Chapter 15—Basic Elements of Individual Behavior in
Organizations Key
1. A psychological contract is like a standard legal contract, formal and well defined.
2. Since the organization may have hired the person because of her skills, it is reasonable for the organization to
expect that she will subsequently display those skills in the performance of her job.
3. If a person accepts employment with an organization because he thinks he will earn an attractive salary and
have an opportunity to advance, he will subsequently expect that those rewards will actually be forthcoming.
4. If the individual perceives that the psychological contract is fair and equitable, he may request a pay raise or
promotion, decrease his contributed effort, or look for a better job elsewhere.
5. The study of psychology is helpful to managers.
6. Psychologists have identified thousands of personality traits and dimensions that are especially relevant to
organizations.
7. Agreeableness does not extend to relationships with customers, suppliers, and other key organizational
constituents.
8. Certain religions believe in predestination. According to this belief, God has foreordained all things,
especially the salvation of individual souls. This belief is indicative of a belief in an internal locus of control.
9. EQ cannot be learned.
10. Harrison wants to lose weight, but he eats salty snacks because he likes them. He is experiencing cognitive
dissonance.
11. Job satisfaction is determined by pay level.
12. Research suggests that Japanese workers are less committed to their organizations than are American
workers.
13. During an interview, people use perception management.
14. Nicole hears a colleague boosting about his work. She thinks he must be insecure if he has to try to make
himself sound good. She has used attribution.
15. Attributions consistency is the extent to which other people in the same situation behave the same way.
16. The lighting in a room can cause stress.
17. In the workplace, stress is always disruptive.
18. People with Type B personalities are driven to succeed.
19. One consequence of organizational stress is burnout.
20. Convergent thinking is a skill that allows people to see similarities between situations, phenomena, or
events.
21. Verification determines the truthfulness of the insight.
22. One important method for enhancing creativity is to make it an explicit goal.
23. When an individual does not show up for work because of either feigned or real illnesses, absenteeism
occurs.
24. Sexual harassment is a dysfunctional behavior.
25. Dan does acceptable work in terms of quantity and quality, but he refuses to help coworkers. He is
considered a good organizational citizen.
26. You formulate a(n) ____ with your employer when you accept a job.
27. Ingrid is excited about her new job. She thinks it will be exciting, fulfilling, and rewarding, and will allow
her the standard of living she is looking for. She has made a(n) ____ with her new employer.
28. ____ is the set of expectations that an individual holds about what he or she will contribute to the
organization and what it will provide in return.
29. Salary, working conditions, and business travel are examples of ____ from an organization.
30. Mary Paule is independent, determined, defiant, and competitive. These are examples of her
31. Warren is diligent, slow, and thorough. These are examples of his
32. The extent to which the contributions made by an individual match the inducements offered by the
organization is referred to as the
33. ____ is the relatively stable set of psychological and behavioral attributes that distinguish one person from
another.
34. Which of the following personality traits is NOT one of the “Big Five”?
35. A person’s ability to get along with others in an organization is known as
36. Ellie likes to make new friends. In terms of the “Big Five” personality traits, she has more
37. Doreen likes to focus on one thing at a time and hates interruptions. This refers to her
38. A person’s range of interest is captured in the personality trait of
39. When Jerre Stead took over as the CEO of Ingram Micro, he was following a CEO who was strongly
authoritarian. Stead immediately removed all office doors. This gesture indicated his willingness to consider
new ideas and his
40. Elyssa says she does not like people. They annoy her easily. According to the “Big Five” personality traits,
Elyssa has more
41. ____ refers to a person’s comfort level with relationships.
42. Juwan seems to like every idea that comes his way. He does not have a core of beliefs. According to the
“Big Five” personality traits, he has more
43. James gets his energy from other people, likes the big picture, makes gut decisions, and completes work
before moving on to the next project. His traits illustrate the ____ dimensions of the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator.
44. Evelyn gets her energy from others, likes creative tasks, is logical and likes finishing things. Her traits
illustrate the ____ dimensions of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
45. Antoine likes concrete things. This trait illustrates the ____ dimension of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
46. Lynn has two projects to choose from. She knows the big one takes weeks and is important. The small one,
she can finish by the end of the day, but it is not that important. Her decision to work on the small one illustrates
her ____ dimension of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
47. Dale takes responsibility for everything. When something goes wrong he will trace it backward until he
finds his involvement and determine what he could have done to prevent it. He has a(n)
48. Charlie believes “let go and let God.” Charlie has a(n)
49. ____ is the term used to describe an individual’s beliefs about his or her capabilities to perform a task.
50. Since Jeffrey took over as CEO the stock value has tumbled for more than two years. Jeffrey is doubting his
capabilities. In other words, he has had low
51. Serena blames everything on someone else. Nothing is ever her fault. She has a(n)
52. ____ is the extent to which a person believes that power and status differences are appropriate within
organizations.
53. If you accept everything your professor says solely because he or she is “the professor,” you are highly
54. Alan enjoys manipulating others to his own benefit. He sees telling lies as a gray area and is loyal only to
himself. He is highly
55. Machiavellianism is
56. An individual who has been described as Machiavellian would
57. An employee with high self-esteem is likely to
58. If you are proud of your accomplishments yet look forward to achieving higher levels of performance and
are confident in your abilities, you have high
59. ____ is the extent to which a person believes that he or she is a worthwhile and deserving individual.
60. ____ is the degree to which an individual is willing to take chances and make decisions.
61. Bernard Madoff defrauded “friends” and family. He even took money from holocaust survivors and
foundations. This indicates a high level of
62. Martha had parents who were perfectionists. She has been very successful in running her business, but she is
overly critical of herself. Martha has low
63. A manager who is willing to lose it all on one product has high
64. The beliefs and feelings that people have about specific ideas, situations, and people are known as
65. The ____ component of an attitude reflects feelings and emotions that an individual has toward something.
66. If you perceive that one method of completing a task is the most efficient, but your coworker perceives that
her idea is better, the ____ components of your attitudes differ.
67. The ____ component of an attitude reflects how a person expects to behave in a situation.
68. Christine “knows” that Paul is independent, a trait she admires. Renee “knows” that Paul is defiant, a trait
she does not admire. The ____ components of their attitudes differ.
69. Andrew likes the way a political candidate looks and speaks. He knows he agrees with the candidate on
important issues. Andrew voted for her. Voting was the ____ component of Andrew’s attitude.
70. ____ dissonance refers to the conflict that individuals experience among their attitudes.
71. Kristen worked in a fast-food restaurant to pay for her college tuition. Kristen vowed never to eat fast food
again. But years later her small children love nothing better than a fast-food kid’s meal. Kristen’s acceptance of
the kid’s menu choice creates
72. An individual’s level of job satisfaction is determined by
73. Personal factors such as an individual’s needs and aspirations, as well as organizational factors such as
relationships with coworkers and supervisors, working conditions, work policies, and compensation, all help
determine an individual’s level of
74. ____ is an attitude that reflects an individual’s identification with and attachment to an organization.
75. Dorothy is overweight and smokes, even though she knows that both of these are bad for her health. She is
most likely experiencing
76. Corinne observed her company laying people off without notice or explanation. Her ____ will likely
decrease.
77. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, hires managers by looking for two qualities¾integrity and passion.
According to Schultz, these qualities are as important as experience and abilities because he wants people to
become passionate about helping the company succeed while maintaining high ethical standards that promote
the organization’s responsibility to society. In other words, Schultz values
78. Stacey complains constantly. The world has never been fair to her. This is known as
79. Juan has a tendency to see the good side of each situation. This is known as
80. Tom Evslin knew that using the Internet to make telephone calls was a good idea, but the static you get
when you try to talk with a computer and a microphone to someone else with a computer and a microphone is
unacceptable. He started a new company to make it possible to use the Internet to make clear telephone calls.
He is very excited about his new company’s possibility and claims, “I have just barely opened the door for this
new technology. We’re going to be more successful than AT&T.” Which of the following terms best describes
Evslin?
81. ____ is the process of screening out information that we are uncomfortable with or that contradicts our
beliefs.
82. ____ is a set of processes by which individuals become aware of and interpret information about their
environment.
83. Some smokers block out negative information about the health effects of smoking because they do not want
to change their behavior. They are using
84. One of the reasons Bernard Madoff got away with his Ponzi scheme for so long is that his investors saw him
as a friend and used ____ to disregard questionable behavior.
85. Someone who categorizes people based on a single attribute
86. Fred is in the Army. He saw a couple major motion pictures that took place in Iraq. They were so
inaccurate, he refuses to see another war movie. He now thinks all Hollywood producers are left-wing zealots.
Fred is using
87. When Heather learned that two WWF professional wrestlers had written a children’s book, she
automatically assumed that it would be too violent for her children to read. Heather is exhibiting
88. ____ is a mechanism through which we observe behavior and then assign causes to it.