot system so that even when we prefer the long-term goal in general, in the moment, our preference becomes the short-term goal.
- Hot system: emotional, impulsive, reflextive reponses, limbic system.
- Cool system: cognitive, slow, strategic responses, prefrontal cortex.
Emotion regulation: How do people effectively control their “hot”impulses?
- EI: some part can be learned
- Distraction: focusing on other things
- Suppression: suppressing negative thoughts and expression
- Relaxtion: engaging in relaxtion techniques (eg. deep breath)
- Congnitive reframing: We can control the way we think about it.
Cooling things down
Perspective conditions:
- Self immersed: Go back to the time and place of the experience and relive the situation as if it were happening to you all over again
- Self distance: “Take a few steps back and move away from your experience…watch the conflict unfold as if it were happening all over again to the distant you.”
Focus conditions:
- What focus: Focus on the feeling and sensations you felt.
- Why focus: Focus on the reasons underlying your feelings.
Reappraising a problematic “Hot” emotion
Anxiety (too anxious)
- Drains working memory capacity
- Decrease self-confidence
- Harms performance
Excitement
- Has many of the same physiological properties as anxiety (high arousal)
- But positive effects on performance
Yerkes-Dodson Law
- Arousal is not always bad.
- Optimal performance occurs in the presence of arousal/stress. (eg. time pressure has a positive impact on performance)
why are emotions and moods important in OB
- Selection
- Better decision making
- Creativity
- Motivation
- Acceptance of messages of leadership
- Customer services
- Deviant workplace behaviors (actions to violate norms)
What is personality? and its sources?
The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others.
Sources:
- Heredity: factors determined at conception.
- Environmental factors: culture, family, society, situation
Measuring personality
Measuring personality gives managers advantages in the recruitment processes:
- Self-report surveys
- Observer-ratings surveys eg. a co-worker does rating
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Perhaps most widely used personality test in business, but one of the most criticized by psychologists ̶ Extraverted vs. Introverted ̶ Sensing vs. Intuitive ̶ Thinking vs. Feeling ̶ Judging vs. Perceiving
Criticisms of the MBTI
- Not empirical evidence
- Not very reliable or valid
- Very little predictive value
- Creates stark dichotomies when personality is more fluid
Big Five: OCEAN
- Openness: open to new ideas and experiences
- Conscientiousness: responsible and achievement-oriented
- Extraversion: outgoing, sociable, energetic
- Agreebleness: warm, friendly, cooperative
- Neuroticism: emotional control and security
Criticisms of Self-report Personality Tests
• Self-report can be biased (impression management)
• Self-report can be inaccurate (memory is
imperfect; confusion around question wording)
• Personality isn’t necessarily stable – e.g.,
sometimes I’m like this, sometimes I’m not
Self-report vs Projective tests
Self-report inventories: Test-taker reads questions and then rates how well the question or statement applies to him/her.
Projective test: those let a person respond to ambiguous stimuli,
presumably revealing hidden personality.
Is Personality Stable?
Different traits are differentially stable over the course of a relationship
– Extraversion highly stable
– Conscientiousness and agreeableness less so
Reliability & Validity of measurement
Reliability: Do you get the same result repeatedly?
Validity: Are you measuring what you think you’re measuring?
T-Shirt Folding Study: Which group folded the most t-shirts?
-> Introverted leader with proactive followers
• Extraverted leaders are better for subordinates
who need vision & direction; and introverted leaders are better for creative, proactive employees.
• Introverted leaders were better at listening to subordinate’s ideas
Dark Triad: Machiavellianism
The degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that the ends justify the means.
Dark Triad: Narcissism
Narcissism describes a person who has a grandiose sense of self-importance.
They think they re better leaders. They are selfish and exploitive
Dark Triad: Psychopathy
A lack of concern for others, and a lack of guilt or remorse when their actions cause harm.
Core self-evaluation
- People who have a positive core self-evaluation see themselves as effective, capable, and in control.
- People who have a negative core self-evaluation tend to dislike themselves.
Self-Monitoring
- An individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational factors.
- High self-monitors get good performance reviews and are more mobile in their careers
Values
- Differ across individuals and across cultures
- Generally influence attitudes and behaviors.
- Interprets what is “right” and “wrong”
Types of Values
• Terminal values: desirable end-states
– Equality, world peace, social recognition
• Instrumental values: means of achieving the terminal values
– Independence, helpfulness, ambition, forgiveness
Right vs. Right Ethical Value
• Truth vs. loyalty
̶ Told in confidence that a friend will be fired.
• Justice vs. mercy
̶ Catch someone plagiarizing
• Individual vs. community
̶ Know there is an elderly patient who needs a lot of care has HIV in my community
• Short-term vs. long-term
̶ Spend less time with family in order to get an MBA
that will lead to greater earnings for family
Principles of resolution of Ethical Dilemma
̶ Ends-based thinking:
Do what’s best for the greatest number of people
̶ Rule-based thinking:
Follow your highest sense of principle.
̶ Care-based thinking:
Do what you want to do to you
Criticism of Hofstede’s Model
- Based on a single company (IBM).
- Too simple and few to differentiate the diversity of cultures in a country
- Too old to have any modern value particularly in today’s rapidly changing global environment.
