FOUNDATIONS OF

INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR

1. Biographical Characteristics
Biographical Characteristics
Personal characteristicssuch as age, gender,
and tenurethat are objective and easily
obtained from personnel records.
Age
There is relationship between age and turnover,
absenteeism, productivity and job satisfaction.
i) Turnover
Decreases with age as fewer alternative job
opportunities.
Long tenure provides them high wage rates
Longer paid vacations.
And more attractive pension benefits.
ii) Absenteeism
Older employees have lower rate of avoidable
absence than the younger employees.
Older employees have higher rate of unavoidable
absence due to health problems


job performance declines with increasing age
Gender: difference between male and female
also affect job performance.
Race: Tendency for individuals to favour
colleagues of same race in performance
evaluation, promotion decisions and pay raise
Social group: In India reservation benefits are
extended to certain social groups. Reservation
policies

iii) Productivity
Widespread belief is that productivity declines
with age.
It is assumed that that speed ,agility,strength and
coordination decay over time.
However certain research has found to be
unrelated.
It is found that demand of most jobs even those
with heavy manual labour are not extreme
enough for any decline in physical skills
attributable to age to have impact on productivity
Any drop in productivity can easily offset by
experience.
Age
iv) Job Satisfaction
Differs for professional and non professional
employees.
Professional employees Increases with age.
Non professional employees Falls during middle
age and rises again in the later years.

Age
Gender
Productivity-No consistent differences are found
in problem solving ability, analytical skills
,competitive drive, motivation ,sociability or
learning ability.
No significant differences were found in job
productivity between men and women.
Psychological studies have found the women are
more willing to conform to authority and men are
more aggressive and seek success more than
woman.


Turnover-No significant difference.
Absenteeism Women have higher rate of
absenteeism to meet their family emergencies.
Women prefer part time work,flexible work hours
and telecommuting to accommodate their family
responsibility

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

Social group

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

Other Biological Characteristics
Tenure
Seniority shows positive relationship with
productivity
Negatively related to absenteeism.
Less turnover
Religion
Sexual orientation and gender identity

2. Ability, Intellect, and Intelligence
Ability
An individuals capacity to perform
the various tasks in a job.
Intellectual Ability
The capacity to do mental activities.
Dimensions of
Intellectual Ability
NUMBER APTITUDE Ability to do speedy and accurate arithmetic e.g
Accountant
VERBAL
COMPREHENSION
Ability to understand the relations of the words
E.G Journalist
PERCEPTUAL SPEED Ability to identify visual similarities and
differences CID
INDUCTIVE REASONING Ability to identify a logical sequence e.g Market
researcher
DEDUCTIVE REASONING Ability to use logic and argument-Supervisor
SPATIAL VISUALISATION Ability to imagine- Interior decorator
MEMORY Ability to retain and recall past experiences-
Salesperson
Physical Abilities
Physical Abilities
The capacity to do tasks
demanding stamina, strength,
and similar characteristics.
Other Factors
7. Body coordination
8. Balance
9. Stamina
Nine Physical Abilities
Strength Factors
1. Dynamic strength
2. Trunk strength
3. Static strength
4. Explosive strength
Flexibility Factors
5. Extent flexibility
6. Dynamic flexibility
Nine basic physical abilities
Strength Factors
1. Dynamic strength: Ability to exert muscular force
repeatedly or continuously over time.
2. Trunk: Ability to exert muscular strength using trunk
particularly abdominal muscles.
3. Static: Ability to exert force against external muscle
4. Explosive: Ability to exert maximum energy in one or
series of explosive acts.
Flexibility factors
1. Extent flexibility: Ability to move trunk and back
muscle as far as possible.
2. Dynamic flexibility: Ability to make rapid, repeated
fleximg movements.

Other factors
1. Body coordination: Ability to coordinate the
simultaneous actions of different parts of body.
2. Balance: Ability to maintain equilibrium despite
forces pulling off balance.
3. Stamina: Ability to continue maximum effort
requiring prolonged effort over time
Ability-Job
Fit
The Ability-Job Fit
Employees
Abilities
Jobs Ability
Requirements
3. Learning
Learning
Involves change
Is relatively permanent
Is acquired through experience
Learning
Any relatively permanent change in behavior
that occurs as a result of experience.
Behavior
Behavior is response of the person to various stimuli or
inputs, whether internal or external, conscious or
subconscious.

Stimulus
(S)
Organism
(O)
Response
(R)
Theories of Learning
Classical Conditioning
A type of conditioning in which an individual
responds to some stimulus that would not
ordinarily produce such a response.
An experiment was conducted by Russian scientist
Ivan Pavlov to teach dogs to salivate in response
to ringing of the bell
Unconditioned Stimulus will naturally (without
learning) elicit or bring about a reflexive response
Unconditioned Stimulus (US) elicits >
Unconditioned Response (UR)
Neutral Stimulus (NS) --- does not elicit the
response of interest

Classical Conditioning

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

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

The Neutral Stimulus (NS) is transformed into a
Conditioned Stimulus (CS).
That is, when the CS is presented by itself, it elicits or
causes the CR (which is the same involuntary
response as the UR.
The name changes because it is elicited by a
different stimulus.
This is written CS elicits > CR.

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning Theory
Example:
Employee is harassed at organisation
Employee feels bad when harassed
Employee associates being harassed and
organisation
Employee begins to feel bad when he thinks of
organisation
Theories of Learning (contd)
Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning concept was given by B.F.Skinner
It argues that behaviour is a function of its
consequences.
A type of conditioning in which desired voluntary
behavior leads to a reward or prevents a punishment.
Types of Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement
Providing a reward for a desired behavior.
Negative reinforcement
Removing an unpleasant consequence when the
desired behavior occurs.
Punishment
Applying an undesirable condition to eliminate an
undesirable behavior.
Extinction
Withholding reinforcement of a behavior to cause its
cessation.
Operant learning
Name oF contingency example
Positive reinforcement Praise from a superior encourages
continuing the praised behavior
Punishment Criticism from a supervisor discourages
enacting the punishment behavior
Extinction Failing to praise a helpful act reduces the
odds of helping in the future
Negative reinforcement Future criticism is avoided by whatever the
superior wants
Theories of Learning (contd)
Social-Learning Theory
People can learn through observation and direct
experience.
Four processes have been found to determine the
influence that a model will have on the individual:
1Attention process- We tend to be most influenced
by role models that are attractive, repeatedly
available ,important to us
2 Retention process-How much the individual
remembers the model action after he is no longer
available.

Motor Reproduction process-Watching converted
into doing.
Reinforcement processes-Individuals if rewarded
for exhibiting a behaviour than they are more
motivated to exhibit the behaviour
Theories of Learning (contd)
Key Concepts
Reinforcement is required to change behavior.
Some rewards are more effective than others.
The timing of reinforcement affects learning
speed and permanence.
Shaping Behavior
Systematically reinforcing each successive step that
moves an individual closer to the desired response.