Exam 3: Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

People seek consistency between their attitudes and their behaviors.

We have thousands of attitudes, but OB focuses on a very limited number that form positive or negative evaluations employees hold about their work environments.

An individual's involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for the work he/she performs is known as ________.

If there is an inconsistency between an individual's attitude on a specific issue and his/her behavior, there are only two courses of action available-alter the attitude or alter the behavior.

Sally has just been passed over for a promotion and is still earning less than $40,000 a year. She is experiencing a very low level of job satisfaction. Describe two active responses that Sally might undertake due to her dissatisfaction. Design a plan that Sally's immediate supervisor can use to diffuse the situation and keep her on board with the company.

The relationship between pay and job satisfaction virtually disappears when one earns a pay package sufficient for or more than the comfortable living amount.

Rachel, a sales executive at a bank, earns $35,000 a year. Her company often allows her to work her schedule around her daughter's school athletic events. She believes in the goals of her organization and works hard toward achieving them. Rachel's husband, Peter, has recently joined an engineering firm as a designer. He earns $75,000 a year. His job involves working long hours from Monday to Friday, and his work is often stressful. But he enjoys his work and is passionate about the projects he works on. Due to Peter's time constraints, his wife, Rachel, attends all their children's school events. How would you compare Rachel and Peter's levels of job satisfaction? Describe how you would measure their satisfaction level if the level of comfortable living in their country is $40,000. In addition, name at least three major job attitudes that play a part in each of their satisfaction levels.

Compare and contrast the four ways that employees can express job dissatisfaction.

Abigail Jones is a sales executive at Orbit Bank in Brussels. She is the best performer on her team and often gets the highest number of corporate accounts for the company. However, she feels that she does not get sufficient credit for her hard work. During lunch, she says to her colleague, "I have been getting the largest accounts for the bank for the past eight months. Yet, my manager never acknowledges the kind of effort I put in to get these accounts." Which component of attitude is being demonstrated by Jones?

The cognitive component of an attitude describes an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.

Sarah Mayer works as a marketing executive and has been unhappy with her job profile for several months now. Over the months, she has regularly discussed with her manager how her skills lie in administrative tasks instead of in marketing. In addition, she discusses how she can make a smooth transition into the administrative role. Which type of response is Mayer using in this situation?

Julie recently joined a youth center as a counselor who provides support services for teenage mothers. An important part of her job involves referring pregnant teenagers to abortion clinics, should they decide to avail of such services. This aspect of her work, however, conflicts with her religious beliefs. Her manager, Kyle, is aware of this and expects her to submit her resignation at any time, but Julie continues to carry out her duties in a sincere manner and shows no signs of quitting her job. Which of the following best explains this situation?

Which of the following is most likely to be a characteristic of disengaged employees?

No individual can completely avoid dissonance.

Lillian Stintson works for a global women's rights organization. In the past few months, she has traveled across the globe for the campaign she was working on. In addition, she has been working weekends to meet campaign milestones. She has now decided to take a month's holiday to relax and get a much-needed break. She knows that the organization will understand her need for a long holiday. Which of the following best represents Stintson's feeling?

The most important thing a manager can do to raise employee satisfaction is to focus on ________.

Jason has been spending a great deal of work time talking to his co-workers about how dissatisfied he is with the job. He also has spent quite a bit of time gossiping. In the last week, Jason has arrived at work intoxicated twice. His behavior can be classified as ________ behavior.

People who have positive core self-evaluations (CSEs)-who believe in their inner worth and basic competence-are more satisfied with their jobs than people with negative CSEs.

Compare and contrast job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment.

Maria Womack works for a bank in Michigan and is dissatisfied with the way her manager treats her. She is planning to quit her job and find a new position with another competitor bank. Her action represents the ________ response.