ABSTRACT
B.F. Skinner’s heritage has extended out into two versions. First there was the classical conditioning theory (Skinner 1953). This was followed by social learning theory (Bandura 1977). In the same way organizational behavior has experienced these two generational effects (Luthans and Kreitner 1975, 1985) as it moved from conscious process as a meaningless by-product (OB Mod.) to consciousness as an important causal agent. Evaluations have characteristically focused on the most recent version, with the theory rated at the four-star level in terms of validity and at the same level in terms of importance (Miner 2005, Chapter 8)—specifically at 4.31. Meta-analyses and other comprehensive reviews have yielded similar support (see Miner 2005, 2007). In general Skinner and those who followed him have been viewed as opposed to personality considerations and to psychoanalysis in particular. A theory that gave conscious thought processes merely the status of a by-product did not seem very receptive to individual differences in such constructs as personality traits.
