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Файл:Бизнес поведение. Основы основ для будущих психологов = Business Behaviour. Core Essentials for Future Psychologists. Учебное пособие по английскому я
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Figure 1.2 – The Biological Approach
Example:
A great deal of research has been carried out on twins to
demonstrate the influence of genetic inheritance on such traits as
intelligence, personality and maladaptation. For example, studies have
shown that the child with a schizophrenic parent is more likely to develop
schizophrenia.
Advocates of the Biological perspective come down on the side of
nature in what is sometimes referred to as the nature/nurture debate.
The nature side of the argument states that behaviour is internal, caused by
the workings of the human body. On the contrary, the nurture side argues
that all behaviour is caused by the external forces of our social environment.
Example:
Biologically oriented psychologists argue that the inability of
individuals to adapt to their social environment (stress), is caused by
increases in certain hormonal levels in the body. For example, some
doctors argue that alcoholism is due to a chemical imbalance in the brain.
1.2 Theoretical Assumptions
A fundamental assumption made by the Biological School is that the
human organism is in a state of balance (homoeostasis) with its
environment. If the human organism is not functioning effectively,
efficiently and productively with its environment, then the disturbance will
trigger bodily illness. For example, the conflict over task responsibilities
you are experiencing with a workmate, has brought on migraines.
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The basis of the relationship between the human biology and its
environment is an evolutionary one. Therefore, the development of the
human organism is dependent on its environment.
1.3 Using the Biological Approach
Biological psychologists will first examine the individual’s
physiology for signs of wear and tear, e.g. eye strain. They will then look at
those environmental factors that could possibly cause such damage, e.g.
poor lighting.
Workshop
•> A work group’s performance has deteriorated sharply since
moving into a new office complex.
What strategies could a Biologically oriented manager take to
remedy the situation?
•> Give your own examples to illustrate different causes of behavior.
•> Comment on figure 1.2 giving vivid examples.
2. The Behaviorist School
Psychologists that use the Behaviorist approach argue that a person’s
behavior is solely determined by certain aspects of the social
environment. Followers of this school of thought reason that a person’s
mental state does not cause behavior.
2.1 Causes of Behavior
This school of thought is sometimes referred to as the stimulusresponse (or S-R) approach to psychology, a stimulus being any object or
event in the environment which triggers a response in behavior of the
individual concerned (see Figure 1.3).
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Figure 1.3 – The Behavioral Approach
Example:
As manager of the retail sales section, you recognise the hard work
the team has put into selling the company's products this week and on your
daily round you address them with the message, “Well done! If this trend
continues, a bonus for all is in the offing "(the stimulus). At the end of
trading the following week, you are pleased to find that retail sales have
reached their peak (the response) for the year.
This example demonstrates clearly a central principle of Behaviorist
theory; individuals learn from, or are conditioned by their environment,
to respond in a particular manner.
2.2 Theoretical Assumptions
Behaviorists find that the causes of human behavior can only be
located
by the act of observation. For them, causes must be measurable
entities that can be objectively verified. Hence, mental and affective
(emotion/feelings) states must be ruled out as causes of behavior. Mental
states, they argue, can only be inferred-no one has yet located the mind!
And while a feeling of joy and happiness may cause a manager to promote a
staff member, the Behaviorist argues that the manager’s actions are simply a
response to the stimulus of the staff member’s productive performance.
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A second assumption that the Behaviorists make is that human
beings seek satisfaction and well-being. In the example above, the retail
sales team, when offered a bonus for increased effort, does not perversely
act against its own interests, and decrease its work effort.
2.3 Using the Behavioral Approach
The Behaviorist will look to the environment for the causes of
human behavior. In other words, one can change a person’s behavior by
changing the social environment. Their approach would be to examine the
individual under consideration and work out whether the person was
performing to the appropriate level. If this was not so, then they would
construct an environment that would promote the individual into performing
at the appropriate level.
Workshop
•> Comment on figure 1.3. Give your own examples to illustrate
it.
•> Discuss the differences of the two approaches with your
partner giving convincing arguments to support your point of view.
•> What is the stimulus and response in the following scenario?
You are extremely reluctant to attend the next weekly staff meeting
because you made a fool of yourself last time. The chairperson had asked
you for your analysis of the new flexi-time arrangements and,
embarrassingly, unaware of the issue, you had nothing to say. Your
supervisor is aware of your problem and speaks to the chairperson prior to
the next meeting. At the meeting, the chairperson apologises for her neglect
in not briefing you on the question of flexi-time and states that such foulups will not occur again. At the same time, she praises you for your recent
work performances. So you decide to go on the organising committee of the
weekly staff meetings.
Stimulus________________________________________________
Response_______________________________________________
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3. The Humanist School
Psychologists who follow the Humanist approach argue that
behavior is caused by the individuals desire to grow psychologically.
Behavior, they reason, is the result of the individual’s search for selfdevelopment focus of inquiry of these psychologists is not the environment,
but and affective responses of the individual (see Figure 1.4).
3.1 Causes of Behavior
The central idea of the Humanist approach is the notion of selfawareness. Individuals are, in a sense, alone in the world with the private
and unique perceptual experiences. No one else, save yourself, can know
your inner feelings and thoughts on the environment in which you live. In
other words, each individual’s environment is his own. But more
importantly, it follows from this proposition that the true being res within
the individual.
Figure 1.4. The Humanist Approach
Example:
You scream down the telephone at the design artist- “I don’t know
why I bother talking to your artistic types.... don’t you people listen? Look,
I'm sick and tired of telling you that I want primary colours only on the
packaging.” After this display of verbal anger and frustration, the design
artist slams down the phone.
The Humanist will argue that the problem of communication
breakdown lies with you and not the design artist. You alone created the
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message of anger and frustration from the feelings you had at the time. And
it is you alone that can recreate a more effective and communicative
message to the design artist. It is not up to the receiver of the message to
create the message. The feelings (e.g. frustration and anger) you have are
your creation and responsibility.
3.2 Theoretical Assumptions
The central assumption made by the Humanist school of thought is
the notion of individual self-growth. Each individual, they argue, has a
particular essence that constitutes the person’s unique being. Therefore, it is
the sole responsibility of the individual to facilitate the growth of their true
being. It is, they maintain, only when the true self is prevented from
operating, that the individual engages in inappropriate behavior e.g.
frustration and anger.
3.3 Using the Humanist Approach
According to the Humanists, we should all be in the process of
psychological growth. If we are not, then the Humanist approach suggests
that the appropriate approach is to support the individual in gaining
awareness of our true self. This notion suggests that an individual’s
behavior should fall within the pattern of psychological growth.
However, the growth of the individual towards self-actualisation can
be arrested or promoted by social environmental forces like the nature of his
work, group and organisation structures, interpersonal relationships and
leadership styles. Thus, managers and supervisors can play a supportive role
by creating and maintaining structures that facilitate self-development in
their individual staff members.
There is a strong emphasis from the Humanist school, for managers
and supervisors to listen with empathy to the needs of their staff. Managers,
it is argued, should make jobs fit the skills and personality of their staff and
not randomly slot the individual in anywhere.
Workshop
•> What action would a manager adopting the Humanist
approach take to solve the following problem?
You find the work you are currently doing repetitive and dull.
Working on your own, transposing figures from one set of journals to
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another, is not your thing. You are a sociable type of person who needs
other people around.
•> What action would a manager adopting Behaviorist approach
take to solve the same problem.
•> Comment on the example of the Humanist approach on the terms
of Behaviorist and Biological Schools of thought.
•> Give your own examples to illustrate the topic.
4. The Cognitive School
Psychologists who use the Cognitive approach argue that behavior
is the result of the way individuals mentally construct their
environment and hence derive an understanding of it. Our behavior, they
argue, follows from that understanding. We act on our thinking, as it were.
Cognitive psychologists focus on the individual’s mental processes as a
determinant of behavior. Thinking, knowing and memory make up these
mental processes. The following is an example of a manager’s cognitions
guiding their behavior.
Example:
Life has taught you that people are basically lazy and don't want to
work. When you are promoted to the position of supervisor, you call
together your work team and threaten to withhold promotions and bonuses
if the sections performance does not improve.
4.1 Causes of Behavior
Cognitive psychologists argue that humans are fundamentally
intelligent beings who set goals and creatively set out to achieve them
through adapting to their environment.
Knowledge of ourselves and our environment is not magically given
to us. It is given to us, according to the Cognitivists, through the experience
of interacting and living in that environment. It is through this interaction
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that we gain knowledge of the environment. Our cognitions change as our
lived experiences change, and hence our behavior towards that environment
changes.
Example:
The previous example with the supervisor illustrates the point
concerning experience: “The kick them up the backside, whip them into
shape”, authoritarian approach, you initially took when you first
commenced work as a supervisor, has obviously backfired. Given your
experience, you change your behavior and now decide to adopt a more
democratic style of leadership that seeks input from the team members. The
staff positively respond to your changed leadership style with an increase in
productivity. Your cognitive experience suggests that you continue to pursue
this course of action.
4.2 Theoretical Assumptions
Each of us comes from different, age, gender groupings, ethnic,
culture and class backgrounds. These unique experiences provide each
individual with a particular frame of reference, or mind set. from which to
view our environment. This means that each person's interpretation of the
objects and events in the environment will be different.
Example:
The executive manager shouted at his assistant, “Drop everything
except the new marketing proposal. I told you that it needed to be completed
in a hurry!" Defiantly, the assistant replied, “Well, I can’t read your mind.
You told me the other two projects I’m working on are also urgent”
4.3 Using the Cognitive Approach
Cognitive psychologists find that our behavior in general, and work
in particular, should be accompanied by the appropriate mind set. In other
words, if managers want a responsible, intelligent and creative workplace,
then they must structure work in a manner that requires intelligence,
creativity and responsibility.
For Cognitive psychologists, if a person's behavior is inappropriate,
then it is the result of either, not having a frame of reference, or having an
incorrect frame of reference for that environment. The solution for both
cases is appropriate training and experience.
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Workshop
•> Identify which school of thought is used by the supervisor in
the following example. Explain your answer.
You would like to apply for a more senior position in the section but
you've never been assessed by an interview panel before and therefore
you’re somewhat nervous about applying. You seek the advice of your
supervisor because you’re unsure of how to prepare yourself for such an
interview. She organises for you to attend a training session on
interviewing, where they role play the process. Thus prepared, you walk
into the interview confident.
•> Give your own examples to illustrate the topic.
5. The Psychodynamic School
Psychologists using this approach, argue that behavior is the result
of unconscious forces. These unconscious forces result from anxieties and
wishes produced by the repression of painful sexual memories of childhood.
Psychoanalysts find that our minds are a battle ground between our
primitive animal desires for procreation, the inhibiting sexual taboos and
values of our parents and society, and an awareness of the facts of our
environment for a particularly safe course of behavior (see Figure 1.5). The
behavior we adopt is the result of the outcome of this conflict.
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Figure 1.5 – The Psychodynamic Approach
Example:
On paper, he was the ideal person for the position. Unlike the other
candidates, he had the experience and the appropriate qualifications to do
the job. But something was wrong. I’m not sure why, but I had these
negative feelings towards the candidate. I justified my selection by
suggesting that the particular person would be too confident and too
correct. He would run the organisation; not leaving it to us. Yes, it would be
safer to run with one of the other candidates.
5.1 Causes of Behavior
The mental fight between primitive drives, the morality of society,
and the quest to fit into one’s social environment, produces anxiety. To
handle this anxiety, the Psychoanalysists argue, individuals adopt particular
coping mechanisms. It is these strategies that constitute our behavior. In
other words, the meaning and behavior we adopt in our environment
stems directly from our unconscious experiences.
Example:
A Psychoanalytical interpretation of the previous example would
note that the interviewer has transferred her own anxieties onto the
candidate. These anxieties may be the result of the interviewer recognising
in the candidate, a remembered childhood experience of parental authority,
or a recognition of features of her own authoritarian behavior.
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