Deck 34: A: Motivation at Work

Question 1

Work is LEAST likely to satisfy the higher-level needs in Maslow's hierarchy for those who

A) receive 360-degree feedback.
B) frequently experience flow.
C) view their work as a job.
D) are self-employed.

Answer 1

view their work as a job.

Question 2

Those who view their work as a fulfilling and socially useful activity are said to view work as a

A) job.
B) calling.
C) career.
D) contract.

Answer 2

calling.

Question 3

Human factors psychology is one of the three main subfields of

A) clinical psychology.
B) personnel psychology.
C) social psychology.
D) industrial-organizational psychology.

Answer 3

industrial-organizational psychology.

Question 4

Improving employee morale and business profitability by developing a new chain of command between subdivisions of a large manufacturing company best illustrates the work of a

A) personnel psychologist.
B) human factors psychologist.
C) organizational psychologist.
D) clinical psychologist.

Question 5

Structured interviews have more ________ than unstructured interviews.

A) unit bias
B) leniency errors
C) predictive accuracy
D) 360-degree feedback

Question 6

Danielle, an applicant for a position in corporate financial accounting, was so animated and enthusiastic in her conversations with company officials that they decided to hire her without carefully checking her resumé and past work accomplishments. The company officials should most clearly be informed about

A) human factors psychology.
B) social leadership.
C) the interviewer illusion.
D) the experience of flow.

Question 7

Those who view their work as a calling report ________ work satisfaction than those who view their work as a job and ________ work satisfaction than those who view their work as a career.

A) more; less
B) less; more
C) more; more
D) less; less

Question 8

The practice of 360-degree feedback is most clearly designed to improve

A) homeostasis.
B) the experience of flow.
C) unstructured interviews.
D) performance appraisal.

Question 9

Personnel psychologists are most likely to be involved in

A) matching people's strengths with specific job assignments.
B) modifying work environments to improve employee engagement.
C) contributing to the design of user-friendly industrial machines.
D) assessing the effect of supervisors' management styles on business productivity.

Question 10

An employee's high level of friendliness can lead a supervisor to judge the employee as a more highly reliable worker than is actually the case. This is said to illustrate

A) a unit bias.
B) a halo error.
C) a voice effect.
D) a curse of knowledge.

Question 11

Which profession is most likely to be concerned with the effect of supervisors' management styles on worker motivation and productivity?

A) developmental psychology
B) social psychology
C) industrial-organizational psychology
D) cognitive psychology

Question 12

Dr. Eisenberg develops assessment tools for use by company supervisors to appraise the performance of workers and make decisions about job promotions. His work best illustrates that of a(n) ________ psychologist.

A) clinical
B) personnel
C) organizational
D) human factors

Question 13

A high level of satisfaction with one's work is most likely to be reported by those who frequently experience

A) flow.
B) halo errors.
C) unstructured interviews.
D) 360-degree feedback.

Question 14

Which of the following is generally the poorest predictor of future job performance?

A) aptitude tests
B) job knowledge tests
C) simulated job performance tests
D) evaluations from informal interviews

Question 15

A performance evaluation program revealed that the most effective salespeople in a large company are sincere and energetic in their work. This led the company's psychological consultants to develop a simulation that would assess the extent to which applicants for company sales positions communicate in a forthright and animated manner. This most clearly illustrates the consultants' commitment to

A) structured interviews.
B) human factors psychology.
C) a strengths-based selection system.
D) 360-degree feedback.

Question 16

Matching people with existing jobs is to ________ psychology as modifying jobs and supervision is to ________ psychology.

A) human factors; organizational
B) organizational; human factors
C) personnel; organizational
D) organizational; personnel

Question 17

Matt is a student who becomes so fully absorbed in his course studies that he completely loses his awareness of how long he has been working. Matt's experience best illustrates

A) 360-degree feedback.
B) task leadership.
C) achievement motivation.
D) flow.

Question 18

Interviewers are disposed to judge job applicants more favorably when informed that the applicants

A) are applying for their very first career position.
B) have been prescreened by other company personnel.
C) are nervous and worried about making a good impression.
D) have a strong desire to work hard if paid well.

Question 19

By scripting specific job-relevant questions to be asked of all those applying for a particular work position, a personnel psychologist is most clearly developing a framework for

A) the experience of flow.
B) transformational leadership.
C) structured interviews.
D) 360-degree feedback.

Question 20

A person who spends far more time sharpening existing skills than correcting existing weaknesses

A) is most likely a satisfied and successful employee.
B) views his or her work as a job.
C) has a directive rather than a democratic leadership style.
D) is motivated more by external rewards than by internal rewards.

Question 21

Managers who set standards and keep a group focused on its goals are said to excel in

A) task leadership.
B) 360-degree feedback.
C) a democratic management style.
D) human factors psychology.

Question 22

Many experiments show that social leadership facilitates

A) worker morale.
B) 360-degree feedback.
C) a directive management style.
D) strengths-based selection systems.

Question 23

Encouraging employee productivity through recognition and reward illustrates effective use of

A) flow.
B) set points.
C) operant conditioning.
D) a strengths-based selection system.

Question 24

Managers with a social leadership style would be most likely to

A) discourage employees from critically discussing controversial company policies.
B) inform employees of the exact deadlines for the completion of work projects.
C) mediate a personal dispute between two argumentative employees.
D) provide employees with relatively easy work assignments.

Question 25

The same individual may be either considered a great or an inferior coach depending on the strength of the team and its competition. This best illustrates a shortcoming of

A) a strengths-based selection system.
B) 360-degree feedback.
C) a biopsychosocial approach.
D) the great person theory of leadership.

Question 26

Unhappy workers who undermine what their colleagues accomplish are

A) actively disengaged.
B) experiencing a state of flow.
C) demonstrating social leadership.
D) illustrating charisma.

Question 27

Paul is seldom absent from work. However, an illness the previous week forced him to miss work for a day, and his supervisor evaluated his performance less positively than was warranted. This best illustrates the supervisor's vulnerability to

A) the interviewer illusion.
B) leniency errors.
C) recency errors.
D) unit bias.

Question 28

A small number of the contributors to any field typically produce a disproportionately large share of its accomplishments despite the fact that their less productive professional colleagues are fairly comparable in raw ability. This best illustrates the importance of

A) social leadership.
B) achievement motivation.
C) set points.
D) 360-degree feedback.

Question 29

Unlike intelligence scores, achievement scores do NOT follow the pattern of

A) flow.
B) task leadership.
C) increasing with age.
D) a bell curve.

Question 30

Completing a major work project on time is most clearly facilitated by

A) reducing flow.
B) social leadership.
C) outsourcing.
D) creating action plans.

Question 31

Modifying management practices and work assignments to increase employee engagement best illustrates the professional concerns of

A) human factors psychologists.
B) clinical psychologists.
C) personnel psychologists.
D) organizational psychologists.

Question 32

Psychologists use the term hardiness to refer to

A) resilience under stress.
B) a state of flow.
C) social leadership.
D) task leadership.

Question 33

Performance appraisal scales that specify in detail the precise behaviors that are indicative of poor, adequate, good, and excellent worker performance are most likely to inhibit

A) severity errors.
B) the experience of flow.
C) structured interviews.
D) 360-degree feedback.

Question 34

A desire to pursue high standards and significant accomplishments is indicative of

A) drive reduction.
B) social leadership.
C) 360-degree feedback.
D) achievement motivation.

Question 35

Business units with high levels of employee engagement experience

A) more organizational productivity and less employee turnover.
B) less organizational productivity and more employee turnover.
C) more organizational productivity and more employee turnover.
D) less organizational productivity and less employee turnover.

Question 36

Compared with ineffective managers, those who excel invest a _______ proportion of their time and effort trying to remedy their employees' deficiencies and a _______ proportion of their time and effort trying to enhance their employees' talents.

A) larger; larger
B) smaller; smaller
C) larger; smaller
D) smaller; larger

Question 37

In the early 1800s, Robert Owen improved the work environment in a Scotland cotton mill with humanitarian reforms. The commercial success that followed best illustrated the value of

A) structured interviews.
B) employee engagement.
C) leniency errors.
D) a strengths-based selection system.

Question 38

Through a task's ups and downs, people best sustain their mood and motivation when they focus on

A) a strengths-based selection system.
B) 360-degree feedback.
C) immediate goals.
D) outsourcing.

Question 39

The passionate and persistent dedication to an ambitious long-term goal that is often demonstrated by those with high achievement motivation is most indicative of

A) grit.
B) charisma.
C) outsourcing.
D) a directive style of management.

Question 40

Antonio, a sixth-grader, has just brought home a 30-word spelling test on which he spelled only 15 words correctly. If Antonio's parents want to effectively encourage higher levels of achievement in their son, they should tell him

A) "What's important is that you do your best always."
B) "Try to raise your next test score 5 points by typing your new spelling words into our computer."
C) "Test performance is often unrelated to how much you actually learned."
D) "If you don't perform better on your next test, you won't be allowed to watch television before bedtime."

Question 41

Employees who enjoy high-quality colleague relationships also engage their work with more vigor. This best illustrates the value of a work environment that satisfies employees'

A) implementation intentions.
B) need to belong.
C) unit bias.
D) charisma.

Question 42

Psychologists who help design machines so that they make use of our natural perceptions are called

A) clinical psychologists.
B) personnel psychologists.
C) human factors psychologists.
D) organizational psychologists.

Question 43

One of the three main ingredients of charisma involves

A) using a directive management style.
B) understanding human factors psychology.
C) having a vision of some goal.
D) viewing one's work as a career.

Question 44

Who would be most involved in designing user-friendly programming controls for HDTVs?

A) organizational psychologists.
B) human factors psychologists.
C) personnel psychologists.
D) social psychologists.

Question 45

Employee engagement is most likely to be facilitated by

A) transformational leadership.
B) unstructured interviews.
C) halo errors.
D) human factors psychology.

Question 46

Chief executives who inspire their colleagues to "transcend their own self-interests for the sake of the collective" demonstrate

A) flow.
B) a directive style.
C) transformational leadership.
D) the great person theory of leadership.

Question 47

Designing aircraft instrument displays in such a way as to minimize pilots' misperceptions of flight data would be of most direct interest to

A) personnel psychologists.
B) organizational psychologists.
C) evolutionary psychologists.
D) human factors psychologists.