Social Psychology in Organizations
College 1 Organizational Behavior
What is organizational behavior (OB)?
Hawthorne effect
When you’re observed, your behavior changes. The effect how of being
observed/someone paying attention to you changes your behavior.
- Hawthorne effect: in the Hawthorne factory they made appliances
including telephones, the researchers were interested in how changes in the
physical environment of the workers would influence their productivity. One
area they had bright light, the other they had dimmed light, the control
condition had no light change. Light change was more productive. Also, when
they said that they changed the light but really didn’t, they showed more
productivity. The fact that someone paid attention to their well-being was
enough to improve the productivity.
OB
The study of individuals and their behavior at work
Interdisciplinary and multi-level research
Focus on applied social psychology
Evidence-based management (EBM)
EBM: using scientific (evidence-based) knowledge as basis for management
decisions. EBM reduces judgement error in decision making.
EBM vs organizational legitimacy
Organizational legitimacy: an organization’s assumption that its actions are
desirable, proper, or appropriate based on the widespread belief that they are just
and valid. ‘We do it because others do it, and therefore it’s good”.
Legitimacy and agile working
Agile working = independent of place (and time), flexible workspaces, working
from home.
Agile working is new and cool, so everyone uses it now. But research shows that
even though people like working at home from time to time, they don’t like having
flexible workspaces; it can be noisy and stressful. Organizations continue to
introduce it because other organizations still do it.
Organizations often base their decision on other things than evidence. Evidence
based management is better.
, EBM in a nutshell
Selecting the best available evidence Systematic decision-making Re-
evaluating and adapting
Four kinds of evidence in EBM
Scientific literature | Practitioners
(Empirical studies) | (Professional expertise)
------------------------------------|---------------------------------------
Organization | Stakeholders
(Internal data) | (Values and concerns)
What is critical thinking?
How can a manager sort through all this information and decide what is relevant?
- Critical thinking: calls for persistent effort to examine any belief or
supposed form of knowledge in the light of evidence that supports it and the
further conclusion to which it tends.
CT skills
Several skills
- Logic (rely on reason, weigh evidence)
- Reflection (examine assumptions, recognize biases)
- Dual processing (consider different viewpoints, start over when necessary)
- Attention to detail (study many sources, be thorough)
- Decision making (develop contingency plans)
Personality and person-environment fit
Personality
Personality has been defined as “regularities in feeling, thought and action that
are characteristic of an individual”. We have to work with the different personalities
instead of trying to change them.
To be or not to be a born leader?
Studying identical twins (100% genetic material) and non-identical twins (50%
genetical material). Environment and genetic component contribute equally if
someone ends up in a leadership role. 24% is explained by a genetic component.
Identical twins are more likely than fraternal twins to share a leadership style,
regardless of which style (transformational and transactional). The correlation within
twin pairs in higher for identical twins in both styles.
From DNA to personality
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
- The Big Five
- Psychological capital
- Type A vs Type B
- Machivelliansim
College 1 Organizational Behavior
What is organizational behavior (OB)?
Hawthorne effect
When you’re observed, your behavior changes. The effect how of being
observed/someone paying attention to you changes your behavior.
- Hawthorne effect: in the Hawthorne factory they made appliances
including telephones, the researchers were interested in how changes in the
physical environment of the workers would influence their productivity. One
area they had bright light, the other they had dimmed light, the control
condition had no light change. Light change was more productive. Also, when
they said that they changed the light but really didn’t, they showed more
productivity. The fact that someone paid attention to their well-being was
enough to improve the productivity.
OB
The study of individuals and their behavior at work
Interdisciplinary and multi-level research
Focus on applied social psychology
Evidence-based management (EBM)
EBM: using scientific (evidence-based) knowledge as basis for management
decisions. EBM reduces judgement error in decision making.
EBM vs organizational legitimacy
Organizational legitimacy: an organization’s assumption that its actions are
desirable, proper, or appropriate based on the widespread belief that they are just
and valid. ‘We do it because others do it, and therefore it’s good”.
Legitimacy and agile working
Agile working = independent of place (and time), flexible workspaces, working
from home.
Agile working is new and cool, so everyone uses it now. But research shows that
even though people like working at home from time to time, they don’t like having
flexible workspaces; it can be noisy and stressful. Organizations continue to
introduce it because other organizations still do it.
Organizations often base their decision on other things than evidence. Evidence
based management is better.
, EBM in a nutshell
Selecting the best available evidence Systematic decision-making Re-
evaluating and adapting
Four kinds of evidence in EBM
Scientific literature | Practitioners
(Empirical studies) | (Professional expertise)
------------------------------------|---------------------------------------
Organization | Stakeholders
(Internal data) | (Values and concerns)
What is critical thinking?
How can a manager sort through all this information and decide what is relevant?
- Critical thinking: calls for persistent effort to examine any belief or
supposed form of knowledge in the light of evidence that supports it and the
further conclusion to which it tends.
CT skills
Several skills
- Logic (rely on reason, weigh evidence)
- Reflection (examine assumptions, recognize biases)
- Dual processing (consider different viewpoints, start over when necessary)
- Attention to detail (study many sources, be thorough)
- Decision making (develop contingency plans)
Personality and person-environment fit
Personality
Personality has been defined as “regularities in feeling, thought and action that
are characteristic of an individual”. We have to work with the different personalities
instead of trying to change them.
To be or not to be a born leader?
Studying identical twins (100% genetic material) and non-identical twins (50%
genetical material). Environment and genetic component contribute equally if
someone ends up in a leadership role. 24% is explained by a genetic component.
Identical twins are more likely than fraternal twins to share a leadership style,
regardless of which style (transformational and transactional). The correlation within
twin pairs in higher for identical twins in both styles.
From DNA to personality
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
- The Big Five
- Psychological capital
- Type A vs Type B
- Machivelliansim
