978-1305502215 Chapter 10 Part 1

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CHAPTER 10

UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR

CHAPTER OUTLINE

New Manager Self-Test: Are You Self-Confident?

I. Understanding Yourself and Others

A. The Value and Difficulty of Knowing Yourself

B. Enhancing Your Self-Awareness

II. Job Satisfaction and Trust

A. Job Satisfaction

B. Trust

III. Perception and Attributions

A. Perception and Perceptual Distortions

B. Attributions: A Special Case of Perception

IV. Personality and Behavior

A. Personality Traits

B. Attitudes and Behaviors Influenced by Personality

C. Problem-Solving Styles and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator

V. Emotions

A. Positive and Negative Emotions

B. Emotional Intelligence

New Manager Self-Test: Expressed Emotions

VI. Managing Yourself

A. Basic Principles for Self-Management

B. A Step-by-Step Guide for Managing Your Time

VII. Stress and Stress Management

A. Challenge Stress and Threat Stress

B. Type A and Type B Behavior

C. Causes of Work Stress

D. Innovative Responses to Stress

ANNOTATED LEARNING OUTCOMES

After studying this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Explain why understanding yourself is essential for being a good manager, and describe two

methods for enhancing self-awareness.

The first requirement for being a good manager is understanding oneself. Managers’

2. Discuss the importance of job satisfaction and trust for effective employee performance.

A positive attitude toward one’s job is called job satisfaction. People experience this attitude

3. Describe the perception process and explain internal and external attributions.

Perception is the cognitive process people use to make sense out of the environment by selecting,

4. Define major personality traits and describe how personality can influence workplace

behaviors.

In common usage, people think of personality in terms of traits, or relatively stable

An individual’s personality influences a wide variety of work-related attitudes and behaviors,

some of which are locus of control, authoritarianism, Machiavellianism, and problem-solving

styles. The locus of control defines whether a person places the primary responsibility within

themselves or on outside forces. Authoritarianism is the belief that power and status differences

should exist within the organization. Machiavellianism is characterized by the acquisition of

power and the manipulation of other people for purely personal gain. Managers also need to

understand that individuals differ in the way they go about gathering and evaluating information

for problem solving and decision making.

5. Identify positive and negative emotions and describe how emotions affect behavior.

Positive emotions are triggered when people are on track toward achieving their goals.

6. Define the four components of emotional intelligence and explain why they are important for

today’s managers.

The four components of emotional intelligence include:

• Self-awareness. The basis for all the other components. Being aware of what you are

7. Outline a step-by-step system for managing yourself and your time.

Understanding Individual Behavior •

1. Empty your head. Collect all the things you need or want to do.

2. Decide the next action. Do it, delegate it, or defer it.

3. Get organized. Schedule appointments and tasks. Set up calendars and action lists.

4. Perform a weekly review. Update calendars and action lists; process new items.

5. Now do it. Consider time and context, energy level, and task priority.

8. Explain the difference between challenge stress and threat stress.

9. Identify ways individuals and organizations can manage stress to improve employee health,

satisfaction, and productivity.

Stress is an individual’s physiological and emotional response to stimuli that place physical or

psychological demands on the individual and create uncertainty and lack of personal control

when important outcomes are at stake.

Understanding Individual Behavior •

LECTURE OUTLINE

NEW MANAGER SELF-TEST: ARE YOU SELF-CONFIDENT?

Self-confidence is the foundation for many important behaviors of a new manager. It refers to

general assurance in one’s ideas, judgment, and capabilities. Self-efficacy is one dimension of

self-confidence, which is an individual’s strong belief that he or she can accomplish a specific

task or outcome successfully. If a new manager lacks self-confidence, he or she is more likely to

avoid difficult decisions and confrontations and may tend to overcontrol subordinates, which is

called micromanaging. A lack of self-confidence also leads to less sharing of information and

less time hiring and developing capable people. Self-confident managers, by contrast, can more

easily delegate responsibility, take risks, give credit to others, confront problems, and assert

themselves for the good of their teams. This exercise helps students identify their level of self-

confidence.

I. UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AND OTHERS

A. The Value and Difficulty of Knowing Yourself

Self-awareness means being aware of the internal aspects of one’s nature, such as personality

traits, beliefs, emotions, attitudes, and perceptions, and appreciating how your patterns affect

other people. A primary characteristic of effective leaders is that they know who they are and

what they stand for. When managers deeply understand themselves, they remain grounded and

constant. Yet developing self-awareness is easier said than done. Many of us might be surprised

to find out what others honestly think about us.

B. Enhancing Your Self-Awareness Exhibit 10.1

1. Seeking feedback to enhance self-awareness can improve performance and job

satisfaction for both managers and employees. We all have illusions about ourselves,

so we need help from others to assess accurately who we are.

2. Self-assessment is another highly valuable way to increase self-awareness. Self-

assessment uses self-inquiry and reflection to gain insights into oneself from the

results of scores on self-assessment instruments. It also means regularly reflecting on

our thoughts and feelings, and taking the time to introspect.

II. JOB SATISFACTION AND TRUST

A. Job Satisfaction Exhibit 10.2

1. Job satisfaction is a positive attitude to one’s job. People experience this attitude

when their work matches their needs and interests and they like their co-workers. Job

satisfaction also occurs when working conditions and rewards are satisfactory and

when people have positive relationships with supervisors.

2. Research shows that the link between job satisfaction and performance is small and is

affected by other factors. Satisfaction varies according to the amount of control the

Understanding Individual Behavior •

employee has. Managers play an important role in whether employees have positive

or negative attitudes about their jobs.

B. Trust

1. Organizational commitment is loyalty to and engagement in one’s organization.

Most managers want to enjoy the benefits of loyal, committed employees, including

low turnover and willingness to do more than the job’s basic requirements.

2. The most recent Gallup workforce survey places the number of disengaged

employees in the United States at 70 percent.

3. Trust in management decisions and integrity is one important component of

organizational commitment. Managers can promote stronger organizational

commitment by being honest and trustworthy in their business dealings, keeping

employees informed, giving them a say in decisions, providing the necessary training

and other resources that enable them to succeed, treating them fairly, and offering

rewards that they value.

NOTES________________________________________________________________________

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III. PERCEPTION AND ATTRIBUTIONS

Critical aspects of understanding behavior are perception and attributions, which are a special

kind of perception.

A. Perception and Perceptual Distortions Exhibit 10.3, Exhibit 10.4, Exhibit 10.5

1. Perception is the cognitive process people use to make sense out of the environment

by selecting, organizing, and interpreting information from the environment. Because

of individual differences in attitudes, personality, values, interests, and so forth,

people often “see” the same thing in different ways. Perception can be viewed as a

step-by-step process: first we observe information from the environment through our

senses (sensory data); next our minds screen the data and select only the items we

will process further; and third, we organize selected data into meaningful patterns for

interpretation and response.

2. Perceptual distortions are errors in perceptual judgment that arise from inaccuracies

in any part of the perceptual process. Some types of errors are so common that

managers should become familiar with them.

a. Stereotyping is the tendency to assign an individual to a group or broad category

and then attribute generalizations about the group to the individual.

b. Halo effect refers to creating an overall impression of a person or situation

based on one characteristic, either favorable or unfavorable.

Understanding Individual Behavior •

B. Attributions: A Special Case of Perception

1. Attributions are judgments about what caused a person’s behavior—something about

the person or something about the situation. An internal attribution says characteristics

of the person led to the behavior. An external attribution says something about the

situation caused the person’s behavior.

2. Fundamental attribution error is the tendency to underestimate the influence of

external factors on another’s behavior and to overestimate the influence of internal

factors.

3. Self-serving bias is the tendency to overestimate the contribution of internal factors to

one’s successes and the contribution of external factors to one’s failures.

IV. PERSONALITY AND BEHAVIOR

An individual’s personality is the set of characteristics that underlie a relatively stable pattern of

behavior in response to ideas, objects, or people in the environment. Understanding personality

can help managers predict how a person might act in a particular situation. Managers who

appreciate the ways their employees’ personalities differ have insight into what kinds of

leadership behavior will be most influential.

A. Personality Traits Exhibit 10.6

1. There are five general dimensions that describe personality, often called the Big Five

personality factors.

a. Extroversion refers to the degree to which a person is sociable, talkative,

assertive, and comfortable with interpersonal relationships.

b. Agreeableness refers to the degree to which a person is able to get along with

others by being good-natured, cooperative, forgiving, understanding, and trusting.

c. Conscientiousness refers to the degree to which a person is focused on a few

goals, thus behaving in ways that are responsible, dependable, persistent, and

achievement-oriented.

d. Emotional stability refers to the degree to which a person is calm, enthusiastic,

and secure, rather than tense, nervous, depressed, moody, or insecure.

e. Openness to experience refers to the degree to which a person has a broad range

of interests and is imaginative, creative, artistically sensitive, and willing to

consider new ideas.

2. These factors represent a continuum. A person may have a low, moderate, or high

degree of each quality. Having a moderate-to-high degree of each personality factor

Understanding Individual Behavior •

is considered desirable for a wide range of employees, but is not a guarantee for

success.

3. Many companies use personality testing to hire, evaluate, or promote employees

despite the fact that there is little hard evidence that these personality tests are valid

predictors of job or relationship success. The use of personality tests has, however,

declined in recent years as more companies are relying on social media to assess

candidates based on what they have to say or show about themselves.

NOTES________________________________________________________________________

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B. Attitudes and Behaviors Influenced by Personality Exhibit 10.7, Exhibit 10.8

1. Locus of control refers to whether individuals place the primary responsibility for

success or failure within themselves (internally) or on outside forces (externally).

a. Some believe that their actions can strongly influence what happens to them—

they believe they are in control of their own fate. These individuals have a high

internal locus of control. Many top leaders of e-commerce and high-tech

organizations have a high internal locus of control.

• People with an internal locus of control are easier to motivate and better able

to handle complex information. They are better at problem solving and are

more achievement oriented, but are also more independent and therefore more

difficult to manage.

b. Others believe that events occur because of chance, luck, or outside people or

events. They see themselves as the pawns of their fate. These individuals have a

high external locus of control.

• People with an external locus of control are harder to motivate, less involved

in their jobs, and more likely to blame others, but are more compliant and

conforming and thus easier to manage.

Discussion Question #8: How might understanding whether an employee has an internal or an

external locus of control help a manager better communicate with, motivate, and lead the

employee?

NOTES________________________________________________________________________

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2. Authoritarianism is the belief that power and status differences should exist within

the organization. If a manager and his or her employees differ in their degree of

authoritarianism, the manager may have difficulty managing effectively. The trend

Understanding Individual Behavior •

toward empowerment and shifts in expectations among younger employees for more

equitable relationships has caused a decline in authoritarianism.

3. Machiavellianism is the tendency to direct much of one’s behavior toward the

acquisition of power and the manipulation of others for personal gain. Research

shows that high Machs are predisposed to being pragmatic, capable of lying to

achieve personal goals, more likely to win in win-lose situations, and more likely to

persuade than to be persuaded.

a. In loosely structured situations, high Machs actively take control, while low Machs

accept the directions given by others. Low Machs thrive in highly structured situations,

while high Machs perform in a detached, disinterested way.

C. Problem-Solving Styles and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Exhibit 10.9

1. Individuals differ in the way they go about gathering and evaluating information for

problem solving and decision making. Psychologist Carl Jung believed that people

gather information either by sensation or intuition, but not by both simultaneously.

Sensation-type people would rather work with known facts and data; intuitive-type

people would prefer to look for possibilities and use abstract concepts for problem

solving.

2. People evaluate information by thinking or feeling. Thinking-type people base their

evaluations on impersonal analysis using reason and logic rather than emotion or

values. Feeling-type individuals base their evaluations on personal feelings, such as

harmony, and make decisions that result in approval from others.

3. According to Jung, only one of the four functions—sensation, intuition, thinking, or

feeling—is dominant; however, the dominant feature is backed up by one of the

others. Two additional sets of paired opposites not related to problem solving are

introversion–extroversion and judging–perceiving.

4. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality test that measures a

person’s preference for introversion vs. extroversion, sensation vs. intuition, thinking

vs. feeling, and judging vs. perceiving. The various combinations of these four

preferences result in 16 unique personality types, each of which can have both

positive and negative consequences for behavior. The two preferences most strongly

associated with effective management are thinking and judging.

NOTES________________________________________________________________________

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V. EMOTIONS

A. Positive and Negative Emotions Exhibit 10.10

1. An emotion can be thought of as a mental state that arises spontaneously within a

person based on interaction with the environment rather than through a conscious

effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes or sensations.

a. Positive emotions are triggered when people are on track toward achieving their

goals.

b. Negative emotions are triggered when people become frustrated in trying to

achieve their goals.

2. Managers can influence whether people experience primarily positive or negative

emotions at work. As a result of emotional contagion, the emotional state of the

manager influences the entire team or department. Effective managers pay attention

to people’s emotions, because positive emotions are typically linked to higher

productivity and greater effectiveness of employees.

B. Emotional Intelligence

1. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) includes five basic components.

a. Self-awareness means being aware of what you are feeling. It is the basis for all

the other components.

b. Self-management refers to the ability to control disruptive or harmful emotions

and balance one’s moods so that worry, anxiety, fear, or anger do not cloud

thinking.

c. Social awareness is the ability to understand others and practice empathy, putting

yourself in someone else’s shoes, recognizing the feelings of others without being

told.

d. Relationship management is the ability to connect to others, build positive

relationships, respond to the emotions of others, and influence others.

2. Studies have found a positive relationship between job performance and high

emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) in a variety of jobs. At times of great change or

crisis, managers rely on a high EQ level to help employees cope with anxiety and

stress.

3. Managers with low emotional intelligence can undermine employee morale and harm

the organization. Growing concerns over workplace bullying have prompted

enlightened companies to take action that helps managers develop greater emotional

intelligence, such as by honing their self-awareness.

NEW MANAGER SELF-TEST: EXPRESSED EMOTIONS

Understanding yourself and others is a major part of a new manager’s job. The important thing

as a manager is to know and guide yourself, to understand the emotional state of others, and to

Understanding Individual Behavior •

guide your relationships in a positive direction. This exercise helps students learn about their

insights into themselves and others.

Discussion Question #7: Which of the four components of emotional intelligence do you

consider most important to an effective manager in today’s world? Why?

NOTES________________________________________________________________________

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VI. MANAGING YOURSELF

Self-management is the ability to engage in self-regulating thoughts and behavior to accomplish

all your tasks and handle difficult or challenging situations. Yet all of us have patterns of habit

and behavior that make it hard to manage ourselves toward more efficient behavior.

A. Basic Principles for Self-Management

Three basic principles that define how to manage your big and small commitments

effectively so that you can get them accomplished are:

1. Clarity of mind. If you’re carrying too much around in your head, your mind can’t be

clear. If so, you can’t focus. If you can’t focus, you can’t get anything done.

2. Clarity of objectives. You have to be clear about exactly what you need to do and decide

the steps to take toward accomplishing it.

3. An organized system. Once you’ve decided the actions you need to take, you need to

keep reminders in a well-organized system.

By building a self-management approach based on these three principles, you can get unstuck

and make measurable progress toward achieving all the things you need to do.

B. A Step-by-Step Guide for Managing Your Time Exhibit 10.11

One self-management system is based on five steps:

1. Empty your head. The first step is to write down all the activities that demand your

attention on scraps of paper, organize them into various manageable “buckets” using

available tools, and add new projects or commitments as and when they occur.

2. Decide the next action. For each item in your buckets, decide the real, specific, physical

action that you need to take action, and then do it, delegate it, or defer it.

3. Get organized. Organize all the deferred items. At this stage, schedule any appointments

you identified as “next actions” and record these on whatever calendar you check daily.