Deck 15: Individual Behavior

Question 1

Individual perceptions are influenced by values, cultural backgrounds, and personal and situational circumstances.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Perception affects the impressions we form of ourselves, other people, and daily life experiences.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Self-serving bias creates a false sense of confidence.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The glass ceiling effect is a common example of stereotyping in the workplace.

Question 5

The ideal work situation is one in which the exchange of values in the psychological contract favours the employee.

Question 6

A healthy psychological contract offers a balance between the contributions individuals make on behalf of their organization and inducements they receive.

Question 7

The self-serving bias and the fundamental attribution error provide explanations of the factors that people use in explaining their own and others' behaviour.

Question 8

Perception acts as a filter through which information must pass in interpersonal communication.

Question 9

Attribution error occurs when a person overestimates internal factors and underestimates external factors as influences on his or her behaviour.

Question 10

The idea of a psychological contract between an individual and an organization suggests that the individual also makes contributions in exchange for inducements.

Question 11

A supervisor who attributes a worker's low productivity on laziness when the worker is using a machine that breaks down frequently is an example of self-serving bias.

Question 12

Self-serving bias explains personal success by internal causes and personal failures by external causes.

Question 13

The process of developing causal explanations for things that happen to people is called attribution.

Question 14

A halo effect often shows up in performance evaluations.

Question 15

Fundamental attribution error neglects internal explanations for poor-quality work.

Question 16

Attribution theory describes how people try to explain the behaviour of themselves and other people in various situations that are encountered in the workplace.

Question 17

Assigning one's personal attributes to another individual is an instance of the halo effect.

Question 18

Stereotypes are always negative and ill-intended.

Question 19

The process through which people receive, organize, and interpret information from their environment is called impression management.

Question 20

Stereotyping occurs when attributes commonly associated with a group are oversimplified and assigned to an individual.

Question 21

Extraversion is one of the "Big Five" personality traits is represented most often in TV show sitcoms.

Question 22

One of the tactics of impression management is to avoid smiling when engaged in conversations as this creates personal bonds.

Question 23

A conscientious person focuses on what can be accomplished and meets commitments; a person lacking conscientiousness is careless, often trying to do too much and failing, or doing little.

Question 24

Singling out for attention those aspects of a situation or attributes of a person that reinforce or are consistent with one's beliefs, values, or needs is termed projection.

Question 25

Conscientiousness is one of the "Big Five" personality traits that reflects the degree to which someone is responsible, and able to focus on what is required to be achieved in the workplace.

Question 26

Personality refers to the combination or overall profile of characteristics that make one person unique from every other.

Question 27

Impression management is the systematic attempt to influence how others perceive us.

Question 28

A person who lacks conscientiousness focuses on what can be accomplished and meets commitments.

Question 29

Impression management is often considered "phony" and can do very little to help further one's career or create a positive image of self.

Question 30

Under selective perception, information that makes us uncomfortable is screened out; comfortable information is allowed in.

Question 31

Agreeableness is one of the "Big Five" personality traits that reflects the degree to which someone is outgoing, sociable, and assertive.

Question 32

Wearing a dark blue, pinstriped business suit to an interview with a large Swiss banking institution is an example of impression management.

Question 33

Projection is the assignment of personal attributes to other individuals.

Question 34

An introvert is comfortable and confident in interpersonal relationships and an extravert is more withdrawn and reserved in interpersonal relationships.

Question 35

A manager who considers the jobs performed by the members of her department to be dull and considers changing their responsibilities to be more interesting and challenging is an example of projection.

Question 36

Identifying an individual with a group or category and using oversimplified attributes of the category or group to describe the individual is the perceptual distortion mechanism of selective perception.

Question 37

Some basic impression management tactics include making eye contact and smiling while engaged in conversation, knowing when to "dress up" and when to "dress down," and displaying a high level of energy.

Question 38

Selective perception rarely interferes with a manager's view of situations or individuals.

Question 39

Projection errors can be controlled through self-awareness and a willingness to communicate and empathize with others.

Question 40

A halo effect occurs in an interview situation when one attribute is used to develop an overall impression of a person or situation.

Question 41

The sensing vs. intuitive dimension of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assesses whether a person tends to rely on logic or emotions in dealing with problems.

Question 42

A person high in self-monitoring is predictable and tends to act in a consistent way regardless of circumstances.

Question 43

A person with an ENFP Myers-Briggs profile would be extraverted, focused on the big picture, uses emotions when dealing with problems, and acts with flexibility and spontaneity.

Question 44

An open person is broad-minded, receptive to new things, and comfortable with change.

Question 45

The "low-Mach" personality is exploitative and unconcerned about others, whereas the "high-Mach" personality is deferential in allowing power to be exerted over him/her.

Question 46

Individuals with an external locus of control accept responsibility for their own actions, whereas individuals with an internal locus of control blame others and outside forces for what happen to them.

Question 47

Authoritarianism is the degree to which a person defers to authority and accepts interpersonal status differences.

Question 48

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assesses personalities based on a questionnaire that probes into how people act or feel in various situations.

Question 49

A person with an INTJ Myers-Briggs profile would be someone who would be very good at working in a matrix structure environment as they are team players.

Question 50

Emotional stability is one of the "Big Five" personality traits that reflects the degree to which someone is calm and confident in the face of daily work experiences.

Question 51

A person with a high degree of openness to experience has a low degree of curiosity.

Question 52

An open person is broad-minded, receptive to new things, and open to change; a person lacking openness is narrow-minded, has few interests, and is resistant to change.

Question 53

Locus of control is the belief that what happens is not within one's control.

Question 54

Personality tests not specifically designed for hiring decisions may result in lawsuits for bias or discrimination.

Question 55

Self-monitoring is the extent to which people believe they are in control of their destinies versus believing that that what happens to them is beyond their control.

Question 56

A person with a low-Mach personality is viewed as exploitative and unconcerned about others, often acting with the assumption that the end justifies the means.

Question 57

Managers must be able to understand and respond to personality differences when building teams but not when making job assignments and engaging in daily work activities.

Question 58

People with an authoritarian personality have subservient tendencies within their personalities.

Question 59

Conscientiousness has been found to be a strong predictor of job performance.

Question 60

A person with an ISLF Myers-Briggs profile would be someone who would be very good in a leadership capacity as they are often visionaries.

Question 61

Job performance is the "bottom line" for people at work, and the cornerstone for overall organizational productivity.

Question 62

Common aspects of job satisfaction include satisfaction with pay, tasks, the work setting, advancement opportunities, supervision, and co-workers.

Question 63

The affective component of an attitude reflects an intention to behave in a manner consistent with a belief or feeling.

Question 64

The cognitive component of an attitude reflects a belief or an opinion.

Question 65

A person who arrives at work an hour early to avoid being late and to get a jump start on their day is an example of a Type A personality.

Question 66

A person with a Type A personality feels guilty when relaxing.

Question 67

The opportunity to do one's best every day, believe that one's opinions count, believe that fellow workers are committed to quality, and believe there is a direct connection between one's work and the company's mission are attitudes that are positively correlated with higher profits for the company.

Question 68

In reality it is possible for a worker to like their job and be very satisfied but still not perform at a high level.

Question 69

Behavioural discontent describes the discomfort a person feels when attitudes and behaviour are inconsistent.

Question 70

The behavioural component of an attitude reflects an intention to behave consistently with a specific belief and feeling.

Question 71

When people go above and beyond their normal job requirements, they are exhibiting organizational citizenship behaviours.

Question 72

Job satisfaction is the degree to which an individual feels positive or negative about a job.

Question 73

Job performance refers to the quantity and quality of tasks accomplished by an individual or group at work.

Question 74

Cognitive dissonance describes the discomfort a person feels when attitudes and behaviour are inconsistent.

Question 75

Workers who are more satisfied with their jobs are absent less frequently.

Question 76

Organizational commitment refers to the extent to which an individual is dedicated to a job.

Question 77

Self-monitoring reflects the degree to which someone is able to adjust and modify behaviour in response to the situation and external factors.

Question 78

A person low in self-monitoring tends to be a learner, comfortable with feedback, and both willing and able to change.

Question 79

Job involvement and organizational commitment have few, if any, quality of work-life implications.

Question 80

Employee engagement refers to the willingness to "go beyond the call of duty" or "go the extra mile" in one's work.