Personality and attitudes: Meaning of personality, personality determinants and traits, development of personality, types of

attitudes, job satisfaction.

Meaning of personality: A set of qualities that make a person distinct from another, an assumed role or manner of behaviour.
There is controversy about the meaning of personality. Few definitions of personality are given below:

Gordon Allport –Personality is the dynamic organisation of those psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment of
his environment.

According to Floyd L. Ruch- Personality includes external appearance and behaviour, inner awareness of self as a permanent
organising force and the particular pattern or organisation of measurable traits, both inner and outer

According to Fred Luthans – Personality means how a person affects others and how he understands and views himself as well as
the pattern of inner and outer measurable traits and person-situation interaction.

Freud described the structure of personality as composed of three elements the Id, ego and super ego.

Taking all the aspects together, personality represents the sum total of several attributes which manifest themselves in an
individual, the ability of individual to organise and integrate all the qualities so as to give meaning to life and the uniqueness of
the situation which influences behaviour of an individual.

Personality determinants and traits-

Personality determinants-

There are two primary personality determinants, heredity and environment. Heredity and environment jointly influence the
individual’s personality development.

Heredity

Culture

Family
Environment Personality
Social

Situational

Heredity is generally more important in determining a person’s temperament than his values and ideals. According to S. P. Robbins
the heredity approach argues that the ultimate explanation of individual’s personality is the molecular structure located in the
chromosomes.

Three different streams of research lend some creditability to the argument that heredity plays a vital role in determining
personality.
 The first looks at the genetic underpinning of human behaviour and temperament among young children.
 The second addresses the study of twins who were separated at birth.
 The third examines the consistency in job satisfaction over time and across situation.

The personality traits are not completely dictated by heredity, environment also plays a significant role in the development of
personality. Environment comprises of culture, family, social and situational factors.
 Culture - Culture is defined by Hoebel as ‘the sum of total of learned behaviour traits which are manifested and shared
by the members of the society’. Common cultural behaviour in a cultural group. Although culture influences personality
development but a linear relationship cannot be established between culture and personality.
 Family – The influence of family on the behaviour of a person depends on the factors like Demographic level, Family size,
Race, Religion, Birth order, Behaviour of parents, Family environment.
 Social – Social groups include School and College mates, Friends, Colleagues, Club members, etc. the group to which an
individual belongs influences behaviour of an individual a lot. A man is known as by the company he keeps.
 Situational factors – Milgram states that ‘A situation exerts an important press on the individual. It exercises constraints
and may provide push. In certain circumstances, it is not so much the kind of person a man is, as the kind of situation in
which he is placed that determines his action’.
Development of personality-

There are four major approaches to Personality development theories which try to explain the formation and development of
personality. These are Trait approach, Psychoanalytic approach, Humanistic approach and Integrative approach.

Theories under Trait approach –

Traits are psychological characteristics of human being. A trait is distinguishing relatively enduring way in which one individual
differs from another.

Raymond Cattle theory - Cattle has identified two categories of traits, namely surface traits and source traits. He determined 35
surface traits (like being shy, quiet, disliking crowd, etc.), which lie on the surface of personality and are largely determined by
underlying source traits (like introversion). A set of surface traits combine to form a single trait. Generally accepted sixteen ‘Two
dimensional’ source traits or primary traits identified by him are: -

Sixteen Primary Traits

Main Opposite Main Opposite
1. Reserved Outgoing 9. Trusting Suspicious
1. Less intelligent More intelligent 10. Practical Imaginative
2. Affected by Emotionally stable 11. Forthright Shrewd
3. Submissive Dominant 12. Self-assured Apprehensive
4. Serious Happy-go-lucky 13. Conservative Experimenting
5. Expedient Conscientious 14. Group-dependent Self-sufficient
6. Timid Venturesome 15. Uncontrolled Controlled
7. Tough-minded Sensitive 16. Relaxed Tense

Gordon Allport theory – According to Allport personality traits are real entities, physically located somewhere in the brain. We
each inherit our own unique set of traits, which are then shaped by our experience. Allport identified two categories of traits
Common traits (those we share and hold in common with most others in our own culture) and Individual traits (which are unique
in one’s life and a strong part of a person’s personality). Allport classified people on the basis of six categories of values (i)
theoretical, (ii) economic (iii) aesthetic (iv) social (v) political (vi) religious. Beside these common traits he identified some unique
traits (personal disposition) which are cardinal (pervasive), central (unique and limited in number) and secondary (peripheral).
Secondary traits are situation specific, emerges under certain conditions. Allport emphasised on personal dispositions. Example
of cardinal trait – Lincon’s honesty, Einstein’s intelligence, Mother Teresa’s charitableness and corresponding Central traits are
honest, intelligent, kind.

Five factors model / The Big Five Personality Model – The model was developed by Paul Costa and Robert McCare. An impressive
body of research supports its thesis that five basic dimensions underlie all others and encompass most of the significant variation
in human personality. The Big Five factors are
 Extraversion. Extraverts tend to be gregarious, assertive and sociable. Introverts tend to be reserved, timid and quiet.
 Agreeableness. Highly agreeable people are co-operative, warm and trusting. People who score low on
agreeableness are cold, disagreeable and antagonistic.
 Conscientiousness. Highly conscientious person is responsible. Organized, dependable and persistent. Those who
score low are easily distracted, disorganized and unreliable.
 Neuroticism / Emotional Stability. People with positive emotional stability tend to be clam, self-confident and secure.
Those with high negative score tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed and insecure.
 Openness to experience. Extremely open people are creative, curious and artistically sensitive. Those at the other
end are conventional and find comfort with familiarity.
Other Personality Traits relevant to OB are: -
 Core Self-Evaluation- People differ in the degree to which they like or dislike themselves and whether they see themselves
as capable and effective. This self –perspective is the competence core self-evaluation.
 Self-Monitoring – Refers to an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behaviour to external, situational factors.
 Type A Personality and Type B Personality– Type A people are restless and impatient. They are always moving, walking,
eating rapidly, impatient with desire for quick achievement and strives to think or do two or more things at once. Type B
people are much-more easy going, relaxed about time pressure, less competitive and more philosophical.
 Proactive Personality – People with proactive personality identify opportunities, show initiative, take action and
persevere until meaningful changes occur. They create positive changes in environment, regardless of or even in spite of
constraints or obstacles.
Theories under Psychoanalytic approach-

Sigmund Freud’s theory – According to Freud a person is motivated more by unseen forces than by conscious and rational
thoughts. A person’s behaviour is governed by three conflicting psychoanalytic factors Id, the Ego and the Super Ego.

Id is the foundation of unconscious behaviour. It is the source of psychic energy and seeks immediate satisfaction of intrinsic
needs. It has animalistic instincts of aggression, power and domination.

Ego is associated with realities of life. As Id is unconscious part of personality, Ego is conscious and logical part, because it is
concerned about realities of external environment. Ego controls Id so that, pleasure demanded unconsciously by human beings
are granted at an appropriate time and place and in appropriate manner.

Super Ego is higher level force to restrain Id and described as the conscience of a person.

Erickson’s theory – Unlike Freud, Erickson gave more importance to social factors. As per him, we pass through eight stages of
development as we grow from childhood to adulthood and at each stage, we face trauma of resolving certain critical conflicts,
which are:

Erickson’s eight stages of personality development

Stage Period Stage of being Contradictory impulse
1st Infancy-during first year of life after birth Basic Trust Basic Mistrust
nd
2 Early childhood- 2nd and 3rd year of life Autonomy Shame and doubt
rd
3 Play age- a child of 4 / 5 years Initiative Guilt
4th School stage- 6 to 12 years Industry Inferiority
5th Adolescence- teenage years Identity Role confusion
6th Early adulthood- Intimacy Isolation
7th Adulthood- Generativity Stagnation
th
8 Mature adulthood Ego integrity Despair

Chris Argyris- According to Argyris a human personality rather than going through precise stages, progresses along a continuum
from immaturity as an infant to maturity as an adult’. At any age people can have their degree of development plotted according
to the seven dimensions as follows:

Argyris Immaturity-Maturity Continuum

Immaturity characteristics Maturity characteristics
Passivity Activity
Dependence Independence
Few ways of behaving Diverse behaviour
Shallow interests Deep interests
Short-time perspectives Long-time perspectives
Sub-ordinate position Super ordinate position
Lack of self-awareness Self-awareness and control
However, Argyris’s assumption that all men in organisation are mature does not hold good always in practice. Again, mature
people continue with the organisation in spite of all aberrations in their personality.

Carl Jung- Jung proposed that there is a collective unconsciousness that exists in a personality which is deeper and includes the
cumulative experiences of all the past generations. Though some personality traits cannot be explained rationally, this theory is a
far out one.

Mirroring is the behaviour in which one person subconsciously imitates the gesture, speech pattern, or attitude of another.
Mirroring often occurs in social situations, particularly in the company of close friends or family. The concept often affects other
individual's notions about the individual that is exhibiting mirroring behaviors, which can lead to the individual
building rapport with others.
Mirroring is the subconscious replication of another person's nonverbal signals. This concept takes place in everyday interactions,
and often goes unnoticed by both the person enacting the mirroring behaviors as well as the individual who is being mirrored.
Mirroring is distinct from imitation under the premise that while imitation is a conscious and overt effort to copy another person,
mirroring is often covert and goes unnoticed within the situation.
The display of mirroring often begins as early as infancy, as babies begin to mimic individuals around them and establish
connections with particular body movements. The infant continues to establish connections with other individual's emotions and
subsequently mirror their movements.
Mirroring can establish rapport with the individual who is being mirrored, as the similarities in nonverbal gestures allow the
individual to feel more connected with the person exhibiting the mirrored behavior. As the two individuals in the situation display
similar nonverbal gestures, they may believe that they share similar attitude.
Theory under Humanistic approach (Self Theory)-

Carl Roger- Most important contribution in self-theory comes from Roger. He has defined self-concept as an organised, consistent,
conceptual gestalt composed of perceptions of “I” or “Me”. Relationship of “Me” with others and to various aspects of life has
been analysed by Roger. There are four factors of self-concept

I) Self-image- the way one sees himself

II) Ideal self- the way one would like to be
III) Looking glass self- the way one thinks people perceive about him and the way people actually see him.
IV) Real self- real self is what one really is.
The first three factors of self-concept are the perceptions and they may be same or different as the real self.

Integrative approach-

Recently researchers have taken a broader and more integrated approach to study of personality. They have devised the broad
theory that describes personality as a composite of an individual’s psychological process called ‘personality disposition’ which
includes emotions, cognitions, attitudes, experiences and fantasies. Disposition in this approach simply means the tendencies of
individuals to respond to situations in consistent ways. Even though the dispositions are influenced by genetics and experiences,
they can be modified. The integrative approach focuses on both person and situational variable as combined predictors of
behaviour. Attention, attitude, emotion, fantasies also play a pivotal role. Interaction between individual, their environment, and
their thoughts contribute to their personality and behaviour.

Fleeson and Jayawickmere developed Whole Trait theory. The theory is based on integration of traits and social cognitive
approaches of personality.

Social cognitive perspective of personality emphasises on observational learning, self-efficiency, situational influence. According
to this approach personality is shaped by observation, imitation and modelling. Cognitive factors such as

Other Personality Attributes -

 Authoritarianism - The concept refers to the belief that there should be status and power differences among people in
the organisation. Authoritarians tend to place high moral value on their beliefs and are strongly oriented towards
conformity to rules and regulations, stable and structured work environment.
 Bureaucratic personality – Bureaucratic person respects organisational rules and regulations. He is different from
authoritarian person in respect of his acceptance of authority is not total and blind. A bureaucratic person values
subordination, impersonal and formal relationships.

 Machiavellianism – Machiavellianism is the term associated with Niccolò Machiavelli, a sixteenth century author, who
identified personality profiles of noble men of the day. Personality traits of Machiavellianism is known as a Mach,
characterised by interpersonal manipulation and associate with specific pattern of emotional and social cognition skill.
Highly Mach people believes in manipulating others purely for personal gains and keeping control of others. They have
high self-confidence and high self-esteem. They are cool and calculative and have no hesitation in using others / taking
advantage of others in order to serve their own goals. They do not feel guilty in using unethical means for their own
interests. They are skilled in influencing others, face the situations thoughtfully and logically.

 Introversion and extroversion – Extroverts are social and introverts are shy and quiet. Extroverts are more suitable for
positions, that requires considerable interaction with others and that is why managerial positions are dominated by
extroverts. Introverts excel in thoughtful jobs which require analytical skill.

 Problem solving type - Problem solving people have their own style of solving problems and making decisions. This style
affects their personality. There four problem solving styles

i. Sensation Feeling Style - People of sensation feeling style are dependable, friendly, social, they approach facts with human
concerns. They are pragmatic, methodical, like jobs-which involves human contacts and public relations.
ii. Sensation Thinking Style – People of sensation thinking style are practical, logical, decisive, and sensitive to details. These
people are more skilled in technical jobs.
iii. Intuition Feeling Style – People of this category are enthusiastic, people oriented, charismatic and helpful.
iv. Intuition Thinking Style – These people are creative, energetic, ingenious and like jobs which are challenging in terms of
design, law, research and development, top level management.
Personality Testing –
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) – MBTI is the most widely used personality measurement tool. It is a 100 questions
personality test that asks people how they usually feel or act in particular situation. On the basis of their answers, individuals are
classified as extravert or introvert (E or I), sensing or intuitive (S or N), thinking or feeling (T or F) and judging or perceiving (J or P).
These classifications together describe 16 personality types. For example, INTJs are visionaries. They usually have original minds
and great drive for their own ideas and purposes. They are sceptical, critical, independent, determined and often stubborn.
 Attitude

Types of attitudes-
Attitude is evaluations one makes about something (object, idea, place and other people) and behaves in a particular way towards
that thing. It is a state of mind of an individual towards something. By attitude we mean the beliefs, feelings and action of an
individual or group of individuals towards objects, ideas and people.
It may be defined as a tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards objects, people, events.

In the words of Hogg and Vaughan - ‘An attitude is a relatively enduring organisation of beliefs, feelings, and behavioural
tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups or symbols.’

According to G. W. Allport - ‘Attitude is a mental and neutral state of readiness, organised through experience, exerting a directive
or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to all objects and situations with which it is related.’

According to Kerch and Crutchfield - ‘Attitude is an enduring organisation of motivational, emotional, perceptual and cognitive
process with respect to some aspect of the individual’s world.’

In an organisation, attitudes are important because they affect job behaviour.

Traditionally behavioural scientists have classified attitudes into two groups

Cognitive - Beliefs or expectations about cause-and-effect relationship between events, e.g. Employees’ belief that superior job
performance would be rewarded by praise from boss.

Evaluative - Degree to which one likes or dislikes e.g., Degree of employees’ liking or disliking the praise.

Attitude consists of three components- Cognitive, Affective and Behavioural.

Cognitive component indicates the opinions, values, beliefs of a person about something. E.g. Mr. X believes taking or giving bribe
is wrong.

Affective component refers to feelings of a person towards something. E.g. Mr. X dislikes Mr. Y, who takes bribe.

Behavioural component indicates the intention of the person to behave in a particular manner. E.g. Mr. X may decide to avoid Mr.
Y.

Attitudes can also be classified according to response in three types - Spectator with neutral attitude, Critics with negative attitude
and Players with positive attitudes.

OB is concerned with work related attitudes and behaviour. There are primarily three types of work-related attitudes, which
significantly influence performance of an organisation.

1. Job Satisfaction- it is individual’s cognitive, effective and evaluative reactions towards their jobs.
2. Job Involvement – It includes the extent an individual identifies himself with the job, and whether the outcome of his
work is attached to self-worth.
3. Organisational Commitment – Organisational commitment explains how people feel about their organisation. How much
they are involved with the organisation. The extent they identify themselves with the organisation and unwilling to
dissociate.

Job satisfaction-
Job satisfaction refers to the general attitude of an individual towards his job. A person who is highly satisfied with his job, will
have a positive attitude towards his job, will always be punctual, absenteeism will be minimum, performance will be high, attitude
towards his co-worker and superior will be positive. While on the other hand a person dissatisfied with his job will have negative
attitude towards his job. In case of a person dissatisfied, he will be late in attendance, will absent more, performance will be poor
and he will not behave nice with his peer and boss. From the organisation point of view high level of job satisfaction is favourable
to the organisation and it result in attracting and retaining better workers.
Job satisfaction is dependent on-
 Organisational factors like better salary/wages, company policies, opportunities for promotion, etc.
 Work environment factors like working conditions, supervisory style (friendly), group size (small size helps to build
interpersonal relationships).
 Work related factors like job scope (degree of responsibility and authority involved), variety (moderate amount of variety
is most effective).
 Personal factors like attitudes, age, experience, etc have considerable influence on job satisfaction.