FOUNDATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR

1. Biographical Characteristics

Biographical CharacteristicsPersonal characteristics—such as age, gender, and tenure—that are objective and easily obtained from personnel records.

Age

There is relationship between age and turnover, absenteeism, productivity and job satisfaction.

i) Turnover Decreases with age as fewer alternative job opportunities. Long tenure provides them high wage rates Longer paid vacations. And more attractive pension benefits.

ii) Absenteeism Older employees have lower rate of avoidable absence than the younger

employees. Older employees have higher rate of unavoidable absence due to health problems

job performance declines with increasing age Gender: difference between male and female also affect job performance. Race: Tendency for individuals to favour colleagues of same race in performance

evaluation, promotion decisions and pay raise Social group: In India reservation benefits are extended to certain social groups.

Reservation policies

iii) Productivity Widespread belief is that productivity declines with

age. It is assumed that that speed ,agility,strength and

coordination decay over time. However certain research has found to be

unrelated. It is found that demand of most jobs even those

with heavy manual labour are not extreme enough for any decline in physical skills attributable to age to have impact on productivity

Any drop in productivity can easily offset by experience.

Age

iv) Job Satisfaction Differs for professional and non professional

employees.Professional employees – Increases with age.Non professional employees – Falls during middle

age and rises again in the later years.

Age

Gender

Productivity-No consistent differences are found in problem solving ability, analytical skills ,competitive drive, motivation ,sociability or learning ability.

No significant differences were found in job productivity between men and women.

Psychological studies have found the women are more willing to conform to authority and men are more aggressive and seek success more than woman.

Turnover-No significant difference. Absenteeism –Women have higher rate of

absenteeism to meet their family emergencies. Women prefer part time work,flexible work hours

and telecommuting to accommodate their family responsibility

Gender

Race

In employment settings tendency has been found for individuals to favor colleagues of their own race in performance evaluations, promotion decisions and pay rises

Social group

In India reservation benefits are extended to certain social groups. Reservation policies

Other Biological Characteristics

Tenure Seniority shows positive relationship with

productivity Negatively related to absenteeism. Less turnover

ReligionSexual orientation and gender identity

2. Ability, Intellect, and Intelligence

AbilityAn individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.Intellectual AbilityThe capacity to do mental activities.

Dimensions ofIntellectual Ability

NUMBER APTITUDE Ability to do speedy and accurate arithmetic e.g Accountant

VERBAL COMPREHENSION

Ability to understand the relations of the words E.G Journalist

PERCEPTUAL SPEED Ability to identify visual similarities and differences –CID

INDUCTIVE REASONING Ability to identify a logical sequence e.g Market researcher

DEDUCTIVE REASONING Ability to use logic and argument-Supervisor

SPATIAL VISUALISATION Ability to imagine- Interior decorator

MEMORY Ability to retain and recall past experiences-Salesperson

Physical Abilities

Physical AbilitiesThe capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, strength, and similar characteristics.

Other Factors7. Body coordination8. Balance9. Stamina

Nine Physical Abilities

Strength Factors1. Dynamic strength2. Trunk strength3. Static strength4. Explosive strength Flexibility Factors

5. Extent flexibility6. Dynamic flexibility

Nine basic physical abilities Strength Factors1. Dynamic strength: Ability to exert muscular force

repeatedly or continuously over time.2. Trunk: Ability to exert muscular strength using trunk

particularly abdominal muscles.3. Static: Ability to exert force against external muscle4. Explosive: Ability to exert maximum energy in one or

series of explosive acts. Flexibility factors1. Extent flexibility: Ability to move trunk and back muscle

as far as possible.2. Dynamic flexibility: Ability to make rapid, repeated

fleximg movements.

Other factors1. Body coordination: Ability to coordinate the

simultaneous actions of different parts of body.2. Balance: Ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces

pulling off balance.3. Stamina: Ability to continue maximum effort requiring

prolonged effort over time

Ability-JobFit

The Ability-Job Fit

Employee’sEmployee’sAbilitiesAbilities

Job’s AbilityJob’s AbilityRequirementsRequirements

3. Learning

Learning• Involves change• Is relatively permanent• Is acquired through experience

LearningAny relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience.

Behavior

Behavior is response of the person to various stimuli or inputs, whether internal or external, conscious or subconscious.

Stimulus

(S)

Organism

(O)Response

(R)

Theories of Learning

Classical ConditioningA type of conditioning in which an individual responds to some stimulus that would not ordinarily produce such a response.An experiment was conducted by Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov to teach dogs to salivate in response to ringing of the bellUnconditioned Stimulus will naturally (without learning) elicit or bring about a reflexive response

Unconditioned Stimulus (US) elicits > Unconditioned Response (UR)

Neutral Stimulus (NS) --- does not elicit the response of interest

Classical Conditioning

The Neutral Stimulus (NS) is repeatedly paired with the Unconditioned/Natural Stimulus (US).

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

The Neutral Stimulus (NS) is transformed into a Conditioned Stimulus (CS).

That is, when the CS is presented by itself, it elicits or causes the CR (which is the same involuntary response as the UR.

The name changes because it is elicited by a different stimulus.

This is written CS elicits > CR.

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning TheoryExample:

• Employee is harassed at organisation

• Employee feels bad when harassed• Employee associates being harassed and organisation

• Employee begins to feel bad when he thinks of organisation

Theories of Learning (cont’d)

Operant ConditioningOperant conditioning concept was given by B.F.Skinner It argues that behaviour is a function of its consequences.A type of conditioning in which desired voluntary behavior leads to a reward or prevents a punishment.

Types of Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement– Providing a reward for a desired behavior.

Negative reinforcement– Removing an unpleasant consequence when the

desired behavior occurs. Punishment

– Applying an undesirable condition to eliminate an undesirable behavior.

Extinction– Withholding reinforcement of a behavior to

cause its cessation.

Operant learning

Name oF contingency example

Positive reinforcement Praise from a superior encourages continuing the praised behavior

Punishment Criticism from a supervisor discourages enacting the punishment behavior

Extinction Failing to praise a helpful act reduces the odds of helping in the future

Negative reinforcement Future criticism is avoided by whatever the superior wants

Theories of Learning (cont’d)

Social-Learning TheoryPeople can learn through observation and direct experience.Four processes have been found to determine the influence that a model will have on the individual:1Attention process- We tend to be most influenced by role models that are attractive, repeatedly available ,important to us2 Retention process-How much the individual remembers the model action after he is no longer available.

Motor Reproduction process-Watching converted into doing.

Reinforcement processes-Individuals if rewarded for exhibiting a behaviour than they are more motivated to exhibit the behaviour

Theories of Learning (cont’d)

Key Concepts• Reinforcement is required to change behavior.• Some rewards are more effective than others.• The timing of reinforcement affects learning

speed and permanence.

Shaping BehaviorSystematically reinforcing each successive step that moves an individual closer to the desired response.