STUDY NOTES FOR ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY IOP2602
Section A: MCQs
Note from the Lecturer: For the MCQ part of the examination, make sure that you are able to answer all the MCQs at
the end of each study unit in the study guide.
LEARNING UNIT 1
ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY IN CONTEXT
(1) The single biggest reason for managerial failure is
1. poor interpersonal skills.
2. lack of education.
3. poor training.
4. lack of experience.
(2) … was a French industrialist who wrote that all managers perform five management functions.
1. Abraham Maslow
2. Henri Fayol
3. Jacques LeBeau
4. Douglas McGregor
(3) The four management functions include all of the following, except
1. control.
2. planning.
3. staffing.
4. organising.
(4) The three levels of analysis studied in organisational behaviour are …
1. organisational structure, work and absenteeism.
2. groups, human performance and management.
3. absenteeism, employment turnover and productivity.
4. individuals, groups and organisational systems.
(5) Which one of the following is not an element of organisational behaviour?
1. individuals
2. organisations
3. competitors
4. groups
(6) According to Robbins et al (2017), the best approach to obtaining knowledge about human behaviour is …
1. the common sense approach
2. an observational approach
3. a systematic approach
4. a theoretical approach
(7) Which one of the following does not form part of “systematic” study?
1. developing an intuitive hypothesis
2. looking at relationships
3. attempting to determine causes and effects
4. basing conclusions on scientific evidence
(8) Which behavioural science discipline made the most significant contribution to understanding individual
behaviour?
1. sociology
2. social psychology
3. psychology
4. anthropology
1
,LEARNING UNIT 2
ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION
(1) Thabo feels very strongly that individuals should be evaluated and given opportunities based on their abilities,
and not on who they know or who they are. Thabo’s feelings about this issue represent the … component of
his attitude.
1. cognitive
2. affective
3. behavioural
4. organisational
(2) The most powerful moderating variables of an individual’s attitude include
1. the generalisability of their attitude to other situations.
2. their education and level of intellectual capacity.
3. the reliability of attitude.
4. how easily attitude is remembered.
(3) Which one of the following is not an attitude?
1. job productivity
2. job satisfaction
3. job involvement
4. organisational commitment
(4) The best predictor of turnover is …
1. job satisfaction
2. personality
3. organisational commitment
4. values
(5) Employees are most likely to respond to efforts towards change made by someone who …
1. is liked, credible and convincing
2. has an impressive title
3. is considerably older than the workers themselves
4. is new to the organisation
(6) Job satisfaction is best described as …
1. behaviour
2. value
3. an attitude
4. resulting in high performance
(7) Steve is unhappy with his job. He takes every possible vacation leave and a lot of sick leave, and sometimes
shows up late for work. How is he expressing his dissatisfaction?
1. exit
2. voice
3. loyalty
4. neglect
2
, LEARNING UNIT 3
PERCEPTION AND DECISION‐MAKING
(1) Which one of the following is not a factor that influences perception?
1. target
2. society
3. perceiver
4. situation
(2) The theory that was proposed to develop explanations of the way in which we judge people differently,
depending on what meaning we assign to a given kind behaviour, is called … theory.
1. behavioural
2. judgemental
3. equity
4. attribution
(3) One of the shortcuts used to judge others involves evaluating a person based on how that person compares
with other individuals with regard to the same characteristic. This shortcut is known as …
1. selective perception.
2. the contrast effect
3. the halo effect
4. prejudice
(4) Which of the following is not an example of stereotyping?
1. Men are not interested in child care.
2. Older workers cannot learn new skills.
3. This applicant was good at her last job, so she will be good at this one.
4. Women will not relocate for a promotion.
(5) When one person inaccurately perceives a second person and the resulting expectations cause the second
person to behave in ways consistent with the original perception, then … has taken place.
1. stereotyping
2. a self‐fulfilling prophecy
3. a self‐serving, biased fundamental attribution error
(6) How individuals in organisations make decisions and the quality of their final choice are largely influenced by
their …
1. personality.
2. perceptions.
3. experience.
4. job satisfaction.
(7) Decision‐making is initiated by …
1. a problem.
2. a solution.
3. conflict.
4. perceptual distortion.
(8) In the following decision‐making steps, which would come first?
1. generating alternatives
2. identifying criteria
3. making a choice
4. implementing the decision
3
Section A: MCQs
Note from the Lecturer: For the MCQ part of the examination, make sure that you are able to answer all the MCQs at
the end of each study unit in the study guide.
LEARNING UNIT 1
ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY IN CONTEXT
(1) The single biggest reason for managerial failure is
1. poor interpersonal skills.
2. lack of education.
3. poor training.
4. lack of experience.
(2) … was a French industrialist who wrote that all managers perform five management functions.
1. Abraham Maslow
2. Henri Fayol
3. Jacques LeBeau
4. Douglas McGregor
(3) The four management functions include all of the following, except
1. control.
2. planning.
3. staffing.
4. organising.
(4) The three levels of analysis studied in organisational behaviour are …
1. organisational structure, work and absenteeism.
2. groups, human performance and management.
3. absenteeism, employment turnover and productivity.
4. individuals, groups and organisational systems.
(5) Which one of the following is not an element of organisational behaviour?
1. individuals
2. organisations
3. competitors
4. groups
(6) According to Robbins et al (2017), the best approach to obtaining knowledge about human behaviour is …
1. the common sense approach
2. an observational approach
3. a systematic approach
4. a theoretical approach
(7) Which one of the following does not form part of “systematic” study?
1. developing an intuitive hypothesis
2. looking at relationships
3. attempting to determine causes and effects
4. basing conclusions on scientific evidence
(8) Which behavioural science discipline made the most significant contribution to understanding individual
behaviour?
1. sociology
2. social psychology
3. psychology
4. anthropology
1
,LEARNING UNIT 2
ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTION
(1) Thabo feels very strongly that individuals should be evaluated and given opportunities based on their abilities,
and not on who they know or who they are. Thabo’s feelings about this issue represent the … component of
his attitude.
1. cognitive
2. affective
3. behavioural
4. organisational
(2) The most powerful moderating variables of an individual’s attitude include
1. the generalisability of their attitude to other situations.
2. their education and level of intellectual capacity.
3. the reliability of attitude.
4. how easily attitude is remembered.
(3) Which one of the following is not an attitude?
1. job productivity
2. job satisfaction
3. job involvement
4. organisational commitment
(4) The best predictor of turnover is …
1. job satisfaction
2. personality
3. organisational commitment
4. values
(5) Employees are most likely to respond to efforts towards change made by someone who …
1. is liked, credible and convincing
2. has an impressive title
3. is considerably older than the workers themselves
4. is new to the organisation
(6) Job satisfaction is best described as …
1. behaviour
2. value
3. an attitude
4. resulting in high performance
(7) Steve is unhappy with his job. He takes every possible vacation leave and a lot of sick leave, and sometimes
shows up late for work. How is he expressing his dissatisfaction?
1. exit
2. voice
3. loyalty
4. neglect
2
, LEARNING UNIT 3
PERCEPTION AND DECISION‐MAKING
(1) Which one of the following is not a factor that influences perception?
1. target
2. society
3. perceiver
4. situation
(2) The theory that was proposed to develop explanations of the way in which we judge people differently,
depending on what meaning we assign to a given kind behaviour, is called … theory.
1. behavioural
2. judgemental
3. equity
4. attribution
(3) One of the shortcuts used to judge others involves evaluating a person based on how that person compares
with other individuals with regard to the same characteristic. This shortcut is known as …
1. selective perception.
2. the contrast effect
3. the halo effect
4. prejudice
(4) Which of the following is not an example of stereotyping?
1. Men are not interested in child care.
2. Older workers cannot learn new skills.
3. This applicant was good at her last job, so she will be good at this one.
4. Women will not relocate for a promotion.
(5) When one person inaccurately perceives a second person and the resulting expectations cause the second
person to behave in ways consistent with the original perception, then … has taken place.
1. stereotyping
2. a self‐fulfilling prophecy
3. a self‐serving, biased fundamental attribution error
(6) How individuals in organisations make decisions and the quality of their final choice are largely influenced by
their …
1. personality.
2. perceptions.
3. experience.
4. job satisfaction.
(7) Decision‐making is initiated by …
1. a problem.
2. a solution.
3. conflict.
4. perceptual distortion.
(8) In the following decision‐making steps, which would come first?
1. generating alternatives
2. identifying criteria
3. making a choice
4. implementing the decision
3
