Table of Contents for Communication and Nursing

Education
Chapter 3

Human Relations

1. INTRODUCTION

In the present scenario of technical and modern advancement, human relation

skills are very essential to bring about productivity, work culture, essence of
responsibility, and accountability. This has extended from industry and
commerce to these professions, which deal more directly with human beings
and their welfare. Nursing, medicine, social work, and psychology are some of
them.

For better performance of nurses as a professional, good citizen, and as a

member of health care team, she should be skilled in the Sciences of Human
Relations and Communications, which will enable her to understand human
behavior and develop a positive attitude toward the profession.

2. HUMAN RELATION

Human relation refers to the science of applying principles of social

psychology in improving the working of an organization and to make it more
productive and the worker happier to improve efficiency and job satisfaction.

In industrial setting, human relations means the systematic body of knowledge

used to explain the behavior of people at work.

According to Keith Davis, “Human relations is an area of management

practice which is concerned with the integration of people into a work situation
in a way that motivate them to work productively, cooperatively and with
economic, psychological and social satisfaction.”

2.1. Characteristics of Human Relations

 Human relations are an integrative process through which the goals of a

group and the motives of the people working in an organization are
harmonized.
  Human relations are an interdisciplinary field. It involves the use of
knowledge from sociology, psychology, anthropology, and other science
for the study of human behavior.
 Human relations recognize the dignity of the individual as a human
being.
 Human relations are an action-oriented approach to build human
cooperation toward predefined goals.

2.2. Importance of Human Relations

Human being, by virtue of his/her social nature, requires some relations to

achieve the aims of social, personal, and professional life. The importance of
human relations is different in various spheres of human life. Generally, they
are as follows:

 Good human relations within the organizations bring a sense of

belongingness among coworkers.
 Good human relations boost the morale.
 Good human relations increase productivity and improve coordination
among coworkers.

2.3. Factors for Establishing Cordial Human Relations

In an organization, the determinant factors of cordial human relations are:

 Common goals
 Group cohesiveness
 Inter-relatedness of personality
 Caring organizational policy
 An effective communication system
 Mutual trust and understanding in organizational culture
 Motivation and greater human understanding

3. UNDERSTANDING SELF

We are not born with the understandings. At birth, we have no idea that we
are a separate being. Sociologists emphasize that we become aware of
ourselves as individuals through our participation in the social environment.

George Herbert Head (1964): The self represents the sum total of people's
conscious perception of their own identity as distinct from others. It is not a
static phenomenon, but continues to develop and change throughout our
lives.

Gardner Murphy: The self of a person is what he/she consciously or

unconsciously concerns himself/herself to be. It is the sum total of his/her
perceptions of himself/herself and especially his/her attitudes toward
himself/herself. It is his/her “self-concept.”

Cooley: By self is meant that which is designated commonly by “I” means

myself.

3.1. Development of Self

The concept of being “self” is developed throughout the life of a person. A

child develops the concept of “self” as being male or female. Thereafter,
gradually he/she develops concepts of being white or black, tall or short,
intelligent or poor based on the comments made by significant others. A
person continuously strives to know: who am I? From where did I come? Why
did I take birth as human being? Before taking birth where I was? These are
few questions that a person tries to answer during his/her lifetime.

3.1.1. Cooley's Concept of “Looking-Glass Self”

The term “looking-glass self” was coined by Cooley after extensive

psychological testing in 1902 to explain the concept of self-development.
According to this concept, social interaction plays an important role in the
development of self. A person forms the concept of himself/herself on the
basis of opinion and views expressed by others about him/her. Therefore,
when our friends, teachers, parents, and significant others express their
opinion about us as intelligent or poor, tall or short, fat or thin, we accept and
form the same opinion about ourselves. It is just like a mirror tells us about our
physical self, and the perception of that provides an image of our social self.

Cooley proposed three principal elements of the looking-glass concept:

1. Our perception of how we look at others.

2. Our perception of their judgment of how we look, and
3. Our feelings about these judgments.

3.1.2. Mead Theory of I and ME

Mead's theory explains that self develops out of the child's communicative
contact with others. The process of socialization develops the “self” of a
person. Our capacity to see ourselves through others implies that the self has
two components. It can be both subject (I) and object (Me). When the process
of socialization is initiated through social action, the “self” operates as a
subject (I); thereafter, as we take the role of the other the self operates as an
object (Me). All social experience has both components: we initiate an action
(I phase of self) and then we continue to action, based on how others respond
to us (Me phase of self). Thus social experience is the interplay of the I and
ME.

Lewis (1993) described five aspects of the self that are the physical self, the
private self, the social self, the spiritual self, and the self-as defined-by others.
The physical self is composed of biographic details and the image of oneself,
the private self is the self that is not shown to others, the social self is that part
of the self that is shown to others, and the spiritual self is the aspect of the self
that searches for personal meaning and tries to make sense of what is
happening. The self-as-defined-by others is the way in which others see us.

4. SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

Social behavior is the behavior of a person that is directed toward society or

takes place between members of the society. Social behavior of an individual
in a group is called group behavior. Group activity, group discussion, group
opinion, and group reaction are common psychosocial events in a society,
and all these social interactions are known as collective behavior. For
example, the prayers at a church or temple and celebration of Christmas may
be called collection behavior. Person's activities are regulated by custom, law,
and social obligation. Social behavior is a process of communication between
the members of the society in social context. In a sociological hierarchy, social
behavior is followed by social actions, which is directed at other people and is
designed to induce a response.

4.1. Factors Influencing Social Behavior

Social behavior is governed by social norms, customs, value, and traditions

that are transmitted from one generation to other. Other than social norms and
traditions, our motives, drives, and ambitions are also reflected in our social
behavior. Normal social behavior is necessary for social harmony. Whenever
someone violates social norms and behaves against the established social
values and traditions, it is termed as antisocial behavior. Social behavior
develops and matures in a child as a process of socialization governed by
various social agencies like father, mother, friends, colleagues, and various
social and religious groups. The primary agency of socialization, that is,
parents, initiates the process of socialization that is further influenced by peers
and social groups (secondary agency), which determine the social behavior of
an individual because these social agencies serve as a connecting link
between an individual and the society. Social groups to which an individual
belongs can also affect his/her motives, control, and drives.

The way men behave is largely determined by their relation to each other and
by their membership in groups. Culture also plays a central role in the
development of social behavior of an individual by determining the rituals,
traditions and values, way of talking or greeting to other, clothing, and many
more to add in the list. These rules and regulations that differ from one culture
to other explain why social behavior of a particular group of persons is distinct
from others.

In conclusion, social behavior of a person is determined by his/her way of

interaction, gestures, and postures which is influenced by his/her membership
to various groups, peers, and more importantly the primary group or primary
relatives (parents and family members) that connect the individual to the
society and determine his/her motives, impulsivity, and control.

Social life is a system of well-structured and stable relationship. A society

must have harmony and an order to survive that is characterized by change
rather than stability, uncertainty rather than predictability, and disorganization
rather than equilibrium. This aspect of social life in sociology is known as
collective behavior.

4.2. Drives

Drive may be defined as an aroused awareness, tendency, or a state of

heightened tension that sets off reactions in an individual and sustains them
for increasing his/her general activity level. The drive starts within the
individual and directs him/her in such a way that may bring about the
satisfaction of that need. The strength of a drive depends upon the strength of
the stimuli generated by the related need. Drives are generally divided into
two categories: the primary or the biological drive and secondary or
sociopsychological drives.

Primary drives are related with biological system of our body such as hunger,
thirst, escape from pain, and sex. The biological drives are unlearned in
nature and rise from biological needs as a result of a biological mechanism
called homeostasis.

Secondary drives are psychosocial in nature such as anxiety, fear, desire for
approval, struggle for achievement, aggression, etc. These drives are not
related to physiological needs of a person and therefore do not arise from
imbalances in the harmony of internal functioning of the body. Rather, they
arise from sociopsychological needs and are acquired through social learning
as a result of one's interaction with the sociocultural environment. These
drives move an individual to act for the satisfaction of social and psychological
needs and to reinforce the behavior to be maintained and continued.

W.B. Cannon, a prominent Harvard University physiologist, suggested that our

body system works constantly toward optimum level of functioning, thus
maintaining a normal state of balance between input and output. For example,
when the blood sugar level drops, the brain, glands, stomach, etc. send out
signals to activate the hunger drive and makes one feel hungry. Once food
has been consumed by the individual, it returns to a state of balance. The
maintenance of this overall physiological balance is termed as homeostasis.

The term homeostasis as used by Cannon can be broadened to include any

behavior that upsets the balance of an individual. The denial or failure in the
satisfaction of any basic need may give rise to an imbalanced physiological
state, thus giving rise to a primary or secondary drive.

4.3. Incentives

Drives are influenced by incentives, appreciation, rewards, fulfillment of one's

need, and achievement of the desired objective.

Incentive refers to the motivational value of reinforcement. Without an

incentive, an individual cannot be motivated. Incentive can be positive or
negative and may be material, semimaterial, or nonmaterial. It can also be
verbal, nonverbal, biological, or social.

4.3.1. Motivation

Motivation is derived from the Latin word “movere,” which means to “move” or
“to energize,” or “to activate.” It is a process that arouses energy or drive in
the individual to engage in an activity. The activity is aroused, fulfills the need,
and reduces the drive of tension.
Motivation is often used to refer to an individual's goals, needs, and intentions.
For example, when one is hungry, the need is food, and it induces drive.
When the food is searched and consumed, the hunger drive is reduced.

All human behavior is motivated by something. Very little human behavior is

completely random or instinctive. People do things for some reason to get
certain results, and thus behavior is relatively predictable.

Concept of Motivation

The four components of motivation are need, drive, response, and goal. For
example, when you feel thirst, there is a need for water because your earlier
intake of water is consumed up. Thirst, a drive, will motivate you to search for
water. This drive caused you to respond with some action that, in this case,
will be looking for water and the actual drinking of water will become your
goal. Once you had reached your goal by drinking enough water, your
motivation to rummage around for water will vanish and your need for water
will be satisfied for the time being. When you become thirsty again, you will go
through the same motivation cycle again.

Virtually today, all scholars have their own concept of motivation and include
terms like motives, needs, wants, drives, wishes, etc. in defining motivation. In
order to understand the concept of motivation, we need to understand the
following terms:

Motives: Motive has been defined as “An inner state that energizes, activates
or moves a person and directs his behaviour towards goals achievement.”
According to Rosen Fox and Gregory, “motive is a readiness or disposition to
respond in some ways to a variety of situations.” It is restlessness, a lack, and
a force, which energizes the organism to do something to reduce restlessness
and to mitigate the force (Figure 3.1).
Figure 3.1 Concept of Motivation

Motivating: It is a term which implies that one person in the social context
induces another to engage in action by ensuring that a channel to satisfy the
motive becomes available and accessible to the individual. For example, in
school/college, a teacher stimulates and channelizes the student-nurse to
reach academic goal (Table 3.1).

TABLE 3.1 Types of Motives

Primary or basic needs or biological Stimulus Secondary or social or learned

motives motive motives
Hunger Activity Power
Need for sleep Curiosity Achievement
Avoidance of pain Manipulation Affiliation
Thirst Physical contact Aggression
Elimination of waste
Sex

Motivation: While a motive is the energizer of action, motivation is action

behavior itself. Motivation depends on motives and motivating; therefore it
becomes a complex process.

Mc Farland refers motivation to the way in which urges, drives, desires,

aspirations, strivings, or needs direct, control, or explain the behaviors of
human beings. Motivation involves a chain reaction starting out with felt needs
giving rise to tension (unfulfilled desires), thereby causing action toward
satisfying wants.

Definition of Motivation

Motivation refers to the driving and pulling forces that result in persistent
behavior directed toward particular goals.

According to Young, “Motivation is the process of arousing the action,

sustaining the activity in process and regulating the pattern of activity.”

According to Morgan and King (1975),“Motivation refers to the states within a

person or animal that drives behavior towards some goals.” Motivation refers
to all the internal conditions that stir up activity and sustain activity of an
individual.
The Motivation and Behavior

Motivation is considered as one of the most important factor affecting human

behavior and performance. Let us see how it regulates our behavior.

 Feeling of need by an individual generates a feeling that he/she lacks

something (unsatisfied needs).
 Lack of something creates tension in the mind of individual (tension).
 Tension is not an ideal state of mind. An individual tries to overcome
this by engaging himself/herself (search behavior).
 Behavior through which he/she satisfies his/her need (satisfied need).
This is goal-directed behavior.
 When the individual succeeds in fulfilling his/her need and thereby
overcoming his/her tension in the favorable environment (reduction in
tension).
 Satisfaction of one need leads to feeling of another need, which might
be the same after a lapse of certain period.

Psychologists have tried to explain the process and mechanism of motivation

in a number of ways. Lets us see some important theories of motivation.

5. THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

5.1. McDougall's Theory of Instinct

William James for the first time brought out the concept of instinct to explain
behavior and how and why we behave in a specific manner in a specific
situation, but the credit for developing it into a full- fledged theory goes to
William McDougall.

According to McDougall's theory of instinct, our instincts are the springboards

of our behavior. These instincts are innate tendencies or inherited
psychological dispositions or even the complex patterns of behavior that lead
to some purposive actions and need not to be learned.

The theory proposes that all human behavior can be explained on the basis of
some instinct or may be accompanied by a specific emotional disposition. For
example, the instinct of escape is accompanied by the emotion of fear;
similarly, the instinct of combat is accompanied by anger, the instinct of
repulsion by the emotion of disgust, and so on. The theory further claims that
all behavioral acts that are essentially instinctive has three aspects: (a)
cognition (knowing), (b) affection (feeling or experiencing an emotion), and (c)
conation (doing or striving). For example, when a person sees a lion coming
toward him/her, he/she recognizes the danger (cognitive), experiences an
emotion of fear, and tries to run away (conation).

The theory of instinct has been a subject of great controversy and criticism by
sociologists and anthropologists who have emphasized that human is not
purely instinctive and his/her basic nature is not an animal nature. Therefore,
human behavior is not an instinctive behavior but is definitely shaped by the
forces of his/her social and cultural environment, which further explains why
behavior of two individuals is not the same at a given time for the same
instinct.

Researches done in the field of cognitive ability have clearly revealed that
behavior in which the higher intellectual faculties (thinking, reasoning, and
problem-solving behavior) are involved cannot be explained in terms of
instinctive behavior.

In spite of all the criticism leveled against it, the instinctive theory as a theory
of motivation has not altogether lost ground and is still regarded as an
important theory to explain the why-and-how of human behavior.

5.2. Hull's Drive Reduction Theory of Motivation

Clark Leonard Hull (1943), a psychology professor at Yale University,

developed a theory of motivation known as “drive reduction theory.” This
theory emphasized that biological drives such as hunger, sex, and escape
from pain produce internal tension (an undesirable state that the organism
wants to change), and all of his/her energy is concentrated on his/her efforts
to reduce the heightened tension (drive).

This theory is also supported by other psychologists, and its sphere was
broadened by including the psychological drives in it. However, the theory
failed to explain human behavior especially at the higher cognitive level, which
reduced its importance as a major motivational theory.

5.3. Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory of Motivation

Freud's psychoanalytic theory of motivation is centered on his concepts of

instincts and the unconscious. Freud maintained that instincts are the root
cause of all behavior or activities in a human being. He identified two basic
instincts for this purpose, that is, the life and death instinct. The life instinct,
the urge for self-preservation, dominates the earlier scenes of one's life. When
the life instinct ceases to operate, the death instinct takes over. For example,
the person who has failed in a love affair may think of committing suicide.
However, the need for sexual gratification moves or energizes on the activities
of the life instinct, thus providing meaning to one's life.

Besides the life and death instincts and the sexual urge, the unconscious is
also a great determinant and activating force for the cause and operation of
one's behavior. Man, as Freud maintains, is a puppet in the hands of the
mighty unconscious dictates. Therefore, the key to the why-and-how of
behavior lies in the choices made by one's unconscious, which are usually the
gratification of sex or the seeking of pleasure.

5.4. Adler's Social Urge Theory of Motivation

Alfred Adler, a student of Freud, advocated that human beings are motivated
primarily by social urges not by sex urges only as advocated by Freud. For
maintaining one's social self, one requires a margin of safety besides simple
security in terms of protection from danger. This safety margin is achieved
through domination and superiority. In order not to feel inferior or small, one
strives or struggles for superiority. Therefore, the struggle for power,
achievement, and status or the will to dominate are really an outgrowth of the
fundamental need for security. Thus, the motivation of human behavior may
be endorsed through a single basic motive known as the security motive to
maintain one's social cell.

5.5. Behaviorist Learning Theories of Motivation

Pavlov, Watson, and B.F. Skinner were the great advocate of behaviorist
theory of motivation. They emphasized that many times our behavior is guided
through a simple stimulus response mechanism or operated through the
mechanism of classical or operant conditioning. Skinner's theory of operant
conditioning emphasized the role of reinforcement as a prime factor for the
motivation of behavior.

Albert Bandura (1977), a social learning theorist, maintained that human

motivation is mainly guided through social rewards like praise. Thus, a boy
who is often praised for his skill in drawing will become a good artist.
According to him, if the initiation of others behavior results in a reward
provides a valuable motivational source for most of us.

5.6. Goal-Oriented Theory of Cognitivism

The cognitive view of motivation was first propounded by the philosopher and
psychologist William James (1842–1910). Unlike the mechanistic and
instinctive approaches adopted by other psychologists, the cognitive school of
psychology brings the role of cognitive factors in producing human motivation
into the limelight. According to this view, human behavior is purposeful and
has a certain end or goal in view. An individual who desires to reach a goal is
helped by his/her cognitive abilities to develop a desirable drive or motive, i.e.,
tendency to move toward that goal. The achievement of the goal satisfies the
individual, which in turn reinforce the maintained behavior. For example,
information regarding the link of smoking with heart diseases and cancer
creates dissonance in chain smokers. They cannot resist the temptation to
smoke even though they are warned that cigarette smoking is injurious to their
health. Thus, there is an imbalance involving the cognition and behavior. The
remedy lies in goal-directed behavior that is aimed at reducing the imbalance
either by stopping the excessive smoking or by refusing to believe the
information of associated danger.

5.7. Maslow's Self-Actualization Theory

Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) proposed that a motivational behavior can

satisfy many needs at the same time. Human needs according to Maslow
arrange themselves in hierarchies of prepotency. In other words, the
appearance of one need generally depends on the satisfaction of the others;
they are closely related to each other and can be arranged from the lowest to
the highest development of the personality (Figure 3.2).
Figure 3.2 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

The physiological needs necessary for survival are at the bottom of the
structure, whereas distinctly psychological needs are at the top. Starting from
the satisfaction of the physiological needs, every individual strives for the
satisfaction of the other needs of a higher order. This striving for one or the
other level of needs provides the motivation for his/her behavior. A need that
has been satisfied can no longer act as motivating force. It ceases to be a
motivating force, and therefore the satisfaction of one need leads the
individual to try for the satisfaction of other needs. In other words, the
motivational behavior of a person is always dominated by his/her unsatisfied
wants, desires, and needs.

But there is room for exception in Maslow's hierarchy of needs to explain

human motivation. It appears that the effects of the gratification of a need are
more stimulating and important than the effects of deprivation. The
gratification of needs of the lower order motivates an individual to strive for
satisfaction of needs of the higher order, but there may be exceptions to the
hierarchical order. One may be more motivated for the satisfaction of one
need at the cost of another. Hence, the need of self-actualization dominates
and rules all the order lower level needs. The fulfillment of self-actualization is
thus a must for an individual as he/she will feel discontented and restless
unless he/she strives for what he/she is fitted for.

6. SOCIAL ATTITUDE

Attitude refers to certain regularities of an individual's feelings, thoughts, and

predispositions to act toward some aspects of his/her environment.

Thurstone defined attitude as “the sum total of a man's inclination and

feelings, prejudices or bias, preconceived notions, ideas, fears, threats, and
convictions about any specific topic.”

Thomas described attitude as “the state of mind of the individual toward a

value that may be love of money, desire for fame, and appreciation for God.”

Bernard defined it as “An attitude is essentially an in-completed or potential

adjustment behaviour process. It is the set of the organism toward the object
or situation to which an adjustment is called for.”

Beliefs are usually integrated with social attitudes (Rokeach, 1973) because
beliefs whether religious, economic, and political are strongly knotted with an
individual's opinions. For example, attitude toward AIDS is related with beliefs
about this disease. Thus, social attitudes create individual differences in
ideology within a society.

6.1. Characteristics of Attitude

 The attitude is orientation of the organism to the world of objects.

 The existence of an attitude involves a certain amount of tension, even
where it is latent. In this respect, it probably differs from habit or any
other form of behavior.
 Attitudes are rooted in experience, which determines the character of an
attitude, its direction, as well as intensity.
 Attitudes are expressive, communicable, and under certain
circumstances contagious.

One of the important features of attitude is that it is not static rather it is a

dynamic process with fluidity, which evolves and changes throughout the life.
For example, if a person is having negative attitude toward HIV/AIDS, it
doesn’t mean that the attitude of that person will remain permanently negative
toward HIV/AIDS. It may be changed over the time when the person acquires
more knowledge about the area concerned. This characteristic of attitude has
implication for Nursing Profession as nurses have to deal with the health-
related attitude of the patients and society.

Nurses conduct health education and public awareness campaign and use
mass media so that the attitude of the society can be changed toward some
issues concerned with their health-related practices. For example, attitude of
the society can be changed toward female feticide, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis
and leprosy. In a society, our social relationship involves an adjustment of
attitudes with each other. A person changes his/her attitudes to adjust
himself/herself with other individuals. Similarly, a person at a given time may
be a friend of the other while after some time he/she may turn into his/her
enemy.

Social attitudes reflect how a group of people or society reacts toward some
objects, situations, other social groups, and person. For example, the social
attitude of the typical Indian society is that nonvegetarian foods should not be
eaten by human beings, girls should not be sent to school for education, and
early marriage should be encouraged to prevent promiscuous sexual behavior
by the teenagers and adult.
Social attitude of a person is influenced by a number of factors (e.g., parents,
social groups, work group, peers, culture, ethnicity, IQ level, etc.). It begins to
develop in early childhood and that is why it is emphasized for the parents and
school teachers that they should “teach attitude first” to their children. Parents
are advised to be role model of the child because attitude is communicable
and contagious and the child develops attitudes toward a number of things by
observing the behavior of their parents. Similarly, health care professionals
and nurses should act as role model to develop the desired health care
attitude among the society or patients. For example, when the nurse show
caring attitude toward HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis patients, it changes the
attitude of other patients and family members toward these illnesses.

Lawrence K. Frank explained the development of attitude in a child. The

young child strives to achieve tensional adjustment by reacting to the objects
and people when he/she encounters them in his/her environment. Each such
reaction results in a tensional change or attitudinal change in a child. This
attitudinal change becomes relatively permanent with the recurrent
subsequent exposure to the same object or person in the environment.

Thereafter, in a novel situation, the child will learn to respond selectively by

ignoring whatever is incongruent with the already developed attitude. These
experiences are cumulative, which provides a shape to the attitude and
personality of the child.

It is necessary for social changes to take place so that, attitudes of the

individuals can be changed. The changing attitudes of the individuals in any
community are indicative of changes in social institutions.

7. INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP

The individual is a part or unit of the society. Society is constituted by the

groups of people, and each group is the aggregation of the individuals. So, the
fabric of the society is prepared of threads of individual. There are some
theories that explain the concepts of individual and society. Social contract
theory assumes that, individual is born independent but in his/her association
with others, he/she makes mutual bargain and enters into a contract. Society
is that system of contracts made by the individuals with each other. On
contrary, biological theory tries to explain the concept of individual and society
by comparing it with the human body. If the society is considered as a human
body, then the individual will be considered as a cell that constitutes the whole
body (society). The individual identifies himself/herself with the group, but
his/her individuality is not lost by being a part of the group. Cooley maintained
that primary group is the nurseries of human nature because it develops the
personality of a person. The primary group is the main link between individual
and the society. It provides him/her emotional support that binds him/her to
the group and through it to the aims of larger society. The individual derives
an image of himself/herself from the primary group.

A group is collection of two or more people who have a relationship with each
other, are interdependent, may have common norms/purposes, and work face
to face on a task that require cooperation. Given below are definitions of a
group proposed by sociologists.

7.1. Definitions of Group

Thompson: A social group is “a number of people coming together, sharing

some purpose, interest or concern and staying together long enough for the
development of relationship which includes them all.”

Williams: A social group is “a given aggregate of people, playing inter-related

roles and recognized by themselves or others as a unit of interaction.”

Ogburn and Nimkoff: “Whenever two or more individuals come together and
influence one another they may be said to constitute a social group.”

Sheriff and Sheriff: “A group is a social unit which consists of a number of

individuals who stand in definite status and rare relationships to one another
and which possesses a set of values or norms which regulate own regulatory
the behaviour of individual members at least in matters of consequence to the
group.”

7.2. Characteristics of Group

From the above-mentioned definitions, some common characteristics of a

group can be listed as follows:

1. Each group has its own identity and structure.

2. Each group includes at least two or more people.
3. Each group has a shared purpose or goal.
4. Group members have a conscious identification with each other.
5. Group members need the help of one another to accomplish the
purposes for which they are organized.
6. Group members interact, communicate, and influence each other.
 7. Every group has its own rules or norms, which the members are
supposed to follow.

7.3. Classification of Social Group

The following section provides some of the important classification of social

groups proposed by some prominent sociologists.

7.3.1. Cooley's Classification of Social Groups

Cooley classified the social groups into primary and secondary group on the
basis of the kind of contacts group members have with each other.

Primary group: Primary group is considered as a nucleus of all social

organization. It is the type of social group in which there is face-to-face,
intimate, direct, and personal relationships among the group members. For
example, family is a primary group.

Secondary group: Secondary groups are those in which the relationships

between the group members are impersonal, indirect, and
secondary. Ogburn defined secondary group as “the groups which provide
experience lacking in intimacy.” For example, Indian National Congress,
Bharatiya Janata Party, Trained Nurses Association of India, and Nursing
Research Forum of India are some of the secondary groups.

7.3.2. F.H. Gidding's Classification of Social Group

Gidding classified the social groups into two types: genetic and congregate
group.

Genetic group: Genetic group is a social group whose membership is

involuntary and is determined by genetics. For example, family is a genetic
group and its membership is involuntary.

Congregate group: It is social group whose membership is voluntary; anyone

who wishes to be a member of congregate group can join this type of group.

7.3.3. Dwight Sanderson's Classification of Social Group

He classified social groups into three types on the basis of group structure:
involuntary, voluntary, and delegate groups.
Involuntary group: It is based on kinship such as the family. A man has no
choice to what family he will belong.

Voluntary group: It is one in which a man joins of his own wish. He agrees to
be a member of it and is free to withdraw at any time from its membership.

Delegate group: It is one in which a man join as a representative of a number

of people either elected by them or nominated by some power. For example,
Parliament of India is a delegate group.

7.3.4. George Hasen's Classification of Social Groups

George Hasen classified social groups into four types on the basis of their
relations to other groups. Accordingly, social groups are classified into
unsocial group, pseudosocial group, antisocial group, and prosocial group.

Unsocial group: It is a group which largely lives for itself. Group members do
not participate in the larger society of which the group is a part. It does not mix
up with other groups and remains isolated from them.

Pseudosocial group: It participates in the larger social life but mainly for its
own gain and not for the greater good.

Antisocial group: It is the one that, acts against the interest of society. Group
members of the antisocial group are usually engaged in destructive tasks and
harm the civilized society. For example, any terrorist organization will be
considered as an antisocial group or a trade union, which gives a call for
national strike is antisocial.

Prosocial group: It is the reverse of antisocial group as it works for the

benefit or interest of the society. It is engaged in constructive tasks and
concerned with creating the welfare of all the people (Table 3.2).

8. GROUP DYNAMICS

Group dynamics refers to the attitudinal and behavioral characteristics of a

group. It is concerned with how groups form and function, their structure, and
various other group-related process. It is relevant in both formal and informal
groups of all types. In an organizational setting, groups are a very common
organizational entity, and the study of groups and group dynamics is an
important area of study in organizational behavior.
8.1. Group Development

Every group develops according to a series of some stages or phases. We

have explained them as follows:

8.1.1. Pregroup Phase

This includes selection of group members. Selection criteria include problem

area, motivation, age, sex, cultural factors, educational level, socioeconomic
level, ability to communicate, intelligence, coping, and defensive style.

8.1.2. Initial Phase

Initial phase is characterized by anxiety about being accepted by group, the

setting of norms, and casting various roles. This phase has been subdivided
into three stages by Yalom (1995), which include the orientation, conflict, and
cohesive stage. These stages correspond to Tuckman's (1965) first three
phases of group development: forming, storming, and norming (see Table
3.2).

TABLE 3.2 Types of Social Groups

8.1.3. Terminal Phase

There are two type of termination: termination of the group as a whole and
termination of the individual group members. A close group usually terminates
as an entire group,; whereas in an open and large group, members are
terminated separately. Evaluation usually focuses on the amount of
achievement of the groups’ individual goals. If terminated successfully,
members may feel a sense of resolution about the group experience and use
these experiences in many other life situations (Table 3.3).

TABLE 3.3 Phases of Group Development (Yalom v/s Tukman)

8.2. Group Cohesiveness

It is the degree to which the members are attracted to the group and wish to
retain its membership.

Factors influencing group cohesiveness:

 Similar values and beliefs

 Same goals and tasks
 Specific needs that can be satisfied by involvement in the group
 Leader behavior
 Communication structure

Highly cohesive groups may be detrimental to organizational performance and

more vulnerable to group thinking, which may result in careless judgments,
unrealistic appraisals of alternative courses of action, and a lack of reality
testing.

8.3. Group Size and Composition

 Small groups are thought to be more effective. Large groups may waste
more time in any decision making.
 Increasing the size of the group results in decreased satisfaction among
the members.
  Homogeneous groups tend to function more harmoniously.

8.4. Role and Function in a Group

Group members perform various roles to ensure smooth functioning of group.

Some of the important roles are as follows:

 Leaders: To lead the group and set directions for group work.
 Encourager: To encourage the group members and have positive
influence on the group to achieve the desired goal.
 Harmonizer: To harmonize the group work.
 Conflict manager: To minimize or manage conflicts among the group
members.
 Gatekeeper: To determine level of group acceptance of individual
members.
 Rule maker: To set standards of group behaviors (such as time and
dress).
 Problem solver: To solve problems to allow group to continue its work.
 Facilitator: To keep group focused on the topic under discussion or on
the aims of the group.
 Summarizer: To state current position of group and to make summary of
group work.
 Evaluator: To assess performance of group
 Initiator: To begin group discussion
 Seducer: To maintain distance and gain personal attention
 Complainer: To discourage positive work and vent anger
 Moralist: To serve as judge of right and wrong

9. TEAMWORK

Health care industry depends on teamwork to ensure better outcomes and

timely accomplishments of goal. It is a very well-established fact that no single
person can deliver the entire ranges of health care to a patient or community.
Therefore, it is essential that many professionals, for example, physician,
nurse, paramedic, health educator, health visitor, public health engineer,
medical social worker, physiotherapist, and dietician, should work as a team
to deliver the required health care to the patient. The health care team is build
up with the involvement all these professionals who are directly or indirectly
involved in improving the health of a patient or community.

Team can be build from work groups to discuss and resolve work-related
issues. Teams should have common laid down objectives, team leaders with
carefully circumscribed authority, and the rules of procedure. Teams are
successful because they pool interpersonal skills, knowledge, and the
expertise needed to accomplish goals effectively and efficiently. Teamwork
achieves personal recognition, raises self-esteem, and increases motivation
and commitment toward work. It is stimulated by trust, support,
acknowledgement, communication, and agreement among team members.
The nurse works as a part of health team for the management of the patient;
therefore, she must be well acquainted with how to work in a team.

9.1. How to Build Successful Work Teams?

There are 7 C's to build a successful work team

 Clear expectations: Every member of a health team must be clear about

his/her expectations to achieve the goals of teamwork. The roles and
responsibilities of each member must be clearly laid down so that,
responsibility and accountability can be imposed on him/her.
 Commitment: Every member should be committed to his/her work,
roles, and responsibility. Without commitment, success of teamwork is
doubtful.
 Competence: The group members must be competent enough as per
their expectation so that the task can be carried out smoothly and
efficiently. For example, a physiotherapist must be competent to provide
physiotherapy.
 Control: The team leader should use effective control strategies to
minimize the conflict between the team members, make sure the
availability of resources to facilitate the work, have a check on
performance of the team members in relation to the objectives, and
maintain discipline between the team members.
 Collaboration: Collaboration is essential for the success of teamwork.
The team members must collaborate with each other as per their
competency level and professional skills to achieve the desired health
care goals of a patient.
 Communication: A good interpersonal communication is the essential
for smooth functioning of a team.
 Coordination: Team leader should coordinate with team members
whenever required to enhance the effectiveness of the teamwork.

10. HUMAN RELATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF NURSING

Nursing profession is considered as humanity because nurses deal with the

human beings in hospital as well as in the community setting. Community
health nurses conduct home visits and health teaching sessions in the
community to make people aware about diseases, their risk factors, and
preventive strategies. In every professional encounter, nurses have to deal
with human beings whether they are patients or their relatives or health care
team members which may be individual or a group of people at a given time.

Therefore, it is expected from the nurse that she should be skilled in

interpersonal relationship skills because these skills are essential for initiating
and maintaining interpersonal relationship. Professional relationships are
created through the nurse's application of knowledge and understanding of
human behavior, communication of social attitude, motives, and commitment
to ethical behavior. Having a philosophy basis of caring and respect for others
will help the nurse to be more successful in establishing relationships of this
nature.

10.1. Nurse–Client Helping Relationships

In nurse–client helping relationship, the nurse assumes the role of a

professional helper and comes to know the client as an individual who has
unique health needs, human patterns, and different way of living. The nurse's
therapeutic use of communication is the mechanism by which clients can
achieve successful outcomes for the problems by achieving optimum health.

In therapeutic interpersonal relationship, nurses often encourage clients to

share personal habits, motives, attitudes, and membership of social groups
through which nurses begin to understand the context of other's lives and
learn what is meaningful for them from their perspective.

10.2. Nurse–Family Relationships

Family is considered as a primary group in sociology which has great

influence on an individual through the process of socialization. The nurse
should be thorough with the family dynamics as in the home care setting the
nurse need to form helping relationships with the entire family members. The
same principle that guides one-to-one helping relationships also applies when
the client is a family unit, although communication within families requires
additional understanding of the complexities of family dynamics, needs, and
relationships.

10.3. Nurse–Community Relationship

Community is considered as a large social group with almost the same
culture, traditions, values, and way of interaction. Nurse needs to establish
effective relationship with the community members in order to be an effective
change agent to bring the desired changes in the health of the community
people. Understanding the importance of community-oriented, population-
focused nursing practice and developing the skills to practice it are critical in
attaining a leadership role in health care in order to bring the desired change
in the health status of the particular community. Without developing
trustworthy relationship with the community members, the nurse cannot bring
the desired change in the health of these people.

10.4. Nurse Health Team Relationships

In order to be a successful health team member, the nurse has to initiate and
maintain social and professional relationship with the multiple health team
members. Everyone has interpersonal need for acceptance, inclusion,
identity, affection, and achievement. Communication in such relationships
should be geared toward team building, facilitating group process,
collaboration, consultant, delegation, supervision, leadership, and
management. A variety of communication skills are needed including
presentational speaking persuasion, group problem solving, providing
performance reviews, etc.

Both social and therapeutic interactions are needed between the nurse and
health team members to build morale and strengthen relationships within the
work setting. Nurses need friendship support, guidance, and encouragement
from one another to cope with many stressors imposed by the nursing role
and also to build positive relationships with colleagues and coworker.

 Human relation is important as it gives satisfaction, gives a sense of

belongingness, boosts morale, and motivates and increases
productivity.
 Human relations recognize the dignity of the individual as a human
being.
 The concept of being “self” is developed throughout the life of a person.
 George Herbert Head (1964) defined self as “the sum total of people's
conscious perception of their own identity as distinct from others. It is
not a static phenomenon, but continues to develop and change
throughout our lives.”
 The term “looking-glass self” was coined by Cooley.
  Social behavior is a process of communication between the members of
the society in the social context. It essentially involves the members of
the same species.
 Secondary drives are psychosocial in nature such as anxiety, fear, etc.
 Motivation is the process of arousing the action, sustaining the activity in
process, and regulating the pattern of activity.
 According to McFarland “Motivation refers to the way in which urges,
drives, desires, aspirations, strivings, or needs direct, control, or explain
the behaviour of human beings.”
 The four components of motivation are need, drive, response, and goal.
 McDougall's theory of instinct, drive reduction theory of motivation,
psychoanalytic theory of motivation, social urge theory of motivation,
behaviorist learning theories of motivation, goal- oriented theory of
cognitivism, and Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory are some important
theories of motivation.
 Thomas described attitude as the state of mind of the individual toward
a value that may be love of money, desire for fame, and appreciation for
God.
 Social attitudes reflect how a group of people or society reacts toward
some objects, situation, other social group, and person.
 A group is a collection of two or more people who have a relationship
with each other, are interdependent, may have common
norms/purposes, and work face to face on a task that require
cooperation.
 According to Cooley's classification of social groups, there are two types
of groups: primary and secondary.
 Group dynamics refers to the attitudinal and behavioral characteristics
of a group.
 According to Tuckman group development, the phases include forming,
storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.
 Teams are successful because they pool interpersonal skill knowledge
and the expertise needed to accomplish goals effectively and efficiently.

EVALUATE YOURSELF

Q 1: Explain the process of group formation and maintenance (RGUHS,

2010).

Q 2: Write short notes on group dynamics (NIMS, 2010; RGUHS, 2010).

Q 3: Briefly describe the motivation (NTR University, 2007; RGUHS, 2009)

Q 4: Write a short note on social behavior (BFUHS, 2009; MGR University,
2010; NIMS, 2008).

Q 5: Write a short note on teamwork (NTR University, 2010).

Q 6: Explain the meaning and definition of social group? Explain the

classification of group (NTR University, 2008).

Q 7: Explain briefly the stages of group development and what are the
strategies of improving group functioning (BFUHS, 2008).

Q 8: Explain human relations in the context of nursing (BFUHS, 2010; RUHS

2010).

REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Role of Attitude in Employee Relationship

The performance of an individual is largely dependent on the relation he
shares with his colleagues. It is really important that individuals are friendly
with their colleagues so that they can discuss several issues with each other
and come to a conclusion best suited to all. No individual can perform alone.
Tasks are accomplished at a much faster rate when the work load is shared
among all and each one contributes in his best possible way. Nothing
productive has ever come out of conflicts and disputes. They in turn lead to
major rifts among employees and create stress at the workplace. Why to
unnecessarily spoil relations with people? You never know when you might
need the other person.

Attitude plays an important role in improving the relationship among the

individuals. Nothing is possible unless and until an individual has a positive
attitude towards life. You might have excellent communication skills, might be
an intelligent worker, but if you don’t have a positive attitude; you would
definitely fail to create an impression of yours. People would be reluctant to
speak to you and you would be left all alone.

An individual should never ever have a negative attitude at workplace. It

is dangerous. Your organization pays you and in turn expects quality work
from you, so why unnecessarily crib over things. It is always better to accept
things with a smiling face. If your boss assigns you some task, it means that
he finds you capable enough to handle the assignment. Consider yourself
fortunate and the chosen one. Don’t make faces as your superior might feel
bad and eventually lose his trust on you. Clear all your doubts with the person,
who has delegated you the responsibility, rather than criticising and making
fun in front of others who are not involved.

Don’t always find faults in others. No two individuals are alike. The other
person might not be as intelligent or as educated as you are, try your level
best to adjust with him. Adjustment does not mean accepting any wrong
things, rather it is compromising sometimes.

Sam and Sara were team members and sat at adjacent workstations. Sam
had a habit of constantly chatting over the phone with his friends and family,
which sometimes irritated Sara.

Case - 1 Sara always thought that Sam did it intentionally to disturb her. She
fought with Sam terribly and now has strained relationship with her team
member.

Case - 2 Sara spoke to Sam about her displeasure, convinced him and
requested him to either speak a little low or go outside for attending calls. Now
a days Sara and Sam are best of friends and together they contribute
effectively to their team’s targets.

Case 2 is any day a far better option.

One should not be too rigid or adamant. Be a little more flexible. Don’t
always assume that the other person is wrong and only you are correct. You
may be wrong sometimes. Listen to what the other person has to say and
then only come to a conclusion. Don’t take any decisions with a blocked mind.

An individual should not make issues out of small things. It is always

better to forget things. Ignore things as long as they are not affecting your
team’s performance. Don’t take things to heart. The more you become
negative for your colleagues, the more you fight with them and in turn spoil
your relationship.

One should be forgiving. If your boss is angry with you over something, do
take the initiative and say a sorry to him. A simple “Sorry” can actually do
wonders. If you do not have the courage to talk to him, send him a sms.
Saying sorry will not lower your self-esteem, instead it would strengthen the
bond between you and your superior.
One should never backstab anyone just for the sake of a mere promotion or
some money. It is unethical. Human relationships are more important and
should be valued.

Don’t carry your ego to work. Everyone is equal at workplace. Respect one
and all as everyone is an employee just like you. Don’t treat anyone as
untouchables.

One should always keep his personal life separate from his professional
affairs. Don’t drag your personal tensions to work. Try to keep a balance
between the two. You cannot afford to ill-treat your colleague just because
you had a fight with your spouse the previous night. Your fellow team
members have nothing to do with it. Learn to enjoy life. One should always
look at the brighter side of life.

Treat your colleagues as your friends. Give them time and try to mingle
with them as much as you can. Go out together for shopping or for a movie
once in a while. You will feel attached to them. The trust factor and the
comfort level increases.

Remember there is always some light at the end of a dark tunnel. Never lose
hope in life. Stay positive, be good to others and enjoy a healthy relation with
one and all.

What Determines Our Personality?

Our personality is defined as a set of traits that can explain or predict a
person’s behavior in a variety of situations. In other words, personality is a set
of characteristics that reflect the way we think and act in a given situation.
Because of this, our personality has a lot to do with how we relate to one
another at work. How we think, what we feel, and our normal behavior
characterize what our colleagues come to expect of us both in behavior and
the expectation of their interactions with us. For example, let’s suppose at
work you are known for being on time but suddenly start showing up late daily.
This directly conflicts with your personality—that is, the fact that you are
conscientious. As a result, coworkers might start to believe something is
wrong. On the other hand, if you did not have this characteristic, it might not
be as surprising or noteworthy. Likewise, if your normally even-tempered
supervisor yells at you for something minor, you may believe there is
something more to his or her anger since this isn’t a normal personality trait
and also may have a more difficult time handling the situation since you didn’t
expect it. When we come to expect someone to act a certain way, we learn to
interact with them based on their personality. This goes both ways, and
people learn to interact with us based on our personality. When we behave
different than our normal personality traits, people may take time to adjust to
the situation.

Personality also affects our ability to interact with others, which can impact our
career success. In a 2009 studyAngelina R. Sutin and Paul T. Costa,
“Personality and Career Success,” European Journal of Personality 23, no. 2
(March 2009): 71–84. by Angelina Sutin et al., it was found that the
personality characteristic of neuroticism (a tendency to experience negative
emotional states) had more effect than any personality characteristic on
determining future career success. In other words, those with positive and
hopeful personalities tend to be rewarded through career success later in life.

Although there is debate between whether or not our personalities are

inherent when we are born (nature) versus the way we grew up (nurture),
most researchers agree that personality is usually a result of both nature and
our environmental/education experiences. For example, you have probably
heard someone say, “She acts just like her mother.” She likely behaves that
way because she was born with some of her mother’s traits, as well as
because she learned some of the behaviors her mother passed to her while
growing up.

Figure 1.1

Nature and nurture factors determine our personality.

Another example might be someone who grows up with their parents

constantly having parties. As a result, as an adult this person may end up
organizing a lot of parties, too. Or the influence of parties may create the
opposite effect, where the person doesn’t want to have parties at all. The
environmental and educational experiences can create positive or negative
associations, which result in how we feel about any situation that occurs in our
lives.Alexandria Lupu, “Our Personality: Is It Genetically Inherited or
Determined by the Environmental Factors,” Softpedia News, July 2, 2006,
accessed February 3, 2012, http://news.softpedia.com/news/Our-Personality-
Is-It-Genetically-Inherited-or-Determined-by-The-Environmental- Factors-
28413.shtml

Our values help determine our personality. Our values are those things we
find most important to us. For example, if your value is calmness and peace,
your personality would show this in many possible ways. You might prefer to
have a few close friends and avoid going to a nightclub on Saturday nights.
You might choose a less stressful career path, and you might find it
challenging to work in a place where frequent conflict occurs.

We often find ourselves in situations where our values do not coincide with
someone we are working with. For example, if Alison’s main value is
connection, this may come out in a warm communication style with coworkers
and an interest in their personal lives. Imagine Alison works with Tyler, whose
core value is efficiency. Because of Tyler’s focus, he may find it a waste of
time to make small talk with colleagues. When Alison approaches Tyler and
asks about his weekend, she may feel offended or upset when he brushes her
off to ask about the project they are working on together. She feels like a
connection wasn’t made, and he feels like she isn’t efficient. Understanding
our own values as well as the values of others can greatly help us become
better communicators.

Examples of Values

What are your top five values? How do you think this affects your personality?

Accomplishment,
Ease of use Meaning Results-oriented
success
Accountability Efficiency Justice Rule of law
Accuracy Enjoyment Kindness Safety
Adventure Equality Knowledge Satisfying others
All for one & one for
Excellence Leadership Security
all
Beauty Fairness Love, romance Self-givingness
Calm, quietude, peace Faith Loyalty Self-reliance
Challenge Faithfulness Maximum utilization Self-thinking
Intensity (of time,
Change Family Sensitivity
resources)
 Service (to others,
Charity Family feeling Merit
society)
Cleanliness,
Flair Money Simplicity
orderliness
Collaboration Freedom, liberty Oneness Skill
Commitment Friendship Openness Solving problems
Other’s point of view,
Communication Fun Speed
inputs
Spirit, spirituality in
Community Generosity Patriotism
life
Competence Gentleness Peace, nonviolence Stability
Competition Global view Perfection Standardization
Concern for others Goodwill Personal growth Status
Connection Goodness Perseverance Strength
Content over form Gratitude Pleasure A will to perform
Continuous
Hard work Power Success, achievement
improvement
Cooperation Happiness Practicality Systemization
Coordination Harmony Preservation Teamwork
Creativity Health Privacy Timeliness
Customer satisfaction Honor Progress Tolerance
Decisiveness Human-centered Prosperity, wealth Tradition
Determination Improvement Punctuality Tranquility
Delight of being, joy Independence Quality of work Trust
Democracy Individuality Regularity Truth
Inner peace, calm,
Discipline Reliability Unity
quietude
Discovery Innovation Resourcefulness Variety
Diversity Integrity Respect for others Well-being
Dynamism Intelligence Responsiveness Wisdom

Source: http://www.gurusoftware.com/GuruNet/Personal/Topics/Values.htm

What about Our Attitudes?

Our attitudes are favorable or unfavorable opinions toward people, things, or
situations. Many things affect our attitudes, including the environment we were
brought up in and our individual experiences. Our personalities and values
play a large role in our attitudes as well. For example, many people may have
attitudes toward politics that are similar to their parents, but their attitudes may
change as they gain more experiences. If someone has a bad experience
around the ocean, they may develop a negative attitude around beach
activities. However, assume that person has a memorable experience seeing
sea lions at the beach, for example, then he or she may change their opinion
about the ocean. Likewise, someone may have loved the ocean, but if they
have a scary experience, such as nearly drowning, they may change their
attitude.

The important thing to remember about attitudes is that they can change over
time, but usually some sort of positive experience needs to occur for our
attitudes to change dramatically for the better. We also have control of our
attitude in our thoughts. If we constantly stream negative thoughts, it is likely
we may become a negative person.

In a workplace environment, you can see where attitude is important.

Someone’s personality may be cheerful and upbeat. These are the prized
employees because they help bring positive perspective to the workplace.
Likewise, someone with a negative attitude is usually someone that most
people prefer not to work with. The problem with a negative attitude is that it
has a devastating effect on everyone else. Have you ever felt really happy
after a great day and when you got home, your roommate was in a terrible
mood because of her bad day? In this situation, you can almost feel yourself
deflating! This is why having a positive attitude is a key component to having
good human relations at work and in our personal lives.

But how do we change a negative attitude? Because a negative attitude can

come from many sources, there are also many sources that can help us
improve our attitude.

Changing Your Attitude

On the Motivation123 website, they describe the three things to consider

when trying to change your attitude.

Reams are written about improving your attitude; not so when it comes to
defining that thing you’re trying to improve. In this checklist, we’re going to fix
that.
Though there are many ways to define attitude, I find the three checkpoints
below to be the most helpful. They make it clear not only what your attitude is
made of but also how it affects what you do.

1. How You Enter

Before heading down South for a vacation, I expected a relaxing and

enjoyable time. This is the first piece of your attitude: it is what you expect
before something happens.

For me, I expected good things. Someone with a more negative bent—at least
in relation to traveling—would predict rough times ahead.

2. How You Live through It

The second piece of your attitude is the way in which you gauge progress. Do
you notice what is going wrong? Going well? Somewhere in between?

I went to dinner the other night with a few friends. I’m always on the lookout
for stories to use on the site, so when they started to comment on the place, I
was drawn in. One friend noticed how noisy the restaurant was, how grumpy
the waiter seemed, and how bad the food tasted.

On the heels of this cheery testimonial, the friend sitting next to me said she
loved the atmosphere, the style of the tables, and her dinner. Two attitudes
looking for very different things.

3. How You Exit

The last role your attitude plays happens at the end of a situation or
experience. At this point, your attitude affects the way you sum things up.

I was watching a competition-based reality show the other night and, when
two people were sent home, they were given the chance to talk to the camera
one last time.

They were asked what they would take away from the experience. The first
reflected on the friendships he had made and the good times he had had. The
second was angry and vengeful. To her, the experience was a waste of time.
Attitude strikes again.
Reprinted with permission: Motivation123.com. Get hundreds of simple
motivation tips, along with your free Motivation123 Welcome Kit, at the
Motivation123.com website. Visit http://www.motivation123.com today.

As Note 1.19 "Changing Your Attitude" points out, our attitude is ultimately
about how we set our expectations; how we handle the situation when our
expectations are not met; and finally, how we sum up an experience, person,
or situation. When we focus on improving our attitude on a daily basis, we get
used to thinking positively and our entire personality can change. It goes
without saying that employers prefer to hire and promote someone with a
positive attitude as opposed to a negative one. Other tips for improving
attitude include the following:Richard Whitaker, “Improving Your Attitude,”
Biznick, September 2, 2008, accessed February 3,
2012, http://biznik.com/articles/improving-your-attitude

1. When you wake up in the morning, decide you are going to have an
excellent day. By having this attitude, it is less likely you may feel
disappointed when small things do not go your way.
2. Be conscious of your negative thoughts. Keep a journal of negative
thoughts. Upon reviewing them, analyze why you had a negative
thought about a specific situation.
3. Try to avoid negative thinking. Think of a stop sign in your mind that
stops you when you have negative thoughts. Try to turn those thoughts
into positive ones. For example, instead of saying, “I am terrible in
math,” say, “I didn’t do well on that test. It just means I will study harder
next time.”
4. Spend time with positive people. All of us likely have a friend who
always seems to be negative or a coworker who constantly complains.
People like this can negatively affect our attitude, too, so steering clear
when possible, or limiting the interaction time, is a great way to keep a
positive attitude intact.
5. Spend time in a comfortable physical environment. If your mattress isn’t
comfortable and you aren’t getting enough sleep, it is more difficult to
have a positive attitude! Or if the light in your office is too dark, it might
be more difficult to feel positive about the day. Look around and
examine your physical space. Does it match the mental frame of mind
you want to be in?

Self-Assessment: What’s My Attitude?

1. People would describe me as unhappy.

o True
 o False
2. I complain right away if there is something I don’t like.
o True
o False
3. Being positive most of the time is far too unrealistic.
o True
o False
4. If I have a bad morning, the rest of my day is sure to be ruined.
o True
o False
5. I tend to think more about my weak points than my strong points.
o True
o False
6. I don’t give out compliments because I don’t want someone to get a big
ego.
o True
o False
7. In the past two weeks, I have called myself depressed.
o True
o False
8. I worry too much about things I can’t control.
o True
o False
9. It takes a lot to make me happy.
o True
o False
10. When I experience a failure, I usually just stop trying.
o True
o False

Now, count the number of true and false answers. The more false answers
you have, the better attitude you tend to have. If you have many true answers,
what are some ways to help you change to a more positive attitude?

When considering our personality, values, and attitudes, we can begin to get
the bigger picture of who we are and how our experiences affect how we
behave at work and in our personal lives. It is a good idea to reflect often on
what aspects of our personality are working well and which we might like to
change. With self-awareness (discussed further in Chapter 2 "Achieve
Personal Success"), we can make changes that eventually result in better
human relations.
Why Human Relations?

Our personality traits, attitude, and self-esteem have everything to do with

human relations. When you are planting a vegetable garden, you wouldn’t fill
the new garden with old soil that no longer has nutrients in it. Doing this will
result in your plants not growing as large as they can or could even result in
them not growing at all. If we look at our human relations ability, the same
idea applies. Personality, attitude, and self-esteem comprise the nutrient-
rich soil required for our human relations skills to grow. Our personality is
how we see the world, either positive and full of hope or negative and full of
despair. Without a positive attitude, it can be difficult to relate to others—
because they may not want to be around us! Likewise, having a positive
self-image can give us the confidence to nurture relationships, resulting in
positive human relations as well. Just like the garden that needs soils rich
in nutrients, our human relations skills are the same. To make our human
relations skills grow, we need to look at our underlying personality
characteristics, attitudes, and self-esteem that could be helping—or
hindering—our ability to relate to others.