Session 3 of 10

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR Individual Behavior:

Personality
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE?
PERSONALITY
▪ Different perspectives
▪ ‘Social success’ – good, popular..
▪ ‘Single dominant characteristic’ – strong, weak …
▪ ‘per sona’ – person and the role played
▪ Person-situation interaction
PERSONALITY
▪ The dynamic organization within an individual of those
psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to
his environment
- Gordon Allport
▪ “Sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts
with others”
▪ “Enduring characteristics that describe an individuals behavior”
PERSONALITY TRAITS
▪ A genetically determined characteristic
▪ Enduring characteristics – exhibited in a large number of
situations
▪ The more consistent and more frequently it occurs in diverse
situations, the more important that trait is in describing the
individual
PERSONALITY TRAITS
HEREDITY AND PERSONALITY
▪ “He is just like his father” or “She acts exactly like her mother”
▪ “Paul is the way he is because of the way he is raised”
HEREDITY AND PERSONALITY
▪ The most important contribution of our parents – their genes.
▪ Nature vs Nurture debate

Heredity Personality Environment

DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY
▪ Biological contributions
▪ Heredity, left (analytical) and right (artistic) hemisphere of brain, rate of
maturing

▪ Cultural contributions
▪ Contributions from the family
▪ Socialization process
▪ Immediate situational considerations
TRAIT THEORIES
Trait theorists aim to describe personality with a small number of traits or factors
Personality trait—stable quality a person shows across most situations

Gordon Allport and Traits

Cardinal Traits: So basic that all of a person’s activities can be traced back to the trait
Central Traits: Core qualities of a personality
Secondary Traits: Inconsistent or superficial aspects of a person
 THE TRAIT PERSPECTIVE

The “Big Five” Personality Factors:

Five basic dimensions underlie all others
and encompass most of the significant
variation in human personality.
EXTRAVERSION
▪Like to talk and socialize.
▪High-energy and action-oriented individuals who like to say “Yes”
to exciting opportunities.
▪Assert themselves and like to draw attention to themselves
whenever possible.
▪Low extraverted people (introverts) tend to be quiet and enjoy
their own company.
▪Unfortunately, their lack of social involvement is sometimes
misperceived as their being shy or depressed.
SCENARIO:
OPENNESS
▪Intellectually curious, appreciation for art, and tend to be imaginative and
creative.
▪They tend to be more aware of their feelings.
▪Highly individualistic and unconventional.
▪They enjoy being unique.
▪People with low scores on openness tend to have narrow and common interests.
▪They like what others like. They tend to prefer what’s familiar rather than
what’s novel or unique.
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
▪Goal-driven, they develop plans and work hard to achieve their goals.
▪They are perceived to be intelligent and dependable.
▪They “walk the talk”, meaning that they do what they say they will do.
▪They can also be compulsive perfectionists and workaholics. Some might
perceive them to be stuffy and boring.
▪People who are not conscientious are perceived to be unreliable, lazy, and
living for the moment.
X-Factor

The ability to set goals and then craft a

plan of action to achieve these goals.
 Self-discipline/
ORDERLINESS

Dependency
& Entitlement
AGREEABLENESS
▪Positive, get along with others and are considerate, friendly, generous, and
willing to extend a helping hand when needed.
▪Disagreeable individuals tend to be selfish and to be unconcerned about other
people.
▪Agreeable people tend to be more popular.
▪Others are attached to agreeable people and tend to avoid disagreeable
people.
TOO AGREEABLE?
NEUROTICISM
▪They experience feelings of anxiety, anger, and depression.
▪They are emotionally reactive, and their emotional reactions are usually intense.
▪Highly neurotic individuals tend to perceive ordinary situations as threatening
and have little patience.
▪They have a negative attentional focus, which means that they tend to focus on
the negative and overlook the positive aspects in their environment.
▪Conversely, low neurotic individuals are less easily upset and are less
emotionally reactive.
▪They tend to be calm and emotionally stable.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THEM?
STUCK IN TRAFFIC?
SCENARIO
You get 10 calls by tele callers asking you if you invest in stock market
or to sell you some product. You are in an important meeting and each
time the call comes from a different mobile number.
BIG FIVE PERSONALITY MODEL
BIG FIVE PERSONALITY MODEL
CORE SELF EVALUATIONS
Individual’s subconscious, fundamental evaluations about themselves,
their own abilities and their own control and worth
▪ Locus of control

▪ Neuroticism

▪ Generalized self-efficacy

▪ Self-esteem

▪ Self-efficacy
DARK TRIAD
Socially undesirable and negative traits
▪ Machiavellianism

▪ Narcissism

▪ Psychopathy
MACHIAVELLIANISM
Trait which sees a person so focused on their own interests that they
will manipulate, deceive, and exploit others to achieve their goals
Pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes ends can
justify means
NARCISSISM
Extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one’s own talents and
craving for admiration
Charismatic and more likely to emerge as leaders but selfish and
exploitative
PSYCHOPATHY
The tendency for a lack of concern for others and a lack of guilt or
remorse when their actions cause harm
SELF MONITORING
Person’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external situational
factors
High self-monitors are sensitive to external cues and tend to behave
differently in different situations
Flexible and good at responding to contingencies
PROACTIVE PERSONALITY
Disposition that identifies whether or not individuals act to influence
their environment
Identifies opportunities, shows initiative, change agents
TYPE A/ TYPE B ORIENTATION
Type A: characterized by impatience, desire for achievement, and
a more competitive nature; fast abrupt, irritable, aggressive
Type B: characterized by an easy going and less competitive
nature; creative, reflective.
MEYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR
▪ Well researched classification on personalities
▪ Most widely used personality assessment instrument
▪ Well suited to understand yourself and others
▪ Based on research of C.G. Jung – theory of psychological types
THEORY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES
▪ Existence of two dichotomous pairs of cognitive functions:
▪ “rational” (judging) functions: thinking and feeling
▪ “irrational” (perceiving) functions: sensation and intuition

▪ Each of these functions are expressed in either an introverted or

extraverted form
CAUTION !!
▪ The terms used for each dichotomy have specific technical
meanings relating to the MBTI which differ from their everyday
usage
▪ Type not Trait
▪ Measure of preference not ability
▪ No right or wrong
▪ Not for selection
MBTI DIMENSIONS
▪ Extravert vs Introvert
▪ How do you recharge your batteries?

▪ iNtuition vs Sensing
▪ How do you perceive your environment?

▪ Think vs Feel
▪ On what do you base your decisions?

▪ Judge vs Perceive
▪ What is your preferred interaction mode?
SEC D
MBTI DIMENSIONS:
WHERE YOU DRAW ENERGY FROM

Extravert Introvert
Sociable Private
Broad interests Depth & profoundness
Energized by others Intrinsic energy
Active & expressive Reflective & Calm
Speaker Listener
Change the world Understand the world
MBTI DIMENSIONS
HOW YOU PERCEIVE INFORMATION

iNtuition Sensing
Intuition Experience
Future Present
Possibilities Facts
Overview Details
Imagination Reality
6th Sense 5 Senses
MBTI DIMENSIONS
WHAT IS THE BASIS OF YOUR DECISION MAKING

Think Feel
Objective Subjective
Logic Feeling
Intellect Heart
Basic principles Social values
Factual dry Personal & emotional
Analysis Sympathy
Head Gut feeling
MBTI DIMENSIONS
YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE OUTER WORLD

Judge Perceive
Goal oriented Process oriented
Well ordered & structured Flexible & spontaneous
Planning Adjustment
Tidiness Creative chaos
Make decisions Defers decisions
Final Temporary
MBTI DIMENSIONS
▪ A personality type is identified by 4 characters e.g. ENTJ, INFP,
etc.
▪ 16 possible personality types
▪ Four temperaments that dominates:
▪ xSxP: Artisans
▪ xSxJ: Guardians
▪ xNTx: Rationals
▪ xNFx: Idealists

Source: D.M. Keirsey, http://keirsey.com

XSXP – ARTISANS (35-40%)
▪ Highly skilled in tactical variation
▪ Concrete in communicating
▪ Utilitarian in implementing goals
▪ Famous: Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor

Source: D.M. Keirsey, http://keirsey.com

XSXJ – GUARDIANS (40-45%)
▪ Highly skilled in logistics
▪ Concrete in communicating
▪ Cooperative in implementing goals
▪ Famous: Colin Powell, G. Washington

Source: D.M. Keirsey, http://keirsey.com

XNTX – RATIONALS (5-7%)
▪ Highly skilled in strategic analysis
▪ Abstract in communicating
▪ Utilitarian in implementing goals
▪ Famous: Albert Einstein, Bill Gates

Source: D.M. Keirsey, http://keirsey.com

XNFX – IDEALISTS (8-10%)
▪ Highly skilled in diplomatic integration
▪ Abstract communicators
▪ Cooperative in implementing goals
▪ Famous: Mahatma Gandhi

Source: D.M. Keirsey, http://keirsey.com

MBTI - CRITICISM
▪ Forces a person into one type or another
▪ There is no in-between; in reality people can be both
JUST THINK….
Should you try to change someone’s personality?
PERSON-JOB FIT
▪ Personality-Job Fit theory by John Holland
▪ Identifies six personality types and proposes that the fit between
personality type and occupational environment determines
satisfaction and turnover
PERSON-JOB FIT
PERSON-JOB FIT
PERSON-ORGANIZATION FIT
▪ Employees’ personalities fit with the overall organization’s culture
than with the characteristics of any specific job
MANAGERS AND TRAITS
▪No single trait is right or wrong for being an effective manager.
▪Effectiveness is determined by a complex interaction between the
characteristics of managers and the nature of the job and
organization in which they are working.
▪Personality traits that enhance managerial effectiveness in one
situation may actually impair it in another.

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WHY SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS TEST PERSONALITY?

▪Personality predicts aspects of job performance that may not be

strongly related to knowledge, skills or abilities.

▪Predicts what a person will do, as opposed to what they can do.
 RESEARCH SAYS
Big 5 is related with
ORGANIZATIONAL Values

BEHAVIOR
ASSUMPTIONS
▪ Built-in beliefs, values and attitudes by which we live our lives
▪ Our conception of ourselves and the world
▪ How things are and how they ought to be
BELIEFS
▪ Most basic of assumptions
▪ Ideas about the universe in general
▪ May not necessarily be based on logics or facts – an idea that a
person holds as being true
▪ Underlying understanding of the relationship with the
environment
▪ Act as a frame of reference through which we interpret our
world
▪ It is true for you, takes past, present and unconscious
VALUES
▪ Stable long-lasting beliefs about what is important to a person
▪ Enduring belief that a specific mode of construct or end-state of
existence is personally or socially preferable; evaluative in
nature
▪ Deeply held normative principles; standards/qualities people
hold in high regard
▪ Basic (Schwartz), Instrumental and Terminal values (Rokeach’s)
▪ Important for you
TERMINAL & INSTRUMENTAL VALUES

Cohort Entered the Approximate Dominant Work Values

Workforce Current Age
Boomers 1965–1985 Mid-40s to mid- Success, achievement, ambition,
60s dislike of authority; loyalty to
career
Xers 1985–2000 Late 20s to Work/life balance, team-
early 40s oriented,
dislike of rules; loyalty to
relationships
Nexters 2000 to Under 30 Confident, financial success, self-
present reliant
but team-oriented; loyalty
to both self and relationships
TERMINAL VALUES
INSTRUMENTAL VALUES
Thank you