5.15: Understanding and Managing Individual Behavior

Question 1

The actions of people

Answer 1

behavior

Question 2

The study of the actions of people at work

Answer 2

organizational behavior (OB)

Question 3

A performance measure of both efficiency and effectiveness

Answer 3

employee productivity

Question 4

The failure to show up to work

Answer 4

absenteeism

Question 5

The voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal from an organization

Answer 5

turnover

Question 6

Discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee’s formal job requirements, but which promotes the effective functioning of the organization

Answer 6

organizational citizenship behavior

Question 7

An employee’s general attitude toward his or her job

Answer 7

job satisfaction

Question 8

Any intentional employee behavior that is potentially damaging to the organization or to individuals within the organization

Answer 8

counterproductive workplace behavior

Question 9

Evaluative statements, either favorable or unfavorable, concerning objects, people, or events

Answer 9

attitudes

Question 10

That part of an attitude that’s made up of the beliefs, opinions, knowledge, or information held by a person

Answer 10

cognitive component

Question 11

That part of a attitude that’s the emotional or feeling part

Answer 11

affective component

Question 12

That part of an attitude that refers to an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something

Answer 12

behavioral component

Question 13

The degree to which an employee identifies with his or her job, actively participates in it, and considers his or her job performance to be important to self-worth

Answer 13

job involvement

Question 14

The degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization

Answer 14

organizational commitment

Question 15

Employees’ general belief that their organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being

Answer 15

perceived organizational support

Question 16

When employees are connected to, satisfied with, and enthusiastic about their jobs

Answer 16

employee engagement

Question 17

Any incompatibility or inconsistency between attitudes or between behavior and attitudes

Answer 17

cognitive dissonance

Question 18

Surveys that elicit responses from employees through questions about how they feel about their jobs, work groups, supervisors, or the organization

Answer 18

attitude surveys

Question 19

The unique combination of emotional, thought, and behavioral patterns that affect how a person reacts to situations and interacts with others

Answer 19

personality

Question 20

Personality trait model that includes extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience

Answer 20

Big Five Model

Question 21

A personality attribute that measures the degree to which people believe they control their own fate

Answer 21

locus of control

Question 22

A measure of the degree to which people are pragmatic, maintain emotional distance, and believe that ends justify means

Answer 22

Machiavellianism

Question 23

An individual’s degree of like or dislike for himself or herself

Answer 23

self-esteem

Question 24

A personality trait that measures the ability to adjust behavior to external situational factors

Answer 24

self-monitoring

Question 25

A personality trait that describes individuals who are more prone to take actions to influence their environments

Answer 25

proactive personality

Question 26

An individual’s ability to overcome challenges and turn them into opportunities

Answer 26

resilience

Question 27

intense feelings that are directed at someone or something

Answer 27

emotions

Question 28

The ability to not and to manage emotional cues and information

Answer 28

emotional intelligence (EI)

Question 29

A process by which we give meaning to our environment by organizing and interpreting sensory impressions

Answer 29

perception

Question 30

A theory used to explain how we judge people differently depending on what meaning we attribute to a given behavior

Answer 30

attribution theory

Question 31

The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others

Answer 31

fundamental attribution error

Question 32

The tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors

Answer 32

self-serving bias

Question 33

The assumption that others are like oneself

Answer 33

assumed similarity

Question 34

Judging a person based on a perception of a group to which that person belongs

Answer 34

stereotyping

Question 35

A general impression of an individual based on a single characteristic

Answer 35

halo effect

Question 36

Any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience

Answer 36

learning

Question 37

A theory of learning that says behavior is a function of its consequences

Answer 37

operant conditioning

Question 38

A theory of learning that says people can learn through observation and direct experience

Answer 38

social learning theory

Question 39

The process of guiding learning in graduated steps using reinforcement or lack of reinforcement

Answer 39

shaping behavior