EPPP - I/O Psychology - Leadership, Work Teams, Decision Making

refers to the amount of warmth, concern, rapport, and support displayed by the leader. Leaders high in consideration are person-oriented

Refers to the extent to which a leader defines, directs, and structures his or her own role and the roles on subordinates. Leaders high in initiating structure are task-oriented.

do not differ in terms of consideration or initiating structure 

Female leaders are more likely to rely on a democratic (participative) decision-making style

Successful leaders exhibit drive, honesty and integrity, leadership motivation, self-confidence, high levels of cognitive ability, knowledge of the business, flexibility, and creativity. 

Big 5 - extraversion was the strongest predictor

Leaders are most successful when their intelligence is only somewhat greater than that of subordinates because large discrepancy can create problems in communication and trust

Average correlation of .27 between leader effectiveness and intellectual ability

proposes that leadership effectiveness is the result of an interaction between the leader's style and the favorableness of the situation.

considered to be fixed and is assessed with Fiedler's least preferred coworkers (LPC) scale.

A high LPC leader (one who describes a least preferred coworker in favorable terms) is relationship oriented and is concerned primarily with maintaining supportive and trusting relationships. Perform best in moderately favorable situations. 

A low LPC leader (one who describes a least preferred coworker in unfavorable terms) is task-oriented and is most interested in goal achievement. Perform best in very unfavorable and very favorable situations

Refers to the amount of influence and power a leader has.

Determined by 1. the nature of the leader's relationships with subordinates (when relationships are positive, the leader has greater influence), 2. the nature of the task (the more highly structured the task, the greater the influence), and 3. the leader's position of power (the greater the number of rewards the leader can use, the more influence he has).

An extension and modification of Fiedler's contingency theory, and was developed, in part, to explain why research has not found a strong relationship between a leader's intellectual ability and effectiveness. 

Proposes that the impact of a leader's intelligence and experience on the leader's performance is moderated by the the stressfulness of the situation, which is affected by the nature of the task and characteristics of the subordinates 

Low Stress - intelligence is more predictive 

High Stress - experience is more predictive of performance

Proposes that an effective leader is one who can help identify a path that allows for fulfillment of personal goals through the achievement of group and organizational goals. 

Leaders primary functions are 1. clarifying goals and the paths that will lead to their achievement and 2. providing rewards through support and attention to their needs.

distinguishes between four leadership styles that are characterized by a different combination of task- and relationship-orientation. The appropriate  style depends on the subordinates job maturity, which is determined by a combination of ability and willingness to accept responsibility  

Telling leader - high task, low relationship and is effective for employees who are low in ability and willingness

Selling leader - high task, high relationship, most effective for low ability and high willingness

Participating leader - low task, high relationship, most effective for high ability and low willingness

Delegating leader - low task, low relationship, most effective for high ability and willingness.

Characterized by an ability to recognize the need for change, to create vision that guides that change, and to accomplish the change effectively. 

Seek to empower employees, raise their consciousness through appeals to morality and justice, and inspire employees by providing a vision and sense of mission.

Use framing, which involves defining the organization's goals and activities in ways that make them more meaningful.

focus more on stability than change, emphasize behaviors related to normal work-related activities, and rely on rewards and punishments and appeals to the self-interest of employees to motivate them.

initiating structure

democratic/participative

extraversion

Contingency 

LPC (least preferred coworker)

moderately favorable

very high or low in favorability

stressfulness of the situation

situational leadership

job maturity 

ability 

willingness

decision tree

transformational 

vision 

transactional

conformity to group norms is greater in ambiguous situations, highly complex situations, situations involving a problem that has no solution, and when group members must work together to achieve a common goal

conformity increases as the consensus of group members increases, and the presence of even a single dissenter can significantly lower conformity. A high degree of conformity is also likely when norms are enforced through close supervision and when group members are perceived as being highly credible and trustworthy

members conform more to a group's norms when they have helped define them. By participating in their development, members understand the norms better, feel more ego-involved with them, and are more likely to perceive the norms as equitable.

When a person has earned the ability to occasionally violate norms when he has gained prestige, status, and respect by functioning competently in the group, serving as the group leader, or consistently conforming to group norms in the past.

Refers to a group's solidarity Factors that influence include:

group size - generally best at 5 - 10 members 

homogeneity - similar in terms of socioeconomic status, interests, values, attitudes, abilities, and personality characteristics. 

goals - maximized when members participate in goal- and norm-setting and when members must depend on one another to achieve common goals.

the individual contributions of group members are added together to form the group product

the inputs of group members are averaged together to create a single product

group members must select the solution or decision offered by one of the group members (ideally, that of the best member)

the group's overall performance is limited by that of the worst-performing member.

group members decide how to combine the contributions of individual members.

The productivity of groups is affected by the group's level of cohesiveness and the nature of the group's performance-related norms.

A potential negative outcome and occurs when a person exerts less effort as a group member than she would have exerted if working alone.

occurs when the mere presence of others increases task performance and is most likely to occur when the task is simple or well-learned

Occurs when the presence of others decreases performance and is mor likely when the task is complex or new (unlearned).

members become acquainted and attempt to establish ground rules

characterized by conflict as group members resist the control of the group leader(s)

begins when group members accept the group, establish ground rules and individual roles within the group, develop close relationships, and begin to work together to achieve group goals

group members have accepted each other's strengths and weaknesses, are clear about their own roles, and are focused on getting the job done

the group disbands because the goals have been met or because group members have left.

All communication must pass through a central person or position - better for simple tasks

information flows more freely between members without going through a central person - better for complex tasks

ambiguous

idiosyncrasy

homogeneous/similar

group norms and goals

additive

compensatory

conjunctive 

disjunctive 

discretionary

heterogeneous

loafing 

effort

facilitation 

simple or well-learned

complex or new

norming

simple

complex

satisfaction

Proposes that decision-makers maximize benefits by systematically searching for and considering all possible alternatives before selecting the optimal one

Assumes a decision-maker has complete information about all possible alternatives as is able to process the information in an accurate, unbiased way.

Proposes that limited capabilities, times, and resources and other constraints force decision-makers to be less than totally rational. As a result, decision-makers often "satisfice" rather than optimize or maximize

consider solutions as they become available and then select the first solution that meets the minimum criteria of acceptability.

A suspension of critical thinking that can occur in highly cohesive groups. especially when the leader is highly directive and the group is working under conditions of high stress. Characterized by:

an illusion of invulnerability and unanimity

collective rationalization 

unquestioned morality 

excessive negative stereotyping

strong pressure to conform

self-appointed mindguards

self-censorship of dissenting views.

the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme in the direction of views initially held by group members than decisions that would have been generated by individual members alone.

involves:

encouraging group members to verbalize all ideas that come to mind regardless of how absurd they may seem

requiring members to refrain from evaluating each other's ideas until after the brainstorming session is over

rational-economic 

satisfice

group think

devil's advocate 

polarization

brainstorming

win-win

mediation

binding

B

Hersey and Blanchard's (1974) situational leadership model identifies four different leadership styles and proposes that the optimal one depends on certain characteristics of the worker. According to this model, the most effective leader is one who matches his/her leadership style to the worker's job maturity, which is determined by the worker's motivation and ability.

Answer A: Fiedler's contingency theory links the optimal leadership style to the favorableness of the situation.

Answer C: According to this model, participation in decision-making is effective only for workers who have low motivation but high levels of ability.

Answer D: A style that focuses on helping workers achieve their own goals by achieving organizational goals is identified as an effective approach by path-goal theory.

C

Transformational leaders are able to recognize the need for change, create a vision that guides that change, and accomplish the change directly. Transformational leaders use framing to motivate employees, which involves describing an organization's goals and activities in ways that make them meaningful to employees.

Answer A: Transactional leaders focus more on stability and change, and rely on rewards and punishments to motivate employees.

• Answer B: Brainstorming is a technique that was developed to improve the quality of group decisions, although the research on brainstorming has not been very supportive.
• Answer C: Norming is a stage of group development identified by Tuckman and Jensen (1977).

D

According to Fiedler, low-LPC (task-oriented) leaders are most effective in extreme situations--i.e., in situations that are either very favorable or very unfavorable. In contrast, high-LPC (person-oriented) leaders are most effective in moderately favorable situations.

Answer A: Although low-LPC leaders perform effectively in unfavorable situations, this answer is not the best of the answer choices provided. Since low-LPC leaders also perform effectively in highly favorable situations, answer D is the best answer.

Answer B: High-LPC leaders perform most effectively in moderately favorable situations.

Answer C: Although low-LPC leaders perform effectively in highly unfavorable situations, the "only" in this answer makes it incorrect, as low-LPC leaders perform effectively in both highly unfavorable and highly favorable situations.

A

For the exam, you want to be familiar with the leadership models associated with all of the individuals listed in the answers to this question. The Vroom-Yetton-Jago (1988; 2017) model distinguishes between autocratic, consultative, and group decision-making leader styles and proposes that the best one depends on certain characteristics of the situation including time constraints, the importance of subordinate commitment to the decision, and the structure of the task. The model includes a decision-tree to help leaders choose the optimal style for their situation.

Answer B: Hersey and Blanchard's (1974) situational leadership model does not provide a decision tree. This model identifies four different leadership styles and proposes that the optimal one depends on certain characteristics of the worker.

Answer C: House's (1971) path-goal theory does not provide a decision tree. House's theory proposes a leadership style that focuses on helping workers achieve their own goals by achieving organizational goals.

Answer D: Fiedler's (1967) contingency model does not provide a decision tree. Contingency theory links the optimal leadership style to the favorableness of the situation.

C

Idiosyncrasy credits allow a group members to occasionally deviate from group norms. Methods for accumulating idiosyncrasy credits include having a history of conforming to group norms, being the group leader, and making outstanding contributions to the group.

Answer A: Transformational leaders create and communicate a vision for organizational change.

Answer B: This answer may be a form of overlearning, which occurs when an individual practices a new skill or studies material beyond the point of mastery.

Answer D: Path-goal theory focuses on helping subordinates link personal goals to organizational goals.

A

Simon (1979) distinguished between two types of individual decision-making--rational-economic and bounded rationality. According to Simon, decision-makers are sometimes less than totally rational due to limitations related to abilities, time, and resources. He referred to this type of decision-making as bounded rationality.

Answer B: Janis (1972) coined the term "groupthink" to describe the suspension of critical thinking that occurs in highly cohesive groups.

Answer C: In Industrial-Organizational Psychology, "idiosyncrasy" is most often associated with "idiosyncrasy credits." According to Hollander (1960), idiosyncrasy credits allow group members to occasionally violate group norms without experiencing negative consequences.

Answer D: Social loafing is the tendency to exert less effort when working as a group member than when working alone.

C

Social loafing occurs when a person exerts less effort as a group member than he/she would have exerted if working alone. Social loafing is most likely to occur when the group is large and the task is additive, probably because this situation allows the person to conceal his/her actual contribution to the group.

Answer A: Social loafing is less likely to occur when the group is small and the task is additive, as individual contributions of group members are more easily identifiable.

Answer B: A compensatory task is one where the inputs of group members are averaged together to create a single project. Social loafing is less likely to occur in a large group with a compensatory task, as the averaging of inputs makes it harder to conceal a group member's contribution to the group.

Answer D: For a disjunctive task, group members must select a solution offered by one of the group members. Social loafing is less likely to occur in a small group with a disjunctive task, because the group will consider each member's solution before selecting the best one.

A

Groupthink refers to the suspension of critical thinking that may occur in highly cohesive groups. Groupthink is most likely to occur when the group leader is directive and the group is highly cohesive. One way to alleviate groupthink is to appoint one or more members of the group to act as "devil's advocate" (i.e., to encourage dissent).

Answer B: Highly cohesive groups are more susceptible to groupthink than groups that are less cohesive.

Answer C: The determination of group goals by group members has not been demonstrated to decrease groupthink.

Answer D: Groupthink is more likely to occur in a group with a directive leader.

B

Research on the impact of team heterogeneity has provided mixed results and its effects seems to be related to several factors. Although group heterogeneity can create problems (e.g., lower cohesiveness), it has also been found to be associated with increased creativity and better decision-making.

Answer A: Homogeneity of team members seems to be better than heterogeneity for simple tasks.

Answer C: Heterogeneous groups tend to perform better on complex tasks.

Answer D: Heterogeneous groups tend to perform better on complex tasks and homogenous groups tend to perform better on simple tasks. Steiner (1976) describes different types of group tasks as additive, compensatory, disjunctive, or conjunctive; these descriptions of group tasks do not indicate their level of complexity.

C

Mediation is one of several methods for resolving conflict in an organization and involves having a neutral third party use various strategies to facilitate voluntary agreement between the disputants. Although a mediator can offer alternative solutions to the problem, he/she has no formal power and cannot impose a solution on the disputants. A mediator may also help the disputants identify alternative solutions to the problem.

Answer A: A mediator should not instruct parties what to do regarding the problem. 

Answer B: A mediator does not have the authority to impose a solution to the problem.

Answer D: A mediator may offer a number of recommendations, but the disputants are not required to choose from them.

D

Social loafing occurs when a worker puts in less effort as a team member than he/she would have put forth working alone. A person is most likely to "loaf" when the group is large, which makes his/her individual contribution to the group less obvious.

Answer A: Providing individual rewards reduces social loafing.

Answer B: According to Locke and Latham's (1990) goal-setting theory, specific goals produce higher levels of productivity among employees than ambiguous goals. However, the ambiguity of group goals is not related to the likelihood of social loafing.

Answer C: High group cohesion decreases the likelihood of social loafing.