Week 3: Psychology in the Workplace (Chapter 10) Flashcards
Industrial/Organizational (I-O) Psychology
The application of psychological principles to the workplace (anywhere people work).
Used to make jobs more satisfying + boost productivity.
Use principles of learning to help improve the workplace by…
- Helping people do their jobs.
- Helping employers treat employees fairly.
- Helping make jobs more interesting and satisfying.
- Helping workers be more productive.
Attitudes
Represent a predisposition to respond in a favourable or unfavourable way to persons or objects in one’s environment.
- ex. when we say we “like” or “dislike” something.
3 assumptions that underlie attitudes
Hypothetical Construct
- We can’t actually see attitudes.
Unidimensional Construct
- Usual ranges from very positive to very negative.
Subsequent Behaviour
- Relationship to attitudes is unclear.
Attitudes Based on 3 Sources
Affect (feelings + emotions)
- ex. attitudes towards the dentist or worms.
Cognition (information+ beliefs)
- ex. attitudes towards or vitamins.
Behaviour (past actions)
- attitudes influence our behaviour via our intentions.
Job Attitudes: Three Related Components
- Beliefs about aspects of the job.
- ex. “My work has long stretches without anything to do.”
- The evaluation component (the attitude itself).
- ex. “I am dissatisfied with my job.”
- Work-related behavioural intentions that follow from the attitude.
- ex. “I am intending to quit my job.”
Job Satisfaction
A collection of attitudes that workers have about their jobs.
Two approaches:
- Overall Satisfaction
- Facet Satisfaction
Overall Satisfaction
- A summary indicator of a person’s attitude toward their job.
3 reasons why the association between job satisfaction and job performance…
- Research + Measurement Issues
- Job performance is hard to define correctly and attitudes are fickle.
- “Moderator” Effects:
- The relationship between satisfaction and performance is very complex and each only have a small impact on another, but are determined by many of the same factors.
- Dispositional Effects:
- A substantial amount of the variability in job satisfaction may relate to “trait effect”.
T.O.P Teams
Team:
- What are we?
Operations:
- How do we want to work together?
People:
- Who are you?
Two Sides to Group Work
The Bright Side:
- Unique perspectives
- Skill diversity
- Shared workload
- Collective decision making
The Dark Side:
- Conformity
- Social loafing
- Bad brainstorming
- Interpersonal conflicts
3 Types of Interpersonal Conflict in Teams
The Good:
- Task conflict
The Bad:
- Process conflict
The Ugly:
- Relationship conflict
Characteristics of a Team
Psychological Safety:
- Feeling “safe” to speak up.
Information Sharing:
- Sharing of unique information.
Conflict Management
AVOID the ‘Competitive Approach’
- win-lose
USE a ‘Cooperative Approach’
- win-win
Tips for Team Meetings
- Come prepared and always record your meeting minutes.
- Create and assign ‘action items’ at the end of meetings.
- Brainstorm BEFORE you come to the meeting.
- Create a voting system for tough decisions.
Team Structure
- Create rules and policies for team functioning.
- Distribute responsibilities (ex. assigning roles).
- Define team processes and practices.
3 Rs for Team Operations
- Roles
- Rules
- Respect
Surface-Level Characteristics
Visible characteristics of an individual.
- Legal History
- Disabilities
- Education
- Age
- Sexual Orientation
- Racioethnicity
Deep-Level Characteristics
Non-visible characteristics of an individual.
- Knowledge
- Skills
- Abilities
- Other characterstics
Groups relay more so on these characteristics when it comes to creating groups.
