Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 12e (Robbins/Judge)
Chapter 3 Attitudes and Job Satisfaction
1) Which of the following answer choices is the best definition of attitude?
A) Attitudes indicate how one will react to a given event.
B) Attitudes are the yardstick by which one measures ones actions.
C) Attitudes are the emotional part of an evaluation of a person, object, or event.
D) Attitudes are evaluative statements of what one believes about something or someone.
E) Attitudes are a measure of how the worth of an object, person or event is evaluated.
Answer: D
Explanation: D) Attitudes are defined as evaluative statements, either favorable or unfavorable, about objects,
people, or events. Although attitudes can indicate how people will react and behave, this is not the definition
encompassing all attitudes. Emotion and evaluation are facets of types of attitudes.
Category: Concept/Definitional
2) The emotional or feeling component of a person's attitude is called ________.
A) complex understanding
B) the cognitive component
C) the affective component
D) a complex attitude
E) the behavior component
Answer: C
Explanation: C) Affect is the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude and is called the affective component.
Description of or belief in the way things are is the cognitive component of attitude. The intention to behave in a
certain way toward something describes the behavior component of attitude. Complex understanding and a complex
attitude are not components of attitude as defined in OB.
3) Janice is spending the summer working as an intern writing copy for a local firm. Today Janice's senior editor sent
back some of Janice's work covered in red ink corrections. Up until now, all of Janice's work had been corrected in
green or blue ink. Janice is upset and worried that her senior editor doesn't like her.
Which component of an attitude is not represented in the previous scenario?
A) the positive component
B) the cognitive component
C) the affective component
D) the negative component
E) the behavioral component
Answer: E
Explanation: E) In the example, Janice does not take action. Therefore, she does not demonstrate the behavioral
component of an attitude. Janice believes that her senior editor doesn't like her. This judgement, or evaluation,
demonstrates the cognitive component of an attitude. Janice is upset. She has had an emotional reaction to the red
ink on her work, which represents the affective component of an attitude. Although an attitude can be positive or
negative, these are not considered components of an attitude as defined in OB.
4) The belief that "violence is wrong" is an evaluative statement. Such an opinion constitutes the ________
component of an attitude.
A) cognitive
B) affective
C) reflective
D) behavioral
E) reactive
Answer: A
Explanation: A) The cognitive component of an attitude is a description of, or belief in the way things are, which is
exemplified in the statement "violence is wrong". The affective component of an attitude reveals the emotional
reaction, and the behavioral component is how someone behaves toward someone or something. There are no
components of attitude called reflective or reactive in OB.
, 5) Jan is a security officer. Jan believes that it is important to know exactly who is in the office at any given time.
She notices that some employees do not sign out of the office when they take lunch, which makes it impossible to
keep track of who is actually in the office. Jan becomes frustrated with those employees. She makes note of them
and reports them to their supervisors. In the above scenario, what is the behavioral component of Jan's attitude to the
employees who did not sign out of the office?
A) Jan believes that it is important that she know exactly who is in the office at any given time.
B) Jan does not like that some employees do not sign out of the office when they take lunch.
C) Jan finds it impossible to keep track of who is actually in the office.
D) Jan becomes frustrated with those employees who do not sign out of the office.
E) Jan notes which employees leave the office without signing out, and reports them to their supervisors.
Answer: E
Explanation: E) The behavioral component of an attitude is how someone behaves toward someone or something.
Jan's behavior was to note the employees and report them to supervisors. The affective component of an attitude
reveals the emotional reaction. Jan's belief that it is important and her frustration are affective components. The
cognitive component of an attitude is a description of, or belief in the way things are. Her belief that it's impossible
to keep the building secure without knowing who signs out is a cognitive attitude.
6) Which of the following is an example of an affective attitude?
A) believing that you did a good job
B) the observation that most dogs have four legs
C) the opinion that it is never acceptable to steal
D) anger at being unfairly accused of a wrongdoing
E) the avoidance of a restaurant where one once received bad service
Answer: D
Explanation: D) Affective attitudes reveal emotion, such as anger. Belief and opinions are examples of cognitive or
evaluative attitudes. Observation and avoidance are behaviors and are facets of behavioral attitudes.
7) The theory of cognitive dissonance was proposed by ________.
A) Maslow
B) Festinger
C) Hofstede
D) Skinner
E) Pavlov
Answer: B
Explanation: B) In the 1960s, Leon Festinger argued that attitudes follow behavior. Festinger argued that any form
of inconsistency is uncomfortable and that individuals will therefore attempt to reduce it. They will seek a stable
state, which is a minimum of dissonance. Maslow, Hofstede, Skinner, and Pavlov all made other contributions to
OB.
8) According to Festinger, people will seek a(n) ________.
A) variable state with variable dissonance
B) stable state with maximal dissonance
C) unstable state with maximal dissonance
D) unstable state with minimal dissonance
E) stable state with minimal dissonance
Answer: E
Explanation: E) Festinger argued that any form of inconsistency is uncomfortable and that individuals will therefore
attempt to reduce it. They will seek a stable state, which is a minimum of dissonance. People do not seek variable or
unstable states because they would be uncomfortable.
9) "Dissonance" means ________.
A) reactance
B) constance
C) resistance
D) consistency
E) inconsistency
Answer: E
Explanation: E) Cognitive dissonance is defined as any incompatibility, or inconsistency, an individual might
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