Organizational Behavior (Stephen Robbins)

OBAT WORK

64 Part 1 Understanding the Workplace

LEARNING ABOUT YOURSELFEXERCISE #5 (Continued)

Imagine that you are advising Ms. K. Listed below are several probabilities or odds of Ms. K’s winning the elec-

tion in her constituency. Check the lowest probabilitythat you would consider acceptable to make it worthwhile for

Ms. K to run for political office.

_______ Place a check mark here if you think that Ms. K should not run for political office, no matter what the

probabilities.

_______ The chances are 9 in 10 that Ms. K will win the election.

_______ The chances are 7 in 10 that Ms. K will win the election.

_______ The chances are 5 in 10 that Ms. K will win the election.

_______ The chances are 3 in 10 that Ms. K will win the election.

_______ The chances are 1 in 10 that Ms. K will win the election.

4.Ms. L, a 30-year-old research physicist, has been given a five-year appointment by a major university laboratory. As

she considers the next five years, she realizes that she might work on a difficult long-term problem. If a solution to

the problem could be found, it would resolve basic scientific issues in the field and bring high scientific honours. If

no solution were found, however, Ms. L would have little to show for her five years in the laboratory, and it would

be hard for her to get a good job afterward. On the other hand, she could, as most of her professional associates

are doing, work on a series of short-term problems for which solutions would be easier to find. Those solutions

would be of lesser scientific importance.

Imagine that you are advising Ms. L. Listed below are several probabilities or odds that a solution will be found

to the difficult long-term problem that Ms. L has in mind. Check the lowest probabilitythat you would consider

acceptable to make it worthwhile for Ms. L to work on the more difficult long-term problem.

_______ Place a check mark here if you think Ms. L should not choose the long-term, difficult problem, no

matter what the probabilities.

_______ The chances are 9 in 10 that Ms. L will solve the long-term problem.

_______ The chances are 7 in 10 that Ms. L will solve the long-term problem.

_______ The chances are 5 in 10 that Ms. L will solve the long-term problem.

_______ The chances are 3 in 10 that Ms. L will solve the long-term problem.

_______ The chances are 1 in 10 that Ms. L will solve the long-term problem.

Scoring Key:

These situations were based on a longer questionnaire. Your results are an indication of your general orientation toward risk

rather than a precise measure. To calculate your risk-taking score, add up the chances you were willing to take and divide by

4. (For any of the situations in which you would not take the risk, regardless of the probabilities, give yourself a 10.) The
   lower your number, the more risk-taking you are.

Source:Adapted from N. Kogan and M. A. Wallach, Risk Taking: A Study in Cognition and Personality(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,

1964), pp. 256–261.