the psychology of people in organisations
TRANSCRIPT
The Psychology of People in Organisations
Visit The Psychology of People in Organisations Companion Website at www.pearsoned.co.uk/ashleighmansi to find valuable student learning material including:
Multiple-choice questions to test your understanding Exercises and tests with answers Flashcards to test your understanding of key terms Links to relevant sites on the World Wide Web An online glossary to explain key terms
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The Psychology of People in Organisations
Melanie Ashleigh University of Southampton
Angela Mansi University of Westminster
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Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate Harlow Essex CM20 2JE England
and Associated Companies throughout the world
Visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearson.com/uk
First published 2012
© Pearson Education Limited 2012
The rights of Melanie Ashleigh and Angela Mansi as authors of this Work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
All trademarks used therein are the property of their respective owners. The use of any trademark in this text does not vest in the author or publisher any trademark ownership rights in such trademarks, nor does the use of such trademarks imply any affiliation with or endorsement of this book by such owners.
Pearson Education is not responsible for the content of third-party internet sites.
ISBN 978-0-273-75576-0
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 16 15 13 12
Typeset in 10/12 pt Minion by 73 Printed and bound by Rotolito Lombarda, Italy
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About the authors xii
Publisher’s acknowledgements xiii
Guided tour xvi
Foreword xix
Chapter 1 What is work psychology? 2
Chapter 2 Ethical issues and the nature of research inorganisations 30
Chapter 3 Individual differences – and emotions at work 66
Chapter 4 Personality at work – and the dark side of personality 92
Chapter 5 Work–life balance: well-being at work and thetyranny of technology 118
Chapter 6 Selection and assessment 146
Chapter 7 Perception, attitudes and discrimination 178
Chapter 8 Motivation and learning at work 212
Chapter 9 Working in teams and groups 236
Chapter 10 Leadership 266
Chapter 11 Organisational change and development 296
Glossary 324
Index 337
Brief contents
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Chapter 2
Chapter 1
Contents
About the authors xii Publisher’s acknowledgements xiii Guided tour xvi Foreword xix
What is work psychology? 2
Opening case study 3 Introduction 4 Definitions of work psychology 6 The origins of work psychology 7 The evolution of work psychology 8 Why ‘work’ psychology? 11 Key perspectives in psychology 13 Work psychology and the development of research 15 What do work psychologists do? 18 How do work psychologists contribute to organisational effectiveness? 19 The development of positive psychology: the way forward? 22 Psychology in context: application of psychology to social and global issues 23 Chapter summary 26 Discussion questions 26 Interactive group activity 26 Further reading and online resources 27 References 28
Ethical issues and the nature of research in organisations 30
Opening case study 31 Introduction 32 Ethical issues 32 How do we decide what is ethical? 37 Ethics in psychology at work 38 The nature of research in organisations 39 Research approaches 41 Developing a theory 44 Research designs and methods 46 Advantages and disadvantages of research methods 53 Analysing data 53 Psychology in context: unethical practice at work 61 Chapter summary 62 Discussion questions 62
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Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Interactive group activity 62 Further reading and online resources 63 References 63
Individual differences – and emotions at work 66
Opening case study 67 Introduction 68 Approaches to understanding individual differences 68 Why organisations study individual differences 71 Individual differences in intelligence 72 Intelligence at work 73 Measuring intelligence 74 Individual differences in creativity 75 Individual differences in values 78 Individual differences in demographics 80 Individual differences in emotions 81 Psychology in context: emotional intelligence 84 Chapter summary 86 Discussion questions 86 Interactive group activity 87 Further reading and online resources 88 References 89
Personality at work – and the dark side of personality 92
Opening case study 93 Introduction 94 History and development of personality theories 94 Approaches and theories of personality 95 Personality and situational influences 108 Using personality theory in organisations 109 Psychology in context: the dark side of personality 111 Chapter summary 113 Discussion questions 114 Interactive group activity 114 Further reading and online resources 115 References 115
Work–life balance: well-being at work and the tyranny of technology 118
Opening case study 119 Introduction 120 History of work–life balance 120 Work–life balance–problems of definition 121 Types of working pattern 122 Work–life balance: practices and policies 123 Men, the child-free and work–life balance 124 Work–life balance around the world 125
viii CONTENTS
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Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Individual needs for a work–life balance 127 Stress and well-being at work 129 The long hours culture 132 Stress, relationships and sex 134 Work–life balance: fact or fiction? 135 Coaching for a work–life balance 136 Psychology in context: the tyranny of technology – the impact of technologyon health and well-being 137 Chapter summary 140 Discussion questions 141 Interactive group activity 141 Further reading and online resources 142 References 142
Selection and assessment 146
Opening case study 147 Introduction 148 The selection and assessment process 149 Job analysis 151 Competency frameworks 152 Selection and assessment criteria 154 Selection and assessment methods in the workplace 155 Computer-based testing and the role of technology 165 Bias and unfairness 166 Performance assessment and appraisals 168 Psychology in context: proactive behaviour – beneficial or not? 170 Chapter summary 171 Discussion questions 172 Interactive group activity 172 Further reading and online resources 172 References 173
Perception, attitudes and discrimination 178
Opening case study 179 Introduction 180 What is perception? 181 Person perception 186 Attribution theory 191 Why do we conform? 193 Attitudes – what are they? 196 Job satisfaction and organisational commitment 200 Psychology in context: valuing and managing diversity 202 Chapter summary 204 Discussion questions 204 Interactive group activity 205 Further reading and online resources 205 References 206
ixCONTENTS
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Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 8 Motivation and learning at work 212
Opening case study 213 Introduction 214 Need theories 214 Contemporary theories 219 Self-determination theory (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation) 220 Learning theory 222 Expectancy theory 224 Equity theory 225 Goal-setting theory 227 Performance, pay and motivation 228 Work and job design 230 Work psychology in context: corporate social responsibility 231 Chapter summary 233 Discussion questions 233 Interactive group activity 233 Further reading and online resources 234 References 234
Working in teams and groups 236
Opening case study 237 Introduction 238 Relevance of team working in the 21st century 238 Why are teams so popular? 239 Differences between groups and teams 239 Types of groups and teams 242 Theories relevant to groups and teams 246 Team training and development 253 Team learning 255 Negotiation and decision making 256 Psychology in context: conflict in teams 257 Chapter summary 259 Discussion questions 260 Interactive group activity 260 Further reading and online resources 261 References 261
Leadership 266
Opening case study 267 Introduction 268 Trait theories 269 Behavioural theories 271 Contingency theories 273 Neo-charismatic theories 277 New era theories 279 Leadership as a process 281
x CONTENTS
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Chapter 11
Leading individuals and teams 282 Differences between leaders and managers 283 Cultural differences in leadership 284 Gender issues in leadership 285 Psychology in context: what causes ‘bad leadership’? 287 Chapter summary 290 Discussion questions 290 Interactive group activity 290 Further reading and online resources 291 References 291
Organisational change and development 296
Opening case study 297 Introduction 298 Why do organisations need to change? 298 Implementing organisational change 300 Organisational culture and change 305 Resistance to change 310 Employee adjustment to change 312 Psychology in context: career self-management 317 Chapter summary 319 Discussion questions 320 Interactive group activity 320 Further reading and online resources 320 References 321
Glossary 324 Index 337
Supporting resourcesVisit www.pearsoned.co.uk/ashleighmansi to find valuable online resources
Companion Website for students Multiple-choice questions to test your understanding Exercises and tests with answers Flashcards to test your understanding of key terms Links to relevant sites on the World Wide Web An online glossary to explain key terms
For instructors Teaching notes for each chapter PowerPoint presentations for each chapter.
Also: The Companion Website provides the following features: Search tool to help locate specific items of content E-mail results and profile tools to send results of quizzes to instructors Online help and support to assist with website usage and troubleshooting
For more information please contact your local Pearson Education sales representative or visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/ashleighmansi
xiCONTENTS
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About the authors
Melanie Ashleigh Prior to becoming an academic in 2003, Dr Ashleigh was the senior partner in a Human Resource Management recruitment business. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of Management, University of South-ampton, and director of the MSc Management programme. Her motivation to write this text comes from her belief that today’s educators should be more aware of the pedagogical congruence between theory and practice and her passion to drive culturally diverse cohorts of students towards greater employability across a globalised workplace.
Dr Ashleigh is a qualifi ed team trainer, a trainee counsellor with the BACP and her research interests cover a broad spectrum of subjects including team training, distributed and shared knowledge, leadership, and the concept of trust in teams and technology.
Angela Mansi is a chartered occupational psychologist and director of Work of WorkLife Management Ltd. She is also Senior Lecturer in Occupational Psychology at Westmin-ster Business School and Associate Lecturer at Birkbeck and UCL. Her teaching profi le includes Goldsmiths and The Open University. She worked as senior counsellor for the cabin crew counselling unit at British Airways for many years and her experience of travelling to over 140 countries during that time helped develop an awareness and understanding of diversity in culture, language and individual diff erences which she brings to her consultancy and teaching practice.
Angela continues to work as a consultant psychologist with individuals and organisations, specialising in senior execu-tive assessment and recruitment, personality assessment, coaching for career changes, and executive coaching and management ‘derailment’. Her enthu-siasm for understanding how, and why, people are not only diff erent across the world, but also very similar, manifests in her consultancy, research and teaching practice. She is completing a PhD at Birkbeck, University of London investigating individual personality diff erences in emotions at work.
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Publisher’s acknowledgements
We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:
Cartoons Cartoon on p. 98 (bottom) from cartoon copyrighted by Mark Parisi, printed with permission, www.offthemark.com; Cartoon on p. 127 from ‘Virginia A. Dodd’ by Hardin, www.CartoonStock.com; Cartoon on p. 129 from ‘Good day at the offi ce, dear?’ by Markie, www.CartoonStock.com; Cartoons on pp. 135, 149, 239 from Dilbert cartoon by Scott Adams, DILBERT © 2006 Scott Adams. Used by permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved; Cartoon on p. 188 from ‘No one takes me seriously because I’m a small business man’, www.CartoonStock.com; Cartoon on p. 220 from www.jimbarker.net, Barker Design and Illustration/Jim Barker Cartoons; Cartoon on p. 269 from ‘Charlotte’s Web’ by Randy Glasbergen © Randy Glasbergen www.glasbergen.com
Figures Figure 2.1 from www.gryphonshafer.com (accessed 11/11/2010), with permission from Gryphon Shafer; Figure 2.2 adapted from ‘Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: an issue contingent model’, Academy of Management Journal , 16, pp. 366–95 (Jones, T. M. 1991), Copy-right 1991. Reproduced with permission of the Academy of Management (NY) in the format Textbook via Copyright Clearance Center; Figure 3.2 from ‘Race and intelligence’, Science and Public Aff airs , March, pp. 2–8 (Lewontin, R. C. 1970), with permission from People and Science, www. britishcienceassociation.org/ps (formerly Science and Public Aff airs); Figure on p. 98 (top) from Lectures on Conditioned Refl exes. Twenty-Five Years of Objective Study of the Higher Nervous Activity (Behaviour) of Animals . Trans. by W. H. Gantt & G. Volborth. Introduction by Walter B. Cannon, New York: International Publishers (Pavlov, I. P. 1928); Figure 4.2 from Personality and Individual Diff erences , Plenum Publishing (Eysenck, H. J. and Eysenck, M. W. 1985), with kind permission from Springer Science+Business Media B.V.; Figure 5.1 from ‘The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation’, Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology , 18 (5), November, pp. 459–82 (Yerkes, R. M., and Dodson, J. D. 1908), Copyright © 1908 The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, with permission from John Wiley and Sons; Figure 6.2 from ‘The design of selection systems: contexts, principles, issues’, The Blackwell Handbook of Personnel Selec-tion , edited by A. Evers, N. Anderson and O. Smit-Voskkuijl, p. 195 (Roe, R. A. 2005), © 2005 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Reproduced with permission of John Wiley & Sons Ltd; Figure 6.3 from ‘Work competence: A person oriented perspective’, Handbook of Competence and Motivation , edited by A. J. Eliott and C. S. Dweck, p. 348 (Kanfer, R. and Ackerman, P. L. 2005), © 2005 Guilford Press, reprinted with permission; Figure 7.8 from Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Proc-esses , 50 (2), Ajzen, I., The theory of planned behaviour, pp. 179–211, copyright 1991, with permis-sion from Elsevier; Figure 8.1 after ‘A theory of human motivation’, Psychological Review, vol. 50, pp. 370–96 (Maslow, A. 1943), pub. APA, reprinted with permission; Figure 8.6 adapted from Organizational Behaviour and Human Performance , 16 (2), Hackman, J. R. and Oldham, G. R., ‘Moti-vation through the design of work: test of a theory’, pp. 250–79, copyright 1976, with permission
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from Elsevier; Figure 10.1 adapted from The Power to Change , Grid International, Inc. (McKee, R. and Carlson, B. 1999), reprinted with permission; Figure 10.3 from ‘Managing diversity and enhancing team outcomes: the promise of transformational leadership’, Journal of Applied Psychology , 94 (1), p. 78 (Kearney, E. and Gebert, D. 2009), pub. APA, reprinted with permission; Figure 11.2 from © LeapComp.com, with permission from Julien Dionne, LeapComp.com.
Tables Table 3.1 adapted from ‘What’s basic about basic emotions?’, Psychological Review , 97, pp. 315–31 (Ortony, A. and Turner, T. J. 1990), pub. APA, reprinted with permission; Table 4.3 from Hogan Development Survey Manual , Hogan Assessments Systems, Inc. (Hogan, R. and Hogan, J., 2009), with permission from Robert Hogan; Table 6.4 adapted from ‘A new model of work role perform-ance: positive behaviour in uncertain and interdependent contexts’, Academy of Management Journal , 50 (2), pp. 327–47 (Griffi n, M. A., Neal, A. and Parker, S. K. 2007), copyright 2007, repro-duced with permission of the Academy of Management (NY) in the format Textbook via Copyright Clearance Center; Table 9.2 adapted from reproduced by permission of Sage Publications, London, Los Angeles, New Dehli and Singapore, from S. Ackroyd and P. Thompson, Organizational Misbehav-iour © Stephen Ackroyd and Paul Thompson 1999.
Text Case study on p. 93 from Professor Robert Hogan, University of Tulsa, 2004, reprinted with permis-sion; Epigraph on p. 148 from with permission from Jack Welch, Founder, Jack Welch Management Institute; Epigraph on p. 180 from The Magician’s Nephew , by C. S. Lewis copyright © C. S. Lewis Pte Ltd 1955; Exercise on p. 190 adapted from Getting Started with English Language Learners: How Educa-tors Can Meet the Challenges (pp. 114, 134–5), by Judie Haynes, Alexandria, VA:ASCD © 2007 by ASCD, reprinted and adapted with permission. Learn more about ASCD at www.ascd.org; Extract on p. 213 from personal communication with Joseph Kwasnik, June 2009 via email, with permis-sion from Joseph Kwasnik; Epigraph on p. 214 from Collected Papers of Albert Einstein , with permis-sion from Princeton University Press; Case study on p. 231 from case study about WSP Environ-ment & Energy, with permission from WSP Environment & Energy; Extract on pp. 288–9 used by kind permission of Professor Malcolm Higgs, University of Southampton, 2010.
The Financial Times Case study on p. 110 adapted from’ Engstrom keeps his nose to the grindstone’ by Esther Blintiff http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a2f9376a-0deb-11e0-86e9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1VI858moD, 22 December 2010 © The Financial Times Limited 2010. All rights reserved.
Photographs We would like to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce their photographs:
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xiv PUBLISHER’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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Nowak p. 88 tl ; Getty Images: AFP p. 34 t , Bloomberg p. 35, Christopher Pillitz p. 34 b , Hulton Archive pp. 16, 70, Lane Oatey p. 79, Nadya Lukic p. 249; iStockphoto: Catherine Yeulet p. 161; Press Association Images: pp. 18, 24; Reuters: Kevin Lamarque p. 268; Rex Features: Ken McKay p. 67; Science Photo Library Ltd: GJLP p. 184; Shutterstock.com: p. 5
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xvPUBLISHER’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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OPENING CASE STUDY 67
The two groups of hopeful applicants are called back into the boardroom. They had been split into two groups and sent out to prove they could work as a team, by showing they could develop, market and make a profi t on a product. This product was assigned by Lord Alan Sugar, a British businessman and entrepreneur, and this is just one episode of the BBC TV series The Apprentice .
There are only eight people left now; four in each group. After a general summing up of both groups’ performance, the group with the worst performance will be invited back into the boardroom and one individual will be singled out to be fi red by Lord Sugar. Each individual displays a diff erent manner; some seem quietly confi dent, others appear nervous and look to each other for support, while some look ready to do battle and appear hostile towards their colleagues.
Lord Sugar has to make a choice: who are the candidates most likely to fi t into his organisation as a potential apprentice, and whom should he pick out with his infamous words, ‘You’re fi red!’? He consults two professional and highly experienced colleagues, who have observed at close hand the teams work-ing together to develop their product. Together they will choose one person who has not displayed the qualities they expect from the next apprentice. What qualities are they looking for? What criteria will they use to measure the contestants’ performance?
As with most organisations, Lord Sugar is looking to select the best possible candidate to fulfi l an existing organisational role, and that person needs to be able to work with other people in the organisation. In the previous series, Lord Sugar repeatedly told candidates with ‘the wrong attitude’ that they would not fi t into his company. Therefore, interpersonal skills and a degree of fl exibility would be required. He was also looking for bright, smart and quick-thinking types, indicating a certain level of intelligence needed for the role. The ability to use initiative , to resource items, to plan , to organise and to sell were all diff erences which were measured by individual per-formance during group tasks. Some of the most successful teams indicated a high level of creativity , which is another individual diff erence measurable in assessment for selection. A key diff erence for this task was how well the potential apprentice managed their team: did they delegate , did they communicate well, did they include, share praise, guide and support their team? And more importantly, did they manage their emotional responses appropriately?
Such individual diff erences are of interest not only to Lord Sugar but to all organisations when assessing individual diff erences, and it is these diff erences which can make or break a career for an individual.
Questions 1 What does the selection process outlined here tell you about Lord Sugar’s company?
2 Can you think about ways in which the desired individual diff erences listed above can be measured fairly?
3 What individual diff erences do you think would be necessary to work in Lord Sugar’s organisation?
4 What individual diff erences might prevent someone wanting to work for Lord Sugar?
5 What criticisms would you feed back to Lord Sugar, given the opportunity?
Opening case study The Apprentice, 2010: individual diff erences in the boardroom
Source: Rex Features (Ken McKay)
Each chapter opens with a large Case Study , providing a range of material for seminars and private study by illustrating real life applications and implica-tions of the topics which will be covered in the chapter. These also come with a set of Discus-sion Questions to help you test your understanding of the case.
Learning outcomes enable you to focus on what you should have achieved by the end of the chapter.
The Chapter overview is a handy quick reference guide to the content of each chapter.
Chapter overview
Opening case study Introduction Defi nitions of work psychology The origins of work psychology The evolution of work psychology Why ‘work’ psychology? Key perspectives in psychology Work psychology and the development of research What do work psychologists do? How do work psychologists contribute to organisational eff ectiveness? The development of positive psychology: the way forward? Psychology in context: the application of psychology to social and global issues Chapter summary
Learning outcomes
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
Defi ne work psychology Understand the origins of psychology Comprehend how work psychology has evolved over the last century Be able to explain what work psychologists do Be aware of the contribution that work psychology makes to organisations Realise the importance of work psychology to individuals and groups Appreciate the contribution that work psychology makes to social issues
Chapter 1 What is work psychology?
The Critical reflection boxes enable you to think critically about each chapter and will encourage you to explore about the facts.
by rigidly measuring output and checking up on workers both inside and outside the fac-tory, meant that companies suffered high turnover, absenteeism and an unhappy workforce (Furnham, 2005; Meyer et al., 2007).
A study undertaken in Hawthorne, Chicago (1924–32) at Western Electric Company followed a group of workers over several years to see how they worked when being observed. The results, referred to as the Hawthorne eff ect (Landsberger, 1958), demonstrated that when they were being paid attention, the work output of workers increased, as did their overall satisfaction levels. The researchers found that the participants in the study felt that if they were worth the time spent on observing them, then they must be special and they therefore felt valued by the organisation (Landsberger, 1958; Adair, 1984).
This was a revelation to researchers. The realisation that the way we treat people was as important to productivity as ensuring they were suitable for the task was a great insight to work psychologists. This paved for the way for the human relations movement, which there-after incorporated an understanding of individual needs and motivations (see Chapter 8 on motivation).
Workers in the Western Electric Company, 1924Source: Corbis/Bettemann
Critical refl ection
Studies such as those conducted at the Western Electric Company appeared to demonstrate that if they were paid attention while they were working, workers were encouraged to work more productively, whatever variables were put in place by the company. There may, however, be disadvantages in this type of experiment.
Refl ect critically on how individuals might react to being asked to take part in a such an experiment today. What might the disadvantages be?
CHAPTER 1 WHAT IS WORK PSYCHOLOGY?10
Guided tour
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Work psychology and the development of research Some of the very best psychological research has come from studies following wars, notably the two world wars. The sheer horror of what occurred in these wars led psychologists to examine what it was in human nature that allowed people to conduct such appalling acts of inhumanity against other human beings. Psychology was still, in the 1940s, a fl edgling science, and the strict ethical framework within which all psychologists now work (the BPS Code of Ethics) was still being developed (see Chapter 2 on ethics).
Early psychological research considered how groups of people work in close proximity with each other. Early studies came from a group of psychologists (all of whom had expe-rienced military training and warfare) who sought to make sense of their experiences, par-ticularly those which involved group confl ict. They founded the Tavistock Institute in Mill Hill, London, in 1946 and became famous for their work on group dynamics (Bion, 1961).
The lack of ethical consideration allowed for a wonderfully rich source of data collection at that time, and while many studies would not be allowed today the data gathered from such studies was extremely useful in helping to develop psychology as a discipline. Studies such as Stanley Milgram’s famous conformity study would probably fail the Ethics Commit-tee standards for research experiments. Studies conducted by Philip Zimbardo to show how quickly people can descend into inhumanity towards others produced some of the most profound and valuable research into how we interact in a particular type of organisation. Zimbardo used his famous studies from the 1971 prisoner and guards experiment to sup-port soldiers indicted of crimes in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (see Psychology in context, pp. 23–5).
Stop and think!
Think about your reactions to being watched by others, e.g. when you’re presenting in front of the class, having to articulate an idea to a group, or being watched while you work. How does this make you feel? Do you feel embar-rassed? Or do you enjoying performing in front of others?
How do you think your attitudes and behaviours may change when you know you are being judged by others?
Mini case study Milgram’s conformity study
A famous psychological study by Professor Stanley Milgram of Yale University (USA) in 1963 found that participants were prepared for a ‘learner’ to undergo electric shock treatment when being told by a teacher that every time they made an error in a task they would have to be punished. Although the shocks were not real (the learner and teacher were part of the experiment), the 40 male participants were unaware of this, but were quite willing to co-operate with the experiment to the point that 65 per cent of the cohort let the subject undergo what they believed was real electric shock treatment. Even though they expressed concern and extreme discomfort afterwards, and felt what they were doing was ethically wrong, they still obeyed the orders.
Critics of Milgram saw these experiments as highly controversial and argued that participants knew they were in an experiment and so, of course, thought this was normal and were bound to obey the experimenter. Milgram (1968) argued that if participants thought the situation was normal, they would not have felt so distressed after the experiment. Furthermore, he pointed out that ‘real world soldiers and bureaucrats who are accused of villainous acts
WORK PSYCHOLOGY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH 15 These snappy Stop and think! boxes improve your understanding by taking you away for the text and asking you to apply the theory with your own experience and examples.
Neuroticism was seen in many returning soldiers who were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress, which was called shell-shock in the First World War. The Tavistock team saw that neurotic disabilities were not merely transitory, and that symptoms were not only related to the stress of war, but endemic and pervasive in society generally. The founding group comprised many of the key fi gures who had been concerned with neurosis in the First World War. They included doctors, neurologists, psychiatrists and psychologists. The group was a synthesis of social sci-ences, general medicine, psychiatry and psychology and has continued to link these fi elds in helping our understanding of people (see Trist et al., 1989). Many key players in the develop-ment of the Tavistock Institute went on to shape not just work psychology but world affairs too, using their knowledge and understanding from their research. Sutherland, for instance, helped establish the British National Health Service in 1946; Hargreaves was appointed deputy director of the World Health Organisation; Bowlby helped shaped educational and social poli-cies for the government after the Second World War; Rawlings Rees became the fi rst President of the World Federation for Mental Health, paving the way for a more compassionate and humane way to treat people with mental health problems.
Group dynamics was of interest to this early research group in relation to their effective functioning. Many early studies were conducted with RAF fl ight crews due to the fact that fl ight crews containing more emotionally stable, stress resistant and conscientious individu-als had fewer accidents and suffered less confl ict with their fellow crew members. Thus the study of individual differences, stress management and group dynamics was initiated (see Chapter 3 on individual differences). Similar studies have been replicated since, and it has been discovered that the personality of the captain has signifi cant impact on fl ight error and survival rates – more so than any other crew member (Chidester et al., 1991).
Mini case study Individual personality and group dynamics
Captain Lewis was an experienced and well-respected pilot and brought his rigorous RAF training and attitude into the aviation industry when he joined. He was one of the longest-serving pilots with Ace Aviation and was well known by all members of the airline. He demanded respect from his crew and was a stickler for punctuality and detail. As he got older, Captain Lewis became more impatient with the younger, fresher-faced pilots who seemed ‘to know it all’ the minute they sat on the fl ight deck. He resentfully felt they were just starting and he was nearly at retiring age. Colleagues noticed his impatience and developing abrasive manner to newer fl ight crew members and the more experienced fl ight crew just ignored his increasingly grating personality. He had a reputation amongst the cabin crew for being dour and unapproachable, and many had said how glad they were to be working at the back of the aeroplane and not at the front end!
First Offi cer McDougal was only on his third fl ight. He was young and enthusiastic and excited about fl ying to Japan for the fi rst time. Second Offi cer Christopher Dorian was on board as part of his initial training fl ight and had not been on a passenger fl ight previously. He was also very excited but wary of asking any questions with Captain Lewis sitting in front of him. They had both been warned about the Captain’s reputation, although McDougal was keen to impress him and not make any mistakes, particularly in front of a more junior crew member. All the crew were tired after a 12-hour fl ight to Tokyo and keen to get to the hotel and go to bed. Just ten more minutes before landing.
Suddenly, lights on the fl ight deck fl ashed – an engine fi re! They had to shut the engine down and land on only three engines. He was tired, and a little nervous, and First Offi cer McDougal misheard a few instructions from Captain Lewis, which elicited a couple of hostile putdowns and impatient and sarcastic remarks. He did not want to irritate the Captain again, or embarrass himself in front of his new colleague, and the next time he misheard he was reluctant to ask the Captain to repeat what he had said. He thought the Captain had said the port engine . . . was it, or had he said starboard? Left or right . . .? He was afraid now of making a big mistake and could not ask the Captain to repeat himself again . . . he was sure he said right; he made a quick decision and shut down the starboard (right) engine. Too late, as the portside engine exploded . . . .
WORK PSYCHOLOGY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH 17
Key psychologists who worked at the Tavistock Institute helped with the formation of the psychoanalytic movement in the UK and the institute became a focal point for psychoanalysis theory and practice. It included some of the most infl uential players in the fi eld including Melanie Klein, Carl Gustav Jung, Charles Rycroft, Wilfred Bion and R. D. Laing. All of these research interests have led to a continuing and developing area of psychology, and human relations, over the last 50 years, and have had enormous infl uence on research into the way the individual, groups and organisations function.
What do work psychologists do? Occupational psychology is concerned with how people perform at work, how they learn best, how individuals and groups interact and function effectively in organisations, and how organisations can be as effective as possible for their employees. It is concerned also with
Questions As a work psychologist you are asked to assess where and how such a situation could be averted.
1 What was happening with the dynamics of this group?
2 What areas would you investigate?
3 What personality theory would best help us to understand the three fl ight crew members?
4 Can you think of reasons why the Captain was so intimidating?
5 With reference to the fi ve major perspectives, what do you think might be the cause of Lewis’s abrasive manner to new crew members?
6 What lessons can Ace Aviation learn from this?
RAF fl ight crews in the Second World WarSource: Press Association Images (PA Photos)
CHAPTER 1 WHAT IS WORK PSYCHOLOGY?18
Each chapter comes with a number of Mini-cases which encourage stimulating debates and class discussions. Each Minicase is accompanied with Questions which will help you apply what you have read in the case study to academic theory.
ATTITUDES – WHAT ARE THEY? 199
WLB policies, thus increasing behavioural intention and actual behaviour of managers with regard to implementing WLB policies (see Chapter 5 for more on WLB).
Behavioural intentions can be strengthened under certain circumstances, such as:
if the perceiver believes that many people who are important and matter also have a posi-tive attitude towards the behaviour;
if the perceiver believes that they have the resources and opportunity to engage in the behaviour;
if the perceiver has a positive attitude towards the behaviour; and
if the intention is very specifi c towards one particular behaviour.
Exercise
Most afternoons at work, Mandy could be seen surfi ng the web for various reasons. She was often quite open about this, exclaiming that she was trying to fi nd an anniversary present for her partner or asking colleagues where she should go on her next holiday. In the last two months she managed to redesign her kitchen in work time and she usu-ally gets her Christmas shopping list out around late October, explaining that it saves taking a day’s holiday. She says she is not a web addict, but her behaviour does not give that impression.
Mandy was a very chatty and friendly colleague who generally loved coming to work. When she was not surfi ng the web, she actually produced some good work and was keen to be promoted to PA to the new Marketing Director. She seemed oblivious to the fact that she was being labelled lazy or incompetent by colleagues and that they were becoming annoyed with her web-frantic behaviour, especially when everyone seemed continuously busy. She also seemed unaware that she was stealing time from her employer or that she could lose her job if someone made a formal complaint.
Question Using the theory of planned behaviour, decide whether you think Mandy will surf the web tomorrow afternoon.
Ethical dilemma
You are waiting to get into the lift at work to take you up to your offi ce on the 33rd fl oor for a crucial meeting with your boss; you are looking forward to presenting your innovative idea to the board about the new advert and have been really happy at work recently, since management have encouraged everyone in the company to engage in bringing something creative to the marketing team. When the lift arrives a very large man rushes out past you, pushing you to the side and cursing that you are in his way; your steaming hot coff ee spills all over your new Jimmy Choo shoes. After taking a few minutes to gather yourself together, you see the same man rushing out of the building into the road, presumably to hail a taxi. As you are nearing the entrance of the building, you notice that the man’s wallet has fallen out of his pocket on to the pavement a few yards from where he was standing. Before you can get to the pavement, a young scruff y-looking lad picks up the wallet, opens it, stops for a few seconds and then runs off down the road. When you get outside, the lad seems to have disappeared. You didn’t really get a clear view of him, but you’re sure he has taken the wallet for himself. What do you do?
Do absolutely nothing. The large man behaved appallingly to you earlier in the lift and truly deserved the loss – it serves him right!
Alert the security guard who is on duty in the foyer of the building.
Report what you saw to the nearest police station – although you haven’t got a full description of the lad.
Give chase to the lad in the direction he was running.
There are a number of practical Exercises which will help test your knowledge of each chapter.
The Ethical dilemma boxes put you in a number of situa-tions which you may face in the workplace and enable you to explore and think about these issues critically.
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CHAPTER 7 PERCEPTION, ATTITUDES AND DISCRIMINATION 204
Reward those who are effective in managing diversity by relating management pay to achieving diversity goals.
Provide adequate training using a multi-pronged approach and do not expect one train-ing solution to work for everyone. Develop different methods and forums where diverse employees are comfortable with the learning experience.
Encourage mentoring of diverse employees by providing guidance and support for minorities and those who take longer to achieve.
For a more detailed review see Meyer et al. (2007).
Chapter summary
It is very diffi cult not to judge someone’s whole character on one bad mistake or wrong decision. Behaviour is always derived from our perceptions and attitudes, and it is diffi cult to disentangle the two. Perception involves interrelated processes; it is a fusion of the sensory messages that we selectively attend to depending on numerous individual dif-ferences, including past experiences and expectations.
Person perception is aff ected by certain biases that persuade us to categorise people into groups such as ‘similar to me’ – according to eff ects, attractiveness, social status, confi rmatory bias and so on. Such biases lead to negative stereotypes which, if reinforced, culminate in prejudice and/or open discrimination towards others in our out-groups. Such biases can also be gender or culturally orientated and can lead to misperceptions and problems of unfair treat-ment and discrimination in the workplace. We attribute behaviour to either internal or external factors and people are easily infl uenced by social persuasion and/or the need to obey rules – even when they know it is wrong. Emotion can infl uence our perception – in particular, an ‘aff ective event’ promotes strong responses in us that can either positively or more often negatively infl uence our behaviour.
There is a complex relationship between attitudes and behaviour. Perceptions can change; the theory of planned behaviour explains that much of our perception is a complicated mix of attitude towards an event or person as well as external factors such as others’ expectations, norms and environmental circumstances. Specifi c attitudes to job satisfaction and organisational commitments have a signifi cant impact on behaviour in the workplace, and are impor-tant for managers to consider. Valuing and eff ectively managing diversity in 21st-century work domains is an essential skill for future leaders and managers.
Discussion questions
1. Explain what we mean by person perception and how particular biases can affect our behaviour. Give an applied example.
2. How do we use attribution theory to explain our behaviour?
3. How can we use the theory of planned behaviour to explain the relationship between our attitudes and behaviours?
4. Why do we behave unethically even though we know it is wrong?
5. Discuss how overt discrimination could be avoided in the workplace.
6. Explain why attitudes are important and discuss the relationship between your attitude, towards inequality in the workplace and how they are manifest through your behaviour.
7. ‘In order for organisations to gain competitive advantage in the 21st-century business world, they need to embrace how to manage diversity effectively.’ Discuss.
8. Why should we, and how can we, change our perceptions – is it really possible?
Summaries clinch the important concepts that have just been presented to reinforce the chapter and review the chapter objectives.
Every chapter ends with Discussion questions that test your under-standing and help you to track your progress.
CHAPTER 6 SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT172
Interactive group activity
As a group watch the YouTube video of customer service at Starbucks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M0TgEUbRBc&feature=related
Based on this, identify the KSAOs (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other relevant characteristics) that contribute to customer service satisfaction.
In groups (ideally about four or fi ve), choose one of these KSAOs and develop one question that you could ask to assess a job candidate’s level of skill or knowledge, and also identify examples of good or poor responses.
Now develop a scenario that someone in this position might experience. Make sure that the scenario includes a dilemma (i.e. that there is not a clear right or wrong answer). Describe it and ask ‘What would you do in this situa-tion?’ Develop examples of good and poor responses.
Find someone in your class to interview, and evaluate their responses based on the response criteria you have developed.
Further reading and online resources
Brannick, M. T., Levine, E. L., and Morgeson, F. P. (2007) Job and Work Analysis , 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cook, M. (2009) Personnel Selection: Adding Value through People . Chichester: Wiley- Blackwell.
Cooper, D., Robertson, I. T., and Tinline, G. (2003) Recruitment and Selection: A Framework for Success. London: Thomson.
Evers, A., Anderson, N., and Voskuil, O. (2005) Handbook of Personnel Selection , Oxford: Blackwell.
Goodstein, L. D., and Prien, E. P. (2006) Using Individual Assessments in the Workplace: A Practical Guide for HR Professionals, Trainers and Managers. San Francisco. CA: Pfeiffer.
Frederick, P. Morgeson, PhD: www.morgeson.com/research . Morgeson is the leading researcher in job analysis/design issues and this website has links to many of his publications.
Prien, E. P., Goodstein, L. D., Goodstein, J., and Gamble, L. G. (2009) A Practical Guide to Job Analysis . San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
Discussion questions
1. What do you see as the key limitations of job analysis?
2. How does validity differ from reliability? How is the validity of a psychometric test established?
3. What are the relative strengths and weaknesses of interviews versus personality profiles?
4. How do assessment centres differ from development centres? What characteristics do they have in common?
5. What is adverse impact and to what extent can it be reduced?
6. What advantages do computer adaptive tests have over traditional paper tests?
7. How can faking be reduced in personality questionnaires for assessment purposes?
8. Do supervisory ratings measure performance or something else? Explain. Further explore each chapter by engaging with the Interactive group activity .
Each chapter is supported by a list of Further Reading and online resources directing your independent study to a variety of sources.
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