DSST Organizational Behavior study guide
DSST Organizational Behavior · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The DSST Organizational Behavior exam is a credit-by-examination test in the Business subject area, listed at Level 3 Baccalaureate and worth 3 semester hours at institutions that recognize it. It was developed to let schools award credit to students for knowledge equivalent to that learned in a college course covering individual processes and characteristics, interpersonal and group processes, and change and development processes. The DSST Organizational Behavior study guide has 7 sections and about 2,454 words.
01Scientific approaches
This domain tests how organizational behavior became a science and which theoretical lens explains a given workplace situation. Expect questions that ask you to match a school of thought to its assumptions, founders, and practical prescriptions.
348 words, about 2 min02Research designs
Questions here ask which design supports a causal claim, how to judge a study, and which validity threat explains a flawed result. You need to distinguish design, sampling, and measurement.
354 words, about 2 min03Data collection methods
This domain tests how OB researchers and HR analysts gather data and whether the resulting measures are trustworthy. Questions often hinge on reliability versus validity, sampling, and bias.
343 words, about 2 min04Individual processes & characteristics
This domain covers stable differences, attitudes, perception, and motivation - the within-person explanations for behavior. Expect applied questions that ask which theory predicts an employee's effort or interpretation.
379 words, about 2 min05Interpersonal & group processes
This domain tests how people influence one another in groups and teams, including development, conformity, conflict, power, and leadership. Questions reward matching a concept to the situation and the remedy.
360 words, about 2 min06Organizational processes
This domain covers organization-level design and the processes that coordinate work: structure, culture, decision making, and stress. Questions ask you to diagnose misfit between strategy, environment, and design.
337 words, about 2 min07Change & development processes
This domain tests planned change, organization development (OD), resistance, and innovation. Questions ask you to sequence an intervention and choose a resistance strategy that fits the source.
333 words, about 2 min