HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN

ORGANIZATION
MODULE 3: PERSONALITY, ABILITY, ATTITUDES
AND VALUES

∙ Personality in the workplace.

∙ The Big Five Personality traits and the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator in the work setting.
∙ Other personality traits in the workplace.
∙ Types of abilities that are used to categorized performers in the
organization.
∙ Attitudes, its formation and how to change it.
∙ Two important attitudes in the workplace.
∙ Terminal from instrumental values.
∙ Different values found across culture.
 PERSONALITY AT
WORK
• Personality encompasses the relatively
stable feelings, thoughts and
behavioral patterns that have been
formed significantly by genetic and
environmental factors which give an
individual his identity. Having this
knowledge is also practical for placing
people in the right jobs and
organizations.
• Heredity is not the only factor that
influenced personality. Personality is
affected heavily too by nurture. Nurture
consists of the person's socialization,
life experiences and other forms of
interaction in the environment.
BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS
Traits are recurring regularities or trends in people's responses to
their environment. This has been called the "Big Give" personality
traits with acronym of CANOE. Each of the five traits is described
below:
1. Conscientiousness - it refers you number of goals on which a
person focuses. Conscientiousness is the one personality trait
that consistently predicts how high a person's job performance
will be, across a variety of occupation and jobs.
- In fact, conscientiousness is the trait most valued by organizations.
It appears that conscientiousness is a good trait to possess for
entrepreneurs.
2. Agreeableness - it is the person's ability to get along with others.
Agreeableness causes a person to be nice, tolerant, sensitive, trusting,
kind and warm. It helps people to work consistently.
3. Neuroticism - it refers to the degree to which a person is anxious,
irritable, aggressive, temperamental and moody. These people are
likely to have emotional adjustment problems and experience stress
and depression on habitual basis. Being high in neuroticism seems to
be harm to one's career, as they have lower levels of career success.
4. Openness - it mirrors a person's rigidity of beliefs and range of
interests. People with high levels of openness are also flexible and
willing to learn new things. Compared to people low in openness, they
are also more likely to start their own business.
5. Extraversion - it reflects an individual's comfort level with relationships.
Extroverts tend to be outgoing, talkative and sociable. They are likely to
be a valuable as managers and they show inspirational leadership
behaviors.
 MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR

Aside from the Big Five Personality traits, possibly the most well
known and most often used personality assessment is the Myers-
Briggs Type Indicator ( MBTI ). Unlike the Big Five, which appraises
traits, MBTI measures types. Assessments of the Big Five do not
categorize people as neurotic or extrovert which are all a matter of
degrees. MBTI on the other hand, classifies people as one of 16
type. In MBTI, people are grouped using four dimensions.
Through MBTI, 16 types of personalities could be created by combining
the four different scales below:
1. Extraversion (E) - Introversion (I): The extraversion-introversion
dichotomy is a way to describe how people respond and interact with
the world around them. All people exhibit extraversion and
introversion to some extent but most tend have a general liking for
one or the other.
2. Sensing (S) - Intuition (N): This scale engages in looking at how
people collect information from the world around them. All people
expend some time sensing and intuiting depending on the situation.
3. Thinking (T) - Feeling (F): This scale concentrates on how people
formulate decisions depending on the information that they
collected from their sensing or intuition functions. People who
desire thinking set a greater accent on facts and objective data.
Those who prefer feeling are more expected to consider people
and emotions.
4. Judging (J) - Perceiving (P): The final scale involves how people
deal with the outside world. Those who lean to judging favor
structure and from decisions. People who lean to perceiving are
more open, flexible and adaptable. These two tendencies interact
with the other scales. The judging-perceiving scale aids illustrate
whether a person is an extravert when taking in new information
(sensing and intuiting) or when he is making decisions.
 OTHER PERSONALITY TRAITS IN THE
WORKPLACE
1. Proactive Personality - means a person's preference to fix what
is supposed as erroneous, change the status quo and apply
initiative to solve problems.
2. Machiavellianism - describes behavior directed towards
attaining power and controlling the behavior of other people.
3. Risk Propensity- is the degree of willingness of a person to take
chances and create risky decisions.
4. Creativity - involves the ability to break away from the habit-
bound way of thinking and generate novel and useful ideas.
 ABILITY
▪ Ability is a person's talent to
perform a mental or physical
task. It includes both the natural
aptitudes and the learned
capabilities needed to
productively finish a task.
▪ Aptitudes are the natural talents
that aid employees in learning
specific task more speedily and
execute them better.
▪ Learned Capabilities are the
skills and knowledge that a
person currently has.
The following abilities have been discovered to help differentiate
between higher and lower performers in the workplace:

MENTAL ABILITY

•Mental Ability also known as intelligence is a better predictor of

training proficiency and job success when selecting candidates for a
position.
•Mental Ability is the acquisition and application of knowledge in
solving problems.
There are several types of mental abilities namely:

1. Verbal Ability - This is the ability to understand and express oral

and written communication quickly and accurately.

There are two abilities under verbal ability:

• Oral Comprehension - is the ability to understand spoken words

and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - is the ability to understand written words
and sentences.
2. Quantitative Ability - it refers to the two types of mathematical
abilities.

There are two abilities under quantitative abilities:

• Numerical aptitude - is the ability to perform basic mathematical
operations quickly and accurately.
• Numerical reasoning - is the ability to analyze logical relationships
and to recognize the underlying principles underlying them.
3. Reasoning Ability - this is the ability to analyze information so as to
make valid judgments on the basis of insights, rules and logic.

There are four abilities under reasoning ability:

• Problem Sensitivity - is the ability to sense that there is a problem at a
present or likely to be one in the future.
• Deductive Reasoning - is the ability to draw a conclusion or make a
choice that logically follows from existing assumptions and data.
• Inductive Reasoning - is the ability to identify after observing specific
cases or instances the general rules that govern a process or that explain
an outcome.
• Originality - is the ability to develop clever and novel ways to solve
problems.
4. Spatial Ability - this is the ability linked to visual and mental
representation and manipulation of objects in space. It has two
types to be precise spatial orientation and visualization.

• Spatial Orientation - is having good understanding of where one is

relative to others things in the environment.
• Visualization - is the ability to imagine three-dimensional forms in
space and to be able to manipulate them mentally.
5. Perceptual Ability - it is the ability to perceive, understand and
recall patterns of information. Under this ability are:

• Speed and flexibility closure - is the ability to pick out a pattern of

information quickly in the presence of distracting information, even
without all the information present.
• Perceptual speed - is the ability to examine and compare
numbers, letters and objects quickly.
 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

• Another important kind of intelligence that can often play

a significant role in behavior in organizations is known as
emotional intelligence (EI).
• Emotional Intelligence is the handling of relationships and
interactions with others.
It has four basic components namely:

1. the ability to recognize and regulate our own emotions (e.g. to hold
our temper in check)
2. the ability to recognize and influence others' emotions(e.g. the
ability to make them enthusiastic about our ideas)
3. self-motivation (the ability to motivate oneself to work long hours
and resist the temptation to give up)
4. the ability to form effective long-term relationship with others.
However, extensive research on EI suggests that a more appropriate
model of this kind of intelligence includes the following factors instead:

1. Appraisal and expression of emotions in oneself- An individual's ability

to understand his or her own emotions and to express these naturally.
2. Appraisal and recognition of emotions in others- the ability to perceive
and understand others' emotions.
3. Regulation of emotions in oneself- the ability to regulate one's own
emotions.
4. Use of emotions to facilitate performance- the ability to use emotions
by affecting them toward constructive activities and improved
performance.
 TACIT KNOWLEDGE

Tacit Knowledge also called informal knowledge is the unwritten,

unspoken and hidden vast storehouse of work-related practical know-
how that employees acquire based on his or her emotions,
experiences, insights, intuition, observation and internalized
information.
Here are some examples of tacit knowledge critical to business that
is difficult to write down, visualize and teach:

1. How to speak a language - it is really complicated to write down

the rules of a language. Learning a specific language involves
immersion or using the language for long period of time.
2. Innovation - is an indescribable skill. Some individual exert great
effort with innovation for many decades with modest success.
3. Leadership - it is difficult to teach a complex social skill like
leadership. There is no real process or training that can be
assured to make a leader. Leadership widens from experience.
4. Aesthetic sense - it explains why art and culture is so much
engaging. Aesthetic sense is embedded in an individual's world
view. It can be refined but not taught.
5. Sales - is another difficult social skill that is quite tricky to teach.
Great salespeople are normally described as "naturals"
because it' is not easy to transfer the skill to others.
6. Body Language - is extremely significant to communication.
However, it is complex to teach.
7. Intuition - is the ability to comprehend things with no
application of logic. It is vital to innovation and decision making.
8. Humor - it is not always likely to make clear why something is
funny. It is hard to teach a sense of humor. For instance, humor
needs an exacting timing which is considered intuitive.

9. Snowboarding - Tasks that necessitate physical coordination

like riding a snowboard or bicycle are regarded as tacit
knowledge.

10. Emotional Intelligence - is the ability to read and use emotions

to influence results. It is difficult to teach is express.
PHYSICAL ABILITY
Physical Ability is performing job-related tasks requiring manual
labor or physical skill.
Here are few important types of physical abilities:
1. Strength - it refers to the degree to which the body is capable of
exerting force.
There are several types of strength according to the job:
a. Static Strength - it refers to the ability to lift, push or pull heavy
objects using hands, arms, legs, shoulders or back.
For example:
People need to lift objects such as boxes, equipment, machine
parts and heavy tools.
b. Explosive Strength - it refers to the ability to exert short bursts
of energy to move the body or an object.
For example:
Employees who are required to run, jump, or throw things at work
must have this ability.
c. Dynamic Strength - it is the ability to exert force for a prolonged
period of time without becoming overly fatigued and giving out.
For example:
It is need for jobs that need employees to climb, ropes or ladders
or pull themselves up onto platforms.
2. Stamina - it refers to the ability of the person's lungs and circulatory
system to work efficiently while he is engaging in prolonged physical
activity. It is important for jobs requiring running, swimming and
climbing like athletes, dancers, commercial divers and firefighters.
Flexibility and Coordination
• Flexibility - means the ability to twist, stretch, bend or reach.
• Coordination - is the quality of physical movement.

a. Dynamic flexibility - is needed for a job that is repeated and

somewhat quick bends, twists or reaches such as a house painter on
a ladder attempting to pain some trim just barely within reach.
The athletes, dancers, riggers, industrial machinery mechanics,
choreographers, commercial divers and structural oil and steel workers
need this ability.
b. Gross Body Coordination - it is the ability to synchronize the
movements of the body, arms and legs to do something while the
body is in motion.
c. Gross Body Equilibrium - it is the ability to maintain the balance
of the body in unstable contexts or when the person has to
change direction like jumping rope and walking on a beam
balance.

3. Psychomotor Ability - it means the capability to manipulate and

control objects.
a. Fine manipulative ability - this is the ability to keep the arms
and hands steady while using the and to do precise work,
generally on small or delicate objects like arteries, nerves, gems
and watches.
b. Control movement ability - this is the ability to make precise
adjustments using machinery to complete work effectively like
anyone who drill things for a living whether wood, concrete or teeth.
c. Response orientation - this is the ability to choose the right action
swiftly in response to several different signals.
d. Response time - this is the ability that reflects how quickly a
person responds to signaling information after it happens.

4. Sensory ability - it is the capability related with vision and hearing.

a. Near and far vision - it is the ability to see details of an object up
close or at a distance.
b. Night vision - it is the ability to see things in low light.
c. Visual Color discrimination - it is the ability to detect differences
in colors and shades.
d. Depth perception - it is the ability to judge relative distances.
e. Hearing sensitivity - it is the ability to hear differences in sounds
that vary in terms of pitch and loudness.
f. Auditory attention - it is the ability to focus on a source of sound
in the presence of other sources.
g. Speech recognition - it is the ability to identify and understand
the speech of others.
 ATTITUDE IN THE
WORKPLACE
▪ Attitudes are all around us and
indeed impact our behavior.
▪ Attitudes are shaped by
experiences.
▪ Attitude is a persistent mental
state of readiness ti feel and
behave in a favorable or
unfavorable manner about a
particular person, object or idea.
Three significant conclusions could be taken from the definition which
are:
1. Attitudes are stable - without strong reasons to change
attitudes, the attitudes of people will remain the same.
2. Attitudes are directed towards some person, object or idea -
People could have specific yet differing attitudes say on their jobs,
about their immediate supervisors or on an idea presented by a
friend.
3. An attitude on an object or a person relates to an individual's
behavior towards that object or person - The attitudes of
people may influence their actions. People may behave in ways
consistent to their actions.
ATTITUDE FORMATION
Personal values, experiences and personalities are some forces that could
form attitudes. It is significant to know the structure of an attitude in order to
see how attitudes are formed and could be charged.

There are three important components of an attitude namely:

1. Affective - this is the emotional component of an attitude which includes
the feelings of a person about an object that could be positive, negative
or neutral.
For example:
" I am afraid of rats."
2. Cognitive - this component consists of the person's perceptions,
beliefs and opinions about something.
For example:
"I believe rats are dangerous.“

3. Behavioral - this element of an attitude is the tendency of a person

to take action in a definite way toward someone or something.
For example:
"I will avoid rats and scream if I see one."
 TWO IMPORTANT ATTITUDES IN THE WORKPLACE
Inside the workplace, people have different attitudes about so many
things.
The two important attitudes are of the essence in the workplace,
which are:
1. Job satisfaction - is the degree of gratification or fulfillment of an
employee in his work. A satisfied employee would have fewer
absences, offer positive contributions and stay long in the
organization.
2. Organizational Commitment - mirrors the identification and
attachment of an individual to the organization. A highly
committed employee would see himself as a true member of the
organization, would ignore negligible sources of dissatisfaction
and would have intention to stay in the job.
 CHANGE OF ATTITUDE
While attitudes are enduring and have a powerful effect on
behavior, they can also be changed. Social forces like peer pressures
and changes in the society often act on existing attitudes that
overtime attitudes may change in impulsive manners. Managers in
most organizations are active in changing employee attitudes. Often
they use systematic ways of doing it like these techniques:
Persuasive communication is the use of television, radio and
internet advertisements to persuade people to change attitudes.
There are four elements in the persuasive communication approach
to attitude change, which are:
1. Communicator - he is the individual who embraces a particular
attitude and desires to convince others to share that attitude. Here
are the qualities of the communicator that would affect attitude
change in the target:
a. The communicator's overall credibility - people give more
weight to persuasive messages given by people they respect.
b. trust in the intentions of the communicator - people will believe
the communicator if he is objective and less serve-serving.
c. Similarity of interest of goals and interests with target - This is
the reason why celebrities are used in ads because they are
widely liked and have characteristics which are perceived by
people to be comparable to them.
d. Attractiveness of the communicator - The physical
attractiveness of the communicator will create strong tendency for
people to be persuaded.
2. Message - It is the content intended to stimulate the change in other's
attitude. Fear arousal is an important dimension of message content.
For instance, for a smoker knowing that smoking is linked to heart
disease may change his attitude toward it; while if the smoker is just
told that smoking will make his teeth yellow the fear is weak and so the
likelihood of change is weaker. There are still three factors that could
induce larger changes in attitude, namely:
a. The possibility that negative results will actually occur if no
change in behavior is done; for example no change in attitude for
the smoker if he does not believe that he is likely to develop heart
disease.
b. The perceived effect of changing behavior; for instance if he has
been smoking so many years that he does not believe that stopping at
this time will help the situation.
c. The perceived ability to change behavior; in this case if the smoker
does not believe he can quit smoking.
3. Situation - It is the surroundings in which the message is offered.

4. Target - He is the person whose attitude the communicator

desires to change.

The following people would have difficulty in changing their behavior:

a. More rigid and less willing to change their attitudes
b. With high self-esteem because they know they are correct
c. Locus of control
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE is the uneasy feeling when an individual
behaves in a way in consistent with existing attitude. It is assumed
that attitudes and behavior must be consistent. This means that the
behavior of a person should not be contradictory with the attitudes
that they hold. This kind of inconsistency is called cognitive
dissonance.

For example, an individual smoking cigarettes and knowing that

smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease, but still do not stop
There are three conditions that lead to dissonance and the changing of
attitude, which are:
1. Behavior must be considerably inconsistent with the attitude rather
than slightly inconsistent.
2. Inconsistent behavior may cause damage or have negative effects
for others
3. Inconsistent behavior must be voluntary and not forced or at least
the person may perceive it that way
Feeling of discomfort and tension are often dealt with through
dissonance reduction. People often think of leaving their present job,
yet they marvel why they are still staying and working hard. As an
outcome of this dissonance, they may wind up that their company is not
really bad, that they do not have any alternatives in another place or
they may plan to resign soon.
 VALUES
▪ Values refer to stable and
evaluative life goals that people
have, reflecting what is most
important to them.

▪ Values are founded during one's

life as a result of the collect of life
experiences and are likely to be
relatively constant.

▪ Moreover, people are more

possible to accept job offer when
the company possesses the
values people care about.
Types of Values

Social psychologist Milton Rokeach, developed the classification

system of values which consist of two sets of values, 18 individual
value items in each. One set is called terminal values the other
instrumental values.
Instrumental values can be defined as specific methods of
behavior. Instrumental values are not an end goal, but rather provide
the means by which an end goal is accomplished.
The Instrumental values include:
1. Cheerfulness
2. Ambition
3. Love
4. Cleanliness
5. Self-Control
6. Capability
7. Courage
8. Politeness
9. Honesty
 The end goals that people strive to achieve and are
most important to us are known as terminal values.
Terminal values are the overall goals that people hope to
achieve in their lifetime. Terminal values include inner
harmony, social recognition, and a world of beauty.
Here is the list of the 18 terminal values which are:
1. A world at peace- free of war and conflict
2. Family security- taking care of loved ones
3. Freedom- independence; free choice
4. Equality- brotherhood; equal opportunity for all
5. Self-respect- self esteem
6. Happiness- contentedness
7. Wisdom- a mature understanding of life
8. National security- protection from attack
9. Salvation-saved; eternal life
10. True friendship- close companionship
11. A sense of accomplishment- a lasting contribution
12. Inner harmony- freedom from inner conflict
13. A comfortable life- a prosperous life
14. Mature love- sexual and spiritual intimacy
15. A world of beauty- beauty of nature and the arts
16. Pleasure- an enjoyable, leisurely life
17. Social recognition- respect; admiration
18. An exciting life- a stimulating, active life
 Values Congruence
• The term value congruence, or value "fit," has received much attention lately
• From business organizations. The concept of value congruence refers to how
similar an individual's values hierarchy to the values hierarchy of the
organization, a co-employee or other sources of comparison.
• A second type of values congruence entails of how consistent the values evident
in ones action ( enacted values) with what ones say he believes in ( espoused
value). This espoused-enacted values congruence is vital for leaders because
any obvious gap undermines their perceived integrity.
• The third type of values congruence consists of the compatibility of an
organization's dominant values with the prevailing values if the community or
society in which it carries out business. Values congruence can lead to several
valuable outcomes for both the organization and the in individual like job
satisfaction, organizational identification and intent to stay.
 CROSS – CULTURAL VALUE

Organizational behavior is an essential element in every

organization. The organizations in the world are different according to
their culture which means that the values applied in each
organization are different across cultures.
1. Individualism - It can be defined as the level to which a person
values independence and personal uniqueness. Highly
individualist people give importance to personal freedom, self
sufficiency, control over their own lives, and appreciation of the
unique qualities that distinguish them from others.
The main characteristics of individualism are:
a. Identity is based on the individual
b. Tasks prevail over relationship
c. Speaking one's mind is a sign of honesty
2. Collectivism - It is the extent to which people value duty to groups to
which they belong and to group harmony. Highly collectivist people
defined themselves by their group membership and value harmonious
relationship within the group. The main characteristics of collectivism are:
a. Identity is based on the group to which one belongs
b. Relationships prevail over tasks
c. Direct confrontations should be avoided.

3. Power distance - it can be defined as the extent to which people allow

unequal distribution of power in a society and in an organization. It is
different from the country to another especially where is huge difference
between Asia and Western country. Both conscious and unconsciously,
these cultures teach their members that people are not equal in this world
and that everybody has a rightful place, which is clearly marked by
countries vertical arrangements.
4. Uncertainty avoidance - This is the extent a culture programs its
members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured
situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, and
different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the
possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and
security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a
belief in absolute truth.

5. Achievement orientation - A strong achievement orientation means

that when work-related goals come into conflict with other areas of life,
the desires to achieve will win out. In the world of "work-life balance,"
the balance is tilted towards work. Those with an achievement
orientation also tend to prefer chain-of-command reporting structures,
while quality-of-life adherents lean toward discussion and consensus.