ABSTRACT
Individuals will act in a certain way based on the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome. People learn by observing others. People’s emotions are extracted from their evaluations of events. These appraisals or estimates will lead to individual variances of emotional reactions to the same stimulus or event. Individuals come to ‘know’ their own attitudes, emotions and other internal states partially by inferring them from observations of their own overt behaviour and/or the circumstances in which this behaviour occurs. People are not only moulded by their social contexts, but also they are inherently active, intrinsically motivated and oriented toward developing naturally through integrative processes. People are part of group-based social hierarchies in which concepts like stereotyping and group oppression are instrumental to the maintenance and stability of those hierarchies. A person’s attitude toward behaviour, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control in combination shape that person’s behavioural intentions and behaviours. A strongly held and consistently expressed minority view can have extensive influence on the majority, as most majority members just follow the rest and lack strongly held views. External motivators may undermine the intrinsic motivation of individuals.
Controlling, the need for perceived contingency between behaviour and outcomes is the third core social motive and one of the two (relatively) cognitive motives (the other is understanding). The social motive to control “encourages people to feel competent and effective in dealing with their environment and themselves. . . . People want to be effective, to have some sense of control and competence, and a lack of control provokes information seeking, in an effort to restore control” (Fiske, 2004, p. 20). ‘Effectance’, the need for control and competence, is important for effective organizational behaviour and change. In times of change the existing sense of control and competence may be challenged or threatened. Routines, habits, cultural patterns and cognitive schemes often have to be replaced or significantly adjusted. Existing control mechanisms may be the reason that organizational and behavioural change is needed and difficult. As a consequence of change people may have to unlearn and learn in order to regain control. Changes may lead to breach of psychological contract and the related expectancies. In times of change people may experience serious stress; the way they react may be a result of the way they appraise the change. Controlling is related to change and management topics like change capacity, culture, resistance to change, commitment and performance management.
In this chapter the following theories and concepts are presented and assessed:
Expectancy theory—Social cognitive theory—Stress appraisal theory—Self-perception theory—Self-determination theory—Social dominance theory—Theory of planned behaviour—Minority influence theory—Motivation crowding theory
