Question 1

What is the most important function of norms?

Accepted Answer

Norms are crucial for providing regularity and predictability of behavior, which helps in the smooth functioning of society by setting expectations for how individuals should act in various situations.

Question 2

Which of the following types of role conflict is most likely to provoke role ambiguity?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following types of role...

Question 3

What elements can lead to role ambiguity?

Accepted Answer

Organizational factors, role senders, and focal person can all lead to role ambiguity. Organizational factors include the structure of the organization, the communication system, and the reward system. Role senders are the people who communicate expectations to the focal person. The focal person is the person who is experiencing role ambiguity.

Question 4

The first-line supervisor who serves as the interface between "management" and "the workers" is most likely to experience ________ role conflict when labour relations are poor.

Accepted Answer

Intersender role conflict occurs when there are conflicting expectations from different sources, such as management and workers. In this scenario, the supervisor is caught between the demands of management and the needs or grievances of the workers, leading to intersender role conflict.

Question 5

Selma and Sam have just started new jobs at the same company.After one month, Selma has become known by her co-workers as the new software engineer, and Sam has become known as the office gossip.What kind of roles are these?

Accepted Answer

Selma's role as a software engineer is designated because it is officially assigned as part of her job description. Sam's role as the office gossip is emergent because it developed naturally from interactions with coworkers, not from an official assignment.

Question 6

Which of the following factors is most influential in achieving formal organizational status?

Accepted Answer

Assigned roles within an organization are crucial for achieving formal organizational status as they define the responsibilities, authority, and position of an individual within the organizational hierarchy.

Question 7

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

Accepted Answer

The "class clown" fills an emergent role in his or her school because this role arises naturally based on the individual's behavior and interactions, rather than being formally assigned.

Question 8

Organizations that allocate rewards to those who truly need the rewards have adopted a reward system that is based on a(n)________ norm.

Accepted Answer

Organizations that allocate rewards based on who truly needs them are following a social responsibility norm, which emphasizes helping those in need without expecting anything in return.

Question 9

Employees who straddle the boundary between the organization and its clients or customers are especially likely to encounter what form of role conflict?

Accepted Answer

Intersender role conflict occurs when different people or groups send conflicting expectations to the employee. Employees who interact with both the organization and its clients or customers may receive conflicting demands from these two sources, leading to intersender role conflict.

Question 10

The production manager tells Louis to do one thing and the sales manager says to do the opposite.Louis is experiencing intersender role conflict.

Accepted Answer

Intersender role conflict occurs when different people (senders) give an individual conflicting expectations or instructions, as is the case with Louis receiving opposite directives from the production and sales managers.

Question 11

Studies of jury deliberations have found that jurors with high social status

Accepted Answer

Jurors with high social status tend to participate more in deliberations and also have a greater influence on the final verdict, due to perceived credibility or leadership qualities.

Question 12

Robin is a member of a task force that may do away with her own department.Robin is most obviously experiencing

Accepted Answer

Interrole conflict occurs when an individual experiences conflict between the demands of two or more roles they hold. In this case, Robin is experiencing interrole conflict because she is a member of a task force that may do away with her own department. This conflict arises because the demands of her role on the task force (to evaluate the department) are in conflict with the demands of her role in the department (to protect the department).

Question 13

All of the following are frequent outcomes of role ambiguity EXCEPT

Accepted Answer

Role ambiguity typically leads to outcomes such as job stress, dissatisfaction, reduced organizational commitment, and intentions to quit, but not directly to absenteeism. Absenteeism might be a secondary effect of these outcomes rather than a direct result of role ambiguity itself.

Question 14

Which of the following has levelled status barriers?

Accepted Answer

Email has levelled status barriers by allowing employees to communicate directly with each other, regardless of their rank or position.

Question 15

What kinds of roles develop in organizations?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What kinds of roles develop in organizations?
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Question 16

Much normative influence is unconscious.

Accepted Answer

Normative influence often operates unconsciously as individuals conform to the expectations of a group or society to gain acceptance or approval, without always being aware of the extent of its impact on their behavior.

Question 17

Whistle-blowing is often a signal of what form of role conflict?

Accepted Answer

Whistle-blowing typically involves a person-role conflict, where an individual's personal ethics or values clash with the expectations or behaviors of their role within an organization.

Question 18

The most important function that norms serve is to increase group cohesiveness.

Accepted Answer

Norms serve multiple functions, including increasing predictability, reducing uncertainty, and facilitating group survival, not just increasing cohesiveness.

Question 19

Positions in a group that have attached to them a set of expected behaviours are called

Accepted Answer

Roles are positions within a group that come with a set of expected behaviors, defining how individuals in those positions are supposed to act within the group context.

Question 20

Many examples of "whistle-blowing" are signals of

Accepted Answer

Whistle-blowing often occurs when an individual's personal ethics or values conflict with the role they are expected to play within an organization, indicating a person-role conflict.

Quiz 7: Groups and Teamwork