Unboxing the influence of Beliefs, Emotions, Attitudes and Social Influence Variables on Workplace Behaviour in Organizations: Lessons for Human Resource Managers

Abstract

A worker is a complex physical, biological and socio-psychological being in organizations affected by a network of variables in the work environments that should be understood. This paper presents a discourse on the influence of socio-psychological variables on workplace behaviour particularly such variables as beliefs, emotions, attitudes and social influence. The paper contends that beliefs held by workers influence their workplace attitudes and affect their relationships with co-workers. It noted that attitude is a product of belief system. Workers emotional reaction to workplace situations depend implicitly on their experiences and personality. Some emotions lead to positive work behaviours while some does not. The paper revealed that social influence impact enormously on workers group behaviour and leads to attitude formation, particularly group interaction and association. The paper surmised that attitudes are malleable; this in a sense suggests that workers attitude could be manipulated. The paper noted that though some workers may believe strongly in the organization, they may sometimes act contrary to their beliefs, suggesting dissonance. Equally, the paper concludes that dissonance can be managed, particularly if the knowledge of the elements that cause it is known; this resides at the domain of supervision and management. The paper submitted that managers must learn the interplay of these variables and explore them to the benefit of the organization.

Keywords: Unboxing, Beliefs, Emotions, Attitudes, Productivity, Lessons, Human Resource Managers