6/9/2013

Understanding the
Individual: Personality
6th June 2013

6/9/2013

Unique and relatively stable patterns of

behavior, thoughts, and emotions shown by
individuals.

A personality trait is a predisposition or

tendency to behave in a particular way

Personality: a persons internally based characteristic

way of acting and thinking
Character: Personal characteristics that have been judged
or evaluated
Temperament: Hereditary aspects of personality, including
sensitivity, moods, irritability, and distractibility
Personality Trait: Stable qualities that a person shows in
most situations

Personality Type: People who have several traits in

common

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1. Managers care about personality they rate it as important

as ability and take it into account when hiring
2. Research shows that there is a relationships between
personality and performance

3. Overall, does not include cultural biases

4. Predicts multiple facets of career success
5. Personality is related to many work related behaviours that
managers care about that matter to organisations
Barrick and Mount, 2005

Person- job fit

How we
interact with

Planning

others in the
job

Success internal
/external

Personality

Dealing with
barriers

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We will be discussing different types of measures

and tests today. While all measures have their
limitations, a good measure must be:

Reliable has no measurement error.

If you test the same person at different times you get the
same results

Valid measures what it is supposed to measure.

E.g. If we measured IQ based on birthdates
(reliable but not valid)

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Trait Theory - understand individuals by breaking

down behavior patterns into observable traits (Big 5,
MBTI)
Psychodynamic Theory - emphasizes the unconscious
determinants of behavior (Freudian Theories)
Social Cognitive Theory - emphasizes individual
growth and improvement (Self Efficacy, LOC)
Humanistic Theory - Approach that focuses on human

experience, problems, potentials, and ideals

(Maslow)

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Locus of Control
Internal
I control what
happens to me!

External
People and
circumstances control
my fate!

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Internals tend to:

have high achievement
be independent
be healthier both physically and
psychologically
cope better with uncertainty and stress.
Externals tend to:
Create a social environment around
themselves
Communicate mainly within their group
Be less satisfied and involved with their job
Have higher absenteeism rates

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Scale Score
Interpretation

Verbal Score
Interpretation

Score

Reverse
Score

4.5-5.0

Very High

3.75 4.49

High

2.26 3.74

Average

1.50 2.25

Low

1.0 1.49

Very Low

Openness to Experience: Curious, imaginative, artistic, and

sensitive Vs. narrow-minded, conventional.

Conscientiousness: Responsible, dependable, persistent,

and organized VS. lazy, unreliable.

Extroversion: Sociable, gregarious, and assertive VS.

reserved, timid.

Agreeableness: Good-natured, cooperative, and trusting

VS. cold, belligerent.

Neuroticism (Emotional Stability): Nervous, depressed,

stressed, anxious Vs. Calm, self-confident, secure under
stress.

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Research has shown this to be a better framework.

Certain traits have been shown to strongly relate
to higher job performance:
Highly conscientious people develop more job
knowledge, exert greater effort, and have better
performance.

Other Big Five Traits also have implications for work.

Emotional stability is related to job satisfaction.
Extroverts tend to be happier in their jobs and have good
social skills.
Open people are more creative and can be good leaders.
Agreeable people are good in social settings.

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Conscientiousness and emotional stability are

the two Big Five traits most consistently
related to job performance

High conscientiousness was associated with

intrinsic career success
Low neuroticism, low agreeableness, high
extraversion, and high conscientiousness
were associated with extrinsic career success.

Preferences

Represents

Extraversion Introversion

How one
re-energizes
How one gathers
information
How one makes
decisions
How one orients to the
outer world

Sensing

Intuiting

Thinking

Feeling

Judging

Perceiving

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Self-Monitoring

Self-efficacy:

The ability to adjust behavior to meet external,

situational factors.
High monitors conform more and are more likely to
become leaders.

A judgment of ones effectiveness in dealing with

particular situations. Individuals beliefs concerning
their ability to perform specific tasks successfully.
Bandura proposed that people observe their own
behavior and judge its effectiveness

Self-Monitoring

Behavior based on cues from people & situations

High self-monitors
flexible: adjust
behavior according to
the situation and the
behavior of others
can appear
unpredictable &
inconsistent

Low self-monitors
act from internal
states rather than
from situational cues
show consistency
less likely to respond
to work group norms
or supervisory
feedback

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6/9/2013

Type A Personality

Aggressively involved in a chronic, incessant struggle

to achieve more in less time

Impatient: always moving, walking, and eating rapidly

Strive to think or do two or more things at once
Cannot cope with leisure time
Obsessed with achievement numbers

Prized in North America, but quality of the work is low

Type B Personality

pattern of behavior characterized by a casual, laid-back

style the opposite of the type A behavior pattern

Machiavellianism

A pragmatic, emotionally distant power-player who believes

that ends justify the means
High Machs are manipulative, win more often, and persuade
more than they are persuaded. Flourish when:
Have direct interaction
Work with minimal rules and regulations
Emotions distract others

Narcissism

An arrogant, entitled, self-important person who needs

excessive admiration
Less effective in their jobs

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