Attitudes

MBUS 612Prof. Elloy

 Attitude Formation

1. Dispositional Approach  * Attitudes represent releatively stable predispositions to respond to people or situations.2. Situational Approach  * Attitudes emerge as a result of the uniqueness of a given situation.3. Processing Approach (Social Information) * Attitudes result from "socially constructed realities" as perceived by the individual.

A Social Information Processing View of Attitudes

Process:Social Context --> Information Concerning Event --> Attitude Formation

Example: New employee joins work group.

Coworkers describe work situation:  - supervisor   - pay and fringe benefits

- acceptable output level

New employee forms attitudes consistent with those of coworkers

Job Satisfaction

Organizational Commitment

• Strong belief and acceptance or organization goals and values

• Willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization

• Strong desire to maintain membership in the organization

Components of Attitudes

Factors Tending to Increase and Reduce Organizational Commitment

Job Satisfaction

• Discrepancy      Job satisfaction as a result of how much a person wants or expects from the job compared with how much he/she actually received.  

• Equity Theory      Job satisfaction determined by the perceived ratio of what a person receives from the job relative to what a person puts into a job.  

• Motivator/Hygiene Theory  

• Maslow's Theory

Correlates of Job Satisfaction

Variable Related Direction of Relationship Strength of with Satisfaction Relationship

Absenteeism                            Negative                                              Weak Lateness                                      Negative                                              Weak Turnover                                     Negative                                             Moderate Heart disease                               Negative                                              Moderate Stress                                      Negative                                              Moderate Pro-union voting Negative              Moderate Job performance                       Positive                                               Weak Life satisfaction                             Positive                                              Moderate Mental health                              Positive                                              Moderate

    

A Work-Related Example of the 3 Components of Attitudes

• Antecedents:   Beliefs and Values --------------->   "My job lacks responsibility"                                                             --------------->   "Job responsibility is important"                             create                                 

          ↓• Attitudes:           Feeling             ---------------->  "I don't like my job"

                that influences                                                  

  ↓

• Results:      Intended Behavior     ----------------->   "I'm going to quit my job"