Chapter
3
Attitudes and Job
Satisfaction
Learning Objectives
 Contrast the three components of an attitude.
 Summarize the relationship between attitudes and
behavior.
 Identify the role consistency plays in attitudes.
 State the relationship between job satisfaction and
behavior.
 Identify four employee responses to dissatisfaction.
Attitude Defined
 Briefly defined, an “attitude” represents a
tendency to respond in a favorable or
unfavorable way to persons or objects in
one’s environment.
 For instance, when we say we “like”
something or “dislike” something, we are
in effect expressing an attitude toward the
person or object.
 Attitude could be defined also as a mental
predisposition to act in a particular way
towards a person or an object.
Some issues that matter in the study of attitudes

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What are the main components of attitude?
How consistent are attitudes?
Does behavior always follow from attitudes?
What are the main job attitudes?
How are employees attitudes measured?
What are the importance of attitudes to workplace
diversity?
Attitudes
Attitudes
• Attitudes are the
feelings and beliefs that
largely determine how
employees will perceive
their environment,
commit themselves to
intend actions and
ultimately behave
• Evaluative statements
or judgments concerning
objects, people, or
events.
• Less stable than values
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.
Relationship between the components in the
Tricomponent Attitude Model
Cognition
How consistent are attitudes
 People change their attitudes although attitudes
are relatively stable mental predispositions.
 Sometimes, attitudes change even very quickly
as if it does not have any stability.
 Generally, people seek consistency:
– Among their different attitudes, and
– Between their attitudes and their behavior
 When there is inconsistency, people seek to
return to a level of equilibrium state.
The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance
•Dissonance = Inconsistency or incompatibility
•Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or
between behavior and attitudes
•Individuals seek to reduce this gap, or “dissonance”
Desire to reduce dissonance depends on
• Importance of elements creating dissonance
• Degree of individual influence over elements
• Rewards involved in dissonance
Is A Happy Worker A Productive Worker?
 Over the years, one of the most strongly held
beliefs among managers and I/O psychologists is
that there is a relationship between a worker’s job
satisfaction and his/her job performance.
 In 60 year’s worth of research I/O psychologists
have found highly variable linkages between job
satisfaction and job performance.
 The most recent examination by Timothy Judge
and his colleagues suggests a correlation of .30
between satisfaction and performance, a small
but meaningful association.
Measuring the A-B Relationship
 Recent research indicates that attitudes (A)
significantly predict behaviors (B) when
moderating variables are taken into account.
A
B
Moderating Variables
• Importance of the attitude
• Specificity of the attitude
• Accessibility of the attitude
• Social pressures on the individual
• Direct experience with the attitude
Self-Perception Theory
Attitudes are used, after the fact, to make sense
out of an action that has already occurred.
And,
B
When asked about an attitude
toward some object,
individuals recall their
behavior relevant to that object
and then infer their attitude
from their past behavior.
A!
Types of 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 (Affective, Normative, and Continuance
Commitment)
Organizational Commitment
 Mowday, Steers, and Porter (1982) define OC
which has three component
– A strong belief in and acceptance of organizational
goals and values
– A willingness to exert considerable efforts on behalf of
the organizations
– A strong desire to maintain membership
 Researchers have confirmed a positive
relationships between OC and Job performance,
and inverse relationships found with tardiness,
absenteeism and turnover.
Point-Counter Point Exercise
 Think about two to three jobs you have had,
outside of family chores (Family Business)
 List the jobs on the top of sheet
 List down what you really liked about the jobs and
what you disliked about the jobs.
 Find out the commonalities and differences
 Discuss what managers or supervisors could do
to increase the likes and decrease the dislikes.
Mangers Can Create Satisfied Employees:
What you think ?
Types of Attitudes, cont’d.
Perceived Organizational Support (POS)
Degree to which employees feel the organization cares
about their well-being.
Employee Engagement
An individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with, and
enthusiasm for the organization.
Attitudes Exercise - Set-Up
 Situation:
You are an expert who has been asked to provide
your expertise on the following issue. The
Residential Life Department of a large university
has been experiencing an usually high rate of
turnover among it’s Resident Assistants (RA’s)
during the last year. Over 60% of the university’s
RA’s have recently left their positions, and with
those that remain, poor performance is
commonplace. This situation is very troubling,
given the costs of training RA’s and of replacing
them when they leave.
Attitudes Exercise
 Given what you know about how Organizational
Behavioral Expert help organizations to address
the attitudes of their employees:
 what steps would you undertake to examine the
problem?
 What questions would you ask? and
 what recommendations might you make?
An Application: Attitude Surveys
Attitude Surveys
Eliciting responses from
employees through
questionnaires about
how they feel about
their jobs, work
groups, supervisors,
and the organization.
Concerning Issues
a) Reliability
b) Validity
Sample Attitude Survey
Attitudes and Workforce Diversity
 Training activities that can reshape employee
attitudes concerning diversity:
– Participating in diversity training that provides for selfevaluation and group discussions.
– Volunteer work in community and social serve centers
with individuals of diverse backgrounds.
Job Satisfaction
 Measuring Job Satisfaction
– Single global rating
– Summation score
 How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs?
– In general, people are satisfied with their jobs.
– Depends on facets of satisfaction—tend to be less
satisfied with pay and promotion opportunities.
Causes of Job Satisfaction
 Pay only influences Job Satisfaction to a point
– After about $40,000 a year, there is no relationship
between amount of pay and job satisfaction.
 Personality can influence job satisfaction
– Negative people are usually not satisfied with their jobs
Elements of Life Satisfaction
Job
Religion
Family
LIFE
Politics
Leisure
Most Critical elements of Life Satisfaction
(Adapted from John Newstrom, Organizational Behavior- Human Behavior at work)
Responses to Job Satisfaction
How Employees Can Express Dissatisfaction
Exit
Voice
Behavior directed toward
leaving the organization.
Active and constructive
attempts to improve
conditions.
Loyalty
Neglect
Passively waiting for
conditions to improve.
Allowing conditions to
worsen.
The Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee
Performance
 Satisfaction and Productivity
– Satisfied workers are more productive AND more
productive workers are more satisfied!
– Worker productivity is higher in organizations with
more satisfied workers.
 Satisfaction and Absenteeism
– Satisfied employees have fewer avoidable absences.
 Satisfaction and Turnover
– Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.
– Organizations take actions to retain high performers
and to weed out lower performers.
Four Products of Employee-Organization Attitudes
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A
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N
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Employee Stays
Employee
leaves
voluntarily
Positive
Employee is
terminated
Employee leaves
by mutual
agreement
Negative
Organization’s attitude toward employee
Job Satisfaction and OCB
 Satisfaction and OCBs
– Satisfied employees who feel fairly treated by and are
trusting of the organization are more willing to engage
in behaviors that go beyond the normal expectations of
their job.
Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction
 Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction
– Satisfied workers provide better customer service
 Satisfied employees increase customer
satisfaction because:
– They are more friendly, upbeat, and responsive.
– They are less likely to turnover, which helps build longterm customer relationships.
– They are experienced.
 Dissatisfied customers increase employee job
dissatisfaction.
Changing Employee Attitude
 Reward system closely associated with individual performance
 Setting challenging goals but realistic
 Role clarity and role specification
 Refrain from attacking the attitudes
 Provide frequent feedback
 Employee participation and involvement programs
 Show appreciation for appropriate effort and citizen behaviours