Organizational Behaviour

Saradhika Manjaree
Lecturer
 OB
The Individual The Organization
The Group
- Diversity System
- Group Dynamics
- Attitudes - Culture
- Communication
- Emotions & - Change
moods - Leadership
- Personality & - Power and
Values Politics
- Perceptions
- Motivation

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 The Individual

3. Personality and Values 1-3

 Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter you should be able to:
• Define personality, describe how it is measured, and explain the factors that determine
an individual’s personality
• Describe the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality framework and assess its
strengths and weaknesses
• Identify the key traits in the Big Five personality model
• Demonstrate how the Big Five traits predict behavior at work
• Identify other personality traits relevant to OB
• Define values, demonstrate the importance of values, and contrast terminal and
instrumental values.
• Compare generational differences in values and identify the dominant values in today’s
workforce.

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 Personality

• Personality is a dynamic concept describing the

growth and development of a person’s whole
psychological system;
• It looks at some aggregate whole that is greater
than the sum of the parts

• Defining Personality
• as the sum total of ways in which an
individual reacts to and interacts with others

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 How it is measured
• Managers need to know how to measure
personality and understand that personality
tests are useful in hiring decisions and help
managers forecast who is best for a job
• The most common means of measuring
personality is through self-report surveys
• Observer-ratings surveys provide an independent
assessment of personality

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 factors that determine an individual’s personality
• Heredity refers to those factors that were
determined at conception
• The heredity approach argues that the ultimate
explanation of an individual’s personality is the
molecular structure of the genes, located in the
chromosomes
• Popular characteristics include shy, aggressive,
submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal, and timid. These
are personality traits
• Early efforts to identify the primary traits that
govern behavior often resulted in long lists that
were difficult to generalize from and provided
little practical guidance to organizational
decision makers
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 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
• One of the most widely used personality
frameworks is the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator (MBTI)

• Individuals are classified as:

• Extroverted or introverted (E or I)
• Sensing or intuitive (S or N)
• Thinking or feeling (T or F)
• Perceiving or judging (P or J)

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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Cont…
Extraverted (E) versus Introverted (I)
Extraverted individuals are outgoing, sociable, and assertive
Introverts are quiet and shy
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”
Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F)
Thinking types use reason and logic to handle problems
Feeling types rely on their personal values and emotions
Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P)
Judging types want control and prefer their world to be ordered and structured
Perceiving types are flexible and spontaneous
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 Let’s check your Personality
https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
 Big Five personality model

• Extraversion
• Agreeableness
• Conscientiousness
• Emotional stability
• Openness to experience

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 Big Five personality model
• 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.

• 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.
• 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.
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 Big Five personality model
• 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.

• 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.

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Model of How Big Five Traits Influence OB Criteria

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 Other personality traits relevant to OB

• Core Self-Evaluation (Self-perspective)

• Machiavellianism (Machs)
• Narcissism
• Self-Monitoring
• Risk Taking
• Proactive Personality
• Other-orientation

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 Values
What you appreciate and believe as important.

Represent basic, enduring 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."

• Importance of Values
• Values lay the foundation for the understanding of attitudes and
motivation
• Values generally influence attitudes and behavior
• We can predict reaction based on understanding values
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 Rokeach Value Survey

• Terminal values • Instrumental values

refers to desirable end- refers to preferable
states of existence modes of behavior, or
means of achieving the
Goals that a person terminal values
would like to achieve
during his or her lifetime

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 Examples of Terminal Values
• A comfortable life (a prosperous life)
• An exciting life (stimulating, active life)
• A sense of accomplishment (lasting contribution)
• A world of peace (free of war and conflict)
• A world of beauty (beauty of nature and the arts)
• Equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity for all)
• Family security (taking care of loved ones)
• Freedom (independence, free choice)
• Happiness (contentedness)

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 Examples of Instrumental Values
• Ambitious (hard working, aspiring)
• Broad-minded (open-minded)
• Capable (competent, efficient)
• Cheerful (lighthearted, joyful)
• Clean (neat, tidy)
• Courageous (standing up for your beliefs)
• Forgiving (willing to pardon others)
• Helpful (working for the welfare of others)
• Honest (sincere, truthful)

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Contemporary Work Cohorts

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Linking an Individual’s Personality and Values to the Workplace
1. Person-Job Fit
John Holland’s personality–job fit theory

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1. Person-Job Fit
John Holland’s personality–job fit theory

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 Linking an Individual’s Personality and Values to the Workplace

2. Person-Organization Fit

• It is more important that employees’

personalities fit with the organizational
culture than with the characteristics of any
specific job.
• The fit predicts job satisfaction,
organizational commitment and turnover.

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 Linking an Individual’s Personality and Values to the Workplace

2. Person-Organization Fit Cont.

• People high on extraversion fit well with

aggressive and team-oriented cultures,
• People high on agreeableness match up
better with a supportive organizational
climate than one focused on
aggressiveness,
• People high on openness to experience
fit better in organizations that emphasize
innovation rather than standardization.
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 Summary and Implications for Managers
• Big Five provides a meaningful way for managers to examine personality
• Managers’ keys
• Screening job candidates for high conscientiousness
• Factors such as job demands, the degree of required interaction with
others, and the organization’s culture are examples of situational variables
that moderate the personality–job performance relationship.
• You need to evaluate the job, the work group, and the organization to
determine the optimal personality fit.
• Other traits, such as core self-evaluation or narcissism, may be relevant in
certain situations, too.
• Although the MBTI has been widely criticized, it may have a place in
organizations.
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 Summary and Implications for Managers
• Managers’ keys
• Knowledge of an individual’s value system can provide insight into what makes the
person “tick.”
• Employees’ performance and satisfaction are likely to be higher if their values fit well
with the organization.
• The person who places great importance on imagination, independence, and freedom
is likely to be poorly matched with an organization that seeks conformity from its
employees.
• Managers are more likely to appreciate, evaluate positively, and allocate rewards to
employees who fit in, and employees are more likely to be satisfied if they perceive
they do fit in.
• This argues for management to seek job candidates who have not only the ability,
experience, and motivation to perform but also a value system compatible with the
organization’s.
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 Q&A

Thank You

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