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PYC4810 – Psychology of Work Exam Preparations
Exam Questions and Answers to past papers from January and October
2018 and January and October 2019
Answers taken from the chapters in the prescribed book: Greenberg, J. (2011).
Behaviour in organizations (10th ed.). Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
Compiled by: PsychHonours Student
,CHAPTERS IN THE PRESCRIBED BOOK
Chapter 1: The field of organizational behaviour
Chapter 2: Organisational justice, ethics, and corporate social responsibility
Chapter 3: Perception and learning: understanding and adapting to the work
environment
Chapter 4: Individual differences: personality, skills, and abilities
Chapter 5: Coping with organisational life: emotions and stress
Chapter 6: Work-related attitudes: prejudice, job satisfaction and organisational
commitment
Chapter 7: Motivation in organisations
Chapter 8: Group dynamics and work teams
Chapter 9: Communication in organisations
Chapter 11: Interpersonal behaviour at work: conflict, cooperation, trust and deviance
Chapter 13: Leadership in organisations
,JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 2018
SECTION A
QUESTION 1
1.1 Define the following concepts (5 marks) (Chapter 5)
(a) Emotions
(b) Mood
c) Stress
(d) Stressor
(e) Burnout
“Emotions” are overt reactions that express feelings about events.
“Mood” an unfocused, relatively mild feeling that exists as background to our daily
experiences
“Stress” as the pattern of emotional and physiological reactions occurring in response
to demands from within or outside organisations.
“Stressors” formally defined as any demands, either physical or psychological in
nature, encountered during the course of living.
“Burnout” a syndrome of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion coupled with
feelings of low self – esteem or low self – efficacy, resulting from prolonged exposure to
intense stress and the strain reactions following from them.
1.2 Describe how the following factors influence behaviour in organisations (10 marks)
(Chapter 5)
(a) Are happier people more successful on their jobs? (Chapter 5)
To most social scientists, individuals considered happy are those who frequently
experience positive emotions in their lives. With this in mind, can it be said that people
do better on their jobs when they are happy? The answer is yes – happy workers do
indeed enjoy several advantages over their less happy counterparts. Research shows
that this takes two major forms.
JOB PERFORMANCE happier people tend to outperform less happy people in several
different ways. To begin, they tend to get better jobs – that is, ones that give them
higher levels of autonomy, meaning, and variety. Then, once on their jobs, they perform
them more successfully. This has been fund to occur among people in jobs ranging
from dormitory resident advisor to cricket player.
INCOME do happier people earn higher incomes? Yes, they do. Research has found
this to be the case in countries throughout the world. For example high correlations
between happiness and income were found among people in Germany and Russia.
This same relationship was found even among indigenous Malaysian farmers whose
,only income was the value of their property and belongings. In these cases, because
the relationships are correlational, it’s unclear whether people make more money
because they’re happy or people become happy because they make more money.
(b) Why are happier workers more successful? (Chapter 5)
What is behind these strong connections between happiness and work success? As in
most OB phenomena, there are several answers.
DECISION QUALITY specifically, people make decisions that are more accurate and
more important to the group’s effectiveness, and they have greater managerial
potential. This ability to make better decisions is a particularly good reason why happy
people tend to b successful.
MEMORY: WHAT WE RECALL? It has been established that being in a positive mood
helps people recall positive things, whereas being in a negative mood helps people
recall negative things. This idea is known as “mood congruence.”
EVALUATION mood also biases the way we evaluate people and things. For example,
people report greater satisfaction with their jobs while they are in good moods than
while they are in bad moods. Being in a good mood also leads people to perceive (and
admit to perceiving) the positive side of others’ work. Because being in a good mood
keeps managers from perceiving their subordinates’ good behaviour as bad (as might
occur if they are biased or extremely tough), it leads them to offer the kind of
encouraging feedback likely to help subordinates to improve.
COOPERATION most strongly affects the extent to which people help each other,
cooperate with each other, and refrain from behaving aggressively. People who are in
good moods also tend to be highly generous and are inclined to help fellow workers
who need their assistance. People who are in good moods also are inclined to work
carefully with others to resolve conflicts with them, whereas people in bad moods are
likely to keep those conflicts brewing. This is yet another reason why being in a good
mood enhances job performance.
(1.3) Explain four ways in which anger can be managed in the workplace (5 marks)
(Chapter 5)
1. “Practice relaxation” people who display dangerous amounts of anger often find it
difficult to relax. As a result, they get frustrated easily and are inclined to “fly off
the handle.” By learning to relax, however, such individuals are better able to
take control of their emotions.
2. “Change the way you think” when we get angry, we tend to think irrationally,
making things worse than they really are – and this, of course, will not help.
Being logical about the source of your anger is what’s needed, and this involves
getting clear facts and thinking things through.
, 3. “Use humour” there’s nothing like humour to take the edge off your fury. Being
silly can diffuse anger, keeping it on check.
4. “Leave the room” when you feel anger welling up inside, move to another room
or even leave the building. Changing your surroundings may help you escape
whatever or whoever is causing you to be so angry.
1.3 List five behavioural consequences of stress (5 marks) (Chapter 5)
What, precisely, makes some job more stressful than others? Research has shown that
several features of jobs determine the levels of stress they generate. Specifically,
people experience greater stress the more their jobs require:
Making decisions
Constantly monitoring devices or materials
Repeatedly exchanging information with others
Working in unpleasant physical conditions
Performing unstructured rather than structured tasks
QUESTION 2
2.1 Explain the term organisational justice an describe four different forms of
organisational justice (10 marks) (Chapter 2)
“Organisational justice,” people’s perceptions of fairness in organisations, takes four
distinct forms.
(1) “Distributive justice” refers to the perceived fairness of rewards (e.g. pay)
received. People who feel they have received fair amounts of reward feel satisfied with
their jobs. (2) “Procedural justice” refers to people’s perceptions of the fairness of the
procedures used to determine the outcomes they receive. When high levels of
procedural justice are perceived, people are inclined to follow organisational rules and
policies. (3) “Interpersonal justice” refers to the fairness of interpersonal treatment by
others. High levels of interpersonal justice are related to high levels of satisfaction with
one’s supervisor. (4) “Informational justice” refers to people’s perceptions of the
fairness of the information used as the basis for making a decision. People tend to be
highly valued by organisations in which they perceive high levels of informational
justice.
2.2. List four strategies that can be used to promote organisational justice (5 marks)
(Chapter 2)
Promoting organisational justice can be done in several ways. First, it is important to
pay workers what they deserve – the “going rate” for the work done wherever they work.
Underplaying workers promotes dissatisfaction, leading to turnover. Second, workers
should be given a voice – that is, some input into decisions. This may involve such
strategies as holding regular meetings, conducting employee surveys, keeping an “open
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