. anujjindal.in ENG “es A xy Notes Analysis of Interpersonal Relationship Values and Attitudes Values Features of Values att Role of Leadership in Changing Attitudes Values and Attitudes Values Values are convictions and a framework of the philosophy of an individual on the basis of which he or she judges what is good or bad, desirable or undesirable, ethical or unethical.Rokeach, a noted socio-psychologist, has defined values as “global beliefs that guide actions and judgements across a variety of situations.” He further says, “Values represent basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct (or end-state of existence) is personally or socially preferable to an opposite mode of conduct.” In other words, values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions. They help us to determine what is important to us. Values describe the personal qualities we choose to embody to guide our actions, the sort of person we want to be, the manner in which we treat ourselves and others, and our interaction with the world around us. They provide a general guideline for conduct. Values are so embedded that they can be inferred from people's behaviour and their perception, personality and motivation. They generally influence their behaviour. Values are relatively stable and enduring. Features of Values The basic characteristics of values are as under: Values reflect standards of morality Values are most central to the core of a person Values are relatively permanent and resistant to change Values have two attributes — content and intensity © The content attribute stresses that a particular code of conduct is important. © The intensity attribute specifies how important that particular code of conduct is, When we rank an individual's values in terms of their intensity. We obtain the value system of that person. In the value system, all of us have a hierarchy of values which is determined by the relative importance we assign to different values such as freedom, self-respect, honesty, and so on. Importance of Understanding Values Understanding of values of people at work is important due to the following reasons: 1. Values lay the foundation for the understanding of attitudes and motivation of people2. Value system influences the perception of individuals 3. Value system influences the manager's perception of different situations. In other words, it influences the way in which a manager views the other individuals and the groups of individuals in the organisation 4. Value system influences a manager's decisions and solutions to the various problems 5. Values influence attitudes and behaviour. An individual will get more job satisfaction if his values align with the organisation's policies. If the organisation’s policies are different from his views and values, he will be disappointed, the disappointment will lead to job dissatisfaction and a decline in performance. Terminal and Instrumental Values The values learnt can be divided into two broad categories: 1. Terminal Values 2. Instrumental Values Terminal values lead to ends to be achieved, e.g., comfortable life, family, security, self-respect and a sense of accomplishment. Instrumental values relate to means for achieving desired ends, e.g., ambition, courage, honesty and imagination. Terminal values reflect what a person is ultimately striving to achieve, whereas instrumental values reflect how the person gets there. Sas Pe ‘Comfortable life ‘Ambition Sense of accomplishment Courage Family security Honesty Mature love Helpfulness Self-respect Independence Wisdom imagination Types of Values Alport and his associates have categorized values into six major types as follows:+ Theoretical: Interest in the discovery of truth through reasoning and systematic thinking + Economic: Interest in usefulness and practicality, including the accumulation of wealth * Aesthetic: interest in beauty, form and artistic harmony * Social: Interest in people and human relationships + Political: interest in gaining power and influencing other people * Religious: Interest in unity and understanding the cosmos as a whole Sources of Values Parents, friends, teachers and external reference groups can influence individual values. Indeed, a person's values develop as a product of learning and experience in the cultural setting in which he/she lives. As learning and experiences vary from one person to another, value differences are the inevitable result. The values and their ranking in terms of importance differ from person to person. A person learns and develops values because of the following factors: 1. Family Factors: A significant factor influencing the process of socialization of an individual is the role of family. The child-rearing practices that parents shape the individual's personality. The learning of social behaviour, values and norms comes through these practices. For example, through reward and punishment, parents show love and affection to children, indicating the typical ways in which a child should behave in difficult conditions. 2. Social Factors: Of the societal factors, the school has a major role in developing values. Through discipline in school, a child learns desirable behaviour important in the school setting. interaction with teachers, classmates, and other staff members in the educational institution make the child inculcate values important to the teaching-learning process. Other institutions that may influence the values are religious, economic, and political institutions in society. 3. Personal Factors: Personal attributes such as intelligence, ability, appearance and educational level of the person determine his development of values For example, one’s a higher level of intelligence may result in a faster understanding of values. 4, Cultural Factors: Cultural factors include everything that is learnt and passed on from generation. An individual is a participant in social culture, group culture and organisational culture. Thus he/she is known as a composite of many cultural elements. 5, Religious Factors: Individuals, generally, receive strength and comfort from their religion. Religion comprises a set of values which are passed from generation to generation. However, advancement in technology has reduced people's faith in traditional religious beliefs and values. 6. Life Experiences: A person learns the most from his/her own personal life experiences, Sometimes a person can learn from the experience of others also. In the long run, most of the values which influence our behaviour are validated by the satisfaction we have experienced in pursuing them. Individuals work out their values on the basis of what seems most logical to them. Values carry importance in direct proportion to how much faith the individual has in them. He should have those values which can stand the test of realty. He should not have values but a flexible system which can change with the changes in the individual himself/herself, his/her life situation and the socio-economic environment. Generational Values Each one of us is a part of a generation or a group of individuals living in the same period of time. That time frame, or period of time, is usually considered to be roughly 30 years, primarily because that is enough time for individuals to grow up and have children of their own, thus starting the next generation, This time frame can be as low as 23 years, depending on the situation.A generation typically shares values and viewpoints of the world, and as a new generation comes along, those values and viewpoints change. This means that every generation looks at the world differently. Regardless of the generation, you are in, you'll have different values shaped by what your generation experiences. Those values, in turn, will shape your place in the workplace. There are five basic generations that we can recognise: Dominant Values in Today's Workforce X (Xers) Career Entered the Approximate Dominant Stage Workforce Current Age Work Values 4. Protestant Mid-1940s to 60to75 Hard working; loyal to Work Ethic Late 1950s firm; conservative (Veterans) 2. Existential 1960s to 451060 Nonconforming; seeks Mid-1970s autonomy; loyal to self 3. Pragmatic 35to45 Ambitious, hard worker (boomers) loyal to career 4.generation —_yid-1980s Under 35 Flexible, values leisure; through 1990s loyal to relationshipsne eS Silent Generation es ponerse | Cr Ce eee oe ro International Values (Hofstede’s dimensions) Psychologist Dr Geert Hofstede published his cultural dimensions model at the end of the 1970s, based on a decade of research. Since then, it has become an internationally recognized standard for understanding cultural differences. cord poorer con Hofstede studied people who worked for IBM in more than 50 countries. Initially, he identified four dimensions that could distinguish one culture from another. Later, he added the fifth and sixth dimensions, in cooperation with Drs Michael H. Bond and Michael Minkov. These are: 1. Power Distance Index (high versus low) 2. Individualism versus Collectivism3. Masculinity versus Femininity 4. Uncertainty Avoidance Index (high versus low) 5. Long versus Short-Term Orientation 6. Indulgence versus Restraint 1. Power Distance Index (high versus low) Power distance describes the degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally. + Ahigh rating on power distance means that large inequalities of power and wealth exist and are tolerated in the culture, as in a class or caste system that discourages upward mobility + Alower power distance rating characterizes societies that stress equality and opportunity 2. Individualism versus Collectivism Individualism is the degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups and believe in individual rights above all else. * Collectivism emphasizes a tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of which they are a part to look after them and protect them. 3. Masculinity versus Femininity Hofstede’s construct of masculinity is the degree to which the culture favours traditional masculine roles such as achievement, power and control as opposed to viewing men and women as equals. + Ahigh masculinity rating indicates the culture has separate roles for men and women, with men dominating the society * Ahigh femininity rating means the culture sees little differentiation between male and female roles and treats women as the equals of men in all respects. 4, Long versus short-term orientation This newest addition to Hofstede’s typology measures a society's devotion to traditional values+ People in a culture with a long-term orientation look to the future and value thrift, persistence and tradition. + Ina short-term orientation, people value the here and now; they accept change more readily and don't see commitments as impediments to change 5. Uncertainty avoidance The degree to which people in a country prefer structured over unstructured situations defines their uncertainty avoidance + In cultures that score high on uncertainty avoidance, people have an increased level of anxiety about uncertainty and ambiguity and use laws and controls to reduce uncertainty + People in cultures low on uncertainty avoidance are more accepting of ambiguity, are less rule-oriented, take more risks, and more readily accept change Attitudes Attitude constitutes an important psychological attribute of individuals which shapes their behaviour. Theorists have defined attitude as a predisposition to respond in a positive or negative way to someone or something in one’s environment. When a person says that he likes or dislikes something, an attitude is expressed. An attitude may be defined as the way a person feels about something — a person, a commodity, a situation or an idea. It expresses an individual's positive or negative feelings about some object. It describes an individual's feelings, thoughts and predispositions to act towards some object in the environment. Thus, attitude is the persistent tendency to feel and behave in a favourable or unfavourable way towards some object, person or idea. Features of Attitudes 1. Attitudes affect the behaviour of an individual by putting him/her ready to respond favourably or unfavourably to things in his/her environment. 2. Attitudes are acquired through learning over a period of time. The process of learning attitudes starts right from childhood and continues throughout the life of a person. 3. Attitudes are invisible as they constitute a psychological phenomenon which cannot be observed directly. They can be observed by observing the behaviour of an individual.4. Attitudes are pervasive and every individual has some kind of attitude towards the objects in his environment. In fact, attitudes and forced into the socialization process and may relate to anything in the environment. Components of Attitudes ‘There are three basic components of an attitude described below: 1. Cognitive or Informational Component: It consists of beliefs and values, ideas, and other information a person has about the attitude object. For instance, a person seeking a job may learn from newspapers and other people that a particular company is a good pay-master. 2. Affective or Emotional Component: It involves the person's feelings of likes and dislikes towards the attitude object. 3. Behavioural Component: The tendency of a person to behave in a particular manner towards the attitude object is the behavioural component of an attitude. These components show that an attitude can be considered a way of thinking, feeling and behaving. For example, if someone has a favourable thought about his supervisor on the job, he would develop feelings of consideration and respect for him, and as a result, may like to associate more frequently with him. Attitudes and Beliefs Belief reveals what one supposes to be true. It may be about anything. A subordinate may believe his superior to be honest. But, in fact, the superior may or may not behonest. The attitude of the subordinate towards the superior reveals whether he likes or does not like him. The positive attitude, and the consequent liking, may rather make the subordinate condone alll the bad qualities in the superior and consider him honest iudes Functions of At Attitudes help people adapt to their work environment by performing four important functions: 1. Adjustment Function: Attitudes help people adjust to their work environment. When employees are well treated they are likely to develop a positive attitude towards the management and the organisation, otherwise, they are likely to develop a negative attitude towards management and the organisation. These attitudes help employees adjust to their environment and a basis for future behaviour. 7 For example, it employees, who are wellreated, are asked about the management or the organisation, they are likely to say good things. On the other hand, if the employees are not treated properly, the reverse may be true. 2. Ego Defensive Function: The ego defensive function refers to holding attitudes that protect our self-esteem or that justify actions that make us feel guilty. + People often form and maintain certain attitudes to protect their own selt-images. For example, male workers may feel threatened by the employment of female workers in the organisation and may develop prejudices against them. This attitude helps the male workers protect their egos and is known as an ego-defensive attitude. + The ego-defensive attitude is used by people in coping with a feeling of threat or guilt. Unless this feeling is removed, this kind of attitude will remain unchanged. 3. Value Expressive Function: Attitudes provide people with a basis for expressing their values.+ Aperson whose value system is centralised on freedom will have a positive attitude towards decentralisation of authority in the organization, flexible work schedules, etc, + Another person who is very ambitious will have a positive attitude towards a job which will offer a bright future prospectus and chances of promotion + Amanager who believes strongly in work ethics will tend to voice attitudes toward specific individuals or work practices as a means of reflecting this value. “For example, a supervisor who wants a subordinate to work harder might put it this way, "You've got to work harder. That has been the tradition of the company since it was founded. It helped get us where we are today and everyone is expected to subscribe to this ethic’. Thus, attitudes serve as a basis for expressing certain values. 4, Knowledge Function: Attitudes are often substituted for knowledge. They provide standards and frames of reference that allow people to organise and explain the world around them. Regardless of how accurate a person's view of reality is, attitudes towards people, events and objects help the individual make sense of what is going on. Stereotyping is an example in this regard. In the absence of knowledge about a person, we may use a stereotyped attitude for judging the person. Sources of Attitudes The central idea running through the process of attitude formulation is that the thoughts, feelings and tendencies to behave are acquired or learned gradually. But how does one learn them? The attitudes are acquired from the following sources: Direct Personal Experience: The quality of a person's direct experience with the attitude object determines his attitude towards it_ 7 For example, it worker finds his work repettive, inadequately paid, the supervisor too tough, and co-workers are not cooperative, he would develop a negative attitude towards his job because the quality of his direct experience with the job is negative. Association: A new attitude object may be associated with an old attitude object and the attitude towards the latter may be transferred towards the former. | For example, if a newly recruited worker remains most ofthe time in the company of a worker towards whom the supervisor has a favourable attitude, the supervisor is likely to develop a positive attitude towards the new worker also. Hence, the favourable attitude for the old worker has been transferred towards the new worker. Social Learning: Attitudes are often learnt from others for example, from parents, teachers, superiors, models, ete. An individual may lear by having contact with others or even watching models on TV. In fact, social learning makes it possible for a person to develop an attitude towards something even when he has no direct experience with the attitude object. P For example, an unemployed person entering the job market for the first time may be favourably disposed towards a government job because others in society have such an attitude towards government jobs. Thus, social learning is a convenient way of developing attitudes. in of Attitudes The above are the three important ways in which attitudes are learnt, But what type of attitudes will ultimately develop is dependent on the following factors: Format 1. Psychological Factors: The psychological make-up of a person is made up of his perception, ideas, beliefs, values, information, etc. It has a crucial role in determining a person’s attitude.For example, if a person perceives that generally, all superiors are exploitative, he is likely to develop a negative attitude towards his superior who in fact is not exploitative. 2. Family Factors: During childhood, a person spends a major part of his time in the family. Thus, he learns from the family members who provide him with ready-made attitudes on a variety of issues such as education, work, health, religion, politics, economics, ete. + Every family instils or attempts to instil such attitudes among its members as are considered appropriate to its socio-economic status in society. Therefore, a person from a middle-class family may hold a different attitude towards spending than a person from an affiuent family. In the later years of life, however, any person whom we admire, respect or fear may have a greater influence on our attitudes. 3. Social Factors: Societies differ in terms of language, culture, norms, values, beliefs, etc. all of which influence a person's attitudes. | For example, people in incia in general hold diferent attitudes towards ‘communication than people in China. Similarly, Indians and Americans differ in their attitudes towards religion. Thus, people belonging to a nation develop attitudes which would be in tune with the needs of the society. 4, Organisational Factors: It should be remembered that a worker spends a major part of his life in the institution in which he works. Thus, organisational factors such as the nature of the job, factory or office layout, fellow workers, quality of supervision, monetary rewards associated with the job, trade unionism, informal groups, organisation's policies and practices, play an important role in shaping the job attitudes of a person. For example, if a creative person finds the nature of his job to be repetitive, dull, boring and less changing, he is likely to develop a negative attitude towards his job.5. Economic Factors: A person's attitude towards a host of issues such as pleasure, work, marriage, working women, etc. is influenced by economic factors such as his economic status in the society, rate of inflation in the economy, government's economic policies, and the country’s economic conditions. A For example, during the Gulf crisis, the Government of India made a big drive to save cil so as to cut the import bill. A big campaign was started to educate people in this regard. It aimed at promoting negative attitudes. towards pleasure trips and positive attitudes towards proper driving and maintenance of vehicles. 6. Political Factors: Politics plays a crucial role in the administration of a country. Therefore, political factors such as ideologies of the political parties, political stability and the behaviour of the political leaders greatly affect the attitudes of the people. Cognitive Dissonance In the late 1950s, Leon Festinger proposed the theory of cognitive dissonance. Dissonance means inconsistency. + Cognitive dissonance refers to any incompatibility that an individual might perceive between two or more of his attitudes or between his behaviour and attitudes. + Festinger argued that any form of inconsistency is uncomfortable and those individuals will attempt to reduce the dissonance and hence the discomfort. In other words, an individual will seek a stable state where there is a minimum of dissonance because an individual cannot completely avoid dissonance. The desire to reduce dissonance is strong under the following conditions: 1. The concerned decision is important 2. There are a number of foregone alternatives 3. The foregone activities have many positive features In order to minimise dissonance, the individual may: 1. Seek information that confirms the wisdom of the decision 2. Selectivity perceives (distort) information in a way that supports the decision3. Adopt a less favourable attitude towards the foregone alternatives 4, Downplay the importance of any negative aspects of the choice and magnify the positive aspects The factors which determine an individual's desire to reduce dissonance include the following: ‘Change our behaviour Justify our behaviour by changing the conflicting cognition Justify our behaviour by adding new cognitions The first approach is to look at it changing your behaviour. If there is an internal conflict, we can at times change our behaviour to help us deal with the conflict at hand, In the case of the long hour lunch, we might decide we too can take longer lunch and thus eliminate the cognitive dissonance that is present in the mind. Removing one of the conflicting issues is a sense to make a decision on a choice between the two, we leave ourselves with no choice and thus lead to conflict Potentially, we will not change our behaviour. Maybe we believe itis right, correct and not something we should change. Thus, we will begin to justify the behaviour, or, for lack of a better term, make it right in our own minds. Maybe we think all the people that take those Jong lunches are just not going to be here long because they are not showing the company they care. Here, we are justifying why we are acting the way and again removing one aspect of the conflict. ‘We can add new concepts, ideas or behaviours to explain or justify conflicts — to transform nonsense into sense. For the issue that we have been talking about, we might start to believe that the people that take the long lunch may be working late each day, and that is why they take the long lunch, and maybe thecompany is okay with that. Inasense, you added a new cognition, and that one justified the cognitive dissonance that you had going on in your mind Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Itis the process by which a person attempts (consciously or sub-subconsciously) to convert his attitudes, beliefs and expectations into a reality. | For instance, itA predicts that his day is going to go bad, he will ty hard 10 “ |ook at everything negatively so that he gets a negative response from everything and everyone around him and can ultimately call his day bad. Similarly, it a teacher expects better results from his subordinates in the forthcoming examinations, he/she will work hard in that direction to ensure better results. A positive selt-fulling prophecy is called as “Pygmalion Effect” One may hold self-fulling prophecy in both positive and negative ways. The term is used more in the context of negative prophecy. ( 1st example) Job-Related Attitudes The focus of OB is on job-related activities. Such attitudes tap into positive or negative evaluations that employees hold certain aspects of their work environment. There are three kinds of attitudes we see in an organisation:| ES c laa) ey Bou culd = Organisational Commitment 1. Job Satisfaction The term ‘job satisfaction’ refers to an individual's general attitude towards his job. A person with a high level of job satisfaction holds positive attitudes towards the job, while @ person who is dissatisfied with his job holds negative attitudes about the job. Job satisfaction is supposed to be an important key to employee performance. 2. Job Involvement Itmeasures the degree to which a person identities psychologically with his job and considers his perceived performance level important to his self-worth. Employees with a high level of job involvement strongly identify with and really care about the kind of work they do on their jobs. Such people are reported to have shown lower rates of labour turnover and absenteeism. 3. Organisational Commitment: Itis defined as a state in which an employee identifies with a particular organisation and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organisation. High job involvement means identifying with one’s specific job, while high organisational commitment means identifying with one’s employing organisation. Role of Leadership in Changing Attitudes of Interpersonal Relaonstip 7Once formed, attitudes have a tendency to persist and are very difficult to change. The main difficulty in changing attitudes is resistance on the part of people to change. They do not want to be informed that they are wrong in their thoughts and feelings. But attempts to change attitudes are very common. Since attitudes are acquired through the process of learning. But attempts to change the attitude are very common. Since attitudes are acquired through the process of learning, they can also be changed through the process of education. In this process, leadership plays an important role. To be more specific, attitudes can be changed by changing any or more of the following factors: 1. Change in ideas and Beliefs: When the reason for the undesirable attitude is insufficient or misleading information, attempts to change such attitudes can be made by supplying a sufficient amount of desired information to the person 2. Change in Situation: To change an undesirable attitude, some situational variables which are causing such an attitude could be modified. For example, if inadequate pay is the cause of the negative attitude, then a pay increase may be planned. A few more examples of situational variables which may affect attitude towards a job are communication among people at work, nature of the job, management practices, style of supervision and work groups. 3. Change in Behaviour: In the ultimate analysis, the undesirable behaviour accompanying some attitude is the focus of change. Though it is a direct method of changing some undesirable attitudes, it is more complicated and not likely to last long,|" # For example, ita person has a negative attitude towards his job, he may be absent himself from the work more often. if punishment is planned for absenteeism, the person may become more regular but may express his attitude in some other manner. He may slow down the work. Thus, the attempt to change behaviour requires close watch because the undesirable attitude may not have changed at all and the undesirable behaviour accompanying such an attitude may have only gone underground or the undesirable behaviour may have been replaced by some other undesirable behaviour.Cy aa Allindian || Allindia || All India All India All India Rank 01 Rank 03 Rank 06 Rank 10 Rank 11 Rajendran § a ENROLL NOW ! Bl youtube.comanujindal (G] anujindal.in callus at: +1 oyenase225 Notes Anaiyss of interpersonal Relaonsip