Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Organizational Behavior

Key Terms

Organizational BehaviorKey Terms
anxiety
A feeling of inability to deal with anticipated harm.
burnout
A general feeling of exhaustion that can develop when a person simultaneously experiences too much pressure to perform and too few sources of satisfaction.
Eustress
Beneficial stress.
frustration
Refers to a psychological reaction to an obstruction or impediment to goal-oriented behavior.
general adaptation syndrome
Consists of three stages: the first stage, alarm; the second stage of resistance; and the third stage, exhaustion.
hardiness
Represents a collection of personality characteristics that involve one’s ability to perceptually or behaviorally transform negative stressors into positive challenges.
health promotion programs
Represent a combination of diagnostic, educational, and behavior modification activities that are aimed at attaining and preserving good health.
locus of control
The concept that much of what happens in one’s life is either under or outside of their own control.
personal control
Represents the extent to which an employee actually has control over factors affecting effective job performance.
rate of life change
The variety of life events were identified and assigned points based upon the extent to which each event is related to stress and illness.
role ambiguity
Occurs when individuals have inadequate information concerning their roles.
role conflict
The simultaneous occurrence of two (or more) sets of pressures or expectations; compliance with one would make it difficult to comply with the other.
role overload
A condition in which individuals feel they are being asked to do more than time or ability permits.
role underutilization
Occurs when employees are allowed to use only a few of their skills and abilities, even though they are required to make heavy use of them.
social support
The extent to which organization members feel their peers can be trusted, are interested in one another’s welfare, respect one another, and have a genuine positive regard for one another.
strain
The damage resulting from experiencing stress.
stress
A physical and emotional reaction to potentially threatening aspects of the environment.
tolerance for ambiguity
Individuals measure and affect by role ambiguity (in terms of stress, reduced performance, or propensity to leave) than others with a low tolerance for ambiguity.
Type A personality
Type A personality is characterized by impatience, restlessness, aggressiveness, competitiveness, polyphasic activities, and being under considerable time pressure.
PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/organizational-behavior/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/organizational-behavior/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Jan 9, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.