4. What is Personality?
The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with
others; measurable traits a person exhibits.
Personality Traits
Enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior.
Personality Determinants
• Heredity
• Environment (Family & Culture)
• Situation
Introduction
6. Measuring personality
• The most important reason managers need to know how to measure personality is that
research has shown personality tests are useful in hiring decisions and help managers
forecast who is best for a job.
Personality is Measured by
Self-report surveys
Observer-rating surveys
Projective measures
o Rorschach Inkblot Test
o Thematic Apperception Test
7. There was a big challenge in identifying and classifying personality traits. Two major
contributions towards the issue are:
1. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBIT)
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most widely used personality assessment
instrument in the world. 10 It is a 100-question personality test that asks people how they usually
feel or act in particular situations. Respondents are classified as extraverted or introverted (E or I),
sensing or intuitive (S or N), thinking or feeling (T or F), and judging or perceiving (J or P).
2. Big Five Model
Big Five Model—that five basic dimensions underlie all others and encompass most of the
significant variation in human personality. 12 Moreover, test scores of these traits do a very good
job of predicting how people behave in a variety of real-life situations
8. This is a personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into 1
of 16 personality types.
Personality Types
Extroverted vs. Introverted (E or I)
Sensing vs. Intuitive (S or N)
Thinking vs. Feeling (T or F)
Judging vs. Perceiving (P or J)
Score is a combination of all four (e.g., ENTJ)
A Meyers-Briggs Score
Can be a valuable too for self-awareness and career guidance
BUT
Should not be used as a selection tool because it has not been related to job
performance!!!
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator for
Personality
9. 1. Extraverted (E) versus Introverted (I). Extraverted individuals are outgoing, sociable, and
assertive. Introverts are quiet and shy.
2. Sensing (S) versus Intuitive (N). Sensing types are practical and prefer routine and order. They
focus on details. Intuitive rely on unconscious processes and look at the “big picture.”
3. Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F). Thinking types use reason and logic to handle problems.
Feeling types rely on their personal values and emotions.
4. Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P). Judging types want control and prefer their world to be
ordered and structured. Perceiving types are flexible and spontaneous.
10. 1. Extroversion
Sociable, gregarious, and assertive
2. Agreeableness
Good-natured, cooperative, and trusting
3. Conscientiousness
Responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized
4. Emotional Stability
Calm, self-confident, secure under stress (positive), versus nervous, depressed,
and insecure under stress (negative)
5. Openness to Experience
Curious, imaginative, artistic, and sensitive
The Big Five Model of Personality
Dimensions
11.
12. 1. Extraversion. The extraversion dimension captures our comfort level with relationships. Extraverts tend to be
gregarious, assertive, and sociable. Introverts tend to be reserved, timid, and quiet.
2. Agreeableness. The agreeableness dimension refers to an individual’s propensity to defer to others. Highly
agreeable people are cooperative, warm, and trusting. People who score low on agreeableness are cold,
disagreeable, and antagonistic.
3. Conscientiousness. The conscientiousness dimension is a measure of reliability. A highly conscientious person
is responsible, organized, dependable, and persistent. Those who score low on this dimension are easily
distracted, disorganized, and unreliable.
4. Emotional stability. The emotional stability dimension—often labeled by its converse, neuroticism—taps a
person’s ability to withstand stress. People with positive emotional stability tend to be calm, self-confident, and
secure. Those with high negative scores tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed, and insecure.
5. Openness to experience. The openness to experience dimension addresses range of interests and fascination
with novelty. Extremely open people are creative, curious, and artistically sensitive. Those at the other end of
the category are conventional and find comfort in the familiar
13.
14. Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB
1. Core self-evaluation Bottom-line conclusions individuals have about their capabilities,
competence, and worth as a person.
2. Machiavellianism The degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance,
and believes that ends can justify means
3. Narcissism The tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, require
excessive admiration, and have a sense of entitlement
4. Self-monitoring A personality trait that measures an individual’s ability to adjust his or her
behaviour to external, situational factors.
5. Proactive personality People who identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and
persevere until meaningful change occurs.
17. Values
• Values represent basic convictions that “a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is
personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of
existence
• The content attribute says a mode of conduct or end-state of existence is important. The intensity
attribute specifies how important it is. When we rank an individual’s values in terms of their
intensity, we obtain that person’s value system
• Values lay the foundation for our understanding of people’s attitudes and motivation and influence
our perceptions.
Terminal versus Instrumental Values
One set, called terminal values, refers to desirable end-states.
These are the goals a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime. The other set, called
instrumental values, refers to preferable modes of behavior, or means of achieving the terminal
values.
19. Linking An Individual’s Personality And Values To The
Workplace
Personality–job fit theory A theory that identifies six personality types and proposes that the fit
between personality type and occupational environment determines satisfaction and turnover.
Person–Organization Fit Theory It is important to match people to organizations as well as to
jobs. If an organization faces a dynamic and changing environment and requires employees able
to readily change tasks and move easily between teams, it’s more important that employees’
personalities fit with the overall organization’s culture than with the characteristics of any specific
job.
One of the most widely referenced approaches for analysing variations among cultures was done
in the late 1970s by Geert Hofstede
20.
21. • Power distance A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society accepts that
power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally.
• Individualism V. Collectivism
Individualism -A national culture attribute that describes the degree to which people prefer to act as
individuals rather than as members of groups.
Collectivism A national culture attribute that describes a tight social framework in which people expect
others in groups of which they are a part to look after them and protect them.
• Masculinity vs Femininity
Masculinity A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which the culture favors traditional
masculine work roles of achievement, power, and control. Societal values are characterized by
assertiveness and materialism.
Femininity A national culture attribute that indicates little differentiation between male and female
roles; a high rating indicates that women are treated as the equals of men in all aspects of the society.
22. • Uncertainty avoidance A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society
feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them.
• Long-term orientation Vs Short term Orientation
Long-term orientation A national culture attribute that emphasizes the future, thrift, and persistence.
short-term orientation A national culture attribute that emphasizes the past and present, respect for
tradition, and fulfilment of social obligations.
23. Attitude
Attitudes- Evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events. They reflect how
we feel about something. When I say “I like my job,” I am expressing my attitude about work.
Components of attitude
1. Cognitive component The opinion or belief segment of an attitude.
2. Affective component The emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.
3. Behavioral component An intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.
24.
25. What Are The Major Job Attitudes
1. Job Satisfaction A positive feeling about one’s job resulting from an evaluation of its
characteristics.
2. Job Involvement The degree to which a person identifies with a job, actively participates in it, and
considers performance important to self-worth.
3. Psychological Empowerment Employees’ belief in the degree to which they affect their work
environment, their competence, the meaningfulness of their job, and their perceived autonomy in
their work.
4. Organizational Commitment The degree to which an employee identifies with a particular
organization and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization.
5. Perceived organizational support (POS) The degree to which employees believe an organization
values their contribution and cares about their well-being.
6. Employee Engagement An individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for
the work he or she does.
27. Motivation The processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort
toward attaining a goal.
The three key elements in our definition are:
Intensity,
Direction, and
Persistence.
Intensity describes how hard a person tries. This is the element most of us focus on when we talk about
motivation. However, high intensity is unlikely to lead to favorable job-performance outcomes unless the
effort is channelled in a direction that benefits the organization. Therefore, we consider the quality of
effort as well as its intensity.
Effort directed toward, and consistent with, the organization’s goals is the kind of effort we should be
seeking.
Finally, motivation has a persistence dimension. This measures how long a person can maintain effort.
Motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goal.
28. Theories Of Motivation
A. Early / Content Theories
Hierarchy of Needs Theory
ERG motivation theory
Theory X and Theory Y
Two-Factor Theory
McClelland’s theory of needs
B. Contemporary /Process Theories
Self-Determination Theory
Goal-Setting Theory
Self-Efficacy Theory
Reinforcement Theory
Equity Theory/Organizational Justice
Expectancy Theory
29. Early/ Content Theories of Motivation
1. Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Maslow hypothesized that within every human being, there exists a hierarchy of five needs: 1.
Physiological. Includes hunger, thirst, shelter, sex, and other bodily needs. 2. Safety. Security and
protection from physical and emotional harm. 3. Social. Affection, belongingness, acceptance, and
friendship. 4. Esteem. Internal factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement, and external
factors such as status, recognition, and attention. 5. Self-actualization. Drive to become what we are
capable of becoming; includes growth, achieving our potential, and self-fulfilment.
30. 2. ERG motivation theory Alderfer
1. Existence Needs
Include all material and physiological desires (e.g., food, water, air, clothing, safety, physical love and
affection). Maslow's first two levels.
2. Relatedness Needs
Encompass social and external esteem; relationships with significant others like family, friends, co-workers
and employers . This also means to be recognized and feel secure as part of a group or family. Maslow's third
and fourth levels.
3. Growth Needs
Internal esteem and self actualization; these impel a person to make creative or productive effects on himself
and the environment (e.g., to progress toward one's ideal self). Maslow's fourth and fifth levels. This includes
desires to be creative and productive, and to complete meaningful tasks.
31. 3. Theory X and Theory Y
Theory X and Theory Y Douglas McGregor proposed two distinct views of human beings: one basically
negative, labelled Theory X, and the other basically positive, labelled Theory Y. 10 After studying
managers’ dealings with employees, McGregor concluded that their views of the nature of human
beings are based on certain assumptions that mould their behave.
Theory X The assumption that employees dislike work, are lazy, dislike responsibility, and must be
coerced to perform.
Theory Y The assumption that employees like work, are creative, seek responsibility, and can exercise
self direction.
32. 4.Two-Factor Theory
Believing an individual’s relationship to work is basic, and that attitude toward work can determine
success or failure, psychologist Frederick Herzberg wondered, “What do people want from their jobs?”
He asked people to describe, in detail, situations in which they felt exceptionally good or bad about their
jobs. The responses differed significantly and led Hertzberg to his two-factor theory—also called
motivation-hygiene theory
33. 5. McClelland’s theory of needs
This theory was developed by David McClelland and his
associates. It looks at three needs:
1. Need for achievement (nAch) is the drive to excel, to achieve in relationship to a set of standards.
2. Need for power (nPow) is the need to make others behave in a way they would not have otherwise.
3. Need for affiliation (nAff) is the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships.
34. Contemporary /Process Theories
1. Self-determination theory
A theory of motivation that is concerned with the beneficial effects of intrinsic motivation and the
harmful effects of extrinsic motivation.
Much research on self-determination theory in OB has focused on cognitive evaluation theory, A
version of self-determination theory which holds that allocating extrinsic rewards for behavior that had
been previously intrinsically rewarding tends to decrease the overall level of motivation if the rewards
are seen as controlling.
2. Goal-Setting Theory
A theory that says that specific and difficult goals, with feedback, lead to higher performance. Goal-
setting theory assumes an individual is committed to the goal and determined not to lower or abandon
it. T
he individual, believes he or she can achieve the goal and wants to achieve it. A more systematic way
to utilize goal-setting is with management by objectives (MBO), which emphasizes participative set
goals that are tangible, verifiable, and measurable
35. 3. Self-Efficacy Theory
An individual’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a task.
The higher your self-efficacy, the more confidence you have in your ability to succeed. So, in
difficult situations, people with low self-efficacy are more likely to lessen their effort or give up
altogether, while those with high self-efficacy will try harder to master the challenge.
4. Reinforcement Theory
A theory that says that behavior is a function of its consequences.
Goal-setting is a cognitive approach, proposing that an individual’s purposes direct his action.
Reinforcement theory, in contrast, takes a behavioristic view, arguing that reinforcement conditions
behavior.
Reinforcement theory ignores the inner state of the individual and concentrates solely on what
happens when he or she takes some action.
36. 5. Equity Theory/Organizational Justice
A theory that says that individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of others and then
respond to eliminate any inequities.
The referent an employee selects adds to the complexity of equity theory. There are four referent
comparisons:
1. Self–inside. An employee’s experiences in a different position inside the employee’s current
organization.
2. Self–outside. An employee’s experiences in a situation or position outside the employee’s current
organization.
3. Other–inside. Another individual or group of individuals inside the employee’s organization.
4. Other–outside. Another individual or group of individuals outside the employee’s organization.
37. Employees might compare themselves to friends, neighbours, co-workers, or colleagues in other
organizations or compare their present job with past jobs. Which referent an employee chooses will
be influenced by the information the employee holds about referents as well as by the attractiveness
of the referent. Four moderating variables are gender, length of tenure, level in the organization, and
amount of education or professionalism
39. 6. Expectancy Theory
A theory that says that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an
expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to
the individual. The theory, therefore, focuses on three relationships
1. Effort–performance relationship. The probability perceived by the individual that exerting a given
amount of effort will lead to performance.
2. Performance–reward relationship. The degree to which the individual believes performing at a
particular level will lead to the attainment of a desired outcome.
3. Rewards–personal goals relationship. The degree to which organizational rewards satisfy an
individual’s personal goals or needs and the attractiveness of those potential rewards for the
individual
