HR Performance Issues and Motivation

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3What Employees Perceive and How They Learn

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Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter and studying the materials, you should be able to:

Explain the role perception plays in an individual's work experience. Evaluate internally generated and externally generated learning processes. Utilize social learning theory in the workplace. Apply an understanding of individual differences to management practices.

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3.1 Perceptions and Perceptual Processes in the Workplace How would you describe the world? Some might respond that it is a dangerous or threatening place, where one must constantly be on guard. Others may say the world consists of some good things and some bad. Others still view the world as �illed with riches and treasures. All three answers are correct. This chapter examines two important mental processes that affect individual lives as well as how people respond to various elements of the workplace: perceptions and learning. These two processes exert a direct impact on individual differences in personality traits and characteristics, which in turn in�luence the ways a person adapts to his or her workplace situation.

This �irst section describes the nature of perception and perceptual processes. The nature of perception involves the interpretation of reality. Perception is the selection, organization, and interpretation of stimuli or sensory impressions in order to understand or give meaning to the environment (Pomerantz, 2003). At work, understanding the nature of perceptual processes assists managers of all types in developing effective programs, including those involving workplace safety, employee training, manager training, and coping with issues such as discrimination and harassment.

Selection in Perceptual Processes

Perception begins with stimulus selection, when something captures a person's attention. As a person encounters stimuli, some forms recede while others receive consideration. The process of selection explains how some stimuli get through while others do not. You may notice that while reading these words you also tune out background noises, such as a whirring fan in the room or a road noise outside. Some attention-getting factors that lead to stimulus selection are displayed in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1: Selection (attention-getting) factors at work Factor Example

Intensity A loud whistle Brightly colored safety signs A strong smell or powerful taste

Size Large machinery surrounded by small equipment Tall people in a crowd A large billboard (as opposed to a small sign)

Contrast Dark or light print drawing attention to speci�ic words or terms Someone whispering in a noisy room A loud machine abruptly stops running

Motion Someone running through an of�ice where others are working silently Moving machinery

Repetition A commercial that continually repeats the company's phone number or website

Novelty A new computer screen A book left in your workspace by someone else

Familiarity Noticing a well-known company's logo while visiting a foreign country

Companies can use attention-getting stimuli to encourage employees to make important associations with company processes. Brightly colored warning signs and loud backup noises on moving equipment help ensure workplace safety. Employers can use repetition in training sessions to improve retention of information, or on signage to remind staff about rules and regulations. And the use of a lunch whistle in a factory establishes a consistent work routine.

Organization in Perceptual Processes

Once a stimulus has been selected, the sensory input must be organized to give it meaning. Organizing properties associated with perception include (Kimble & Garmezy, 1963; Leeper, 1935):

�igure–ground grouping constancy context

Figure–ground determines which stimuli capture attention and which remain in the background. What stands out, �igure, captures attention, and what recedes constitutes ground. Figure and ground patterns are often based on past experiences. For example, print on a page stands out and the white page recedes, because the mind has been trained to encounter writing in that way from an early age. When watching a television program or seeing a speaker in person, the �igure will be the screen or the individual; ground consists of anything that is tuned out.

Figure–ground becomes part of the workplace environment in many ways. A sales manager giving a pep talk to the sales force should be the focal point, or �igure. All other elements should become ground. The printing on signs indicating safe zones for emergencies should quickly stand out (think of exit doors on airplanes), and materials around them should recede.

A second element of organizing, grouping, is the tendency to see groups as logical patterns (see Table 3.2). These tendencies exist because the human mind has an innate disposition to perceive patterns in stimuli (Banerjee, 1994). Grouping at work occurs when employees see any "set" of people (females/males; minority group members; persons wearing distinctive clothing or safety equipment) in ways that set them apart. At times these tendencies may be connected to false conclusions, or perceptual distortions such as stereotyping, which will be discussed later in this chapter.

Table 3.2: Examples of grouping Principle De�inition Visual example Workplace example

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Closure Seeing a whole object (e.g., a triangle and a circle) whether or not one is actually present

Perceiving consensus in a room even though dissenters are present

Continuity Perceiving order (e.g., seeing whole squares rather than an assortment of shapes)

Failing to notice missing words or letters in words in a report (what editors call "reading through" a typo)

Proximity Perceiving patterns in items that are close to one another (e.g., a line made up of dots)

Seeing and avoiding a line of warning cones near construction sites or on the highway

Similarity Grouping things that are alike (e.g., seeing groups of squares and circles)

Seeing three women and two men in a break room, rather than �ive people

The third element of organizing, constancy, has visual and other sensory implications. It is the tendency for the perception of a stimulus to stay the same, even if the stimulus has moved. Visually, when a cab drives past with an advertisement printed on the vehicle, you can read the copy even though the car keeps moving. You can also read �ixed images on billboards while in a car driving by the sign. Constancy helps explain hand–eye coordination, which is often required to complete job-related tasks, such as reading a scroll on a computer screen or working on an object as it passes through an assembly or inspection line. Workers exhibit constancy when they look for items of fruit or vegetables to reject as they move toward packing or processing.

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Perceptual context occurs when a stimulus is assigned meaning. The same stimulus may have a different meaning, depending on the context. For example, a raised eyebrow transmitted by a supervisor normally means something substantially different from a raised eyebrow transmitted by a woman to a man in a pub. Many symbols and terms eventually develop meaning and context, including icons such as the Nike "Swoosh" and many religious symbols. Context combines with other elements of organization to lead to the �inal stage of perception, which is interpretation.

Interpretation in Perceptual Processes

When the meaning of a stimulus is known, it can be assigned a more complete meaning. Four levels of interpretation are depicted in Figure 3.1.

Figure 3.1: Levels of interpretation

Depending on the person and the surrounding circumstances, a stimulus can go through one or many of the different levels of interpretation.

The outer level of an individual's consciousness contains understanding, such as when someone hears the term "ball" or sees a fork. The person understands the object. Attitudes constitute a more in-depth level of interpretation. Terms such as "good" or "bad" and "acceptable" or "unacceptable" apply to attitudes. Beliefs are more strongly held principles. One might believe that a criminal justice system should punish those who harm others. Values represent the central core of a person's being. Values include religious ideologies to some, political philosophies to others, and "family" to many others. Values are the most strongly held and unchangeable elements of a person's sense of self.

The same stimulus can penetrate different levels of interpretation. Upon hearing the term "cigarette," most people understand what it means. Some may have no reaction, while others may feel strongly that they should not be subjected to secondhand smoke. Still others may believe that smoking should be outlawed or banned from the workplace, even in areas outside of the work building.

These levels should be considered when companies and managers consider policies related to subjects such as same-sex partnership rights, discrimination, af�irmative action, and union activities and rights. Managers should consider how deeply held employee interpretations are regarding each subject, which will help them more effectively respond to various controversies. Consider how perception might affect various organizations in OB in Action: Tattoos in the Workplace.

OB in Action: Tattoos in the Workplace

How do you react to tattoos? There are many perceptions of body art. Some may view it negatively; others positively, and another group may see it as essentially a non-issue.

Recently, a regional university encountered controversy when its nursing department imposed a ban on applicants who displayed observable tattoos by not allowing them to apply for admission. Unit leaders argued that such an adornment would take away from the individual's "professional appearance" and might be upsetting to some patients.

Several students roundly objected to the ban, arguing it impinged on personal freedom. They noted that other forms of dress (hair coloring; piercings) were not included in the ban. They further suggested that any form of self-expression should not be subject to such a "discriminatory" rule.

The history of tattoos has many elements. In some regions and nations, tattooing is an ancient practice closely tied to culture. In the United States, however, tattoos were largely considered taboo until the late 19th century, when they started to gain popularity with members of the military. In recent decades, tattoos have surged in popularity, particularly among young adults.

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Though the perception of tattoos and tattooed individuals is shifting, there are still many employers that have banned, or simply frown upon, visible tattoos in the workplace.

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The Halo Effect

Two brain games break down "the halo effect," explaining how personal perception can often lead us to make inaccurate assumptions about others.

More recently, the U.S. Army has changed its policy toward tattoos, allowing them to be visible if they are not offensive to a protected group or individual. Previous regulations limited the number and size of tattoos, and banned some forms, including those on an individual's neck. Members of the brass believed the regulations discouraged some young people from enlisting. At the same time, some tattoos are still not allowed, including markings on a person's head, face, neck (above the shirt line), eyelids, mouth, ears, wrists, and hands. Any racist, sexist, indecent, or extremist tattoo is also not allowed. The military also notes that some members use tattoos to commemorate battles and events in which they were involved.

It might be possible that perceptions of tattoos have a generational element, wherein younger people may be less disturbed by them. Further, many professional athletes display them, and these individuals could potentially be considered as role models to younger persons.

By 2014, Starbucks and PetSmart changed company policies regarding tattoos, allowing them to be visible (Kell, 2014). In 2016, the web site lifehacker.com identi�ied what it called the most "tattoo-friendly companies," for those wishing to �ind such organizations.

Re�lection and Application Questions

1. How do tattoos capture attention as part of the perceptual process? 2. How might tattoos be related to the levels of interpretation displayed in Figure 3.1? 3. What are your personal views of tattoos and their display in the workplace?

Perceptual Errors

When a stimulus is not received, processed, or interpreted correctly, an error has taken place. Perceptual errors occur in two primary areas: physical perceptual errors related to objects, and personal perception errors related to individuals. Both have implications for management and the workplace.

Physical Perceptual Errors Physical errors take two forms. The �irst results from a confusing stimulus. For example, hot pavement can create the optical illusion of "water on the road," which may impact a truck driver's ability to navigate safely. Similarly, airline pilots can become confused about the relationship of the plane to the ground and horizon. The latter error has been identi�ied as having caused the 1999 crash that took the life of John F. Kennedy, Jr. (Wald, 2000).

The second type of physical error results from a physical disability. A notable example is dyslexia, a disorder associated with dif�iculties with accurate and/or �luent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. The disability also hinders learning. Workplace accommodation efforts can assist individuals with such challenges.

Personal Perception Errors Certain personal perception errors routinely occur. These faulty perceptions and judgments regarding other people affect a series of business-related outcomes. The most notable are

selective perception halo/horn stereotyping contrast effects projection

Selective perception represents a perceptual shortcut in which people interpret what they observe based on their own interests, experiences, background, and personal attitudes. As an example, if you present a moral dilemma to an attorney, a member of the clergy, and a medical practitioner, the attorney will likely see the problem as a legal issue, the member of the clergy as a religious problem, and the medical practitioner as a matter of health (Dearborn & Simon, 1958). At work, a sales manager might ignore problems with shipping and delivery and concentrate only on consumer complaints when sales are lower than expected, leading to a false conclusion about how to correct the problem.

Halo/horn occurs when a general impression or conclusion has been drawn about an individual based on a single characteristic. The halo effect links one positive characteristic with other positive characteristics. Physical attractiveness creates a halo effect in which people are likely to perceive a beautiful person as also intelligent and kind, which in turn enhances the individual's chances to be hired, promoted, and receive a more positive performance evaluation. The horn effect is the opposite; one negative characteristic becomes associated with other negative characteristics. Arriving late to a job interview often links to the perception that the person will be unreliable and not trustworthy.

Stereotyping assigns a set of characteristics to a group of people. As discussed in Chapter 2, such judgments are made based on age, race, gender, national origin, sexual identity and orientation, and occupations. Stereotyping in�luences how people immediately judge others, based on readily observable common features. Stereotyping has long been associated with racism and discriminatory practices related to females, members of minority groups, certain religious af�iliations, and gender identity.

Contrast effects occur when a person is perceived based on contrasts with other persons. For instance, if you are in a speech contest and the person before you stumbles through an incoherent presentation, your speech will likely receive much more favorable ratings. If,

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Critical Thinking Questions

1. Why do you think most people ascribe positive qualities to attractive people?

2. Have you ever been directly affected by the halo effect? Were you the person being perceived, or the person perceiving? What resulted from this perception?

however, the speaker before you makes a powerful and compelling argument, your ratings will undoubtedly be lower, simply because of the contrast.

Projection involves attributing one's own characteristics to others. Greedy people see everyone around them as greedy. People who are honest and trustworthy often assume those around them are equally honest.

Personal perception errors affect many practical matters on the job. The types of business decisions affected by personal perceptions include the following:

Hiring decisions Performance appraisal ratings Pay raises Task assignments Group composition and roles Layoff decisions Promotions Terminations

Managers should seek to understand and limit the impact of these factors to achieve a more ethical and fair business environment. For example, human resource departments often utilize the 360 performance review system, which includes a series of raters from various backgrounds to help reduce the impact of perceptual errors such as stereotyping and halo/ horn. As a more dramatic example, the Academy Awards endured major criticism through the hashtag "OscarsSoWhite," when all nominees for awards in the 2016 ceremonies were White. In response, the organization added more than 600 voting members from diverse backgrounds to improve the nomination process for the coming year and beyond (Hogan, 2016; LA Times, 2016).

Individual managers and overall companies can become sensitive to the potential for perceptual errors and seek out ways to personally overcome them or develop protocols by which employees are selected, evaluated, rewarded, and promoted.

In summary, perception consists of the selection, organization, and interpretation of stimuli. These factors affect the conduct of work. Perceptual errors take place when stimuli are not correctly received or are misinterpreted, or when individual actions or characteristics are incorrectly judged, which in turn affects numerous key business decisions made regarding applicants and employees.

The Halo Effect From Title: Peer Pressure: Brain Games (Season 5)

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3.2 Learning Processes In addition to perceptions, a second element of a person's mental make-up involves learning. Learning processes represent one of the key components of the adjustment to a workplace. Individuals learn prior to joining an organization and continue to do so throughout an entire career and into retirement. The concept of "lifelong learning" should not be considered merely an explanation of the amount of training needed to succeed on the job: We learn throughout our lives in order to better cope with the world.

Learning may be de�ined as the process of acquiring new knowledge or a new skill. Learning can result in changes in behavior (Weiss, 1990); however, it is possible to learn something without any detectable change in behavior. For example, by watching an informative program about popular celebrities, you may learn that Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Cruise, Winston Churchill, Walt Disney, and Richard Branson all had dyslexia. The information is interesting and is retained without any resultant change in behavior.

At work, organizational behavior tends to focus on learning that impacts behaviors. A sweeping number of job-related activities are affected by learning processes. Table 3.3 provides examples.

Table 3.3: Work activities affected by learning processes Recruiting and selection Applicant learns about the company; company learns about the applicant.

Orientation New employee learns about company basics.

Employee training programs Employee learns how to do the job.

Employee discipline systems Employee learns company rules and consequences of breaking them.

Workplace safety Employee learns how to work safely, safety rules, consequences of breaking safety rules.

Performance appraisal Company teaches employee about performance criteria; employee learns how to improve on-the-job performance.

Management training Candidate learns new technical and managerial skills.

Retirement planning Employee learns how to cope with leaving the company and their vocation.

Three primary explanations regarding how people learn are possible. They are internally generated learning processes, externally generated learning processes, and social learning theory, the latter of which will be discussed in Section 3.3.

Internally Generated Learning Processes

Internally generated learning processes explain how and what a person learns based on internal mental functioning. Perception is the key factor that shapes internally generated learning processes.

Research in the area of internally generated learning processes examines how the mind captures, stores, and retrieves learned information. Additional studies examine physiological in�luences on learning, including the ways in which malnutrition and the lack of sleep inhibit learning. Also, mind–body connections are examined in the attempt to explain how neural transmissions take learned behaviors, such as playing the piano, and translate those into repeated actions, such as playing a song by memory.

Another primary area of focus for those interested in internally generated learning is the nature and impact of physical disabilities. These factors affect perceptions (as perceptual errors) as well as the learning process. A range of mental abnormalities can inhibit or enhance learning. For example, an individual may display extraordinary memory yet have dif�iculty with more routine social interactions.

Externally Generated Learning Processes

Externally generated learning processes explain how and what people learn based on factors present in the environment. The basic principles developed from these ideas have implications for the workplace. Among the earliest works were the research of Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and Edwin Thorndike, who studied how learning occurred as a response to outside stimuli in the environment. For example, at work, people respond to the presence of a supervisor in the room (by working harder), to any kind of signal bell or whistle (responding to what it signals), and to warning lights and sounds (by looking out for the danger). Edwin Thorndike, in particular, studied the effects that consequences have on behaviors. He examined the strength and frequency of reinforcers (consequences). Thus, if standing close to a �ire warms someone on a cold night, the individual might move next to a �ire the next time it was cold. The colder it becomes, the closer the person may get to the �lames. Further, other kinds of consequences may inhibit or stop behaviors. Therefore, touching the �ire and getting burned would cause the person to avoid contact with it in the future. These outcomes are summarized as Thorndike's (1913/1982) Law of Effect, which is a well-established concept in the social sciences: Behavior is a function of its consequences.

For the �ield of organizational behavior, however, perhaps the most in�luential learning theorist would be B. F. Skinner, who developed his model of learning based on the previous research and theory-building of John B. Watson (1919), Edwin Thorndike, and others. Skinner (1953) frowned on the use of the term "learning," because he believed the word was a construct, or "convenient �iction" used to describe an unobservable process. You cannot observe "learning"; you can only observe changes in behavior. Managers should concentrate on the behaviors rather than the words used to describe them (Skinner, 1977).

Figure 3.2 presents a simpli�ied version of what Skinner called the "operant conditioning process." The concept of "operant" is derived from the concept that individuals operate on the environment. They do not simply respond to stimuli or even to reinforcers in a knee-jerk fashion. They will, however, over time change behaviors based on consequences. Some consequences strengthen behaviors or increase the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated, while others weaken behaviors or decrease the likelihood that they will reappear.

Figure 3.2: Operant conditioning model

When an agreeable consequence results from a speci�ic behavior, it acts as a reinforcement of that behavior, which in turn strengthens the behavior.

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In order to manage effectively, leaders must learn to distinguish between punishment and negative reinforcement.

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Consequences That Increase Behaviors The �irst consequence that increases or strengthens behaviors, positive reinforcement, occurs when a pleasant or pleasing consequence becomes associated with a behavior. Every person encounters numerous positive reinforcements, such as pleasant conversations, praise from a supervisor, a paycheck, a hug, and others. The determining factor in designating something as a positive reinforcement is the connection with a behavioral change such as completing a project, making a quality suggestion to a supervisor, or giving noticeable extra effort during a moment of crisis. Positive reinforcement can also be applied when an employee eliminates an undesirable behavior, such as when a supervisor complements and rewards in some small way an individual who has been chronically late to work but suddenly becomes punctual.

The second consequence that increases or strengthens behaviors, negative reinforcement, may be the most misunderstood concept in organizational behavior. Negative reinforcement can only occur when an aversive or negative event is taking place. A behavior must occur in order to terminate the aversive or negative event that is occurring. To demonstrate this reinforcer, consider a lab rat that has been wired so that the animal can be continuously shocked. The only way to stop the shock is for the rat to touch a small metal bar in one corner of the cage. Doing so breaks the circuit and the pain stops. After a few episodes, you will have a paranoid rat standing beside the bar, waiting for the next shock to begin. The behavior (bar hitting) has been strengthened and increased.

Negative reinforcement can also occur when someone takes medicine to reduce ongoing discomfort, such as an antacid for a stomachache or an aspirin for a headache. On the job, joking to break up the tension of an overly serious meeting, if it works, may become a regular form of negatively reinforced behavior.

Consequences That Decrease Behaviors Punishment represents an unpleasant consequence linked to a behavior. Such a behavior will quickly disappear when its consequence is aversive or disagreeable. If a different rat in a different cage touches an electri�ied metal bar and receives a shock, the rat will soon cut a wide path away from the bar. The behavior (bar hitting) has decreased.

Punishment is often confused with negative reinforcement. Two key differences exist. First, punishment is an unpleasant consequence that follows the performance of a behavior; negative reinforcement is an unpleasant event that precedes the performance of a behavior. In the simplest of terms, yelling at workers for malingering is punishment. A manager who says, "You can't leave work until this report is �inished" is applying negative reinforcement.

Extinction is the absence of a reinforcer. It can take place in two ways. The �irst occurs when a behavior has been emitted with no consequence, positive or negative. Over time, such a behavior likely will disappear. Someone who uses a word or makes a gesture that others do not understand and receives no reaction as a consequence will eventually abandon the word or gesture.

The second form of extinction involves removing consequences that appeared previously, either by stopping the use of positive reinforcement or by punishment. For example, consider an employee who has consistently been praised for being customer friendly and helpful but then stops receiving that positive attention. Over time, the employee may become more complacent about helping customers. A second employee is punished for chewing gum on the job by being sent home early, losing most of a night's pay. At �irst, gum chewing will disappear. If the employee forgets and chews gum on the job, but does not receive punishment, over time gum chewing likely will begin again (Skinner, 1974).

Table 3.4 provides examples of operant consequences in the workplace. These consequences can be delivered in a variety of ways to shape employee behaviors. In essence, they can help guide or teach the employee to achieve at higher levels (Skinner, 1978).

Table 3.4: Operant consequences at work Positive reinforcement

pay, praise, promotion, bene�its, inclusion in high-status groups or teams, prizes in contests

Negative reinforcement

meeting deadlines (e.g., �iling tax forms on time, breaking up the tension of a meeting with a joke that receives a favorable response by those involved, being allowed to leave work early for completing a task ahead of schedule)

Punishment discipline, termination, unwanted transfer, unpleasant task assignment, demotion

Extinction ignoring an unwanted behavior; removing a previously granted reward such as praise or bonuses; ceasing punishment for behaviors, such as not wearing proper attire

Schedules of Reinforcement The various forms of reinforcement can be delivered in several ways. Shaping programs seek to increase certain target behaviors, on the job or elsewhere. To achieve these goals, reinforcements are delivered using different schedules. Continuous reinforcement means the reinforcer will be delivered every time a behavior occurs. The approach is dif�icult to administer because it requires constant monitoring, watching for the desired or target behavior.

Intermittent reinforcement involves delivering reinforcements for some, but not every, instance of a desired or target behavior being exhibited. Intermittent reinforcement programs routinely take place on worksites such as those displayed in Table 3.5.

The �irst two programs involve maintaining a behavior over time. Fixed-interval reinforcements are distributed at uniform time periods, so long as the behavior continues. Variableinterval reinforcements are distributed over random time periods, again as long as the behavior continues.

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The second two programs grant reinforcements based on behavioral occurrences. Fixed-ratio reinforcement will be granted on a �ixed number of behaviors, such as every third instance or every �ifth occurrence. Variable-ratio reinforcement varies the number of behavioral occurrences.

Table 3.5: Reinforcement schedules Behavior maintenance Example at work

Fixed interval weekly or monthly paycheck

Variable interval promotion for continuous high performance; pay raises for high performance granted on random timetables

Behavior occurrence Example at work

Fixed ratio commission per sale; piece-rate pay per item produced; prize for coming to work on time �ive days in a row

Variable ratio praise and compliments randomly delivered for good work; prize for coming to work on time more regularly than all others (prize delivered to the employee with the most on-time arrivals); contests with elements of gaming in them

Skinner noted an additional element of the connection between reinforcement and the acquisition of behaviors. The principle of immediate reinforcement suggests that the closer in time a reinforcer appears following a behavior, the more powerful the reinforcer becomes. Immediately delivered rewards and punishments are more powerful than those delivered following a delay.

Overuse of Punishment Skinner believed that overreliance on punishment creates a trap for parents, teachers, governmental of�icials, and managers. Punishment has several disadvantages. For one, it focuses attention on unwanted behaviors rather than desired behaviors. In practically any situation, it makes sense to point out the behaviors you hope to encourage (trying hard, staying on task) rather than the ones you do not (goo�ing around, wandering away).

Punishment is subject to extinction, which means that when punishment stops for an unwanted behavior (e.g., chewing gum on the sales �loor), the behavior eventually returns if it has rewarding elements in it.

At work, managers tend to punish for three reasons: (a) as a display of personal power; (b) because it was what they observed while training to become managers; and (c) because it is quick and easy. Most modern management experts recommend saving punishment for extreme circumstances, such as safety rules violations and clearly inappropriate behaviors. The rest of the time, positive reinforcement offers the better alternative. To paraphrase the popular 1980s book The One-Minute Manager, "Help people reach their potential: Catch someone doing something 'right', rather than looking for someone doing something wrong to punish" (Blanchard & Johnson, 1981).

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3.3 Social Learning Theory Albert Bandura (1977) created a theory of learning that integrates cognitive, behavioral, and environmental elements into a single perspective. The social learning theory approach emphasizes a variety of sources of learning. Bandura suggested that behaviors, human thought, and the consequences of activities all interact to create learning, as displayed in Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3: Behavior-person-environment combinations

According to Bandura, learning is achieved through the interaction of behaviors (B), individual characteristics (or "person") (P), and one's environment (E).

Stages of Learning

Social learning theory explains a series of stages involved in the learning process. Figure 3.4 summarizes what must take place for learning to occur. Attention, retention, motoric reproduction, and reinforcement all shape the learning process.

Figure 3.4: Social learning theory model

Social learning theory suggests that attentional processes, retention processes, motoric reproduction processes, and reinforcement must take place in order for learning to occur.

Adapted from A. Bandura (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, p. 23.

Attention means a stimulus captures attention and is selected. As noted earlier in this chapter, factors such as intensity, size, contrast, and novelty attract attention. Retention processes refers to the ways one keeps or stores information. It includes physical and mental elements. Information that has been coded and rehearsed becomes retained in a person's mind. Physical memory includes "muscle memory" associated with practiced movements, such as scales on a musical instrument, shooting a basketball, or replicating a tae kwon do sequence.

Motoric reproduction processes are essentially tests that a behavior or concept has been correctly acquired or learned. The individual must be convinced, either by self-observation or the feedback provided by others. Motoric reproduction includes both internally generated and externally generated learning components. A person can observe his or her behaviors and their outcomes, or an outside person can provide information. A �igure skater can watch a video of her performance and make adjustments (self-observation) or receive counsel from a coach (feedback by others).

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Consider how Bandura's insights apply to modern society, as the use of screens steadily increases.

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Reinforcements also play an important role in social learning. Reinforcements take the forms described by Skinner from the operant process approach, with one difference. Instead of only one source of reinforcement, the environment (external forces), three forms exist: external, vicarious, and self-reinforcement. External reinforcement is the type proposed by Skinner; it is present in the external environment or given by others.

Vicarious reinforcement results from observing the impact of consequences on others. Individuals can watch as something happens to another person and learn from the process. An employee who violates a company rule and receives a punishment in front of others makes it less likely they will break the same rule, because they have seen the potential or likely result of the behavior. Many employee behaviors, both desired and undesired, are acquired by viewing the consequences of the experiences of coworkers.

Self-reinforcement involves a person administering his or her own consequences. Selfadministered reinforcements include feelings of pride, accomplishment, self-esteem, and closure, on the positive side, and guilt, frustration, and embarrassment as punishments. Negative self-reinforcement involves creating feelings of pressure or tension until a task is complete or a goal has been accomplished. For example, feeling guilty until you have written a satisfactory term paper can become a form of negative self-reinforcement.

Bandura's Conclusions

Based on this model of learning, Bandura developed a series of conclusions that add value to the social learning model and apply to individuals at work and in other places. Four of the most noted conclusions are the following:

1. Incorporate all three types of reinforcement to achieve desired behavior and learning. 2. Understand the in�luences of role models and coaches in learning. 3. Become wary of the impact of television programming on children. 4. Recognize that it is possible to "learn by thinking."

Regarding the �irst point, Bandura notes the power of vicarious and self-reinforcement. He provides evidence of the impact of self-reinforcement on alcoholism, for example. An alcoholic may "reward" himself or herself for completing a task by taking a drink.

Vicarious reinforcement combines with concepts of motoric reproduction to explain the in�luence of role models and coaches. These processes begin early in life, with parents and teachers as the earliest role models and coaches of young people. Later, popular peers assume those roles in the classroom and on the playground. In the workplace, successful employees serve as role models displaying the behaviors that led to their achievements and often become mentors and coaches to new workers.

Employees also learn by observation. Key �igures in an organization exhibit behaviors that are rewarded or punished. Successful employees become role models. Coaches and mentors guide workers to perform in ways most suited to the organization's needs. Also, unfortunately, unwanted behaviors such as discrimination toward and harassment of coworkers can be modeled and coached, along with other unethical actions such as theft. Managers should be aware of the impact of these forms of activity and correct them as quickly as possible through the disciplinary system and other means.

Bandura's work appeared at a time when the average television set in the United States was turned on for more than six hours each day (the number actually peaked at over eight hours per day in the 1990s). Bandura noted that an average child, watching an average amount of television, would see the reenactment of thousands of murders by the age of 18. The level of violence in the workplace and in other arenas has continued the debate, expanding it to the impact of video games and other venues that appear to glorify violent or aggressive behaviors. Such action �igures serve as role models and coaches that employees and other members of society encounter. Between 1992 and 2012, there were 14,770 workplace homicide victims, or roughly an average of 700 per year, according to federal government statistics (Sahadi, 2015).

Finally, Bandura acknowledges that many people also learn by thinking. His model cannot account for every change in behavior or piece of knowledge that has been acquired and

retained. Creativity and other advancements in thinking or problem solving may occur because someone has a great idea (Bandura, 1976).

In summary, learning is the process of acquiring new knowledge or a new skill. Numerous workplace activities are affected by learning processes. Internally generated learning processes explain how a person learns based on internal mental functioning. The key factors that shape learning include perceptions, attributions, and individual differences such as self-concept and self-ef�icacy. Externally generated learning process theories examine factors in the environment that lead to the acquisition of behaviors. Social learning theory incorporates the elements of many previous theories to achieve a fuller picture of learning processes. Managers can use the components of the theory to improve on-the-job teaching and training programs.

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The three components of an attitude are cognitive, affective, and behavioral. When managers are able to distinguish between these distinct elements, they are enabled to better understand employees' values and motivations.

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3.4 Individual Differences Individual differences shape the way people view themselves and their jobs, as well as how they respond to perceptual stimuli and learning opportunities. These differences affect a person's ability to succeed and how the employee responds emotionally to tasks, coworkers, and other elements of an organization. Individual differences include those related to attitudes, values, attributions, and various elements of personality.

Attitudes

An attitude is a predisposition toward a person, object, concept, or event. Attitudes can be favorable or unfavorable. People form attitudes about famous people and politicians. Consider the wide variation in attitudes toward President Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Attitudes contain three components: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. The cognitive component of an attitude represents the thoughtful reasoning part of an attitude. One can reason that discrimination is wrong because it violates the law and ethical premises.

The affective component of an attitude contains the feelings and emotions about the object being considered. One person may become angry at the thought of af�irmative action because his reasoning process considers it to be a form of reverse discrimination. A second person may become equally angry, because she believes that people misunderstand af�irmative action and use it as an excuse to continue to discriminate. Affective elements can also be positive emotions, such as affection.

The behavioral component of an attitude refers to how a person intends to act or respond toward an objective or event. If someone has lost a parent to lung cancer and sees someone smoking in a nonsmoking zone, the cognitive component reasons that the person is doing something wrong and possibly is in violation of a local ordinance. The affective component likely would be feeling annoyed or angry. The behavioral component would be either asking the person to stop or �inding someone in authority to handle the situation. People hold many attitudes and may have several key values.

Attitudes also summarize feelings about concepts, such as af�irmative action in the workplace or mobile phone use in public spaces. Attitudes vary regarding events such as Christmas or Independence Day. Two important attitudes studied in organizational behavior are job satisfaction and job involvement.

Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction includes a set of personal feelings about a job. Table 3.6 displays some of the components that affect how employees feel about their jobs, as well as the outcomes, or indicators, of job satisfaction.

Table 3.6 Components of job satisfaction

Indicators of satisfaction

Satisfaction with . . . Rates of . . .

Pay Absenteeism

Supervision Tardiness

Chances for advancement or promotion Turnover

Coworkers Accidents

Job duties and responsibilities Grievances

Vandalism

Self-destruction (alcohol, substance abuse)

Satisfaction may or may not be linked to productivity. Some research indicates that productivity leads to satisfaction. In essence, if you are a higher performer, you receive a greater number of organizational rewards and are satis�ied as a result. At the organization-wide level, however, the possibility exists that higher overall levels of satisfaction in the entire workforce are connected to company performance (Ostroff, 1992).

Whether satisfaction causes productivity or vice versa, many companies create policies and activities designed to improve worker satisfaction, in large part because the by-products of a satis�ied workforce are fewer people calling in sick, fewer people arriving late, and lower turnover rates (Hom & Griffeth, 1995; McShane, 1984). Also, while no cause-and-effect relationship can be established, low job satisfaction is often associated with substance abuse (Kohan, 2002). Moreover, job satisfaction impacts perceived levels of on-the-job stress and the desire to get away through withdrawal cognitions, or thinking about quitting (Hom & Kinicki, 2001). Thus, it bene�its the organization to try to develop a satis�ied workforce.

Job satisfaction correlates with organizational citizenship behaviors, or actions associated with the desire to be a good organizational citizen, such as providing constructive statements to others, making suggestions for improvement, training new employees, and showing respect for company property. Citizenship behaviors are related to customer satisfaction and other performance ratings. Satis�ied employees make good organizational citizens who are committed to seeing the company do well and who say positive things about the company (Koys, 2001; Organ, 1990). In general, by seeking to build high levels of job satisfaction throughout the organization, managers can in�luence several outcomes, including overall company performance (Harter, Schmidt & Hayes, 2002).

Job Involvement When a person psychologically identi�ies with his or her job, the individual expresses job involvement. Employees who report higher levels of job involvement relate on-the-job performance to a personal sense of self-worth because they care about the work they do (Blau & Boal, 1987). People involved in their jobs are less likely to be absent from work and are less likely to quit or resign. General agreement exists that a workforce featuring numerous employees with high levels of job involvement likely will succeed at higher levels than organizations without such an advantage.

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Values

Values are strongly held convictions regarding objects and ideas. As depicted in Figure 3.1, they represent the central core of a person's perceptual process. Values are more permanently held and are unlikely to be changed without the occurrence of something fairly dramatic. Values normally apply to more general categories of thought, such as religious beliefs, political af�iliations, and views of the importance of justice and equality.

Individuals often express their values by working or refusing to work in certain vocations, companies, and industries when they feel their principles would be compromised by the work they would be expected or required to perform. Some individuals would also take exception to working for businesses or institutions with questionable business practices. Conversely, personal values might lead certain individuals to seek employment in companies they believe are ethical or that express the same ideals. The recent "Race Together" program initiated at Starbucks provides an example, as noted in the upcoming OB in Action feature box, because the publicity of such an effort might attract some individuals to work in the company.

At times, attitudes and values intertwine seamlessly. In others, disconnects might occur. For example, someone who is in dire need of employment may, out of necessity, accept an offer from a company with a reputation for unethical business practices. The ideal will be to �ind congruence between the individual's values and attitudes, and the company's environment.

OB in Action: The "Race Together" Program at Starbucks

Racial tensions have surfaced in many dramatic ways during the past several years. Interactions between police forces and citizens and the resulting "Black Lives Matter" movement are evidence of a national sense of uncertainty.

Howard Schultz, CEO and founder of Starbucks, was troubled by what seemed to be a rising level of racial unrest. He committed the company to working toward greater understanding of the issues dividing persons of color with others in the country.

Starbucks employees and managers were invited to discuss racial issues in forums held in Oakland, Los Angeles, St. Louis, New York, and Chicago over a three-month period in 2015. In one press release, Starbucks described reactions to one man's statement that "he was proud to have reached the age of 20" (Starbucks, 2015, para. 8). One Starbucks employee, Kelly Sheppard, was quoted as saying,

The magnitude of that statement might have been lost on many in the room, but for me, it brought to light a deeply troubling situation. For some young people in our country, just staying alive is their biggest and most important accomplishment . . . How could that be in 21st century America with all of the promise and opportunity our nation provides? (quoted in Starbucks, 2015, para. 9)

The program extended to solicitations from customers to provide their inputs through comments written on Starbucks cups, a program titled "Race Together." The purpose was to raise awareness with the goal of starting a conversation about this troubling situation.

Not all reactions were positive. Some African American customers wondered how it would be possible to explain 200 years of racial injustice with a comment from a cup. They further asked why it was their responsibility to explain institutional and cultural problems to baristas when they simply wanted to relax and enjoy a refreshment.

Re�lection and Application Questions

1. What role might attitudes play in the perspectives of African Americans and Whites in responding to the Race Together program? 2. What role might values play in the same situation regarding this highly sensitive issue? 3. What are your personal views of racism and how it might become manifest in the workplace?

Attributions

The concept of personal perception has led to the development of theories about how people perceive other people and their actions. The most notable is attribution theory. At the most general level, attributions are perceptions of cause and effect designed to help individuals understand the environment (Heider, 1958). People continually make attributions. Three common attributions include explanatory, predictive, and interpersonal versions.

An explanatory attribution occurs when a cause is attached to an effect:

"The last time I tried to quit smoking I gained weight because I was hungry all the time."

The attribution attaches a cause (quitting smoking) to an effect (gaining weight).

A predictive attribution connects a cause to a prediction of the effect:

"So, if I try to quit smoking again, I know I'll gain more weight."

In organizational behavior studies, interpersonal attributions, regarding the ways others behave, receive the most attention (Kelley, 1972). In general, when a person's behavior is observed, people attempt to explain whether that behavior was internally determined, by personality traits, or externally determined, by the environment.

Attribution theory explains why individuals make internal or external attributions. An internal attribution is the belief that another person's actions are under his (or her) control. An external attribution occurs when an individual believes that another person's actions are the result of outside, uncontrollable forces. Three elements contribute to determinations made (Ross, 1977):

distinctiveness (if a behavior is unusual for the individual) consensus (if other people would have behaved the same way in the same situation) consistency (if the behavior is part of a larger pattern of behavior)

Distinctiveness refers to when an individual displays unusual behaviors in a speci�ic situation. Does the person always behave in a certain way, or was the behavior unexpected? For example, a manager who throws down a coffee cup in disgust following a negative report about his department would lack distinctiveness if the behavior were common. People would attribute the behavior to the manager's bad temper. If employees were shocked and made comments such as, "I've never seen him get that mad before," then it was a distinctive behavior. A highly distinctive behavior would be attributed to the external cause that

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the report was unfair. A behavior with low distinctiveness will probably be assigned the internal cause that the manager is a hothead. The paths of these two conclusions are as follows:

The manager with a bad temper has previously displayed angry behavior, so the group assumes it is part of his personality. The manager who never "loses it" will be viewed differently, and the behavior will be attributed to an external cause, because such an outburst is not part of his personality.

Consensus re�lects a circumstance in which everyone responds in the same way to a situation. If a massive rainstorm resulted in numerous employees arriving late for work, the attribution would be that an external cause (the storm) resulted in tardiness, and high consensus exists.

On the other hand, if during the same rainstorm only one employee was late, the attribution would be that an internal cause related to the speci�ic employee was present, such as, "He used the storm as an excuse to run an errand before coming to work; he always uses excuses."

Consistency is similar to distinctiveness. The difference is that consistency re�lects a pattern of behavior over time rather than a unique incident. Someone who always arrives late, not only to work in the morning but also to meetings and when coming back from lunch, displays high consistency, and an internal attribution that the person is "irresponsible" would be made. If the tardiness is unusual for the person, a violation of consistency would lead to an external attribution that something must have happened to make the person late, as follows:

Individuals make attributions about their own behaviors as well. When another person has erred, an observer tends to make an internal attribution, saying it is due to internal personality factors. When someone causes a car accident, the tendency is to attribute the crash to the person's "not paying attention," or "driving like an idiot." When a person errs, the individual will more likely employ an external attribution, attributing causes to situational factors rather than blaming ourselves. Even when the person causes the wreck, it will be because "the sun was in my eyes," or "the intersection was blocked so I couldn't see."

When judging the behaviors of others, people tend to underestimate the importance of external factors and overestimate the importance of internal factors as in�luences on those behaviors, which is known as a fundamental attribution error. In judging personal behaviors, a similar type of reasoning occurs when someone attributes his or her own success to internal personal factors but attributes personal failures to external sources, which re�lects a self-serving bias (Miller & Lawson, 1989). In other words, "I succeeded because I'm smart and try hard," versus, "I failed because management was out to ruin my career."

Attribution theory offers insights regarding the ways employees perceive others. It also explains how a person might cope with success or failure. Attribution models have been used to help train individuals to become more empathetic towards others. The training teaches employees how to "walk a mile in another person's shoes." Managers can be shown how to uplift a person when the individual fails or does not achieve a desired level of success and to not simply resort to blaming others.

Attribution models have also been employed to help persons more realistically cope with their own behaviors and the outcomes that result. Trainers and managers can work toward helping a person accept responsibility for an error or failure and use it as a "teaching moment" rather than to assign blame or assess penalties. Individuals can be taught to recognize circumstances in which they overestimate personal success or contributions to a company and take more of a team approach. Attributions are further connected to other elements of personality.

Elements of Personality

Just as perceptions in�luence the workplace experience, individual differences shape the way people view themselves and their jobs. These evaluations affect the ability to succeed and how they respond emotionally to tasks, coworkers, and other organizational elements. Five personality traits have been associated with workplace outcomes:

self-concept self-esteem self-ef�icacy self-monitoring emotional intelligence

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Having a sense of your own uniqueness can help you focus on goals that fall in line with your personal values, which can be a source of intrinsic motivation.

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Self-Concept Personality theorists have used the term "self " to describe the core of a person's conscious existence. The self determines "psychological reality," or how one sees the world. Awareness of the self constitutes the essence of a self-concept, or the view a person has of himself as a physical, social, spiritual, or moral being (Gecas, 1982). A well-developed self-concept is present when a person has a strong sense of her own uniqueness. Someone who is not "self- aware," or who has a less developed self-concept, spends less time thinking about personal characteristics and how he (or she) differs from others. Self-concept connects to the other elements of an individual's persona and methods of adapting and adjusting to the world (Johnson, Rosen & Levy, 2008).

Individuals with a strong, positive self-concept are more likely to assume more challenging tasks. They are more inclined to keep trying when circumstances become dif�icult. They are more able to adapt to changing circumstances. Individual psychologists and company trainers can utilize programs designed to increase a person's self-awareness and strengthen the individual's self-concept in positive ways. This, in turn, leads to higher levels of self-esteem.

Self-Esteem Do you like yourself ? Self-esteem constitutes a belief about how a person evaluates his or her self-worth as part of an overall self-evaluation (Branden, 1998; Gecas, 1982). People with high levels of self-esteem make positive statements about themselves and disagree with negative statements. Low self-esteem connects to self-doubt and negative thoughts about oneself.

At work, a person with higher self-esteem may be more willing to take risks based on perceptions of personal talents and abilities. A stronger sense of self- esteem means the approval of peers has a lower value. A person with lower self-esteem will be more likely to desire the approval of peers, leading to conformity and seeking to please others. Often this means a manager with lower self-esteem is less likely to take an unpopular but necessary position on a workplace issue (Branden, 1998; Brockner, 1998).

According to the American Management Association, seven steps can be taken to improve and enhance employee self-esteem.

Acknowledge weaknesses, but play to people's strengths. Don't assume people know how good they are. When people do something well, acknowledge it immediately Encourage people to "go public" about their accomplishments. Help people identify their strengths and help them capitalize on them. Create small victories. Plan for the future.

These tactics can be implemented as part of the performance appraisal process, through coaching and mentoring, and by simple "in the hallway" contacts. Self- esteem is associated closely with self-ef�icacy.

Self-Ef�icacy Do you believe you will earn a grade of "A" in this course? How con�ident are you in that belief ? Self-ef�icacy re�lects a person's belief about his or her ability to successfully complete a task, assignment, or challenge (Gist, 1987). The expectation a person has that she will succeed, regardless of the challenge or circumstance, evolves over a series of years, many times based on the encouragement of parents, role models, and friends. Further, successive achievements are often followed by the perception that one's goals are more attainable. At work, four factors in�luence a person's degree of self-ef�icacy: prior experiences, behavior models, persuasion or encouragement from others, and an individual's personal assessment of his or her emotional and physical state at any given moment (Bandura, 1989).

Prior experiences frequently lead individuals to believe that success does, in fact, breed success. Knowing this, managers can work to ensure that new employees and manager trainees enjoy small victories, thereby building self-ef�icacy. A new college student who makes a good grade on a quiz gains con�idence that he can succeed.

Behavior models are those who demonstrate how to succeed. These individuals can provide coaching and help with setting reasonable and achievable goals. They offer constructive criticism about how to reach those goals.

Persuasion and encouragement come from a variety of sources, including peers, supervisors, and subordinates. Even persons away from the employment site, such as parents, friends, and romantic partners, offer similar words of support.

An individual's physical and emotional state might strengthen or inhibit her self-ef�icacy at any given moment. A singer who develops a sore throat may suddenly lose con�idence on the night of a performance (Wood & Bandura, 1989). At the other extreme, a person with a powerful sense of self-ef�icacy �inds ways to overcome even these obstacles. Basketball stars Michael Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki famously overcame high temperatures and �lu symptoms during NBA championship games, leading their teams to victory.

Self-ef�icacy has been used to explain how people succeed and how they fail (Bandura, 1989). Success results from a combination of higher self-ef�icacy and a set of speci�ic behaviors. Achievement-oriented behaviors include the following:

looking for the best opportunities overcoming obstacles setting challenging goals planning and preparation using creativity in solving problems learning from setbacks visualizing success

At the other extreme, learned helplessness results from a self-ful�illing prophecy of expecting to fail and then failing. Low self-ef�icacy combines with being passive, avoiding dif�icult tasks, having weak performance expectations, not trying, quitting easily, blaming problems on outside sources, and making other excuses to create learned helplessness. Fortunately, some evidence indicates that self-ef�icacy can be strengthened, even in those with low levels (Campbell & Martinko, 1998). By capitalizing on prior experiences, following behavior models, seeking out persuasion and encouragement, and using personal assessments,

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Emotional Intelligence: Self-awareness

Actors demonstrate how emotions can affect one's judgement and the impact that has on one's behavior.

Critical Thinking Questions

1. What can happen when a person is not aware of their own emotional impulses?

2. What are some ways to intervene before your emotional impulses begin to affect your behavior?

an individual can achieve self-ef�icacy through successive achievements over time. Many training programs incorporate this approach by leading employees to recognize they have learned something (a rule or company procedure), mastered a task (successfully completed a report or form), or become faster at completing an assignment (�illing an order). Each time a trainee succeeds and receives a small reward as a result, the program encourages a heightened level of effort and a more dif�icult task may be assigned next.

Self-Monitoring Self-monitoring involves observations of personal behaviors leading to the ability to adjust to changing situations and environments. A person with a high degree of self-monitoring quickly adapts to new environments by paying attention to the behaviors of others and conforming to them. Someone with a lower degree of self-monitoring may appear to be more rigid in thinking patterns and behaviors and will be less likely to change to mesh with the situation.

At work, higher levels of self-monitoring have been associated with the term "chameleon," which might imply a degree of manipulation or phoniness. Conversely, high self-monitoring has also been associated with more positive characteristics such as situation sensitivity and �lexibility in dealing with others. Research suggests that those with higher levels of selfmonitoring achieve better performance ratings, are more likely to become managers or leaders, and report higher levels of commitment to their organizations (Day et al., 2002). Selfmonitoring links with concepts regarding emotional intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence (EI) re�lects a person's ability to detect and manage emotional cues and information. The �ive dimensions of emotional intelligence are:

self-awareness—being aware of personal feelings and emotions self-management—the ability to manage personal emotions and impulses self-motivation or persistence—the ability to continue giving effort even after setbacks or failures empathy—the ability to sense the feelings of others social skills—the ability to cope with the emotions of others

Emotional intelligence may play a role in success at work. It potentially predicts the ability to lead, and constitutes a major asset when working in jobs with high levels of social interaction (Goleman, 1995; Mayer, Salovey, & Sluyter, 1997).

More recent research suggests that emotional intelligence is linked to higher levels of performance in jobs that require greater levels of interpersonal interaction, especially positions that require the ability to in�luence or direct others. Conversely, as Zeider, Matthews, and Roberts (2004, p. 371) summarize, "... the ratio of hyperbole to hard evidence is high, with over-reliance in the literature on expert opinion, anecdote, case studies, and unpublished proprietary surveys."

In any case, training programs, such as those offered by the Rutgers Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence are available (Cherniss & Goleman, 2001). Human resource programs and managerial practices can be adapted to build on the ability to manage one's emotions, monitor oneself, and display empathy toward others.

These �ive personality traits have implications for more general outcomes as well, such as life satisfaction. An unexamined self-concept, poor self-esteem, low self-ef�icacy, the lack of selfmonitoring, and lesser degrees of emotional intelligence reduce life coping skills, or the ability to function effectively in social settings. Managers can spend additional time working with employees that exhibit such characteristics to help them succeed. Unfortunately, most of the training programs associated with emotional intelligence are proprietary in nature, and therefore elements of them are not universally distributed nor are research results indicating their effectiveness (Janovics & Christiansen, 2001).

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Summary and Resources

Chapter Summary

Perception involves the selection, organization, and interpretation of stimuli or sensory impressions in order to understand or give meaning to the environment. Physical perceptual errors occur when an individual encounters confusing stimuli or when an individual has a learning disability. Person perceptual errors include selective perception, halo/horn, stereotyping, contrast effects, and projection.

Learning is the process of acquiring new knowledge or a new skill. Internally generated learning processes explain how and what a person learns based on internal mental functioning. Externally generated learning processes explain how and what people learn based on factors in the environment.

B. F. Skinner's operant process model concentrates on the various types of reinforcements or consequences that shape behaviors, including positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction. Intermittent reinforcement involves delivering reinforcements for some, but not every, instance of a desired or target behavior being exhibited. Fixed- and variable-interval reinforcement schedules apply to maintaining a behavior over a period of time. Fixed- and variable-ratio reinforcement schedules correspond with numbers of behavioral occurrences.

The principle of immediate reinforcement suggests that the closer in time a reinforcer appears following a behavior, the more powerful the reinforcer becomes. Skinner argues that punishment has been overemphasized and suggests a stronger emphasis on positive reinforcement.

Social learning theory integrates cognitive, behavioral, and environmental elements into a single perspective. It explains a series of stages involved in the learning process. Attention, retention, motoric reproduction, and reinforcement all shape the learning process. Reinforcement includes external, vicarious, and self-imposed forms.

Bandura suggests that managers can incorporate all three types of reinforcement into accounts of behavior and learning. He argues that they should understand the in�luences of role models and coaches in learning. Parents should be wary of the impact of television programming on children. Finally, he acknowledges that it is possible to learn by thinking.

An attitude is a predisposition toward a person, object, concept, or event. Attitudes can be favorable or unfavorable. Attitudes contain cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. In organizational behavior, two key attitudes are job satisfaction and job involvement.

Values are strongly held convictions regarding objects and ideas. The ideal is to �ind congruence between a person's values, his or her attitudes, and the company's environment.

Work-related personal perceptions are used to understand when another person behaves based on internal causes and when external causes result in the behavior. Distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency shape perceptions of internal and external attributions.

Five key personality traits are self-concept, self-esteem, self-ef�icacy, self-monitoring, and emotional intelligence. Self-concept is the view a person has of himself or herself as a physical, social, spiritual, or moral being. Self-esteem constitutes a belief about how a person evaluates his or her self-worth as part of an overall self-evaluation. Self-ef�icacy re�lects a person's belief about his or her ability to successfully complete a task, assignment, or challenge. Self-monitoring is the ability to adjust personal behaviors to external, situational factors based on observations of personal self-expressive behaviors. Emotional intelligence re�lects a person's ability to detect and manage emotional cues and information.

CASE STUDY: The Seminar

Rick Spalding read his company's annual reports with pride and concern. He was proud of the level of pro�itability, the growth in sales, and the number of new visitors to his store. Rick's Sporting Goods had been able to successfully compete with the big-box retailers that often pushed smaller companies out of business. He believed that by providing a variety of quality sporting items in a brightly lit, wide-aisle store in a convenient location, accompanied by a friendly, helpful staff and effective marketing programs, the store could remain strong.

The part of the reports that raised concerns came from human resources. The number of individuals who were tardy to work more than three times per month had gone up dramatically. Absenteeism had also risen and several valuable employees had voluntarily left the company to work elsewhere.

Rick commissioned a local college professor to survey the workforce, which consisted of about 30 workers and 6 supervisors. The goal was to identify the factors that might contribute to what he believed were morale problems. From the 26 usable surveys returned by entry-level employees, more than 60% expressed frustrations with supervisors. In contrast, only 20% complained about pay, 22% complained about hours, and less than 10% expressed dissatisfaction with coworkers. Rick believed that his willingness to pay above minimum wage, coupled with generous merchandise discounts, accounted for the low level of problems with pay. He allowed �lexible scheduling, with workers being able to trade hours or shifts as needed, which helped with that response. And, although the survey did not ask, Rick was convinced most employees liked their job assignments, because only sports enthusiasts were hired to work in the store.

Rick introduced a second wave of data collection. The college professor and two graduate assistants interviewed 15 of the rank-and-�ile workers extensively. Complaints about supervisors ranged from "Their attitudes, they think they're better than us," to "All they care about is numbers, not how they treat us," to "They micro-manage every single thing I do."

Rick decided to retain a management expert to work with supervisors. The purpose was to help supervisors become more employee-friendly while maintaining other quality standards. The expert, a published and relatively famous speaker, Raymond Jones, made his standard presentation to open the seminar. He then asked for questions and comments.

"It seems to me," said one of the six managers, "that you are in the business of passing out excuses."

"Pardon me?" Raymond responded.

"Have you ever heard of Will Rogers?" the manager asked.

"Sure."

"Well, old Will used to say that people are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be," the manager commented, "but what I'm hearing here is that bosses make employees unhappy. That takes away their responsibility and makes it our problem."

"Interesting," Raymond responded, "So you believe that these employees simply need something to bellyache about, and managers make the most logical target?"

"Something like that," the manager replied.

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"Are you happy with your boss, and your job?" Raymond asked?

"I'm happy with most of my job, and I like my boss," the manager replied, "but I don't let the bad parts make me unhappy."

"And do you suppose everyone can make themselves happy, just like you?" Raymond queried.

"I don't know," the manager answered, "but giving them excuses to blame us isn't the answer."

Raymond then shifted the presentation to things managers could do to make the workplace a more pleasant environment by avoiding being so critical and moving toward more positive interactions with employees. He noted that it was not unusual for people to enjoy some aspects of their job but focus on the parts they did not like. He suggested that by doing their part, supervisors could improve the work experience for everyone. The managers acted as though they were satis�ied with the presentation.

Rick had watched the exchange between the manager and Raymond with great interest. He wondered if the manager simply had "a bad attitude" toward employees, and whether that attitude was common among other managers. He concluded that it was time to think more carefully about how he would hire and train supervisors in the future.

Case Questions

1. Explain the manager's responses to Raymond using the concepts of distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency. 2. Explain the manager's responses to Raymond using the concepts of selective perception, stereotyping, and projection. 3. Explain the survey results in which employees expressed high dissatisfaction with supervisors using the concepts of cognitive, affective, and

behavioral components of attitudes. 4. How could Rick employ the concepts present in social learning theory to retrain current managers and train new supervisors?

Review Questions

Click on each question to see the answer.

De�ine perception and explain the three main elements of the perceptual process. (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Perception involves the selection, organization, and interpretation of stimuli or sensory impressions in order to understand or give meaning to the environment. The three main elements are selection, organizing, and interpretation.

What organizing processes are associated with perception? (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Organizing properties associated with perception include �igure–ground, grouping, constancy, and context.

What are the personal perception errors that can in�luence organizational activities? (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Personal perception errors include fundamental attribution errors, the self-serving bias, selective perception, halo/horn, stereotyping, contrast effects, and projection

De�ine learning. (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Learning is the process of acquiring new knowledge or a new skill.

What are the four consequences of behaviors in B. F. Skinner's operant process model? (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

The four consequences of behaviors in B. F. Skinner's operant process model are positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction.

What types of reinforcements can be administered to shape behaviors in the operant process model? (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Both �ixed and variable ratio and �ixed and variable interval can be administered to shape behaviors in the operant process model.

What are the four events associated with learning in Bandura's social learning theory model? (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

The four events associated with Bandura's social learning theory model are attention, retention, motoric reproduction, and reinforcement.

What are the three main components of attitudes? (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

The three main components of attitudes are cognitive, affective, and behavioral elements.

What is an attribution, and what three elements contribute to internal and external attributions? (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Attributions are perceptions of cause and effect designed to help individuals understand the environment. The three elements are distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency.

Which �ive individual personality traits have been associated with workplace outcomes? (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Five personality traits that have been associated with workplace outcomes are self-concept, self-esteem, self-ef�icacy, self-monitoring, and emotional intelligence.

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Analytical Exercises

1. Using the elements displayed in Table 3.1 (Selection or attention-getting factors at work), design programs for the following circumstances: A workplace safety program An employee rules and discipline system A new employee training program A manager training program An advertising campaign

2. You have a coworker who is extremely competitive and aggressive, to the point of angering opponents, when playing sports in city recreational leagues for company-sponsored teams. The same individual is completely different in every other setting. Explain this behavior in terms of distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency. Does gender make a difference in your explanation? Are all males competitive when engaging in sports activities? Defend your answer.

3. Provide examples of how selective perception, halo/horn tendencies, stereotyping, contrast effects, and projection could affect the following: Hiring decisions Performance appraisal ratings Pay raises Task assignments Group composition and roles Layoff decisions Promotions Terminations

4. One important employee attitude is job satisfaction/dissatisfaction. One viewpoint suggests that dissatisfaction may be expressed through Exit—leaving the organization Voice—attempting to constructively improve conditions to make them more satisfactory Loyalty—remaining passive and hoping things will get better and become more satisfactory Neglect—becoming passive, showing up late, reducing efforts, or making more errors

Explain the cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of these reactions. 5. Explain how to use the four consequences of behavior in operant conditioning to in�luence the following situations:

Low sales Too many defects in products Lack of cooperation among supervisors Time theft, such as sur�ing the web instead of working; taking extended breaks; tardinesss

6. Using the four components involved in the learning process from social learning theory, explain how they apply to the following circumstances: Learning to play the guitar Preparing for college tests Working safely Harassing fellow employees

Key Terms

Click on each key term to see the de�inition.

affective component (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

The emotions that one has about a given situation.

attitude (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

A predisposition toward a person, object, concept, or event that is favorable or unfavorable.

attributions (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Perceptions of cause and effect designed to help individuals understand the environment.

behavioral component (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

How one intends to act in a given situation.

cognitive component (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

The thoughtful reasoning part of an attitude.

constancy (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

The tendency for the perception of a stimulus to stay the same, even if the stimulus has changed.

continuous reinforcement (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

A reinforcement schedule in which the reinforcer is delivered every time the behavior occurs.

emotional intelligence (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

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A person's ability to detect and manage emotional cues and information.

extinction (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Occurs when a behavior has been emitted with no consequence, positive or negative, and over time the behavior disappears; or when consequences that appeared previously are removed by stopping the use of either positive reinforcement or punishment.

�igure–ground (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

An element of organizing information where �igure is what stands out and ground is what remains in the background.

fundamental attribution error (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

The tendency to underestimate the importance of external factors as in�luences on the behaviors of others and to overestimate the in�luence of internal factors on one's own behavior.

intermittent reinforcement (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

A reinforcement schedule in which the reinforcer is delivered for some, but not every, instance of a desired or target behavior.

Law of Effect (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Behavior is a function of its consequences.

learning (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

The process of acquiring new knowledge or a new skill.

negative reinforcement (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Occurs when an aversive or negative event is taking place and a behavior must occur to terminate the aversive or negative event.

organizational citizenship behaviors (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

The willingness to make constructive statements to others, make suggestions for improvement, train new employees, and show respect for company property.

perception (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

The selection, organization, and interpretation of stimuli or sensory impressions to understand or give meaning to the environment.

positive reinforcement (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

A pleasant or pleasing consequence that becomes associated with a behavior.

principle of immediate reinforcement (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Principle that the closer in time a reinforcer appears following a behavior, the more powerful the reinforcer becomes.

punishment (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

An unpleasant consequence linked to a behavior

self-concept (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

The view a person has of himself or herself as a physical, social, spiritual, or moral being.

self-ef�icacy (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

A person's belief about his or her ability to successfully complete a task.

self-esteem (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

A belief about how a person evaluates his or her self-worth as part of an overall self-evaluation.

self-monitoring (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

The ability to adjust personal behaviors to external, situational factors based on observations of personal self-expressive behaviors.

self-reinforcement (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

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When a person administers his or her own consequences.

self-serving bias (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

When one attributes success to internal personal factors but attributes failures to external sources.

stimulus selection (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

When something captures a person's attention.

values (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Strongly held convictions regarding objects and ideas.

vicarious reinforcement (http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633.17.1/sections/cover/books/Baack.3633

Reinforcement that results from observing the impact of consequences on others.

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