KEY TERMS – CHAPTER 14
behavior
How people act.
organizational behavior
The study of how people act at work.
employee productivity
A performance measure of both efficiency
and effectiveness.
absenteeism
The failure to report to work.
turnover
The voluntary and involuntary permanent
withdrawal from an organization.
organizational citizenship
behavior
Discretionary behavior that is not part of an
employee’s formal job requirements, but that
promotes the effective functioning of the
organization.
job satisfaction
An employee’s general attitude toward his or her
job.
workplace misbehavior
Any form of intentional behavior that has negative
consequences for the organization or individuals
within the organization.
Attitudes
Evaluative statements—favorable or unfavorable—
concerning objects, people, or events.
cognitive component
That part of an attitude that’s made up of the
beliefs, opinions, knowledge, or information held
by a person.
affective component
That part of an attitude that’s the emotional or
feeling part.
behavioral component
That part of an attitude that refers to an intention to
behave in a certain way.
job involvement
The degree to which an employee identifies with his
or her job, actively participates in it, and considers
his or her job performance to be important to selfworth.
organizational commitment
An employee’s orientation toward the organization
in terms of his or her loyalty to, identification with,
and involvement in the organization.
perceived organizational support Employees’ general belief that their organization
values their contribution and cares about their wellbeing.
cognitive dissonance
Any incompatibility or inconsistency between
attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.
attitude surveys
Surveys that ask employees how they feel about
their jobs, work groups, supervisors, or the
organization.
personality
The unique combination of emotional, thought, and
behavioral patterns that affect how a person reacts
and interacts with others.
big-five model
Five-factor model of personality.
locus of control
The degree to which people believe they control
their own fate.
Machiavellianism
The degree to which people are pragmatic, maintain
emotional distance, and believe that ends justify
means.
self-esteem
An individual’s degree of like or dislike for himself
or herself.
self-monitoring
An individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior
to external situational factors.
impression management
When individuals attempt to control the impression
others form of them.
emotions
Intense feelings that are directed at someone or
something.
emotional intelligence (EI)
The ability to notice and to manage emotional cues
and information.
perception
The process of organizing and interpreting sensory
impressions in order to give meaning to the
environment.
attribution theory
A theory that explains how we judge people
differently depending on the meaning we attribute
to a given behavior.
fundamental attribution error
The tendency to underestimate the influence of
external factors and overestimate the influence of
internal factors when judging other’s behavior.
self-serving bias
The tendency for individuals to attribute their own
successes to internal factors while putting the blame
for failures on external factors.
assumed similarity
The belief that others are like oneself.
stereotyping
Judging a person on the basis of one’s perception of
a group to which he or she belongs.
halo effect
A general impression of an individual based on a
single characteristic.
learning
Any relatively permanent change in behavior that
occurs as a result of experience.
operant conditioning
A type of learning in which desired voluntary
behavior leads to a reward or prevents a
punishment.
social learning theory
A learning theory that says people learn through
observation and direct experience.
shaping behavior
Systematically reinforcing each successive step to
move an individual closer to the desired behavior.