Organizational Psychology Flashcards
Taylor (1911) believed that workers are motivated primarily by what?
Desire for economic gain
Therefore he advocated for linking financial incentives to productivity, thus giving efficient workers higher wages
Taylor’s Scientific Management proposes that to maximize organization efficiency and productivity, managers should
- use scientific methods to identify the best way to to a job
- make sure workers are scientifically selected and trained by determining skill requires for each job and selecting workers to match those skills
- have an equal division of labor; manager plans and organizes and workers implement those plans
- managers cooperate workers to ensure all work is done in ways consistent with scientific principles
Weber (1947) described a bureaucracy as an impersonal and rational way to ensure that organizations operate orderly and efficient. He said essential elements of a bureaucracy include
division of labor, well defined hierarchy of authority, formal rules and procedures, employment decisions based on competence and merit, written records of decisions and actions, separate ownership an management
Whose research contributed to the development of the human relations approach to management
Mayo (1933) at the Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company; found that increased productivity was not necessarily due to increased lighting and other physical conditions, but rather the attentions that workers received as research participants
Mayo concluded that what factors were more important than physical work conditions for work motivation and productivity
Social
McGregor (1960) Theory X and Theory Y focuses on interactions between supervisors and subordinates and proposes that a supervisor’s beliefs about subordinates has what kind of effect?
self-fulfilling prophecy effect; a supervisor’s beliefs determine how the supervisor acts towards subordinates which, in turn, determines how subordinates behave
Theory X supervisors believe what about their subordinates
they are inherently lazy, dislike responsibility, resist change, and are concerned only with themselves so supervisors must be directive and controlling to ensure workers meet organizational goals
Theory Y supervisors believe what about their subordinates
that they enjoy work, are self-directed and internally motivated, and seek responsibility and that a supervisor’s role is to provide subordinates with conditions
that allow them to fulfill their own goals by achieving organization goals
McGregor’s Theory X/ Theory Y was influenced by what? Which theory produces the best outcomes for employees and organizations
Human relations approach and work of Maslow ; Theory Y
The principle of equifinality is what
a system can achieve the same goal or outcomes in multiple ways (Katz and Kahn’s Open System Theory)
The principle of multifinality is what
a system can achieve dissimilar goals or outcomes from the same initial goals
Which theory proposes that organizations are characterized by input-throughput-output cycles: organizations take in materials, information, and other resources (inputs); transform those resources to products, services, and information (throughputs), and then send out the products, services, and information (outputs). The consequences of the outputs (profits, customer feedback) are then brought back in to the process as inputs
Katz and Kahn’s Open System Theory
This theory proposes that organizations are open systems that have the characteristics of other open systems—undergo cycles of events, act in ways to maintain homeostasis, avoid negative entropy (decay and destruction of system) by acquiring new resources
Katz and Kahn’s Open System Theory
These decisions are repetitive and routine and are governed by rules, policies, and procedures often made by lower level personnel (hiring, ordering, billing)
Programmed decisions
These decisions are non-repetitive, complex, require unique or creative solutions, and rely on the decision maker’s judgment and problem solving skills (developing new products/services or responding to legal issues)
Non-programmed decisions
This model of decision making is also known as the classical model and it assumes that decision makers choose the optimal alternative after identifying and evaluating all possible alternatives in an objective, deliberate, and orderly way
The Rational model of decision making
This model of decision making recognizes that rational decision making is limited by organizational and individual factors such as time, limited access to information, and cognitive abilities of the decision maker. Therefore, people often satisfice (rather than optimize) and select a minimally acceptable alternative
The bounded rationality model
This model of decision making posits that organizational decisions are often are constrained by the organizations routines and standard operating procedures and often follow and depend in “small incremental choices made by response to short term conditions”
Organizational Process Model
Groups tend to out perform individual decision making when what?
The task is complex and group members have complementary skills
Individuals tend to outperform groups when what?
The task is poorly structured and requires a high degree of creativity
Group decisions are often better than decisions made by an _______ individual
average (but not necessarily the most competent)
This happens when people are deeply involved in a cohesive in group and strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action
groupthink
What factors increase the risk of groupthink
When the group has a strong directive leader
When the group is isolated from outside opinions
When group has to make decisions quickly
Symptoms of groupthink include
illusions of invulnerability, superior morality, use of collective rationalization, excessive stereotyping, self-censorship, and the presence of self-appointed “mindguards” who shield group members from contradictory information
Group leaders can reduce groupthink by
remaining neutral in the beginning of a discussion, encouraging members to express their opinions, appointing a members to play devil’s advocate, bring in outside opinions
This is the tendency of groups to make more extreme (risky or cautious) decisions than an individual group member would make alone
Group polarization
This is a systematic procedure for identifying how a job is performed, the conditions under which it is performed, and the personal requirements it takes to perform the job
Job analysis
What are the functions of a job analysis
obtaining information needed to write a job description, develop or identify appropriate job performance and selection measures, determine training needs and making decisions about job design and redesign
What are methods of obtaining information for job analysis
observing employees while performing job, interview employees and supervisors about the job, having employees, supervisors, or others familiar with the job complete surveys and questionnaires, and using electronic performance monitoring
This kind of job analysis focuses on knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) that are required to accomplish job tasks
worker oriented job analysis
This questionnaire is _______ oriented job analysis and addresses 6 categories of work activity: information, input, mental processes, work output, relationships with other people, job context, and other characteristics
worker oriented;
Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
This kind of job analysis focuses on the tasks that must be accomplished to achieve desired job outcomes
Work oriented job analysis
This is a work oriented approach that involves having employees and supervisors develop a comprehensive list of job tasks, having subject matter experts rate the identified tasks in terms of frequency and importance, and then including tasks with high ratings in the job descriptions
Task analysis
This is always worker oriented and focuses on the core competencies (attributes) that are required to successfully perform all jobs or a subset of jobs within an organization. These are linked to the organization’s values, goals, and strategies (exp: staying current with the latest technological advances)
Competency modeling
This serves several functions in organizations including identifying appropriate job selection and performance measures, determining the content of training programs, and identifying future job requirements
Competency modeling
This is normally the first step in job evaluation
job analysis
This is done specifically to facilitate decisions related to compensation
job evaluation
What is comparable worth as it relates to job evaluation
Principle that workers performing jobs that require the same skills and responsibilities or of comparable value to the employer should be paid the same. This has been applied primarily to the gender gap in wages.
The point system is a commonly used method of job evaluation. What is it
Involves determining the monetary value of a job by assigning points to the jobs compensable factors (effort, skill, responsibility, working conditions), summing the points to derive a total score, and using the total score to determine appropriate compensation
This measures job performance and has several functions including providing employees with feedback about their performance, and evaluating employee performance to obtain the information needed to make decisions about raises, promotions, etc
Performance assessment
These are the most commonly used performance measures in organizations. Their advantages include allowing raters to take situational factors that affect performance into account and provide information useful for giving employees feedback about their performance. A disadvantage can be affected by rater biases and errors
Subjective measures of performance appraisal
These measures of performance usually provide quantitative information and include direct measures of productivity, number or errors, accidents, or absences. They may not be available for certain jobs and can be affected by situational factors such as inadequate resources or support
Objective measures of performance appraisal
This rating scale requires the rater to evaluate an employee by comparing the employee to other employee
Relative rating scale (a kind of subjective rating scale)
This scale requires the rater to evaluate an employee without considering the performance of other employees.
Absolute rating scale (a kind of subjective rating scale)
This type of relative rating scale compares each employee to all other employees in pairs on each dimension of job performance by indicating which employee is the best. It can alleviate some rater biases but it can also be very time consuming
paired comparison technique
This type of relative rating scale requires the rater to assign a certain number of employees to a prespecified performance category (ie a certain percentage to poor performance, a certain percentage to average, a certain percentage to above average etc.) This alleviates some rater biases, but is not fully accurate about the performance of employees
forced distribution method
What is the difference between ultimate and actual performance measures
ultimate criterion is an ideal measure that assesses all of the important contributors to job performance.
actual criterion i what a job performance actually measures
What are the 2 reasons for the gap between ultimate job performance criteria and actual job performance criteria. What are they?
Criterion deficiency: aspects of performance that are not assessed by the criterion (leaving out important aspects)
Criterion contamination: happens when criterion measured is unrelated to job performance (rating on criterion affected by employees gender or race or by supervisor’s knowledge of how well the employee did on the predictors they were used to hire him or her)
Paired comparison technique and forced distribution method are types of what rating sclae
relative rating scale (subjective)
critical incident technique (CIT), graphic rating scale, and behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) are what type of rating scale
absolute rating scales (subjective)
Critical Incident Technique, a type of absolute rating scale, involves identifying employee behaviors that are associated with exceptionally poor or exceptionally good by observing employees while they work or by interviewing people familiar with the job. This list of critical incidents is then used to evaluate performance. What are some of the pros and cons of this technique
Pro: provides useful information for employee feedback because it focuses on observable bxs
Con: time consuming to develop, focuses on extreme (rather than typical) bxs, it’s job specific so it has to be done for all different jobs which can be time consuming
A graphic rating scale uses a likert type scale to rate dimensions of employees performance. What is an advantage and disadvantage of this approach
Advantage: easy to construct
Disadvantage: vulnerable to rater biases
Behaviorally anchored rating scales ( BARS) are a type of graphic rating scale in which each point on a scale is anchored with a description of a specific behavior. These are developed by having job incumbents, supervisors, and other subject matter experts identify essential dimensions of the job performance and rate them. What are the advantages and disadvantages
Advantage: behavioral anchors help reduce rater biases and provide info that’s useful for feedback
Disadvantages: time consuming to develop and job specific
When a rater’s rating of an employee on one dimension of job performance affects how the rater rates the employee on all other dimensions, even when they’re unrelated. This can be positive or negative
halo error/ halo effect/ halo bias
When a rater’s ratings of an employee are affected by the performance of a previously evaluated employee
(exp: when a supervisor gives an average employee below average ratings because she rated an excellent employee immediately before)
Contrast error
When raters give higher rating to supervisees they perceive to be similar to themselves
similarity bias
central tendency bias, leniency, and strictness biases are all types of what errors
distribution errors
Occur when raters consistently use only one part of the rating scale when rating all employees
This bias occurs when the rater consistently gives all employees average ratings regardless of their actual performance
central tendency bias
This bias occurs when the rater consistently gives all employees high ratings regardless of their performance
leniency bias
This bias occurs when the rater consistently gives all employees low ratings regardless of their peformance
strictness bias
The best way to reduce rater biases is to
provide adequate rater training including teaching about frame of reference training which ensures that trainees understand the multidimensional nature of job performance and the organization’s definition of successful and unsuccessful performance and giving feedback on accuracy of ratings
Using these types of rating scales is most useful for eliminating distribution errors (central tendency, leniency, and strictness biases) because it requires raters to give some employees higher or lower ratings that they give other employees
Relative
(rather than absolute)
What are the 6 Holland Personality and Work Environment Types
RIASEC
Realistic
Investigative
Artistic
Social
Enterprising
Conventional
Holland proposed that people are most productive and satisfied at work when there’s what
high degree of congruence (goodness of fit)
Dawis and Lofquist theorize that a person’s job tenure is based on what 2 factors
satisfaction and satisfactoriness
This is impacted by the match between the employee’s need and the reinforcers provided by the job and determines whether the employee stays on the job or quits
Satisfaction
This refers to the employer’s satisfaction with the employee and is affected by how well the employee’s skills match the skill requirements of the job and determines whether the employer retains or fires someone
Satisfactoriness
Who views vocational identity development as an ongoing decision making process that’s linked to Erikson’s psychosocial stages of ego identity development
Tiedeman
Tiedman’s Career Decision making model has 2 phases, the initial anticipation phase and the implementation stage. What happens during each stage
Initial anticipation stage: exploration, crystallization, choice, and clarification stages. The person becomes familiar with different jobs, makes a tentative job choice, and prepares to implement the choices
Implementation phase: induction, reformation, and integration stages. The person begins the chosen job, becomes proficient at it, and achieves a balance between their needs and the organization’s demands
This is not always a linear process and many stages can be repeated, skipped, or be in a different order
Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory of Career Decision Making combines elements of classical behaviorism, Bandura’s social learning theory, and cognitive behavior therapies of Ellis and Beck. It identifies 4 factors that contribute to career decisions. They are…
- Genetic endowment and special abilities that enable or limit a person’s career choices
- Environmental conditions and events that may be beyond a person’s control
- Instrumental and associative learning process
- Task approach skills (performance standards, problem solving skills, work habits) that result from interactions among the other three factors
According to Krumboltz Social Learning Theory of Career Decision Making these 2 generalizations guide a person’s career decisions and behaviors
Self-observation generalizations: beliefs that people have about their own attitudes, values, interests, and skills
Worldview generalizations: beliefs that people have about the world and are used to predict future events
According to Krumboltz, to promote career development, individuals must have opportunities to be exposed to the widest array of learning experiences
Which are better predictors of job performance, unstructured or structured interviews
structured
However, both structured and unstructured interviews have the same average validity coefficient and are second most valid predictors of job performance (preceded by general mental ability tests)
What is the most valid predictors of job performance across a variety of jobs, performance criteria, and organizations
general mental ability tests
a disadvantage of this is associated with greater risk of adverse impact on job applications of different ethnic groups
What type of structured interview asks interviewees how they responded to specific job-related situations in the past
behavioral interviews
based on the assumption that past bx is the best predictor of future bx
What type of structured interview asks interviewees how they would respond to hypothetical situations
situational interviews
future oriented versus past oriented.
These have been found to be more valid predictors of job performance than behavioral questions. Intentions are more predictive than past behaviors of future behaviors
Which of the big 5 personality traits has been found to be best predictor of job performance across different jobs and performance criteria
conscientiousness
What is the difference between overt integrity tests and personality based integrity tests
overt integrity tests ask directly about attitudes towards and previous history of dishonesty and theft
Personality based integrity tests asses aspects of personality that have been linked to dishonesty, disciplinary problems, sabotage, and other counterproductive bxs
Which integrity test is a better predictor of counterproductive bx. Which is a better predictor of job performance
overt- better predictor of counterproductive bx
personality based- better predictor of job performance
Work samples are often included as part of a ______ which involves informing job applicants about the positive and negative aspects of a job to reduce the risk for turnover after applicants are hired
realistic job preview
assessment centers are most often used to evaluate candidates for what types of jobs
managerial level jobs
This is used to assess decision making skills and requires applicants to respond to memos, phone messages, and other communications they would encounter on the job
in basket exercise
(simulation used in assessment centers)
This is used to evaluate the leadership potential of participants and requires a small group to work together without an assigned leader to solve job related problems
leaderless group discussion
(simulation used in assessment centers)
Between multiple cut off and multiple hurdles (both non compensatory strategies for combining selection techniques), which is the preferable method when cost of administering job predictors is costly
Multiple hurdles because predictors are administered in a specific order and applicants must obtain a certain cut off score to be administered the next measure
In multiple cut offs, all predictors are administered and applicants must obtain a score that’s above the cut off score for each predictor to be considered
What are the 5 stages of Super’s Life Space, Life Span Career Theory
Growth (0-14)
Exploration (15-24)
Establishment (25-44)
Maintenance (45-64)
Disengagement (65+)
What are the 6 Holland personality and work environment types
Realistic (doers)
Investigative (thinkers)
Artistic (creators)
Social (helpers)
Enterprising (persuaders)
Conventional (organizers)
Holland proposed that people are most productive and satisfied at work when there’s a high degree of what
Congruence (goodness of fit) between a person’s personality and the characteristics of the work environment
Holland proposed that a personality/work environment match is most predictive of job outcomes when the person obtains a high score on one personality type and low scores on the other 5 types. This is called what?
Differentiation
Dawis and Lofquists Theory of Work Adjustment is based on the assumption that tenure is the result of what 2 factors
Satisfaction (employee’s satisfaction with the job- determine’s whether they stay or quit)
Satisfactoriness (employer’s satisfaction with the employee- determines if the employer retains or fires). Satisfactoriness is affected by how well the employee’s skills match the skill requirements of the job
Tiedeman’s Career Decision Making Model is linked to Erikson’s psychosocial stages of ego development and distinguishes between 2 phases of career decision making. What are they?
Initial Anticipation Phase
Implementation Phase
This Social Learning Theory of Career Decision Making combines elements of classical behaviorism, Bandura’s social learning theory, cognitive behavior theories of Ellis and Beck. Who created it
Krumboltz
What are the 4 factors that contribute to career decisions according to Krumboltz
- Genetic Endowment
- Environmental Conditions (beyond a person’s control)
- Instrumental and Associative Learning Experiences
- Task Approach (performance standards, problem solving skills, work habits)
Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory of Career Decision Making proposes that the combination of genetic endowment, environmental conditions, instrumental and associative learning experiences, and task approach skills contribute to two types of generalizations that guide a person’s career decisions. These are what?
Self-observation generations (beliefs people have about their own values, attitudes, interests, and skills)
Worldwide generalizations (beliefs that people have about the world and are used to predict future events)
According to Driver and Brousseau’s Career Concept Model what are people with linear career concept motivated by
desire for power and achievement and upward movement (infrequent career changes)
According to Driver and Brousseau’s Career Concept Model what are people with expert career concept motivated by
job security and developing expertise. View careers as lifelong commitments with mastery more important than upward advancement
According to Driver and Brousseau’s Career Concept Model what are people with spiral career concept motivated by
need for personal growth and opportunities to be creative. Lateral movements across similar occupations every 5-10 years
According to Driver and Brousseau’s Career Concept Model what are people with transitory career concept motivated by
desire for variety and independence. Lateral movements across occupations every 2-4 years
What are 3 individual contributors to job satisfaction
self esteem
affective disposition
genetic predisposition
Research on identical twins separated at birth shows that twins had similar job satisfaction which helped investigators conclude that about ____ % of observed variability in job satisfaction is attributed to genetic factors
30
What is procedural justice
fairness of procedures used to determine outcomes
What is interactional justice
fairness of the way that outcomes are communicated to workers and is divided into 2 subtypes: interpersonal (how people are treated in interactions) and informational (how information is explained)
what id distributive justice
refers to fairness of the distribution of resources and other outcomes
What is affective commitment (to the organization)
extent to which an employee is emotionally attached to the organization
What is continuance commitment
Extent to which an employee believes they must stay with the organization for financial reasons or because of lack of alternative opportunities
What is normative commitment
Extent to which an employee is loyal to the organization and feels obligated to stay
Of the three main types of organizational commitment (affective, continuance, and normative), which is most highly and consistently correlated to a variety of job outcomes
affective
Who is work family conflict higher for?
men and women report similar levels
What are the 3 core characteristics of job burnout
- exhaustion
- depersonalization and cynicism
- sense of inefficacy
An early sign of burnout is an increase in the time and effort put into work without an increase in _______
productivity
Risk increases when there’s a mismatch between the individual and the six aspects of the work environment. What are they?
workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values
What 3 individual characteristics have been linked to resistance to stress
Hardiness (have a sense of self control over their own lives, tendency to view new experiences as challenges rather than threats)
Organization based self esteem (OBSE) (perception of value to the organization)
Type A Behavior (increased competitiveness, chronic sense of urgency, hostility)
Of the Big 5 Personality Traits which 2 have the largest correlation coefficients with leader effectiveness
extraversion and conscientiousness
Research at Ohio State University in the 1950s found that leader behaviors represent what 2 dimensions
initiating structure (task oriented and focus on achieving performance goals)
consideration (person oriented and focus on fostering trust with subordinates)
Leaders can be high/low in one or both
While research shows that male and female leaders are not rated differently in terms of their effectiveness, there’s some evidence that female leaders adopt more of a _________ style while male leaders adopt more of a _________ style
democratic (transformational too)
autocratic (transactional too)
This type of leadership has these 4 characteristics :
Idealized influence
inspirational motivation
intellectual stimulation
individualized consideration
Transformational
This type of leadership has these 2 characteristics:
Contingent rewards
Management by Exception
Transactional Leadership
This refers to how transactional leaders intervene to correct employee mistakes or rule violations and can be passive or active
management by exception
Transformational leader’s ability to act as a positive role model, also refers to their charisma
Idealized Influence
Transformational leader’s ability to create and communicate a vision for the future; using framing-making goals meaningful
Inspirational motivation
Transformational leader’s ability to stimulate creativity and critical thinking
Intellectual stimulation
Transformational Leader’s ability to to foster employee growth through personal attention, support, and encouragement
Individualized Consideration
