individual processes: personality, emotions, perception, and learning chapter three

Individual Processes: Personality, Emotions, Perception, and Learning

Chapter Three

© Copyright Prentice-Hall 20042

Three Good Reasons Why You Should Care About . . . Individual ProcessesIndividual Processes

1. Understanding people’s personalities helps us know what to expect of them, and understanding our own personalities provides valuable insight into our own behavior

2. The process by which we perceive others is fundamental to a wide variety of organizational activities

3. Effectively training, managing, and disciplining employees requires knowing the basic principles of learning


Individual Processes

Psychological processes that occur within individuals that cannot be seen but whose existence can be inferred on the basis of

people’s behavior


Personality ConceptsPersonality can be defined as the unique and relatively stable pattern of behavior, thoughts, and emotions shown by individualsKey personality dimensions The “Big Five” Type A, Type B, and Type C behavior patters Achievement motivation Self-monitoring (self-perception) Self-efficacy Self-esteem Locus of control


Sources of Personality

Personality from an interactionist perspective: personality can change, develops over time, and can change with the situation

Key sources of personality Heredity (50%) Culture (existing values) Family (role models, reward/punish) Group membership (church, clubs) Life experiences (maturation process)


The Big Five Dimensions of Personality


Type A vs. Type B

Type A Behavior PatternType A Behavior Pattern: A pattern of behavior involving high levels of competitiveness, time urgency, and irritability.

Type B Behavior PatternType B Behavior Pattern: A pattern of behavior characterized by a casual, laid-back style; the lack of the Type A behavior pattern.

Type C Behavior PatternType C Behavior Pattern: Converse of Type A, with Type B falling between A and C, characterized by non-expressiveness of neg/pos emotion, depression, helplessness/hopelessness.


Personality Types A, B, and C

Type A Behavior PatternType A Behavior Pattern: Studies began in the 1950’s relating Type A behavior to CHD (Chronic Heart Disease)

Type A and B Behavior PatternType A and B Behavior Pattern: Popularized in the late 1960’s in studies of stress.

Type C Behavior PatternType C Behavior Pattern: Converse of Type A, with more recent studies linking Type C behavior to cancer


Achievement Motivation

The strength of an individual’s desire to excel – to succeed at difficult tasks and to do them better than anyone else

nAch, need for achievement can be learned (‘Two Faces of Power’)

nAch: closely related to self-efficacy which can be increased through training (Bandura’s Social Learning Model)


Task Attraction


“Self” Concepts

Self-monitoringSelf-monitoring: the extent to which individuals attempt to exercise control over the way they present themselves to others (self-perception/self-presentation)

Self-efficacySelf-efficacy: one’s belief in his or her own capacity to perform a task (lack of self-efficacy leads to learned helplessness-Seligman)

Self-esteemSelf-esteem: the extent to which people hold positive or negative views about themselves


“Self” Concepts

Self-perceptionSelf-perception: can result from how others view us, develop a role or set of behaviors expected of us from a group

Self-presentationSelf-presentation: impression management: control how boss perceives us or construct specific self-concept or social image (Presentation of Self in Everyday Life – Goffle, 1959)


Boosting Low Self-EsteemSuggestion

Make people feel uniquelyvaluable

Make people feel competent

Make people feel secure

Make people feel empowered

Description

Create opportunities for people to feel accepted by finding ways to make use of their unique skills and experiences

Recognize the good things that people do and praise them accordingly. That is, “catch someone in the act of doing something right”

Employees’ self-esteem will be enhanced when managers make their expectations clear and are forthright with them

People given opportunities to decide how to do their jobs feel good about themselves and their work


EmotionsEmotions can be defined as overt reactions that express feelings about events

Emotional dissonance is a phenomenon that occurs when people are required to display emotions on the job that are inconsistent with how they actually feel

Emotional intelligence can be defined as a cluster of skills related to the emotional aspects of life, such as the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ emotions, to discriminate among emotions, and to use such information to direct one’s thoughts and actions


Categories of Emotion (usually all expressed on face-Ekman)


Characteristics of a High EQSkill in regulating one’s own emotionsSkill in regulating one’s own emotions: People with high EQs are aware of their own feelings and display the most appropriate emotionsAbility to monitor others’ emotionsAbility to monitor others’ emotions: People with high EQs are very good at judging how they are affecting other people, and behave accordinglyInterest in motivating oneselfInterest in motivating oneself: People with high EQs are able to motivate themselves to sustain their performance, directing their emotions toward personal goals, and resisting the temptation to quitHighly developed social skillsHighly developed social skills: People with high EQs are very good at keeping a great number of relationships going over long periods of time


MoodsMoods can be defined as unfocused, relatively mild feelings that exist as background to our daily experiences

Moods result from both Feeling states: short-term differences in the way we feel Personality traits: consistent differences between

people’s predispositions toward experiencing positive or negative affect

Positive affectivity Negative affectivity


Negative AffectivityNegative Affectivity

Positive and Negative Affectivity

Po

siti

ve A

ffec

tivi

tyP

osi

tive

Aff

ecti

vity

Low NegativeAffectivity

(calm, relaxed)

High PositiveAffectivity

(joy, enthusiasm)

High NegativeAffectivity

(fear, nervousness)

Low PositiveAffectivity

(apathy, sluggishness)

Fig. 3.2


Social Perception

Social perception is the process of integrating and interpreting information about others so as to accurately understand them, trying to make sense of the world Paradigm: Humans as information processors or ‘naïve scientists’ with cognitions leading to emotions leading to behaviors


Social Perception: framed by perception itself

PerceptionPerception: sensation, selection, organization, interpretation (making sense of reality)

Perceptual SelectivityPerceptual Selectivity: external and internal Perceptual OrganizationPerceptual Organization: assimilate or

accomodate


Perceptual Selectivity

ExternalExternal: intensity, size, contrast, repetition, motion, novelty, familiarity

InternalInternal: see objects compatible with: Learning: single biggest role in perceptual set Motivation: need for affiliation Personality: young vs. old


Perceptual Organization

AssimilateAssimilate: easy – incorporates information into current cognitive structure

AccommodateAccommodate: hard – changes cognitive structure

MechanismsMechanisms: Recency: most current Constancy: person’s height same from a distance Proximity: people in a group Similarity: male/female


Social Identity Theory Personal IdentityPersonal Identity: The characteristics that define a

particular individual Social IdentitySocial Identity: Who a person is, as defined in

terms of his or her membership in various social groups (ingroup/outgroup)

Social Identity TheorySocial Identity Theory: A conceptualization recognizing that the way we perceive others and ourselves is based on our unique characteristics and our membership in various groups – and we are influenced by visible traits: status and roles of sender and receiver (Weick’s theory of enactment)


Social Identity Theory


AttributionAttributionAttribution: The process through which individuals attempt to determine the causes behind others’ behavior

Correspondent inferencesCorrespondent inferences: Judgments about people’s dispositions, traits, and characteristics, that correspond to what we have observed of their actions


Causal Attribution

Causes of BehaviorCauses of Behavior: InternalInternal: Explanations based on actions for which the

individual is responsible ExternalExternal: Explanations based on situations over which

the individual has no control

Kelley’s Theory of Causal AttributionKelley’s Theory of Causal Attribution: The approach suggesting that people will believe others’ actions to be caused by internal or external factors based on three types of information: consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness


Kelley’s Theory of Attribution ConsensusConsensus: Information regarding the extent to

which other people behave in the same manner as the person being judged

ConsistencyConsistency: Information regarding the extent to which the person being judged acts the same way at other times

DistinctivenessDistinctiveness: Information regarding the extent to which a person behaves in the same manner in other contexts


Kelley’s Theory of Attribution


Biases in Social PerceptionFundamental attribution error: Individuals are generally prone to assume that others’ behavior is due to the way they are, their traits and dispositions

Halo effect: The tendency for a person’s overall impression to bias his or her assessment of another on specific dimensions

Stereotypes: Beliefs that all members of specific groups share similar traits and behaviors

Self-fulfilling prophecies: The tendency for someone’s expectations about another to cause that individual to behave in a manner consistent with those expectations


Other Biases in Social PerceptionSelf-serving bias: Individuals are generally prone to present themselves favorably assuming own successful behavior is due to internal factors and failure is to due external factors – increases self-esteemActor/Observer effect: The tendency for a person to explain own behavior to situational factors and others to dispositional factorsGender bias: A woman’s promotion is due to luck and a man’s promotion is due to abilitiesSelf-fulfilling prophecies: The tendency for someone’s expectations about another to cause that individual to behave in a manner consistent with those expectations


The Team Halo Effect


Self-Fulfilling Prophecy (enactment)


Overcoming Biases

Do not overlook the external cases of others’ behaviors

Identify and confront your stereotypes

Evaluate people based on objective factors

Avoid making rash judgments


Learning Learning is defined as a relatively permanent change in

behavior occurring as a result of experience Operant conditioning (Skinner) describes the process of

learning that results when the consequences of our behaviors determine whether we will be likely to repeat them in the future When our behaviors produce pleasant consequences, we are likely

to repeat them When our behaviors produce unpleasant consequences, we are not

likely to repeat them Observational (social) learning occurs when someone

acquires new knowledge vicariously -- that is, by observing what happens to others


Learning: rewards as reinforcers response theories

Classical conditioning: Pavlov (1927) S-R a learned response or a conditioned response

Operant conditioning: Skinner (1938) R-S a behavioral theory derived from Thorndike’s Law of Effect (1911): a response followed by a reward is strengthenedWeak law – reinforcers change behaviorStrong law – Hull’s drive reduction theory, a

motivational theory requiring drive reduction necessary for reinforcment


Learning: rewards as incentives stimulus theories Cognitive approach: Tolman (1932) S-S,

incentives motivate, ‘if I do this then this will occur’: behavior is purposeful and directed towards goals, learning is a function of expectancy, valence, and instrumentality.

Social Learning Model: Bandura (1980’s) learn from observing others, incorporates both behavioral and cognitive aproaches


Operant Conditioning Process


Operant Conditioning Concepts Positive ReinforcementPositive Reinforcement: The process by which people

learn to perform behaviors that lead to the presentation of desired outcomes

Negative ReinforcementNegative Reinforcement: The process by which people learn to perform acts that lead to the removal of undesired events

PunishmentPunishment: The process of decreasing undesirable behavior by following it with undesirable consequences

ExtinctionExtinction: The process through which responses that are no longer reinforced tend to gradually diminish in strength


Contingencies of Reinforcement


Applications of LearningTraining: The process through which people systematically acquire and improve the skills and abilities needed to better their job performanceOrganizational Behavior Management: The systematic application of positive reinforcement principles in organizational settings for the purpose of raising the incidence of desirable organizational behaviorsDiscipline: The systematic administration of punishmentKnowledge Management: The process of gathering, organizing, and sharing a company’s information and knowledge assets


Tips for Improving TrainingParticipation: People not only learn more quickly, but also retain the skills longer when they have actively participated in the learning process

Repetition: Practice enhances the effectiveness of the learning experience

Transfer of Training: The more closely a training program matches the demands of a job, the more effective the training will be

Feedback: Knowledge about the effectiveness of one’s training enhances the learning experience


Examples of Training Efforts


Tips for Effective Discipline Deliver punishment immediately after the

undesirable response occurs Give moderate levels of punishment -- nothing too

high or too low Punish the undesirable behavior, not the person Use punishment consistently -- all the time, for all

employees Clearly communicate the reasons for the

punishment given

individual processes: personality, emotions, perception, and learning chapter three

Documents

type b type

c type

stable pattern of behavior

converse of type

cancer slide

personality types

chd chronic heart disease

individuals key personality