Kelli J. Schutte
William Jewell College
Robbins & Judge
Organizational Behavior
14th Edition
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
Attitudes and Job SatisfactionAttitudes and Job Satisfaction
3-1
Topics that we will coverTopics that we will cover
Chapter 3
 Attitudes
 Does behavior always follow from attitudes?
– Moderating variables is not included
 What are the major job attitudes?
 Job satisfaction
– How satisfied are people in their jobs? Is not included
 What causes job satisfaction?
 The impact of satisfied and dissatisfied employees
– Job satisf. & Turnover and Job satisf & Deviance are not
included
– Global implications not included
3-2Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
AttitudesAttitudes
Evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects,
people, or events
Three components of an attitude:
The emotional orThe emotional or
feeling segmentfeeling segment
of an attitudeof an attitude
The opinion orThe opinion or
belief segment ofbelief segment of
an attitudean attitude
An intention toAn intention to
behave in a certainbehave in a certain
way toward someoneway toward someone
or somethingor something
See E X H I B I T 3–1
See E X H I B I T 3–1
3-3Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
Does Behavior Always Follow from Attitudes?Does Behavior Always Follow from Attitudes?
 Leon Festinger – No, the reverse is sometimes true!
 Cognitive Dissonance: Any incompatibility between two
or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes
– Individuals seek to reduce this uncomfortable gap, or
dissonance, to reach stability and consistency
– Consistency is achieved by changing the attitudes,
modifying the behaviors, or through rationalization
– Desire to reduce dissonance depends on:
• Importance of elements
• Degree of individual influence
• Rewards involved in dissonance
3-4Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
What are the Major Job Attitudes?What are the Major Job Attitudes?
 Job Satisfaction
– A positive feeling about the job
resulting from an evaluation of its
characteristics
 Job Involvement
– Degree of psychological
identification with the job where
perceived performance is important
to self-worth
 Psychological Empowerment
– Belief in the degree of influence over
the job, competence, job
meaningfulness, and autonomy
= Org. citizenship + Job Performance 3-5Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
Another Major Job AttitudeAnother Major Job Attitude
 Organizational Commitment
– Identifying with a particular organization and its goals,
while wishing to maintain membership in the
organization.
– Three dimensions:
• Affective – emotional attachment to organization
• Continuance Commitment – economic value of
staying
• Normative – moral or ethical obligations
– Has some relation to performance, especially for new
employees.
3-6Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
And Yet More Major Job Attitudes…And Yet More Major Job Attitudes…
 Perceived Organizational Support (POS)
– Degree to which employees believe the organization values
their contribution and cares about their well-being.
– Higher when rewards are fair, employees are involved in
decision making, and supervisors are seen as supportive.
– High POS is related to higher OCBs and performance.
 Employee Engagement
– The degree of involvement with, satisfaction with, and
enthusiasm for the job.
– Engaged employees are passionate about their work and
company, feel a deep connection
3-7Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
Are These Job Attitudes Really Distinct?Are These Job Attitudes Really Distinct?
 No: these attitudes are
highly related.
 Variables may be
redundant (measuring
the same thing under a
different name)
 While there is some
distinction, there is also
a lot of overlap.
Be patient, OB researchers are working on it!
3-8Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
Job SatisfactionJob Satisfaction
 One of the primary job attitudes measured.
– Broad term involving a complex individual summation of a
number of discrete job elements.
 How to measure?
– Single global rating (one question/one answer) - OK
– Summation score (many questions/one average) - OK
 Are people satisfied in their jobs?
– In the U. S., yes, but the level appears to be dropping.
– Pay and promotion are the most problematic elements.
See E X H I B I T 3–2
See E X H I B I T 3–2
3-9Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
 Pay influences job satisfaction only to a point.
– After about $40,000 per year (in the U.S.), there is no
relationship between amount of pay and job satisfaction.
– Money may bring happiness, but not necessarily job
satisfaction.
– Training, the social context, interdependence, and feedback
matter
 Personality can influence job satisfaction.
– Negative people are usually not satisfied with their jobs.
– Those with positive core self-evaluation are more satisfied
with their jobs.
• Inner worth + Basic competence
Causes of Job SatisfactionCauses of Job Satisfaction
See E X H I B I T 3–3
See E X H I B I T 3–3
3-10Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
Employee Responses to DissatisfactionEmployee Responses to Dissatisfaction
See E X H I B I T 3–4
See E X H I B I T 3–4
Active
Passive
ConstructiveDestructive
3-11Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
Outcomes of Job SatisfactionOutcomes of Job Satisfaction
 Job Performance
– Satisfied workers are more productive AND more
productive workers are more satisfied!
– The causality may run both ways.
 Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
– Satisfaction influences OCB through perceptions of
fairness.
 Customer Satisfaction
– Satisfied frontline employees increase customer
satisfaction and loyalty.
 Absenteeism
– Satisfied employees are moderately less likely to miss
work.
3-12Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
Managers often “don’t get it”Managers often “don’t get it”
Despite the overwhelming evidence of the impact of job
satisfaction on the bottom line, most managers are either
unconcerned about or overestimate worker satisfaction.
3-13Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Chapter 3 Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

  • 1.
    Kelli J. Schutte WilliamJewell College Robbins & Judge Organizational Behavior 14th Edition Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall Attitudes and Job SatisfactionAttitudes and Job Satisfaction 3-1
  • 2.
    Topics that wewill coverTopics that we will cover Chapter 3  Attitudes  Does behavior always follow from attitudes? – Moderating variables is not included  What are the major job attitudes?  Job satisfaction – How satisfied are people in their jobs? Is not included  What causes job satisfaction?  The impact of satisfied and dissatisfied employees – Job satisf. & Turnover and Job satisf & Deviance are not included – Global implications not included 3-2Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
  • 3.
    AttitudesAttitudes Evaluative statements orjudgments concerning objects, people, or events Three components of an attitude: The emotional orThe emotional or feeling segmentfeeling segment of an attitudeof an attitude The opinion orThe opinion or belief segment ofbelief segment of an attitudean attitude An intention toAn intention to behave in a certainbehave in a certain way toward someoneway toward someone or somethingor something See E X H I B I T 3–1 See E X H I B I T 3–1 3-3Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
  • 4.
    Does Behavior AlwaysFollow from Attitudes?Does Behavior Always Follow from Attitudes?  Leon Festinger – No, the reverse is sometimes true!  Cognitive Dissonance: Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes – Individuals seek to reduce this uncomfortable gap, or dissonance, to reach stability and consistency – Consistency is achieved by changing the attitudes, modifying the behaviors, or through rationalization – Desire to reduce dissonance depends on: • Importance of elements • Degree of individual influence • Rewards involved in dissonance 3-4Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
  • 5.
    What are theMajor Job Attitudes?What are the Major Job Attitudes?  Job Satisfaction – A positive feeling about the job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics  Job Involvement – Degree of psychological identification with the job where perceived performance is important to self-worth  Psychological Empowerment – Belief in the degree of influence over the job, competence, job meaningfulness, and autonomy = Org. citizenship + Job Performance 3-5Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
  • 6.
    Another Major JobAttitudeAnother Major Job Attitude  Organizational Commitment – Identifying with a particular organization and its goals, while wishing to maintain membership in the organization. – Three dimensions: • Affective – emotional attachment to organization • Continuance Commitment – economic value of staying • Normative – moral or ethical obligations – Has some relation to performance, especially for new employees. 3-6Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
  • 7.
    And Yet MoreMajor Job Attitudes…And Yet More Major Job Attitudes…  Perceived Organizational Support (POS) – Degree to which employees believe the organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being. – Higher when rewards are fair, employees are involved in decision making, and supervisors are seen as supportive. – High POS is related to higher OCBs and performance.  Employee Engagement – The degree of involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for the job. – Engaged employees are passionate about their work and company, feel a deep connection 3-7Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
  • 8.
    Are These JobAttitudes Really Distinct?Are These Job Attitudes Really Distinct?  No: these attitudes are highly related.  Variables may be redundant (measuring the same thing under a different name)  While there is some distinction, there is also a lot of overlap. Be patient, OB researchers are working on it! 3-8Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
  • 9.
    Job SatisfactionJob Satisfaction One of the primary job attitudes measured. – Broad term involving a complex individual summation of a number of discrete job elements.  How to measure? – Single global rating (one question/one answer) - OK – Summation score (many questions/one average) - OK  Are people satisfied in their jobs? – In the U. S., yes, but the level appears to be dropping. – Pay and promotion are the most problematic elements. See E X H I B I T 3–2 See E X H I B I T 3–2 3-9Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
  • 10.
     Pay influencesjob satisfaction only to a point. – After about $40,000 per year (in the U.S.), there is no relationship between amount of pay and job satisfaction. – Money may bring happiness, but not necessarily job satisfaction. – Training, the social context, interdependence, and feedback matter  Personality can influence job satisfaction. – Negative people are usually not satisfied with their jobs. – Those with positive core self-evaluation are more satisfied with their jobs. • Inner worth + Basic competence Causes of Job SatisfactionCauses of Job Satisfaction See E X H I B I T 3–3 See E X H I B I T 3–3 3-10Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
  • 11.
    Employee Responses toDissatisfactionEmployee Responses to Dissatisfaction See E X H I B I T 3–4 See E X H I B I T 3–4 Active Passive ConstructiveDestructive 3-11Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
  • 12.
    Outcomes of JobSatisfactionOutcomes of Job Satisfaction  Job Performance – Satisfied workers are more productive AND more productive workers are more satisfied! – The causality may run both ways.  Organizational Citizenship Behaviors – Satisfaction influences OCB through perceptions of fairness.  Customer Satisfaction – Satisfied frontline employees increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.  Absenteeism – Satisfied employees are moderately less likely to miss work. 3-12Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
  • 13.
    Managers often “don’tget it”Managers often “don’t get it” Despite the overwhelming evidence of the impact of job satisfaction on the bottom line, most managers are either unconcerned about or overestimate worker satisfaction. 3-13Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Editor's Notes

  • #4 Attitudes are evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events. Attitudes are made up of three components. The cognitive component is made up of the belief in the way things are. The affective component is the more critical part of the attitude as it is calls upon the emotions or feelings. The behavioral component describes the intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something. These three components work together to aid in our understanding of the complexity of an attitude.
  • #5 Sometimes we observe people who will change what they say so it doesn’t contradict their behavior. When attitudes and behaviors don’t line up, individuals will experience cognitive dissonance. This incongruity is uncomfortable and individuals will seek to reduce the dissonance to find consistency. People are willing to live with some discomfort but the degree to which this is true depends upon the importance of the elements, how much influences the individual has in the situation, and the rewards available.
  • #6 The field of Organizational Behavior focuses on how attitudes will influence the workplace. There are several major job attitudes we will look at throughout the book. The first is job satisfaction, which is the positive feeling about the job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics. The second is job involvement. Job involvement looks at the degree of psychological identification with the job. An additional job attitude is psychological empowerment, the belief in the degree of influence over the job, competence in the job, and job meaningfulness.
  • #7 A very important job attitude is organizational commitment or identifying with a particular organization and its goals. There are three dimensions to this job attitude – affective, continuance commitment, and normative. Organizational commitment has been found to have some relationship to performance and in particular for new employees. Over the years, this may be losing importance as people are tending to be more loyal to their profession than to a given employer.
  • #8 Perceived Organizational Support is the degree to which employees believe the organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being. Perception of fairness is a key factor in determining employees’ willingness to work hard for the organization. Employee Engagement goes beyond just job satisfaction and includes involvement and enthusiasm for the job. The more engaged the worker is, the more passionate they will be about their work.
  • #9 There is a high degree of overlap between the different job attitudes. If a worker has higher job satisfaction, they tend to be more engaged and show a stronger commitment to the organization. Researchers are looking into trying to find ways to measure the different attitudes to get at their distinctiveness.
  • #10 Job satisfaction is defined as a positive feeling about a job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics. This is an important job attitude because it incorporates so many of the other measures. There are multiple ways to measure job satisfaction, but the most accurate way is to ask the question if people are satisfied in their jobs and provide them with a scale to report their degree of satisfaction. People are generally satisfied in their jobs in the United States, but over the last several years, job satisfaction has been decreasing. When work is divided up into facets, results vary. Typically, workers are more satisfied with the work itself and coworkers, while remaining less satisfied with promotion and pay.
  • #11 Pay has an influence on job satisfaction but not as much as one might think. Typically, once a worker exceeds $40,000 per year, pay has limited impact on the level of satisfied workers. Personality tends to be a bigger influence in job satisfaction levels. People who have a negative outlook on life tend to be less satisfied with their jobs. In addition, workers who have a strong sense of self-evaluation are more satisfied.
  • #12 When employees are dissatisfied with their jobs, they have four basic responses they can utilize. These options are divided into active and passive choices. The active options are exit and voice. If employees select to exit, they choose to leave or move in a direction of leaving the organization. In voice, the employees will work toward active and constructive attempts to improve conditions. The passive options are neglect and loyalty. Employees may choose to neglect their work and just allow conditions to worsen or they may choose to remain loyal to the organization and just wait for change.
  • #13 When employees are satisfied with their work, there are many positive outcomes in the workplace. However, the inverse is true as well, if employees are dissatisfied in their work, these same job outcomes will be negatively impacted.
  • #14 If a worker is satisfied in their job, they will remain in the job for a longer period of time than dissatisfied workers. However, as we have seen recently, workers are willing to stay in jobs where they are not satisfied because the job market is tight due to tough economic conditions. Dissatisfied workers are more likely to cause problems in the workplace by stealing, absenteeism, limiting productivity, and other negative work outcomes.