Robbins, Judge, and Vohra

Organizational Behavior
14th Edition

Attitudes
Attitudes and
and Job
Job Satisfaction
Satisfaction

Kelli J. Schutte
William Jewell College
Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-1
 Chapter
Chapter Learning
Learning Objectives
Objectives
 After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
– Contrast the three components of an attitude.
– Summarize the relationship between attitudes and behavior.
– Compare and contrast the major job attitudes.
– Define job satisfaction and show how it can be measured.
– Summarize the main causes of job satisfaction.
– Identify four employee responses to dissatisfaction.
– Show whether there are cultural differences in job
satisfaction.

Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-2
 Does
DoesBehavior
BehaviorAlways
AlwaysFollow
Followfrom
fromAttitudes?
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

Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-3
 Does
DoesBehavior
BehaviorAlways
AlwaysFollow
Followfrom
fromAttitudes?
Attitudes?
– Desire to reduce dissonance depends on:
• Importance of elements
• Degree of individual influence
– Individuals will be more motivated to reduce dissonance
when the attitudes or behavior are important or when they
believe the dissonance is due to something they can
control.
• Rewards involved in dissonance
– high rewards accompanying high dissonance tend to
reduce the tension inherent in the dissonance.

Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e
 Attitudes
Attitudes
Evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects,
people, or events
Three components of an attitude:

The emotional or
feeling segment
The opinion or of an attitude
belief segment of
an attitude
An intention to
behave in a certain
way toward someone
or something
See E X H I B I T 3–1
See E X H I B I T 3–1
Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-5
 Moderating
Moderating Variables
Variables
 The most powerful moderators of the attitude-
behavior relationship are:
– Importance of the attitude
– Its Correspondence to behavior
– Its Accessibility
– Existence of social pressures
– Whether or not a person has had direct experience
with the behavior

Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-6
 Predicting
Predicting Behavior
Behavior from
from Attitudes
Attitudes

– Important attitudes have a strong relationship to

behavior.
– The closer the match between attitude and
behavior, the stronger the relationship:
• Specific attitudes predict specific behavior
• General attitudes predict general behavior
– The more frequently expressed an attitude, the
better predictor it is.
– High social pressures reduce the relationship and
may cause dissonance.
– Attitudes based on personal experience are
stronger predictors.

Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-7
 What
What are
are the
the Major
Major Job
Job Attitudes?
Attitudes?
 Job Satisfaction
– A positive feeling about the job
resulting from an evaluation of its
characteristics
– A high level of job satisfaction
equals positive attitudes toward the
job and vice versa.
– Employee attitudes and job
satisfaction are frequently used
interchangeably.
– Often when people speak of
“employee attitudes” they mean
“employee job satisfaction.”
Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-8
 Predicting
Predicting Behavior
Behavior from
from Attitudes
Attitudes
 Job Involvement
– Degree of psychological identification with the job where
perceived performance is important to self-worth
– High levels of job involvement are thought to result in fewer
absences and lower resignation rates.
– Job involvement more consistently predicts turnover than
absenteeism.
– Psychological empowerment—employees’ beliefs in the
degree to which they impact their work
 Psychological Empowerment
– Belief in the degree of influence over the job, competence,
job meaningfulness, and autonomy

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Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e
 Another
Another Major
Major Job
Job Attitude
Attitude
 Organizational Commitment
– A state in which an employee identifies with a particular
organization and its goals.
– Affective commitment—emotional attachment to the organization
and belief in its values
– Continuance commitment—perceived economic value of
remaining with an organization compared to alternatives
– Normative commitment—obligation to remain with the
organization for moral or ethical reasons
– A positive relationship appears to exist between organizational
commitment and job productivity, but it is a modest one.
– As with job involvement, the research evidence demonstrates
negative relationships between organizational commitment and
both absenteeism and turnover.

Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-10
 And
And Yet
Yet More
More Major
Major Job
Job Attitudes…
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.

Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-11
 And
And Yet
Yet More
More Major
Major Job
Job Attitudes…
Attitudes…
 Highly engaged employees have a passion for their work and feel a
deep connection to their company

 Disengaged employees have essentially checked out—putting time but

not energy or attention into their work

 Engagement becomes a real concern for most organizations because

surveys indicate that few employees—between 17 percent and 29
percent—are highly engaged by their work

 Engagement is a very general concept, perhaps broad enough to

capture the intersection of the other variables we’ve discussed. In
other words, it may be what these attitudes have in common.

Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-12
 Are
Are These
These Job
Job Attitudes
Attitudes Really
Really Distinct?
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!

Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-13
 Job
Job Satisfaction
Satisfaction
 One of the primary job attitudes measured.
– Broad term involving a complex individual summation of a number of discrete job
elements.
– Jobs require interacting with coworkers and bosses, following organizational rules and
policies, meeting performance standards, living with less than ideal working conditions,
and the like.
 How to measure?
– Single global rating (one question/one answer):
• Is a response to one question, such as “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your
job?” Respondents circle a number between 1 and 5 on a scale from “highly satisfied” “highly
dissatisfied.”
– Summation score (many questions/one average):
• The summation of job facets, is more sophisticated. It identifies key elements in a job such as
the nature of the work, supervision, present pay, promotion opportunities, and relations with
coworkers
 Are people satisfied in their jobs?
– In India, yes. Seventy-one percent of Indian employees
– surveyed are satisfied with their jobs.
– Results vary by employee facets of the job. See E X H I B I T 3–2
See E X H I B I T 3–2
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– Compensation, benefits, and incentives are the most problematic elements in India.
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-14
 Job
Job Satisfaction
Satisfaction
How to measure?
– Single global rating (one question/one answer):
• Is a response to one question, such as “All things considered,
how satisfied are you with your job?” Respondents circle a
number between 1 and 5 on a scale from “highly satisfied”
“highly dissatisfied.”
– Summation score (many questions/one average):
• The summation of job facets, is more sophisticated. It
identifies key elements in a job such as the nature of the work,
supervision, present pay, promotion opportunities, and
relations with coworkers

See E X H I B I T 3–2
See E X H I B I T 3–2
Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-15
 Job
Job Satisfaction
Satisfaction
Are people satisfied in their jobs?
– Most people are satisfied with their jobs in the developed
countries surveyed.
– Research shows that over the past 30 years, the majority of
workers have been satisfied with their jobs.
– Seventy-one percent of Indian employees surveyed are
satisfied with their jobs.
– Indian workers seem to be less satisfied with their
compensation and benefits and with their incentive pay.

See E X H I B I T 3–2
See E X H I B I T 3–2
Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-16
 Causes
Causes of
of Job
Job Satisfaction
Satisfaction
 Pay influences job satisfaction only to a point.
– Once an individual reaches a comfortable level of living, there
is no relationship between amount of pay and job satisfaction.
– Money may bring happiness, but not necessarily job
satisfaction.

 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.

See E X H I B I T 3–3
See E X H I B I T 3–3
Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-17
 Employee
Employee Responses
Responses to
to Dissatisfaction
Dissatisfaction
There are a number of ways employees can express
dissatisfaction:
 Exit: Behavior directed toward leaving the organization, including
looking for a new position as well as resigning
 Voice: Actively and constructively attempting to improve
conditions, including suggesting improvements, discussing
problems with superiors, and some forms of union activity.
 Loyalty: Passively but optimistically waiting for conditions to
improve, including speaking up for the organization in the face of
external criticism, and trusting the organization and its
management to “do the right thing.”
 Neglect: Passively allowing conditions to worsen, including
chronic absenteeism or lateness, reduced effort, and increased error
rate.
See E X H I B I T 3–3
See E X H I B I T 3–3
Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-18
 Employee
Employee Responses
Responses to
to Dissatisfaction
Dissatisfaction
Active

Destructive Constructive

Passive

See E X H I B I T 3–4
See E X H I B I T 3–4
Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-19
 Employee
Employee Responses
Responses to
to Dissatisfaction
Dissatisfaction
 Exit and neglect behaviors encompass our performance variables—
productivity, absenteeism, and turnover.

 Voice and loyalty are constructive behaviors allow individuals to

tolerate unpleasant situations or to revive satisfactory working
conditions. It helps us to understand situations, such as those
sometimes found among unionized workers, where low job
satisfaction is coupled with low turnover.

See E X H I B I T 3–3
See E X H I B I T 3–3
Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-20
 Outcomes
Outcomes of
of Job
Job Satisfaction
Satisfaction
 Job Performance
– Satisfied workers are more productive AND more productive
workers are more satisfied!
– At the organization level, there is renewed support for the original
satisfaction-performance relationship. It seems organizations with
more satisfied workers as a whole are more productive
organizations.
 Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
– It seems logical to assume that job satisfaction should be a major
determinant of an employee’s organizational citizenship behavior.
More recent evidence, however, suggests that satisfaction influences
OCB, but through perceptions of fairness.
– Basically, job satisfaction comes down to conceptions of fair
outcomes, treatment, and procedures. When you trust your
employer, you are more likely to engage in behaviors that go beyond
your formal job requirements.
Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-21
 Outcomes
Outcomes of
of Job
Job Satisfaction
Satisfaction
 Customer Satisfaction
 Evidence indicates that satisfied employees increase customer
satisfaction and loyalty.
 Customer retention and defection are highly dependent on how
front-line employees deal with customers. Satisfied employees are
more likely to be friendly, upbeat, and responsive. Customers
appreciate that.
 Companies hire upbeat, friendly employees, train them in the
importance of customer service, provide positive employee work
climates, and regularly track employee satisfaction through attitude
surveys.
 Absenteeism
 We find a consistent negative relationship between satisfaction and
absenteeism. The more satisfied you are, the less likely you are to
miss work.
 It makes sense that dissatisfied employees are more likely to miss
work, but other factors have an impact on the relationship and
reduce the correlation coefficient. For example, you might be a
satisfied worker, yet still take a “mental health day” to head for the
beach now and again.
Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-22
 More
More Outcomes
Outcomes of
of Job
Job Satisfaction
Satisfaction
 Turnover
– Satisfaction is also negatively related to turnover, but the
correlation is stronger than what we found for absenteeism.
– Other factors such as labor market conditions, expectations about
alternative job opportunities, and length of tenure with the
organization are important constraints on the actual decision to
leave one’s current job.
– Evidence indicates that an important moderator of the satisfaction-
turnover relationship is the employee’s level of performance. in
high performers and to weed out lower performers
 Workplace Deviance
– If employees don’t like their work environment, they will respond
somehow.
– Job dissatisfaction predicts unionization, substance abuse, stealing, and
tardiness.

Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-23
 Managers
Managers often
often “don’t
“don’t get
get it”
it”
 Given the evidence we’ve just reviewed, it should come as
no surprise that job satisfaction can affect the bottom line.

 Stock prices of companies in the high morale group grew

19.4 percent, compared with 10 percent for the medium or
low morale group

 Regular surveys can reduce gaps between what managers

think employees feel and what they really feel.

Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-24
 Global
Global Implications
Implications

 Are Employees in Some Cultures More Satisfied With Their Jobs?

– Although job satisfaction appears relevant across cultures, that doesn’t
mean there are no cultural differences in job satisfaction.

– Western cultures have higher levels of job satisfaction than those in

Eastern cultures

– Another study showed that Indian employees rated their satisfaction higher
than other employees in the Asia-Pacific region.

– Evidence suggests that individuals in Eastern cultures find negative

emotions less aversive more than do individuals in Western cultures, who
tend to emphasize positive emotions and individual happiness.
See E X H I B I T 3–5
See E X H I B I T 3–5

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Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-25
 Summary
Summary and
and Managerial
Managerial Implications
Implications
 Managers should watch employee attitudes:
– They give warnings of potential problems
– They influence behavior
 Managers should try to increase job satisfaction and
generate positive job attitudes
– Reduces costs by lowering turnover, absenteeism, tardiness,
theft, and increasing OCB
 Focus on the intrinsic parts of the job: make work
challenging and interesting
– Pay is not enough

Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational
Behavior, 14e 3-26
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3-27