2. Attitude
Attitude is defined as “a
learned predisposition to respond
in a consistently favorable or
unfavorable manner with respect
to a given object.”
That is, attitudes affect behavior
at a different level than do
values…

3. Attitudes
Attitudes are positive, negative
or neutral views of an "attitude
object": i.e. a person, behaviour
or event. They reflect how one
feels about something.

4. The Nature and Dimensions of Attitudes
“Attitudes”
 Persistent tendency to feel and behave in a
particular way towards some object
Characteristics of Attitudes
 They tend to persist unless something is done
to change them.
 They can fall anywhere along a continuum
from very favorable to very unfavorable.
 They are directed toward some object about
which a person has feelings and beliefs.

5. Attitude Components
Cognitive component
The opinion or belief segment of an attitude.
Affective Component
The emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.
Behavioral Component
An intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or
something.

6. Attitudes and Influencing Attitudes
Attitude Components and Manifestations

7. My supervisor gave
promotion to my co-
worker who deserved it
less than me.
My supervisor is unfair.
Negative
attitude
I dislike my supervisor
towards
supervisor
I am looking for some
other job

8. Attitude Formation/ Sources of attitude
Direct experience
Social learning
 The process of deriving attitudes from
family, peer groups, religious
organizations, and culture.
Acquired from parents, teachers, and
peer group members.
 There are “genetic” predispositions.
 Observations, attitudes that we imitate.

9. Sources of attitude cont’d
Mere exposure
Social learning/observational
learning
Operant conditioning
Genetics

10. Sources of attitude

11. Sources of attitude

12. Sources of attitude

13. Sources of attitude

14. Attitude Types
Most of the research in OB has been concerned with three
attitudes…
Job Satisfaction
A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that an individual
holds toward his or her job.
Job Involvement
Identifying with the job, actively participating in it, and
considering performance important to self-worth.
Organizational Commitment
Identifying with a particular organization and its goals, and
wishing to maintain membership in the organization.

15. Job satisfaction
Job satisfaction essentially reflects the
extent to which an individual likes his or her job.
Formally defined, job satisfaction is an affective
or emotional response toward various facets of
one’s job…

16. Determinants of Job Satisfaction

17. Outcomes of Job Satisfaction
• Job Performance
– Satisfied workers are more productive AND more
productive workers are more satisfied!
– The causality may run both ways.
• Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
– Satisfaction influences OCB through perceptions of
fairness.
• Customer Satisfaction
– Satisfied frontline employees increase customer
satisfaction and loyalty.
• Absenteeism
– Satisfied employees are moderately less likely to miss
work.

18. Outcomes of Job Satisfaction
 Turnover
 Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.
 Many moderating variables in this relationship.
• Economic environment and tenure.
• Organizational actions taken to retain high performers and to
weed out lower performers.
 Workplace Deviance
 Dissatisfied workers are more likely to
unionize, abuse substances, steal, be tardy, and
withdraw.

19. Employee Responses to Dissatisfaction
• Exit
– Behavior directed toward leaving the
organization
• Voice
– Active and constructive attempts to improve
conditions
• Neglect
– Allowing conditions to worsen
• Loyalty
– Passively waiting for conditions to improve

20. Organizational Commitment
 The strength of an individual’s
identification with an organization.
 Three kinds of organizational
commitment:
1. Affective
2. Continuance
3. Normative

21. Kinds of Organizational Commitment
Affective
Commitment: The type
of organizational
commitment that is
Continuance
based on an individual’s
Commitment: The type of
desire to remain in an
organizational
organization.
commitment that is based
on the fact that an
Normative individual cannot afford to
Commitment: The type of leave.
commitment that is based
on an individual’s
perceived obligation to
remain within an
organization.

22. Organizational Commitment*
 Refers to the strength of an employee’s involvement in and
identification with the organization
 Strong organizational commitment entails:
 Strong belief in/acceptance of an organization’s goals and values
 Willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization
 Strong desire to maintain membership in the organization
 Higher commitment is negatively related to absenteeism
and turnover, and positively related to productivity

23. Changes in Organizational Commitment
 Initial Commitment Over Time individual
is determined by
characteristics and degree of congruence between their
expectations and organizational realities
 Subsequent Commitment is influenced by job
experiences, including many of the same factors which
influence job satisfaction (such as pay, interpersonal
relationships, working conditions, advancement
opportunities, etc.)

24. Cognitive Dissonance
A state of tension that is
produced when an
individual experiences
conflict between
attitudes and behavior.

25. Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Leon Festinger
Any incompatibility between two
or more attitudes or between
behavior and attitudes.
Internal state that results when
individuals notice inconsistency
between two or more of their
attitudes or between their
attitudes and their behavior.

26. Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Dissonance Reduction:
 Attitude or Behavior Change
 Adding new information
 Trivialization: downplaying the importance of
the inconsistent attitudes or behavior

27. Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Desire to reduce dissonance depends
on the following factors:
Importance of the elements creating
the dissonance.
Degree of influence the individual
believes he / she has over the
elements
Rewards that may be involved in
dissonance.

28. Self-Perception Theory
Self Perception Theory: Self-
perception theory is developed by
psychologist, Daryl Bem.
It asserts that we develop our
attitudes by observing our own
behavior and concluding what
attitudes must have caused them.

29. Changing Attitudes
• Employees’ attitudes can be changed and
sometimes it is in the best interests of
managements to try to do so.
• For example, if employees believe that their
employer does not look after their
welfare, the management should try to
change their attitude and help develop a
more positive attitude in them.
• However, the process of changing the
attitude is not always easy.

30. Changing Attitudes
Some of the possible ways of changing
attitudes :
 Providing New Information.
 Use of Fear
 Resolving Discrepancies
 Influence of friends and peer
 Co-opting

31. Work related attitudes
 Loyalty,  Attitudes toward
 sense of self-efficacy, employees,
 absenteeism,  style of leadership,
 sense of self-worth,  methods for managing
 alienation, burn-out,
 personality variables,  type of work,
 sense of belonging,  how work is set up,
 social behavior,  Environmental
conditions,
 corporate culture,
 discipline,
 corporate structure

32. LOGO