Define self-esteem, and explain how it can be improved with Branden's six pillars of self-esteem. Self-esteem is how people perceive themselves as physical, social, and spiritual beings. Branden's six pillars of self-esteem are live consciously, be self-accepting, take personal responsibility, be self-assertive, live purposefully, and have personal integrity.
Define self-efficacy, and explain its sources. Self-efficacy involves one's belief about his or her ability to accomplish specific tasks. Those extremely low in self-efficacy suffer from learned helplessness. Four sources of self efficacy beliefs are prior experience, behavior models, persuasion from others, and assessment of one's physical and emotional states. High self-efficacy beliefs foster constructive and goal-oriented action, whereas low self-efficacy fosters passive, failure-prone activities and emotions.
Contrast high and low self-monitoring individuals, and discuss the ethical implications of organizational identification. A high self-monitor strives to make a good public impression by closely monitoring his or her behavior and adapting it to the situation. Very high self-monitoring can create a "chameleon" who is seen as insincere and dishonest. Low self-monitors do the opposite by acting out their momentary feelings, regardless of their surroundings. Very low self-monitoring can lead to a one-way communicator who seems to ignore verbal and nonverbal cues from others. People who supplant their own identity with that of their organization run the risk of blind obedience and groupthink because of a failure to engage in critical thinking and not being objective about what they are asked to do.
Identify and describe the Big Five personality dimensions, and specify which one is correlated most strongly with job performance. The Big Five personality dimensions are extraversion (social and talkative), agreeableness (trusting and cooperative), conscientiousness (responsible and persistent), emotional stability (relaxed and unworried), and openness to experience (intellectual and curious). Conscientiousness is the best predictor of job performance.
Describe the proactive personality, and explain the need to balance an internal locus of control with humility. Someone with a proactive personality shows initiative, takes action, and perseveres to bring about change. People with an internal locus of control, such as entrepreneurs, believe they are masters of their own fate. Humility helps "internals" factor the contributions of others and good fortune into their perceived success.
Identify at least five of Gardner's eight multiple intelligences, and explain "practical intelligence." Harvard's Howard Gardner broadens the traditional cognitive abilities model of intelligence to include social and physical abilities. His eight multiple intelligences include: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. Someone with practical intelligence, according to Sternberg, is good at solving everyday problems and learning from experience by adapting to the environment, reshaping their environment, and selecting new environments in which to work.
Distinguish between positive and negative emotions, and explain how they can be judged. Positive emotions— happiness/joy, pride, love/affection, and relief—are personal reactions to circumstances congruent with one's goals. Negative emotions—anger, fright/anxiety, guilt/shame, sadness, envy/jealousy, and disgust—are personal reactions to circumstances incongruent with one's goals. Both types of emotions need to be judged in terms of intensity and the appropriateness of the person's relevant goal.
Identify the four key components of emotional intelligence, and discuss the practical significance of emotional contagion and emotional labor. Goleman's model says the four components are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. People can, in fact, catch another person's good or bad moods and expressed emotions, much as they would catch a contagious disease. Managers and others in the workplace need to avoid spreading counterproductive emotions. People in service jobs who are asked to suppress their own negative emotions and display positive emotions, regardless of their true feelings at the time, pay a physical and mental price for their emotional labor. Managers who are not mindful of emotional labor may experience lower productivity, reduced job satisfaction, and possibly aggression and even violence.
