Each class member is to think about an event in which she or he felt satisfied or dissatisfied (or committed or not committed) in the workplace (students can imagine one even if they have never been employed). Each student writes this experience down in as much detail as possible on a small piece of paper. When finished, each student exchanges her or his paper with another student. 

These students take turns asking and recording the answers to the following questions (asking follow-up questions as needed): 

1. What sorts of feelings were you experiencing at the time? What were you thinking when this was going on? Did you think about doing anything in that moment? 

2. What targets were your feelings or thoughts directed toward? For example, were they directed toward your organization? Toward the job? Coworkers? Pay and benefits? 

3. What led you to your feelings of satisfaction and commitment in that moment? 

4. What did you (actually) do in response to your experience? What was the outcome? The students can then reassemble as a class to share their findings and discuss the following questions. 

Questions 

1. Do you think it is possible for the affective, cognitive, or behavioral components of job attitudes to conflict with one another? Why or why not? 

2. Can job attitudes be directed toward different targets? Why or why not? What implications does this have for the behavioral outcomes of satisfaction and commitment? 

3. Do you believe that job attitudes can change over time? Or does each person have a typical level of job attitudes that she or he exhibits from one job to the next?