Unit II: Individual Behavior, Personality and

Values

 Individual behaviour in the organization: MARS model of

Individual Behavior, Types of Individual Behavior.

 Personality: Personality development, Determinants of

Personality, Five–Factor Model of Personality, The Myers
Briggs Type Indicator: (MBTI), Theories of Personality:
Freudian Theory (Psychoanalytic Theory of personality).

 Perception: Meaning, Perceptual Process, Attribution Theory

and Attribution Errors.
 Individual Behavior
2

Why do Individuals behave the way they

do and perform well or poorly in the
workplace?
 Critical Thinking Question- 1
3

 An insurance company has high levels of

absenteeism among the office staff. The
head of office administration argues that
employees are misusing the company’s sick
leave benefits. However, some of the mostly
female staff members have explained that
family responsibilities interfere with work.
 Discuss some of the possible reasons for
absenteeism here and how it might be
reduced
4

 They don’t want to attend work that day

(motivation),
 They don’t realize that this is their
workday (role perceptions),
 Environmental conditions prevent them
from attending work (situational factors)-
female employees are absent, family
responsibilities interfere with their work
attendance.
MARS Model of Individual Behavior

Role
Perceptions
Values
Personality Motivation
Individual
Perceptions Behavior
Emotions and Results
Ability
Attitudes
Situational
Stress
Factors

MARS Model seeks to explain individual behavior as a result of internal and

external factors or influences acting together.
 All the above four factors are critical and
influence the individual behavior and
performance, if any one of them is low in a given
situation the employee will perform poorly.

 An enthusiastic salespeople (motivation) who

understand his or her job duties (role perceptions)
and has sufficient resources (situational factor)
will not perform his or her jobs well if th ey lack
sufficient knowledge and sales skill (ability) .
Employee Motivation
 Internal forces that affect a person’s voluntary
choice of behavior. Motivational elements are:
 Direction – where and what (clarity of goal)
 Intensity – how much (amount of effort)
 Persistence- till when (continuing the effort-time
factor)

R
M
BAR
A
S
 Employee Ability
 Natural aptitudes (natural talents) and learned capabilities (skills and
knowledge) required to successfully complete a task.
 Ability = Aptitude + Learned capabilities + Training and Experience
 Aptitudes − natural talent that
helps people learn more efficiently
and perform effectively.
 Learned capabilities −
accomplished skills and knowledge.
 Competencies − abilities,
individual values, personality traits R
and other features of people that M
result in superior performance.
BAR
 Person  job matching
 selecting the best A
S
 training & developing
 redesigning jobs
Employee Role Perceptions
 Beliefs about what behavior is required
to achieve the desired results:
 understanding what tasks to perform
 understanding relative importance of tasks
 understanding preferred
behaviors to accomplish tasks
R
M
BAR
A
S
 Situational Factors
 Environmental conditions
beyond the individual’s
short-term control that
constrain or facilitate
behavior.
 Controllable factors are:
 time
 people R
M
 budget
BAR
 work facilities
A
 Uncontrollable factors are: S
 government policies
 economic conditions
Types of Behavior in Organizations

• Goal-directed behaviours
Task Performance
under person’s control

• Performance beyond the

Organizational required job duties
Citizenship • ex. attending events, sharing
resources, suggesting ideas
Types of Behavior in Organizations
• Voluntary behaviour that
Counterproducti potentially harms the
ve Work organization
Behaviours • ex. conflict, stealing, wasting
resources, untruths, shortcuts

• human capital, turnover negative,

Joining/staying with the
but positive when there is a need for
Organization
new skilled workers

Attending work at required times

absenteeism - loss of staff and
employee skill
Maintaining Work
presenteeism - showing up to work
Attendance
although unwell, injured and
preoccupied or in dangerous job (when
absenteeism is encouraged)
 Critical Thinking Question- 2
13

 You notice that the sales

representative for one region made 20
percent fewer sales to new clients over
the past quarter than salespeople
located elsewhere across the country.
 Use the model of individual behavior to
explain why his or her performance was
lower than the performance of other
salespeople.
14

 Motivation: Employees in one region are

not as motivated to perform their jobs and,
specifically, not as motivated to call on new
clients as are the sales representatives in
the other parts of the country.
 Ability: Sales representative in the one
region might lack the necessary skills to
market the company’s product to new
clients. They might lack persuasive
communication or other interpersonal skills.
15

 Role Perceptions: The sales representatives in

one region might not be aware that the company
wants more effort placed in securing sales from
new customers. For example, they might be putting
more effort into increasing sales from existing
clients whereas sales representatives elsewhere
are spending more time finding new clients.
 Situational Contingencies: The general economy
or specific demand for the company’s product
might be unusually low in that region. Perhaps this
market is already saturated, meaning that most of
the potential clients are already using the product
 Meaning of Personality

 The term personality is derived from the

Latin word “persona” meaning a “mask”.
 The sum total of ways in
which an individual reacts to,
and interacts with, others.

Definition
 The dynamic organization within the
individual of those psychophysical
systems that determine his unique
adjustments to his environment.
- Gordon
Allport
 Raymond Cattell defines personality as
those aspects which permit a prediction of
what a person will do in a given situation.
Personality Determinants
 An individual’s personality was the result
of heredity or environment?
 Was the personality predetermined at
birth, or was it the result of the
individual’s interaction with his or her
surroundings?
 Personality Determinants
19
Personality Determinants
 Personality appears to be the result of
both influences.
 Today we recognize the third factor- the
situation.
 An adult’s personality is now generally
considered to be made of both
hereditary and environmental factors,
moderated by situational conditions.
Personality Determinants
HEREDITY
 Factors determined at conception: physical

stature, facial attractiveness, gender,

temperament, muscle composition and
reflexes, energy level, and bio-rhythms
 This “Heredity Approach” argues that genes

are the source of personality

 Twin studies: raised apart but very similar

personalities
 There is some personality change over long

time periods
Personality Determinants
ENVIRONMENT
 Our early conditioning, norms among our

family, friends and social groups play a

substantial role in shaping our
personalities.
 Ex- a child whose own family is not

religious but develops close friendships

with children whose families are religious
may develop strong religious beliefs.
Personality Determinants
SITUATION
 An individual’s personality may change in
different situations.
 Different situations may call for different aspects
of one’s personality.
 Ex- people who spontaneously perform heroic
acts without thinking of their personal welfare to
those who engage in unethical or illegal behavior
when under extreme pressure.
 Temple, employment interview – constrain some
behaviors.
Nature of Personality
 Personality is not related to bodily structure
alone. It includes both structure and dynamics.
 Personality is an indivisible unit.
 Every personality is unique
 Personality refers to persistent qualities of the
individual. It expresses consistency and
regularity.
 Personality is acquired.
 Personality is influenced by social interaction. It is
defined in terms of behavior.
 Personality Traits
25

Enduring characteristics that

describe an individual’s
behavior.
Ex- shy, aggressive, lazy,
ambitious, loyal etc.
Traits were defined as a
predisposition to respond in a
particular way to a broad range
of situations.

So an even-tempered person
 Sigmund Freud ‘s Psychoanalytic theory
of personality
26

- Argues that human

behavior is the result of
the interactions Sigmund Freud
among three component
parts of the mind: the id,
ego, and superego.

- Places great emphasis on

the role of unconscious
psychological conflicts in
shaping behavior and
personality. (1856-1939)
27

 Freud’s 3 levels of
awareness/conscious
ness:
 the conscious mind
 the preconscious

mind
 the unconscious

mind.
Three fundamental
structures of the human
mind: the id, ego, and
superego
Ego States

 Id: Innate biological instincts and  Superego: Judge or censor for

urges; self-serving & irrational thoughts and actions of the ego
 Totally unconscious  Works on Morality Principle
 Works on Pleasure Principle:  Superego comes from our parents or
Wishes to have its desires caregivers; guilt comes from the
(pleasurable) satisfied NOW, superego
without waiting and regardless of  Two parts
the consequences  Conscience: Reflects actions
for which a person has been
 Ego: Executive; directs id punished (e.g., what we
energies shouldn’t do or be)
 Partially conscious and partially  Ego Ideal: Second part of the
unconscious superego; reflects behavior
 Works on Reality Principle: one’s parents approved of or
Delays action until it is practical rewarded (e.g., what we should
and/or appropriate do or be)
29

 .
30
 To sum up…
31

 Freud believed that the id, ego, and

superego are in constant conflict and
that adult personality and behavior are
rooted in the results of these internal
struggles throughout childhood.
 He believed that a person who has a
strong ego has a healthy personality
 and that imbalances in this system can
lead to neurosis (what we now think of
as anxiety and depression) and
unhealthy behaviors.
 Jungian theory-Carl Jung
32

Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss

(1875-


psychiatrist whose research
was deep-rooted in 1961)
psychoanalysis

 He was greatly influenced by

Sigmund Freud

 In his theory of personality,

Carl Jung distinguishes two
different attitude types:
 Introverts, which are those
people who receive stimulation
from within
 Extroverts, which are those
who receive their stimulation
from the environment.
33

 Jung also separates introverts and extroverts into

four subtypes according to the functions that
control the way they perceive the world.
 Thinking
 Applying reasoning to the situations and environments you
encounter.
 Feeling
 Applying subjective, personal assessment to the situations
and environments you encounter.
 Sensation
 Applying aesthetic value to the situations and environments
you encounter.
 Intuition
 Using your unconscious or the mystical to understand your
experiences.
 https://www.123test.com/jung-personalit
y-test/
Personality Frameworks
Two dominant frameworks used to describe
personality:
 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®)
 Big Five Model
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
 Based on Carl Jung’s work
 People are fundamentally different
 People are fundamentally alike
 People have preference combinations for
extraversion/introversion, perception, judgment
 Briggs & Myers developed the MBTI to
understand individual differences
 Most widely used personality assessment
instrument in the world.
 It is a 100 question test that asks people how
they usually feel or act in a particular situation.
Extraversion-Introversion
Sensing-Intution
Thinking-Feeling
 Judging-Perceiving
40
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Preferences Represents

Extraversion Introversion How one

re-energizes
Sensing Intuiting How one gathers
information
Thinking Feeling How one makes
decisions
Judging Perceiving How one orients to the
outer world
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

EXTRAVERSION SENSING THINKING JUDGING

(E) (S) (T) (J)
Outgoing Practical Analytical Structured
Expressive Specific Clarity Time Oriented
Interacting Feet on the Justice Decisive
Speaks and ground Rules Organised
Thinks Concrete

INTROVERSION INTUITION FEELING PERCEIVING

(I) (N) (F) (P)
Quiet General Subjective Flexible
Reserved Abstract Harmony Open ended
Concentrating Head in the Heart Exploring
Thinks, then clouds Mercy Spontaneous
speaks Possibilities
 Extravert - Introvert
 E – People, activity,  I – Thoughts, feelings,
talking (external writing (internal world)
world)  Think/reflect first,
 Readily takes then act
initiative  Needs “private” time
 “Act first, think to reflect
later”  One-on-one
 Enjoys a wide relationship or
variety and change conversations
in people and  Great listeners
relationships  Enjoys focusing on a
 Very approachable project
 Sensing (S) – Intuitive (N)

 S – Facts – real &  N – Possibilities –

tangible - now Inspiration - future
 Carefully thought out  Use personal feelings
conclusions to make decisions
 Lives in the present  Comfortable with fuzzy
 “Do something” rather data
than “think about it”  Inventing new
 Fantasy is a dirty word possibilities is
 Common sense automatic
solutions  Sometimes considered
absent-minded
Thinking (T) - Feeling (F)

 T – Decision  F - Decision
through logic and through emotion
truth  Follow hunch to
 More important to make quick
be right than liked conclusions
 Viewed as
 Sensitive to feelings
unemotional of others
 Focus on tasks
 Toxic reaction to
disharmony, prefer
 Provides objective
to accommodate
and critical analysis
 Takes things too
personally
Judging (J) - Perceiving
(P)
J – planned, orderly,  P – flexible,
reach closure quickly spontaneous, stay
 Get things done open
 Punctual  Lives for the moment
 Likes to use a list,
make plans
 Works well under
pressure and deadlines
 Structure and order
 Works best and avoids
 Creative
stress when keeps  Multitasks
ahead of deadlines and  Avoids commitments,
not given too much it interferes with
information at one
flexibility
time
16 Possible Combinations
COMMUNICATION E I

INFORMATION S N S N

DECISION T F T F T F T F

CONTROL J P J P J P J P J P J P J P J P

E E E E E E E E I I I I I I I I
S S S S N N N N S S S S N N N N
T T F F T T F F T T F F T T F F
J P J P J P J P J P J P J P J P
MBTI
 Each of the sixteen possible
combinations has a name, for instance:
 Visionaries (INTJ) – original, stubborn, and
driven
 Organizers (ESTJ) – realistic, logical,
analytical, and businesslike. They like to
organize and run activities.
 Conceptualizer(ENTP) – entrepreneurial,
innovative, individualistic, and resourceful.
This person tends to be resourceful in
solving challenging problems but may
neglect routine assignments.
 Suggested Careers for MBTI
49

 Suggested_Careers_for_MBTI.pdf

 https://www.iccb.org/iccb/wp-content/pdf
s/adulted/tdl_bridge_curriculum/tdl_care
er_awareness/tdl_career_aware_resource
_file/Suggested_Careers_for_MBTI.pdf
The Big Five Model of Personality
Dimensions

 The Big Five model of personality sets

forth that there are five basic dimensions
that underlie all others and encompass
most of the significant variations in
human personalities.
 There is a lot of research that supports
the Big Five model and it has been
shown to predict behavior at work.
 The Big Five Model of Personality
Dimensions
51
 Extroversion

This dimension captures one’s comfort

level with relationships.
Extroverted people
Introverted people
 Energetic  Shy
 Enthusiastic
 Retiring
 Dominant
 Submissive
 Sociable
 Quiet
 Talkative
 Agreeableness

This dimension refers to an individual’s

propensity to defer to others

High Agreeableness Low Agreeableness

 Friendly  Cold
 Cooperative  Quarrelsome

 Trusting

 Warm
 Conscientiousness

This dimension is a measure

of reliability.

Conscientious Impulsive
 Cautious  Careless
 Dependable  Disorderly

 Organized  Undependable

 Responsible
 Neuroticism

This dimension taps a person’s

ability to withstand stress.
Emotionally unstable Emotionally stable
 Nervous  Calm
 High-strung  Contented

 Tense

 Worrying
 Openness

This dimension addresses one’s range of

interests and fascination with novelty.

High on Openness Low on Openness

 Imaginative  Down to earth
 Witty  Conventional

 Original  Conformist

 Artistic  Simple
 Big Five personality
dimensions

Openness to Experience
(intellect, imagination, curiosity, creativity)
Conscientiousness
(order, duty, deliberation, self-discipline)
Extraversion
(sociability, assertiveness, activity, positive emotions)
Agreeableness
(trust, nurturance, kindness, cooperation)
Neuroticism
(anxiety, depression, moodiness,vulnerability to stress)
How Do the Big Five Traits Predict
Behavior?
59

https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-person
ality-test
Major Personality Attributes Influencing
OB

Machiavellianism
Self-Esteem
Locus of Control
Narcissism
Self-Monitoring
Risk Taking
Type A vs. Type B Personality
Proactive Personality
 Machiavellianism
61

 Degree to which an
individual is pragmatic,
maintains emotional
distance, and believes that
ends can justify means.
 They tend to have a
competitive drive and a
need to win.
 High Machs are
manipulative, win more
often, and persuade more
than they are persuaded.
Machiavellianism
 Amar is a young bank manager. He was
promoted thrice in past four years. Amar
makes no apologies for the aggressive
tactics he has used to propel his career
upward. I am prepared to do whatever I
have to do to get ahead.
63

https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/MACH
-IV/
 Narcissism
64
 Narcissism
65

 A Narcissistic Person
• Has grandiose sense
of self-importance
• Requires excessive
admiration
• Has a sense of
entitlement
• Is arrogant
• Tends to be rated as
less effective
Self -esteem
 Individual’s degree of
liking or disliking
themselves.
 Self-esteem is directly
related to expectations
for success.
 High SEs believe that
they possess the ability
they need to succeed at
work.
 Success tends to increase
self esteem and failures
tend to decrease it.
Self - Monitoring
 A personality trait that measures an
individual’s ability to adjust his or her
behavior to external, situational factors
 High self-monitors  Low self-monitors
– flexible: adjust – act from internal
behavior according states rather than
to the situation from situational
and the behavior cues
of others – show consistency
– can appear – less likely to
unpredictable & respond to work
inconsistent group norms or
supervisory
Who Is Most Likely to . . .

Low-self High-self
monitors monitors
Get promoted
Accomplish tasks, meet other’s
expectations, seek out central positions 
in social networks
Change employers
Self-promote 
Make a job-related
geographic move
Demonstrate higher levels of managerial

self-awareness; base behavior on other’s
cues and the situation
Self-Monitoring
 Sushmita is always in trouble at work.
While she is competent, hardworking
and productive, her performance reviews
tend to rate her no better than average
and she seems to have made a career of
irritating bosses. Her problem is that she
is politically inept. As she puts it, “I am
true to myself. I don’t remake myself to
please others”.
 She is low self monitor
Locus of Control
 The degree to which people believe they
are masters of their own fate.
 INTERNAL
EXTERNAL

I control what People and

happens to me! circumstances control
my fate!
71
 Proactive
72

 Identifies
opportunities, shows
initiative, takes action,
and perseveres until
meaningful change
occurs
 Creates positive
change in the
environment,
regardless or even in
spite of constraints or
obstacles
 Type A and Type B
73
Personality
Type A and Type B Personality

Type A
1. Are always moving, walking, and eating rapidly
2. Feel impatient with the rate at which most events take place
3. Strive to think or do two or more things at once
4. Cannot cope with leisure time
5. Are obsessed with numbers, measuring their success in terms
of how many or how much of everything they acquire

Type B
1. Never suffer from a sense of time urgency with its
accompanying impatience
2. Feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements or
accomplishments
3. Play for fun and relaxation, rather than to exhibit their
superiority at any cost
4. Can relax without guilt
75
 Risk-Taking
 High Risk-Taking Managers
 Make quicker decisions
 Use less information to make
decisions
 Operate in smaller and more
entrepreneurial organizations
 Low Risk-Taking Managers
 Are slower to make decisions
 Require more information before
making decisions
 Exist in larger organizations with
stable environments
 Risk Propensity
 Aligning managers’ risk-taking
propensity to job requirements
should be beneficial to
organizations
Check-up

Which of the following is not a typical

personality trait considered to be
organizationally relevant?
a) Locus of control
b) Self-monitoring
c) Self-enhancing
d) Self esteem
e) Machiavellianism

C
 Alison arrives to class and realizes that she’s forgotten her
homework to turn in. She says “Oh man, it’s just not my lucky
day today.” Alison has ______________.

Alison has a high external locus of control.

Alison believes that things outside of her control
determine what happens
 Julia is known for being a go-getter. She never leaves a task
incomplete, and is involved in a number of activities. Moreover,
she’s at the top of her class. She’s so busy that sometimes, she
forgets to stop and eat lunch. Julia can be easily characterized
as someone that has/is a Type ____ Personality.

A
How is Personality
Measured?
 Projective Test - elicits an individual’s
response to abstract stimuli
 Rorschach Inkblot Test

 Thematic Apperception Test

 Behavioral Measures - personality
assessments that involve observing an
individual’s behavior in a controlled situation
 Self-Report Questionnaire - assessment
involving an individual’s responses to
questions
 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) -
instrument measuring Jung’s theory of
individual differences.
85

For the adult, all the

world is a stage and
the personality is the
mask one wears to
play the assigned role
 Perception

Understanding individual differences

Perception : Meaning &
Definition
It is the unique interpretation of the
situation
It is a cognitive process that yields a unique
picture of world, but different quietly from
reality.
Sun rises in the east and sets in the west,
but in reality, it neither rises nor sets.
Perception is the process by which people
select, organize and interpret information
to form a meaningful picture
Perception refers to the interpretation of
Environmental Observati
Stimuli on P
 Taste E
Smell R
Hearing C
Sight E
Touch P
Perceptual T
Organizatio U
Perceptual
n A
selection
 L
Continuity
 Closure P
 Proximity R
Similarity O
Interpretation C
Response
 Attitude E
 Feelings S
 S
Behaviour
Motivation
s
 Factors influencing Perception (Perceptual
Selection) Factors in the perceiver
• Attitudes
• Motives
• Interests
• Experience
• Expectations

Factors in the situation

• Time Perception
• Work Setting
• Social Setting
Factors in the Target
• Novelty
• Motion
• Sounds
• Size
• Background
• Proximity
• Similarity
89
Perceptual errors
The perceptual process may result in a
person making errors in judgement or
understanding of another person. The most
common types of perceptual errors are:
 Accuracy in judgment
 Selective Perception
 Stereotyping
 The halo effect
 Projection
Perceptual errors
Judgmental Errors
Similarity error – assuming that people who are
similar to us ( in terms of background, interests and
hobbies) will behave like us.
Contrast error – comparing people to others rather
than to some absolute standard.
Overweighting of negative information – a
tendency to overreact to something negative.
Race, age, and gender bias – tendency to be more
or less positive based on one’s race, age, or gender.
First-impression error – tendency to form lasting
opinions about an individual based on initial
perceptions.
Perceptual error
Selective Perception
 People’s selective interpretation of what they see based on
their interests, background, experience, and attitude
Stereotyping
 The belief that all members of a specific group share similar
traits and behaviours.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNqwBTCslMw

Halo/Horn effect
 A tendency to colour everything we know about a person
because of one recognizable favourable or unfavourable trait.
Projection
 tendency to see one’s traits in others.
Attribution
Your colleague Peter failed to meet the
deadline. What do you do? Do you help him
finish up his work? Do you give him the
benefit of the doubt and place the blame
on the difficulty of the project? Or do you
think that he is irresponsible?
Our behavior is a function of our
perceptions.
More specifically, when we observe others
behave in a certain way, we ask ourselves
a fundamental question: Why? Why did he
fail to meet the deadline? Why did Mary get
the promotion? Why did Mark help you
when you needed help? The answer we
Attribution Process
Refers to the manner in which people come
to understand the cause of other’s (or their
own) behavior.
If you believe that a behavior is due to the
internal characteristics of an actor, you are
making an internal attribution.
An external attribution is explaining
someone’s behavior by referring to the
situation
Your classmate Erin complained a lot when
completing a finance assignment.
 If you think that she complained because
she is a negative person, you are making
an internal attribution.
If you believe that Erin complained because
finance homework was difficult, you are
making an external attribution.
When do we make internal or external
attributions?
Consensus: Do other people behave the
same way?
Distinctiveness: Does this person behave
the same way across different situations?
Consistency: Does this person behave this
way in different occasions in the same
situation?
In addition to Erin, other people in the
same class also complained (high
consensus).
 Erin does not usually complain in other
classes (high distinctiveness).
Erin usually does not complain in finance
class (low consistency).
 In this situation, you are likely to make an
external attribution, such as thinking that
finance homework is difficult.
Erin is the only person complaining (low
consensus).
Erin complains in a variety of situations
(low distinctiveness), and every time she is
in finance, she complains (high
consistency).
 In this situation, you are likely to make an
internal attribution such as thinking that
Erin is a negative person.
Errors and Biases in Attributions
 Fundamental Attribution Error
Attributing own actions to external factors
and other’s actions to internal factors
 Self-Serving Bias
Attributing our successes to internal factors
and our failures to external factors
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