Topic 2: Personality and Learning Flashcards
(31 cards)
What is person-job fit? What is person-organization fit?
-Person-job fit is the match between an employee’s vocational interests and job demands.
-Person-organization fit is the match between an employee’s values and organizational culture.
What is the attraction, selection, and attrition theory? How does that relate to fit process?
-Attraction: Individuals tend to be attracted to organizations with similar values and personality.
-Selection: Organizations select applicants with similar values and personality.
-Attrition: Employees with dissimilar values/personality are more likely to quit or be fired.
-When we consider these three factors, as well as the fact that we naturally change to become more similar to those we surround ourselves with–organizations become increasingly homogenous over time.
What are the generational stereotypes?
-Traditionalists (born 1922-1945) are respectful of authority and a high work ethic.
-Boomers (born 1946-1964) are optimistic workoholics.
-Gen X (born 1965-1980) are skeptical, confident, and pragmatic.
-Gen Y/Millenials (born 1981-2000) are confident, social, and demanding of feedback.
-Gen Z (born 2001-2020) are somewhat unfocused but independent and creative.
Where do generational values come from?
-Most “generational” differences are really age effects, and history effects.
-Generation Z face more mental health challenges, they have more emphasis on work-life balance.
-Generation Z display delayed adulting behaviours in both positive and negative ways.
-Generation Z begins drinking at an older age.
-However, they also begin working at a later age.
What are the five values that cultures may display?
1) Power distance.
2) Uncertainty avoidance.
3) Individualism.
4) Masculinity.
5) Long-Term Orientation.
What is power distance?
-Power distance is the extent to which an unequal distribution of power is accepted by society members.
-In small power distance cultures, inequality is minimized, superiors are accessible, and power differences are downplayed.
-In large power distance societies, inequality is accepted as natural, superiors are inaccessible, and power differences are highlighted.
-Whether power differences are downplayed or highlighted simply speaks to the extent to which the in charge individual highlights the gap in power between them and their subordinates.
What is uncertainty avoidance?
Uncertainty avoidance refers to the extent to which people are uncomfortable with uncertain and ambiguous situations.
What is individualism?
Individualism is the extent to which an individual thinks about themselves as opposed to the group.
What is masculinity/femininity?
Masculinity/Femininity refers to the degree to which values like assertiveness, competitiveness, and material success (masculine traits) are emphasized over cooperation, quality of life, and care for others (feminine traits) in a culture or organization.
What is long-term orientation?
Long term orientation is the extent to which people think about the future.
What are broad, general personality traits?
-These are enduring, cross-situational traits that form the foundation of personality and can influence a wide variety of workplace behaviours.
-They are used in recruitment and selection.
-That’s why employers may often give you a Big 5 Personality test before hiring you.
What are narrow, specific traits? How are they used in Organizational Behaviour?
-These traits are context-dependent and target specific behaviours relevant to particular roles or environments.
-We use these traits to determine training and development plans in OB.
What are the four important narrow traits?
1) Locus of control
2) Type A Personality
3) Self-esteem
4) Self-monitoring
What is locus of control? How does it impact work performance?
People with a high locus of control believe that they impact their environment, as opposed to believing they are a product of their environment. Those with a high locus of control often have strong performance.
What is a type A personality?
These people often driven, productive under pressure, and often become leaders or high performers. However, they often are at greater risk of health challenges. Although they may be attracted to high pressure environments, these environments may bring out the worst in them.
What is self-monitoring?
-Self-monitoring refers to the extent to which people adjust their behavior to fit social situations.
-Someone with high self-monitors may pride themselves on being adaptable.
-On the other hand, someone with a low-self monitor may pride themselves on behaving the same way across situations and their “take me or leave me attitude.”
-High self monitors are highly adaptable to social cues, skilled at impression management, politically savvy with the ability to read a room, and are often successful in networking or leadership roles.
-Low self-monitors are more consistent across situations, and are more authentic but they may appear to be socially unaware. They may be blunt or direct even if it’s socially costly. They are valued for their integrity and consistency.
Who knows someone’s personality best?
-Our friends and family can predict our job performance better than we can, because we can be biased to assume we are better than we are in actuality.
-On the other hand, our colleagues are even better than our family at understanding our personality because our family has preconceived biases about us that our colleagues don’t have.
-In addition, our colleagues have seen us under pressure–where our true colours come out.
What is learning?
Learning is any process through which practice or experience at one time can alter an individual’s behavior at another time.
What is classical conditioning? What is a strong example of this?
-Classical conditioning occurs when a neutral object comes to elicit a reflexive response when it is associated with a stimulus that already produces that response.
-A strong example of this is Jim offering Dwight Altoids whenever his computer reboots, making him stick out his hand.
How does classical conditioning work with dogs?
1) Before conditioning… Food serves as an unconditioned stimulus, which leads to the dogs salivation.
2) Before conditioning… The bell is a neutral stimulus which produces no salivation. At this point there is no link.
3) During conditioning… The bell is rang at the same time as the food. The bell doesn’t create the salivation, the food does. The dog experiences saivation as an unconditioned response.
4) After conditioning… Finally, the dog hears the bell and experiences salivation. That is the conditioned response.
What are the three stages of classical conditioning?
1) Acquisition: this is the gradual formation of an association between the conditioned stimulus, and the unconditioned response.
2) Extinction: The process by which the conditioned stimulus, and the unconditioned response is weakened.
3) Spontaneous Recovery: The process by which a previously extinguished response (salivating) reemerges following the presentation of the conditioned stimulus.
What is operant conditioning?
B.F Skinner came up with the concept of operant conditioning, which is a form of learning in which voluntary behaviors are increased or decreased based on the rewards or punishments that follow them.
What is reinforcement and punishment?
The consequences of an action increase or decrease, and the likelihood that the action will be repeated.
How does frequency of reinforcement affect the target’s tendency to complete the desired behaviour?
-When a reward is given every time the desired behavior occurs, that leads to fast acquisition/quick learning, but the behavior is less persistent if rewards stop.
-However, if the rewards occurs less frequently, the individual is slower to learn, but are much more resistant to the extinction of that behaviour.
