Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
Chapter 04
Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
True / False Questions
1. (p. 91) Attempting to learn why people behave as they do requires some understanding of
individual differences.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
2. (p. 92) Once established, a person's behavior patterns are ingrained and never change.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: An individual's behavior patterns do change, sometimes when managers would prefer that they remain stable.
3. (p. 92) After the first few decades of the 21st century, even more people will be in the human
resource pool than there are now.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: With the passing of the "boomer" generation, fewer people will be in the human resource pool.
4. (p. 93) An employee's behavior is a function of individual and environmental variables.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
5. (p. 93) The desired result of any employee's behavior is harmony in the workgroup.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: The desired result is excellent performance.
6. (p. 93) An important part of a manager's job is to define performance in advance.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
7. (p. 94) Abilities are task-related competencies, such as negotiating a merger.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Skills are task-related competencies.
8. (p. 95) An ideal job is one in which a person's skills and abilities can be applied to produce
work that is satisfactory, fulfilling and challenging.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
9. (p. 96) Among the most important demographic classifications are gender and age.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Among the most important demographic classifications are gender and race.
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
10. (p. 96) Research has shown that women are slightly more gifted in terms of learning,
memory, reasoning, creativity and intelligence.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Research has shown that men and women are equal in all these aspects.
11. (p. 96) Some compelling data suggest that women are better job performers than are men.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: There are no compelling data suggesting that men or women are better job performers.
12. (p. 96) The ranks of management are just as diverse as the rest of the workforce.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Managers aren't yet as diverse as the rest of the workforce.
13. (p. 98) To a large extent, people interpret the behavior of others in the context of the setting
in which they find themselves.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
14. (p. 98) Perception means organizing stimuli from the environment so that it makes sense.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
15. (p. 100) Most people engage in some form of stereotyping, both of people and occupations.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
16. (p. 100) Persons who accept themselves are more likely to see favorable aspects of other
people.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
17. (p. 101) People tend to focus more intently on information or cues that make them feel
discomfort.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: People tend to ignore information or cues that make them feel discomfort.
18. (p. 101) The attitudes of the people a manager works with can influence his or her perceptual
accuracy.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
19. (p. 101) Perceptions are significantly influenced by desires.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
20. (p. 101) As a rule, it is easy to determine a person's current emotional state.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Determining a person's emotional state is difficult.
21. (p. 101) Observing behaviors and drawing conclusions is called making an assessment.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Observing behaviors and drawing conclusions is called making an attribution.
22. (p. 101) A situational attribution emphasizes the environment's effect on emotions.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: A situational attribution emphasizes the environment's effect on behavior.
23. (p. 102) Individuals are more likely to explain others' actions in terms of internal causes
rather than external causes.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
24. (p. 103) Most people tend to make negative evaluations of others.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Most people tend to make positive evaluations of others.
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
25. (p. 103) Attitudes define our predispositions toward given aspects of the world.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
26. (p. 104) Young children's attitudes are usually the opposite of their parents'.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Young children's attitudes usually correspond to their parents'.
27. (p. 105) Cognitive dissonance can help predict a person's propensity to change attitudes.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
28. (p. 105) Liking the manager is a condition for trusting the manager.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
29. (p. 105) One's surroundings have no effect on one's susceptibility to attitude changes.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: People are more susceptible to attempts to change their attitude in pleasant surroundings.
30. (p. 108) There is a clear link between satisfaction and job performance.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Most research studies find no clear link between satisfaction and performance.
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
31. (p. 109) Managerial attempts to satisfy everyone don't yield high levels of production.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
32. (p. 111) Some evidence shows a relationship between satisfaction and union activity.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
33. (p. 111) Job satisfaction has a direct impact on quantity and quality of performance.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Job satisfaction doesn't influence quantity and quality of performance, although it does influence citizenship behaviors, turnover,
absenteeism and preferences and opinions about unions.
34. (p. 111) The largest percentage of businesses in the United States are technology related.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: The largest percentage of businesses in the United States are service related.
35. (p. 111) Dealing with dissatisfied customers can increase employee job dissatisfaction.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
36. (p. 112) Personality is influence by hereditary, cultural and social factors.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
37. (p. 112) Personality is an unimportant factor in workplace behavior because it is formed
outside the organization.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: No manager should conclude that personality is an unimportant factor in workplace behavior.
38. (p. 112) An employee's behavior can be understood without considering the concept of
personality.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
39. (p. 113) Traits produce consistencies in behavior because they're enduring attributes.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
40. (p. 113) Trait approaches have been very successful in predicting behavior across a broad
spectrum of situations.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Trait approaches have not been successful in predicting behavior across a broad spectrum of situations.
41. (p. 113) The dynamic nature of personality wasn't addressed seriously until Sigmond Freud's
work was published.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
42. (p. 114) Self-actualization is the constant striving to realize one's inherent potential.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
43. (p. 115) A behavioral measure of personality involves observing the person in a particular
situation, as when asked to solve a specific work problem.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
44. (p. 117) Research suggests that internals are less resistant to pressure to conform.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Research suggests that internals are more resistant to pressure to conform.
45. (p. 117) A person who is high in self-efficacy is more motivated to perform at high levels of
achievement.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
46. (p. 117) The shortage of successful role models among minorities could create self-doubt
about their ability to advance their careers.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
47. (p. 119) Few organizations feel that creativity and innovativeness are necessary
competencies in today's workforce.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Many organizations feel that creativity and innovativeness should be core competencies.
48. (p. 120) The idea that an inexperienced person can look at a problem and immediately be
creative is a myth.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
49. (p. 123) Reneging on a specific promise to provide a promotion for excellent performance is
an example of a transitional contract violation.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Reneging on a specific promise to provide a promotion for excellent performance is an example of a psychological contract
violation.
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
Multiple Choice Questions
50. (p. 93) Individual behavior is affected by one's ____________________.
A. Abilities/skills
B. Personality
C. Perceptions
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
51. (p. 93) To understand individual differences, managers must do all of the following except:
A. Observe and recognize the differences
B. Document behavioral anomalies
C. Study variables that influence individual behavior
D. Discover relationships among the variables
Difficulty: Medium
52. (p. 93) Managers are better able to make optimal decisions about organizational behavior if
they understand employees' attitudes, perceptions and ____________________.
A. Mental abilities
B. Past history
C. Religious preferences
D. Physical attributes
Difficulty: Medium
53. (p. 93) Being able to observe differences, understand relationships and predict
____________________ facilitates managerial attempts to improve performance.
A. Responses
B. Behavior
C. Linkages
D. Performance
Difficulty: Hard
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
54. (p. 93) After years of theory building and research, it's generally agreed that all of the
following statements are true except:
A. Behavior is caused
B. Behavior is not measurable
C. Behavior is motivated
D. Behavior that is not directly observable is also important in accomplishing goals
Difficulty: Medium
55. (p. 93) Any behavior that can be observed is ____________________.
A. Measurable
B. Undesirable
C. Calculated
D. Efficient
Difficulty: Easy
56. (p. 94) Managers attempt to match each person's abilities and skills with
____________________.
A. Compatible customers
B. Coworkers' abilities and skills
C. The job requirements
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Medium
57. (p. 94) A biological or learned trait that permits a person to do something mental or physical
is called ____________________.
A. An ability
B. A talent
C. A calling
D. A skill
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
58. (p. 94) Every job is made up of two things: people and ____________________.
A. Tools
B. Tasks
C. Costs
D. Raw materials
Difficulty: Medium
59. (p. 96) Men and women are becoming ____________________ in terms of workplace
behavior.
A. Less alike
B. More alike
C. More competitive
D. Less competitive
Difficulty: Medium
60. (p. 96) Diversity is a term used to describe the cultural, ethnic and ____________________
variations in a population.
A. Age
B. Gender
C. Racial
D. Geographic
Difficulty: Medium
61. (p. 98) Organizing the information from the environment so that it makes sense is called
____________________.
A. Evaluation
B. Perception
C. Sensitivity
D. Distillation
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
62. (p. 100) People frequently use ____________________ as benchmarks in perceiving others.
A. Themselves
B. Their managers
C. Their role models
D. Coworkers
Difficulty: Medium
63. (p. 101-102) In attempting to decide whether a behavior should be attributed to the person or
to the situation, Kelley proposed all of the following criteria except:
A. Consensus
B. Distinctiveness
C. Consistency
D. Intensity
Difficulty: Medium
64. (p. 103) Having a tendency to take credit for successful work and deny responsibility for
poor work is called ____________________ bias.
A. A negative
B. A self-serving
C. An opportunistic
D. A situational
Difficulty: Medium
65. (p. 103) The ____________________ component of an attitude consists of a person's
perceptions, opinions and beliefs.
A. Affect
B. Behavioral
C. Cognitive
D. None of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
66. (p. 104) The ____________________ component of an attitude refers to a person's intention
to act toward someone or something in a certain way.
A. Affect
B. Behavioral
C. Cognition
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Medium
67. (p. 104) A person's intention to react toward someone or something in a certain way
(friendly, warm, hostile) is a(n) ____________________ component of an attitude.
A. Affect
B. Cognitive
C. Behavioral
D. Relational
Difficulty: Medium
68. (p. 104) Previous experiences account for some individual differences in attitudes toward
____________________.
A. Performance
B. Loyalty
C. Commitment
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
69. (p. 104) The term ____________________ describes a situation where there's a discrepancy
between the cognitive and behavioral components of an attitude.
A. Cognitive discord
B. Discrepancy recognition
C. Cognitive dissonance
D. Mental anxiety
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
70. (p. 111) Satisfied employees ____________________ customer satisfaction and loyalty.
A. Increase
B. Decrease
C. Have no effect on
Difficulty: Easy
71. (p. 113) All of the following are theoretical approaches to understanding personality except:
A. Educational approach
B. Trait approach
C. Psychodynamic approach
D. Humanistic approach
Difficulty: Medium
72. (p. 114) Covering up weakness by emphasizing desirable traits or making up for frustration
in one area by over-gratification in another is the ____________________ mechanism.
A. Denial of reality
B. Compensation
C. Identification
D. Rationalization
Difficulty: Medium
73. (p. 114) Protecting self from unpleasant reality by refusing to perceive it is the
____________________ mechanism.
A. Denial of reality
B. Compensation
C. Identification
D. Rationalization
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
74. (p. 114) ____________________ provide a catalog that describes the individual.
A. Humanist theories
B. Psychodynamic theories
C. Trait theories
Difficulty: Hard
75. (p. 114) Managers in organizations aren't enthusiastic about using the Myers-Briggs
Personality Inventory because it's too ____________________.
A. Time consuming
B. Expensive
C. Psychologically oriented
D. Prone to errors
Difficulty: Medium
76. (p. 115) Projective tests have people respond to all of the following except:
A. A picture
B. An inkblot
C. Music
D. A story
Difficulty: Medium
77. (p. 116) The ____________________ personality dimension indicates the degree to which a
person is sociable, gregarious and assertive versus reserved, quiet and timid.
A. Conscientiousness
B. Agreeableness
C. Extraversion-introversion
D. Emotional stability
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
78. (p. 116) The ____________________ personality dimension indicates that a person is
creative, curious and artistically sensitive, as opposed to being close-minded.
A. Openness to experience
B. Conscientiousness
C. Extraversion-introversion
D. Emotional stability
Difficulty: Easy
79. (p. 117) Self-efficacy consists of all the following dimensions except:
A. Magnitude
B. Strength
C. Generality
D. Morality
Difficulty: Hard
80. (p. 120) Emotions are the result of ____________________ an object.
A. A reaction to
B. Exposure to
C. A connection with
D. The evaluation of
Difficulty: Medium
81. (p. 122) A(n) ____________________ contract is based on specific obligations and short
time frames.
A. Emerging
B. Psychological
C. Transitional
D. Temporary
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
Fill in the Blank Questions
82. (p. 92) The variables that influence individual behavior include abilities, skills, background
and ____________________.
demographics
Difficulty: Hard
83. (p. 103) An ____________________ is a positive or negative feeling or mental state of
readiness, learned and organized through experience, that exerts specific influence on a
person's response to people, objects and situations.
attitude
Difficulty: Hard
84. (p. 113) ____________________ are inferred predispositions that direct the behavior of an
individual in consistent and characteristic ways.
Traits
Difficulty: Hard
85. (p. 113) Sigmund Freud proposed three parts to personality: the id, the ego and the
____________________.
superego
Difficulty: Medium
86. (p. 116) Rotter called people who believe that they are in control of their lives and that they
bear personal responsibility for what happens to them ____________________.
internals
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
87. (p. 121) A ____________________ contract is an implied understanding of mutual
contributions between a person and his or her organization.
psychological
Difficulty: Medium
88. (p. 122) A ____________________ contract is based on specific obligations and short time
frames.
transitional
Difficulty: Hard
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
Short Answer Questions
89. (p. 96) Women have a higher rate of absenteeism. Why?
Women have a higher rate of absenteeism because they are usually the caregivers to children,
husbands and elderly parents.
Difficulty: Medium
90. (p. 98) Individuals use five senses to experience the environment. What are they?
Sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell.
Difficulty: Medium
91. (p. 98) The process of perception involves three steps. What are they?
(1) Receiving stimuli. (2) Organizing stimuli. (3) Translating or interpreting the organized
stimuli.
Difficulty: Hard
92. (p. 100) Stereotypes tend to be self-perpetuating. Why?
Stereotypes are self-perpetuating because people tend to notice things that fit their stereotype
and not notice things that don't.
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
93. (p. 101) What do dispositional attributions emphasize?
Dispositional attributions emphasize some aspect of the individual, such as ability, skill or
internal motivation.
Difficulty: Hard
94. (p. 105) Although many variables affect attitude change, they can all be described in terms of
three general factors. The first is trust in the sender. What are the other two?
The message itself and the situation.
Difficulty: Hard
95. (p. 105) Attitudes that have been expressed publicly are more difficult to change. Why?
Because the person has shown commitment and changing is admitting to a mistake.
Difficulty: Medium
96. (p. 105) People who are distracted while they listen to a message show more attitude change
than those who are not distracted. Why?
Because the distraction interferes with silent counter arguing.
Difficulty: Medium
97. (p. 114) Personality tests measure four things. What are they?
Emotional, motivational, interpersonal and attitudinal characteristics.
Difficulty: Hard
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
Essay Questions
98. (p. 100) What is a stereotype?
A stereotype is an over-generalized, over-simplified and self-perpetuating belief about
people's personal characteristics.
Difficulty: Medium
99. (p. 102) What is the difference between an attributional bias and making a fundamental
attribution error?
An attributional bias is making a judgment with only limited information about the person or
situation. A fundamental attribution error means to explain behavior in terms of traits, rather
than a management style, system or situation, because it is easier to do.
Difficulty: Hard
100. (p. 106) Although numerous dimensions have been associated with job satisfaction, five in
particular have crucial characteristics. List and explain them.
Pay: The amount received and the perceived equity.
Job: The extent to which job tasks are considered interesting and provide opportunities for
learning and accepting responsibility.
Promotion opportunities: The availability of opportunities for advancement.
Supervisor: The supervisor's ability to demonstrate interest in and concern about, employees.
Coworkers: The extent to which coworkers are friendly, competent and supportive.
Difficulty: Hard
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
101. (p. 113) Explain the differences between the id, the superego and the ego.
The id is the primitive, unconscious part of the personality. It is the storehouse of fundamental
drives. The superego is the storehouse of an individual's values, including moral attitudes
shaped by society. The superego corresponds roughly to conscience and is often in conflict
with the id. The id wants to do what feels good, while the superego insists on doing what's
"right." The ego acts as the arbitrator of the conflict. It represents the person's picture of
physical and social reality, of what leads to what and of which things are possible in the
perceived world.
Difficulty: Hard
102. (p. 116) Describe the drawback of each of these personality tests: (a) self-report tests, (b)
projective tests, (c) behavioral measures.
(a) Self-report tests have an accuracy problem
(b) Projective tests require a subjective interpretation by a trained person
(c) Behavioral measures rely on only a small sample of a person's behavior
Difficulty: Hard
103. (p. 120) There are five ways that organizations can help develop creativity. List the ways
and explain what is involved with each.
Buffering: Managers look for ways to absorb the risks of creative decisions made by their
employees.
Organizational time-outs: Give people time off to work on a problem and allow them to think
things through.
Intuition: Give half-baked or unsophisticated ideas a chance.
Innovative attitudes: Encourage everyone to think of ways to solve problems.
Innovative organizational structures: Let employees see and interact with many managers and
mentors.
Difficulty: Hard
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Chapter 04 - Individual Behavior and Differences, Organizations
Matching Questions
104. (p. 95) Match the mental ability to the correct description.
1. Fluency
2. Span memory
3. Deductive
reasoning
4. Verbal
comprehension
5. Associative
memory
Knowledge of words and their meaning, as well as the
application of this knowledge. 4
The ability to produce words, ideas and verbal
expressions. 1
The ability to reason from stated premises to their
necessary conclusion. 3
The ability to remember bits of unrelated material. 5
The ability to recall perfectly a series of items after
only one presentation of the series. 2
Difficulty: Easy
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