Values and Attitudes
by: KingSolomin
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Word Count: 1870
Values
Values represent basic convictions that "a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferableto an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence." They contain a judgmental elemnt in that they carry on individuals ideas, as to what is right, good, or desirable. Values have both content and intensity attributes. The content attribute says that a mode of conduct or end-state of existence is important. The intensity attribute specifies how important it is.
When we rank an individual's values in terms of their intensity, we obtain that person's value system. All of us have a hierarch of values that forms our values system. This system is identified by the relative importance we assign to such values as freedom, pleasure, self-respect, honesty, obedience, and equality.
No values tend to be relatively stable and enduring. A significant portion of values we hold is established in our early years-- from parents, teachers, friends, and others.
Individuals enter an organization with preconceived notions of what "ought" and what "ought not" to be. Of course these notions are not value free. On the contrary they contain interpretations of right and wrong. Furthermore, they imply that certain behaviors or outcomes are preferred over others. Values generally influence attitudes and behavior.
Types of Values
Can we classify values? The answer is: Yes. One set called terminal values, refers to desirable end-states of existence. These are the goals that a person would like to achieve during his or her life time. The other set, called instrumental values, refers to preferable modes of behavior, or means of achieving the terminal values.
Terminal values, like: a comfortable life (a prosperous life), an exciting life (a stimulating, active life), a sense of accomplishment (lasting contribution), a world at peace (free of war and conflict), a world of beauty (beauty of nature and the arts), equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity for all), family security (taking care of loved ones), freedom (independence, free choice), happiness (contentedness), inner harmony (freedom from inner conflict), mature love (sexual and spiritual intimacy), national security (protection from attack), pleasure (an enjoyable, leisurely life), salvation (saved, eternal life), self-respect (self-steem), social recognition (respect, admiration), true friendship (close companionship), wisdom (a mature understanding of life).
Instrumental values, like: ambitious (hardworking, aspiring), board-minded (open-minded), capable (competent, effective), cheerful (lighthearted, joyful), clean (neat, tidy), courageous (standing up for your beliefs), forgiving (willing to pardon others), honest (sincere, truthful), imaginative (daring, creative), independent (self-reliant, self-sufficient), intellectual (intelligent, reflective), logical (consistent, rational), loving (affectionate, tender), obedient (dutiful, respectful), polite (courteous, well mannered), responsible (dependable, reliable), self-controlled (restrained, self-disciplined).
Values across Cultures
Managers have to become capable of working with people from different cultures. Because values differ across cultures, an understanding of these differences should be helpful in explaining and predicting behavior of employees from different countries. It has found that managers and employees vary on five value dimensions of national culture.
1. Power distance. The degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally. Ranges from relatively equal (low power distance) to extremely unequal (high power distance).
2. Individualism versus collectivism. Individualism is the degree to which people in a country prefer to act as individuals rather than members of groups. Collectivism is the equivalent of low individualism.
3. Quantity of life versus quality of life. Quantity of life is the degree to which values such as assertiveness, the acquisition of money and material goods, and competition prevail. Quality of life is the degree to which people value relationships, and show sensitivity and concern for the welfare of others.
4. Uncertainty avoidance. The degree to which people in a country prefer structured over unstructured situations. In countries that score high on uncertainty avoidance, people have an increased level of anxiety, which manifests itself in greater nervousness, stress, and aggressiveness.
5. Long-term versus short-term orientation. People in cultures with long-term orientations look to the future and value thrift and persistence. A short-term orientation values the past and present, and emphasize respect for tradition and fulfilling social obligations.
Attitudes
Attitudes are evaluative statements --either favorable or unfavorable-- concerning objects, people, or events. They reflect how one fee about something. When I say "I like my job," I am expressing my attitude about work.
Attitudes are not the same as values, but they are interrelated. you can see this by looking at three components of an attitude: cognition, affect, and behavior.
The belief that "discrimination is wrong" is a value statement. Such an opinion is the cognitive component of an attitude. it sets the stage for the more critical part of an attitude--its affective component. Affect is the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude and is reflected in the statement "I don't like Jon because he discriminates against minorities." The behavioral component of an attitude refers to an intention to behave in a certain way toward some one or something. So, to continue our example, I might choose to avoid from Jon because of my feeling about him.
A person can have thousands of attitudes. We focus on very limited job-related attitudes. These job-related attitudes tap positive or negative evaluations that employees hold about aspects of their work environment. The attitudes: job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment.
Job satisfaction refers to an individual general attitude toward his or her job. A person with a high level of job satisfaction holds positive attitudes toward the job, while a person who is dissatisfied with his or her job holds negative attitudes about the job.
Job involvement measures the degree to which a person identifies psychologically with his or her job and considers his or her perceived performance level important to self worth. Employees with high level of job involvement strongly identify with and really care about the kind of work they do. High level of job involvement has been found to be related to fewer absences and lower registration rates.
Organizational commitment is defined as a state in which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals, and wishes to maintain membership in the organization.
Research has generally concluded that people seek consistency among their attitudes and between their attitudes and behavior. This means that individuals seek to reconcile divergent attitudes and align their attitudes and behavior so they appear rational and consistent. When there is an inconsistency, forces are initiated to return the individual to an equilibrium state to which attitudes and behavior are again consistent. This can be done by altering either the attitudes or the behavior, or by developing a rationalization for the discrepancy.
Can we also assume from this consistency principle that an individual behavior can always be predicted if we know his or her attitude on a subject? The answer to this question is, unfortunately, more complex than merely a Yes or No.
Leon Festinger in the late 1950s, proposed the theory of cognitive dissonance. This theory sought to explain the linkage between attitudes and behavior. Dissonance means an inconsistency. Cognitive dissonance refers to any in-compatibility that an individual might perceive between two or more of his or her behavior and attitudes.
Festinger argued that any form of inconsistency is uncomfortable and that individuals will attempt to reduce the dissonance and, hence, the discomfort. Therefore the individuals will seek a stable state in which there is a minimum of dissonance.
Of course, no individual can completely avoid dissonance. You know that cheating on your income tax is wrong, but you "fudge" the numbers a bit every year, and hope you're not audited. So how do people cope? Festinger would propose that the desire to reduce dissonance would be determined by the importance of the elements creating the dissonance, the degree of influence the individual believes he or she has over the elements, and the rewards that may be involved in dissonance.
If the elements creating dissonance are relatively unimportant, the pressure to correct this imbalance will be low. The degree of influence that individuals believe they have over the elements will have an impact on how they will react to the dissonance. If they perceive the dissonance to be an uncontrollable result—something over which they have no choice – they are less likely to be receptive to attitude change. Rewards also influence the degree to which individuals are motivated to reduce dissonance. High rewards accompanying high dissonance tend to reduce the tension inherent in the dissonance. The rewards act to reduce dissonance by increasing the consistency side of the individual's balance sheet.
These moderating factors suggest just because individuals experience dissonance they will not necessarily move directly toward consistency, that is, toward reduction of this dissonance. If an individual perceives that the dissonance are of minimal importance, if an individual perceives that the dissonance is externally imposed and is substantially uncontractable by him or her, or if rewards re significant enough to offset the dissonance, the individual will not be under great tension to reduce the dissonance.
More recent research has demonstrated that attitudes significantly predict future behavior and confirmed Festinger original belief that the relationship can be enhanced by taking moderating variables into account.
Moderating Variables the most powerful moderator have been found the importance of the attitude, its specificity, its accessibility, whether social pressure exists, and whether a person has direct experience with the attitude.
Important attitudes are net ha reflect fundamental values, self interest, or identification with individuals or groups that a person values. Attitudes that individuals consider important tend to show a strong relationship to behavior.
The more specific the attitude and the more specific the behavior, the stronger the link between the two.For instance, asking someone specifically about her intention to stay with the organization for the next six months is likely to better predict turnover for hat person that if you asked her how satisfied she was with her pays.
Attitudes that are easily remembered are more likely to predict behavior than attitudes that are not accessible in memory. Interestingly, you’re more likely to remember attitudes that are frequently expressed. So the more you talk about your attitude on a subject, the more you’re likely to remember it, and the more likely it is shape your behavior.
Discrepancies between attitudes and behavior are more likely to occur when social pressures to behave in certain ways hold exceptional power. This tends to characterize behavior in organizations.
Finally, the attitude-behavior relationship is likely to be much stronger if an attitude refers to something with which the individual has direct personal experience.
Self-Perception Theory Self-Perception Theory argues that attitudes are used, after the fact, to make sense out of an action that has already occurred rather than as devices precede and guide action. And contrary to cognitive dissonance theory, attitudes are just casual verbal statements. When people are asked about their attitudes, and they don’t have strong convictions or feelings, self-perception theory says they tend to create plausible answers.
Self-perception theory has been well supported. While traditional attitude-behavior relationship is generally positive, the behavior attitude relationship is stronger. This is particularly true when attitudes are vague and ambiguous. When you have had few experiences regarding an attitude issue or given little previous thought to it, you,ll tend to infer your attitudes from your behavior. However, when your attitudes have been established for a while and are well defined, those attitudes are likely to guide your behavior.
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