Question 1

Social identity is a comparative process, and the comparison begins with categorical thinking.

Accepted Answer

Social identity is a comparative process, and the comparison begins by categorizing people into distinct groups.

Question 2

Seeing a trend in a gambling activity or in the winning streak of a sports star are examples of categorical thinking.

Accepted Answer

Categorical thinking is the mostly nonconscious process of organizing people and objects into preconceived categories that are stored in our long-term memory.A form of grouping occurs when we think we see trends in otherwise ambiguous information such as gambling.

Question 3

You are more likely to make an internal attribution about someone's poor performance if you have also observed the person performing that task poorly in the past and have observed other employees performing the task well.

Accepted Answer

Internal attributions are made when the observed individual behaved this way in the past (high consistency), he or she behaves like this toward other people or in different situations (low distinctiveness), and other people do not behave this way in similar situations (low consensus).Refer: Exhibit 3.4

Question 4

The first step in a self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when the observer acts differently toward people with whom he or she has high expectations than towards those with whom he or she has low expectations.

Accepted Answer

The self-fulfilling prophecy begins when the supervisor forms expectations about the employee's future behavior and performance.

Question 5

People who believe that their successful completion of a project is due to their skill and hard work are making an internal attribution.

Accepted Answer

Attribution involves deciding whether an observed behavior or event is caused mainly by the person (internal factors) or by the environment (external factors).Internal factors include the person's ability or motivation, whereas external factors include lack of resources, other people, or just luck.

Question 6

A manager believes in the philosophy of positive organizational behavior.His self-fulfilling prophecies are likely to improve organizational performance.

Accepted Answer

The philosophy of positive organizational behavior suggests that focusing on the positive rather than negative aspects of life will improve organizational success and individual well-being.The main lesson from the self-fulfilling prophecy literature is that leaders need to develop and maintain a positive, yet realistic, expectation toward all employees.This is consistent with the philosophy of positive organizational behavior.

Question 7

People rely on mental models to make sense of their environment through perceptual grouping.

Accepted Answer

Mental models are internal representations of the external world.We rely on mental models to make sense of our environment through perceptual grouping.

Question 8

Most experts agree that categorical thinking (including stereotyping) is an automatic and nonconscious process.

Accepted Answer

Most experts agree that categorical thinking (including stereotyping) is an automatic and nonconscious process.

Question 9

You are a high achievement-oriented person.You are more likely to be influenced by self-fulfilling prophecy effect than the low-achievement oriented people.

Accepted Answer

The self-fulfilling prophecy effect is stronger among people with a history of low achievement.

Question 10

Intentional discrimination occurs when decision makers rely on stereotypes to establish notions of the "ideal" person.

Accepted Answer

Unintentional discrimination occurs when decision makers rely on stereotypes to establish notions of the "ideal" person.

Question 11

Homogenization and differentiation are two activities in the process of forming and maintaining our social identity.

Accepted Answer

The combination of social identity and self-enhancement leads to the processes of categorization, homogenization, and differentiation.

Question 12

Employees can break out of their existing mental models by working with colleagues from diverse backgrounds who bring different mental models to the workplace.

Accepted Answer

Working with people from diverse backgrounds is a way to break out of existing mental models.Colleagues from different cultures and areas of expertise tend to have different mental models, so working with them makes our own assumptions more obvious.

Question 13

The self-fulfilling prophecy helps supervisors accurately predict the future performance of recently hired employees.

Accepted Answer

The process begins when the supervisor forms expectations about the employee's future behavior and performance.These expectations are sometimes inaccurate, because first impressions are usually formed from limited information.The supervisor's expectations influence his or her treatment of employees.

Question 14

The fundamental attribution error would cause a supervisor to believe that an employee's lateness is due to factors beyond the employee's control rather than to a lack of motivation to attend work.

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error would cause a supervisor to believe that an employee's motivation is the main reason why he or she is late for work (e.g., doesn't like the job), whereas an employee attributes his own lateness partly or mostly to external factors such as traffic jams, failed alarm clocks, or unexpected emergencies getting the kids ready for school.

Question 15

People tend to make an internal attribution about someone's behavior if that person has typically not acted in a similar way either in the past or in other situations.

Accepted Answer

Internal attributions are made when the observed individual behaved this way in the past (high consistency), he or she behaves like this toward other people or in different situations (low distinctiveness), and other people do not behave this way in similar situations (low consensus).Refer: Exhibit 3.4

Question 16

The self-serving bias is the tendency to take credit for our successes and blame others or the situation for our mistakes.

Accepted Answer

Self-serving bias is the tendency to take credit for our successes and blame others or the situation for our mistakes.Simply put, we take credit for our successes and blame others or the situation for our mistakes.

Question 17

The self-fulfilling prophecy tends to be stronger when employees are new to the job than when employees have worked in that job for a few years.

Accepted Answer

Self-fulfilling prophecies are more likely to occur at the beginning of a relationship, such as when employees are first hired.It is also stronger when several people (rather than just one person) hold the same expectations of the individual.

Question 18

The primacy effect refers to the phenomenon of forming an opinion of other people based on the first information perceived.

Accepted Answer

The primacy effect is our tendency to quickly form an opinion of people on the basis of the first information we receive about them.It is the notion that first impressions are lasting impressions.

Question 19

The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to attribute the behavior of other people to internal factors more than external factors.

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to attribute the behavior of other people to internal factors more than external factors.

Question 20

When making an internal or external attribution about a person's behavior, we tend to look at whether the person has acted this way in the past and in other situations and whether other people have acted similarly in the same situation.

Accepted Answer

When making an internal or external attribution about a person's behavior, we tend to look at whether the person has acted this way in the past and in other situations and whether other people have acted similarly in this situation.Refer: Exhibit 3.4

Quiz 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

Social identity is a comparative process, and the comparison begins with categorical thinking.

Seeing a trend in a gambling activity or in the winning streak of a sports star are examples of categorical thinking.

You are more likely to make an internal attribution about someone's poor performance if you have also observed the person performing that task poorly in the past and have observed other employees performing the task well.

The first step in a self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when the observer acts differently toward people with whom he or she has high expectations than towards those with whom he or she has low expectations.

People who believe that their successful completion of a project is due to their skill and hard work are making an internal attribution.

A manager believes in the philosophy of positive organizational behavior.His self-fulfilling prophecies are likely to improve organizational performance.

People rely on mental models to make sense of their environment through perceptual grouping.

Most experts agree that categorical thinking (including stereotyping) is an automatic and nonconscious process.

You are a high achievement-oriented person.You are more likely to be influenced by self-fulfilling prophecy effect than the low-achievement oriented people.

Intentional discrimination occurs when decision makers rely on stereotypes to establish notions of the "ideal" person.

Homogenization and differentiation are two activities in the process of forming and maintaining our social identity.

Employees can break out of their existing mental models by working with colleagues from diverse backgrounds who bring different mental models to the workplace.

The self-fulfilling prophecy helps supervisors accurately predict the future performance of recently hired employees.

The fundamental attribution error would cause a supervisor to believe that an employee's lateness is due to factors beyond the employee's control rather than to a lack of motivation to attend work.

People tend to make an internal attribution about someone's behavior if that person has typically not acted in a similar way either in the past or in other situations.

The self-serving bias is the tendency to take credit for our successes and blame others or the situation for our mistakes.

The self-fulfilling prophecy tends to be stronger when employees are new to the job than when employees have worked in that job for a few years.

The primacy effect refers to the phenomenon of forming an opinion of other people based on the first information perceived.

The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to attribute the behavior of other people to internal factors more than external factors.

When making an internal or external attribution about a person's behavior, we tend to look at whether the person has acted this way in the past and in other situations and whether other people have acted similarly in the same situation.