Lesson 3: Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

Learning ObjectivesAfter studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Contrast the three components of an attitude.

2. Summarize the relationship between attitudes and behavior.

3. Compare and contrast the major job attitudes.

4. Define job satisfaction and show how we can measure it.

5. Summarize the main causes of job satisfaction.

6. Identify four employee responses to dissatisfaction.

Contrast the Three Components of an Attitude

• Attitudes are evaluative statements – either favorable or unfavorable – about objects, people, or events.

• They reflect how we feel about something.

LO 1

3-3

Contrast the Three Components of an Attitude

LO 1

3-4

Summarize the Relationship Between Attitudes and Behavior

• Early research: the attitudes that people hold determine what they do.

• Festinger proposed that cases of attitude following behavior illustrate the effects of cognitive dissonance.

• Cognitive dissonance is any incompatibility an individual might perceive between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.

• Research has generally concluded that people seek consistency among their attitudes and between their attitudes and their behavior.

LO 2

3-5

Compare and Contrast 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 one’s job, competence, job meaningfulness, and autonomy.

LO 3

3-6

Compare and Contrast the Major Job Attitudes

• Organizational Commitment

• Identifying with a particular organization and its goals and wishing to maintain membership in the organization.

• Theoretical models propose that employees who are committed will be less likely to engage in work withdrawal even if they are dissatisfied, because they have a sense of organizational loyalty.

LO 3

Compare and Contrast the 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 organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and performance.

LO 3

Compare and Contrast the Major Job Attitudes

• Employee Engagement

• The degree of involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for the job.

• Engaged employees are passionate about their work and company.

LO 3

Define Job Satisfaction and Show How It Can Be Measured

LO 4

3-10

Define Job Satisfaction and Show How It Can Be Measured

• Job Satisfaction• A positive feeling about a job resulting from an evaluation of

its characteristics.

• Two approaches for measuring job satisfaction are popular• The single global rating. • The summation of job facets.

LO 4

3-11

Define Job Satisfaction and Show How It Can Be Measured

LO 4

3-12

• How satisfied are people in their jobs?• Over the last 30 years, employees in the U.S. and

most developed countries have generally been satisfied with their jobs.• With economic downturn, more workers are less

satisfied.• Satisfaction levels differ depending on the facet

involved.• Employees in Western cultures have higher levels of

job satisfaction as compared to employees in Eastern cultures.

Define Job Satisfaction and Show How It Can Be Measured

LO 4

3-13

Define Job Satisfaction and Show How It Can Be Measured

LO 4

3-14

Identify Four Employee Responses to Dissatisfaction

LO 6

3-15

Summarize the MainCauses of Job Satisfaction

•What causes job satisfaction?

• Research shows that job satisfaction is correlated with life satisfaction.

• Pay influences job satisfaction only to a point.• Personality also plays a role in job satisfaction.

• People who have positive core self-evaluations, who believe in their inner worth and basic competence, are more satisfied with their jobs than those with negative core self-evaluations.

LO 5

Summarize the MainCauses of Job Satisfaction

LO 5

3-17

Identify Four Employee Responses to Dissatisfaction

•More specific outcomes of job satisfaction include: • Job Satisfaction and Job Performance •Happy workers are more likely to be productive

workers. • Job Satisfaction and OCB •People who are more satisfied with their jobs are

more likely to engage in OCB.• Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction•Satisfied employees increase customer

satisfaction and loyalty.• Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism •There is a consistent negative relationship

between satisfaction and absenteeism, but it is moderate to weak.

LO 6

Identify Four Employee Responses to Dissatisfaction

• Job Satisfaction and Turnover • A pattern of lowered job satisfaction is a predictor of

possible intent to leave. • Job Satisfaction and Workplace Deviance

• If employees don’t like their work environment, they’ll respond somehow.

• Managers Often “Don’t Get It” • Many managers are unconcerned about employee job

satisfaction. • Others overestimate how satisfied employees are with

their jobs, so they don’t think there’s a problem when there is one.

LO 6

Implications for Managers• Pay attention to your employees’ job satisfaction levels as

determinants of their performance, turnover, absenteeism, and withdrawal behaviors.

• Measure employee job attitudes objectively and at regular intervals in order to determine how employees are reacting to their work.

• To raise employee satisfaction, evaluate the fit between the employee’s work interests and the intrinsic parts of his/her job to create work that is challenging and interesting to the individual.

• Consider the fact that high pay alone is unlikely to create a satisfying work environment.