Course: Organizational Behavior

Subject: Personality and Values

1. Personality
We begin by defining personality.

1.1. Definition of Personality

Personality is a dynamic concept, meaning it is changing all the time. It describes the total of growth
and development of a person’s whole psychological system. The text definition is that personality is
the sum of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others.

1.2. Measuring Personality

One of the greatest challenges in the study of personality is its measurement. Managers need to
know how to measure personality because accurately measuring personality gives managers an
advantage in the recruitment and hiring processes. Typically, personality is measured using self-report
surveys.

Research indicates our culture influences the way we rate ourselves. People in individualistic
countries trend toward self-enhancement, while people in collectivist countries such as Taiwan, China,
and South Korea trend toward self-diminishment.

Observer-ratings surveys provide an independent assessment of personality. Here, a coworker or

another observer does the rating.

Though the results of self-reports and observer-ratings surveys are strongly correlated, research
suggests observer-ratings surveys predict job success more than self-ratings alone. However, each can
tell us something unique about an individual’s behavior, so a combination of self-reports and observer
reports predicts performance better than any one type of information.

1.3. Personality Determinants

An early argument centered on whether or not personality was the result of heredity or
environment. Personality appears to be a result of both influences. Heredity refers to those factors
that were determined at conception. The heredity approach argues that the ultimate explanation of
an individual’s personality is the molecular structure of the genes, located in the chromosomes. A
review of 134 studies found that there is some truth to this approach, with about 40 percent of
personality being attributable to heredity and the other 60 percent attributable to the environment.

Early work on personality tried to identify and label enduring characteristics that describe an
individual’s behavior, including shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal, and timid. These are
personality traits. The more consistent the characteristic over time, and the more frequently it occurs
in diverse situations, the more important the trait is in describing the individual.
 Course: Organizational Behavior
Subject: Personality and Values

2. Personality Frameworks

2.1. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

The most widely used personality framework is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Individuals
are classified as Extroverted or Introverted (E or I), Sensing or Intuitive (S or N), Thinking or Feeling (T
or F), and Perceiving or Judging (P or J). These classifications are then combined into 16 personality
types.

INTJs are visionaries. They usually have original minds and great drive. They are characterized as
skeptical, critical, independent, determined, and often stubborn.

ESTJs are organizers. They are realistic, logical, analytical, decisive, and have a natural head for
business or mechanics.

ENTPs are conceptualizers. They are innovative, individualistic, versatile, and attracted to
entrepreneurial ideas. They tend to be resourceful in solving challenging problems but may neglect
routine assignments.

MBTI is widely used. It is taken by over 2.5 million people each year and 89 of the Fortune 100
companies use it.

2.2. The Big Five Personality Model

An impressive body of research supports that five basic dimensions underlie all other personality
dimensions. The five basic dimensions are extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional
stability, and openness to experience. Let’s look at each of these for a minute.

➢ Extraversion is a comfort level with relationships. Extroverts tend to be gregarious, assertive,

and sociable. Introverts tend to be reserved, timid, and quiet.

➢ Agreeableness is an Individual’s propensity to defer to others. People who are high on

agreeableness are cooperative, warm, and trusting. Low agreeableness is indicated by people
who are cold, disagreeable, and antagonistic.

➢ Conscientiousness is a measure of reliability. A highly conscientious person is responsible,

organized, dependable, and persistent. Those who score low on this dimension are easily
distracted, disorganized, and unreliable.

➢ Emotional stability describes a person’s ability to withstand stress. People with positive
emotional stability tend to be calm, self-confident, and secure. Those with high negative scores
tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed, and insecure.

➢ And lastly, openness to experience suggests the range of interests and fascination with
novelty. Extremely open people are creative, curious, and artistically sensitive. Those at the
other end of the openness category are conventional and find comfort in the familiar.
 Course: Organizational Behavior
Subject: Personality and Values

How Do the Big Five Traits Predict Behavior at Work?

There are many relationships between the Big Five personality dimensions and job performance,
and we are learning more about them every day.
Exhibit 4-1 shows the results of research on personality scores of CEO candidates. The study found
that conscientiousness—in the form of persistence, attention to detail, and setting of high standards—
was more important than other traits. These results attest to the importance of conscientiousness to
organizational success. Although conscientiousness is the best predictor of job performance, other
traits are also important.

Exhibit 4-1 Traits That Matter Most to Business Success at Buyout Companies
Most Important Less Important

Persistence Strong oral communication

Attention to detail Teamwork

Efficiency Flexibility/adaptability

Analytical skills Enthusiasm

Setting high standards Listening skills

All five traits also have other implications for work and for life. Let’s look at these one at a time.
Exhibit 5-2 summarizes the points.

Of the Big Five traits, emotional stability is most strongly related to life satisfaction, job
satisfaction, and reduced intentions to quit and burnout. People with high emotional stability
can adapt to unexpected or changing demands in the workplace.

Extraversion is a relatively strong predictor of leadership emergence and behaviors in groups.

Extraverts also tend to have generally high job satisfaction and reduced burnout. Some negatives are
that extraverts can appear to be self-aggrandizing, egoistic, or too dominating and that their social
behavior can be disadvantageous for jobs that do not require frequent social interaction.

Individuals who score high on openness to experience are more likely to be effective leaders and
are more comfortable with ambiguity. They cope better with organizational change and are more
adaptable in changing contexts.

Agreeable individuals are better liked than disagreeable people, which explains why they should
perform well in interpersonally oriented jobs such as customer service. They experience less work–
family conflict and are less likely to turnover. People who are agreeable are more satisfied in their jobs
and contribute to organizational performance by engaging in citizenship behavior. They are also less
 Course: Organizational Behavior
Subject: Personality and Values

likely to engage in organizational deviance. One downside is that agreeableness is associated with
lower levels of career success.

The five personality factors identified in the Big Five model appear in almost all cross-cultural
studies. These studies have included a wide variety of diverse cultures such as China, Israel, Germany,
Japan, Spain, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, and the United States. Generally, the findings corroborate
what has been found in U.S. research: of the Big Five traits, conscientiousness is the best predictor of
job performance.

Exhibit 4-2 Model of How Big Five Traits Influence OB Criteria

2.3. The Dark Triad

The Dark Triad is a group of negative personality traits including Machiavellianism, narcissism, and
psychopathy – all three of which have relevance for organizational behavior.

Machiavellianism is the degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance,

and believes that ends can justify means.
 Course: Organizational Behavior
Subject: Personality and Values

Narcissism refers to the tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance,

require excessive admiration, and have a sense of entitlement.

And psychopathy is the tendency for a lack of concern for others and a lack of guilt or remorse
when their actions cause harm.

The Dark Triad is a helpful framework for studying the three dominant dark-side traits in current
personality research, and researchers are exploring other traits as well.

One emerging framework incorporates five additional aberrant compound traits based on the Big
Five.
• First, antisocial people are indifferent and callous toward others. They use their
extraversion to charm people, but they may be prone to violent CWBs and risky
decision making.
• Second, borderline people have low self-esteem and high uncertainty. They are
unpredictable in their interactions at work, are inefficient, and may have low job
satisfaction.
• Third, schizotypal individuals are eccentric and disorganized. In the workplace, they
can be highly creative, although they are susceptible to work stress.
• Fourth, obsessive-compulsive people are perfectionists and can be stubborn, yet they
attend to details, carry a strong work ethic, and may be motivated by achievement.
• Fifth, avoidant individuals feel inadequate and hate criticism. They can function only
in environments requiring little interaction.
2.4. Other Personality Traits Related to OB

Some other personality traits relevant to OB include core self-evaluation, self-monitoring, and
proactive personality.

People who have a positive core self-evaluation (CSE) see themselves as effective, capable, and in
control of their environment. People with positive CSEs perform better than others because they set
more ambitious goals, are more committed to their goals, and persist longer in attempting to reach
them. People who have a negative core self-evaluation tend to dislike themselves, question their
capabilities, and view themselves as powerless over their environment.

Self-monitoring refers to an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational
factors. Individuals high in self-monitoring show considerable adaptability. They are highly sensitive to
external cues, can behave differently in different situations, and are capable of presenting striking
contradictions between their public persona and their private selves.

An individual with a proactive personality actively takes the initiative to improve his or her current
circumstances. These individuals identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere.
 Course: Organizational Behavior
Subject: Personality and Values

2.5. Personality, Job Search, and Unemployment

How does personality influence our job search outcomes and operate during our unemployed
periods? Many studies of unemployed job seekers have found that conscientiousness and extraversion
were predictive of networking intensity, general job-search intensity, interviews, and job offers, even
after controlling for demographic characteristics and the time spent unemployed. Overall, one review
suggests that conscientiousness and extraversion are the two strongest predictors of job search
behavior, although self-esteem and self-efficacy (parts of CSE) are also important.

Additional work on unemployed university students suggests that positive affectivity is also
important in getting interviews, job offers, and becoming employed—primarily because the positive
affect enables the students to have a clearer and more open perspective toward the job search
process, engage in more self-monitoring of their motivation, and through reducing procrastination.
Negative affectivity and hostility can have the reverse effect.

It appears that extraversion, conscientiousness, and positive affectivity tend to have a substantial
effect on becoming employed and coping with unemployment (with negative affectivity and hostility
having equivalent negative effects).

Finally, the situation and context matter as well. The experience of unemployment is not the same for
everyone across the board—it can be different for new entrants to the labor market (college grads),
those who have just lost their jobs, and those who are employed, seeking jobs.

3. Personality and Situations

Research shows that the effect of a particular trait on organizational behavior depends on the
situation. Two theoretical frameworks that can help explain this are the situation strength theory and
trait activation theory.

3.1. Situation Strength Theory

Situation strength theory proposes that the way personality translates into behavior depends on
the strength of the situation. By situation strength, we mean the degree to which norms, cues, or
standards dictate appropriate behavior. Strong situations show us what the right behavior is, pressure
us to exhibit it, discourage the wrong behavior. In weak situations, conversely, “anything goes”, and
thus we are free to express our personality. In behavior. Thus, personality traits better predict behavior
in weak situations than in strong ones.

Situation strength in an organization can be analyzed in terms of:

 Course: Organizational Behavior
Subject: Personality and Values

• Clarity, or the degree to which cues about work duties and responsibilities are available and clear.
Jobs high in in clarity produce strong situations because individuals can readily determine what to
do. For example, the job of janitor probably provides higher clarity about each task than the job of
nanny.

• Consistency, or the extent to which cues regarding work duties and responsibilities are compatible
with one another. Jobs with high consistency represents strong situations because all the cues point
toward the same desired behavior. The job of acute care nurse, for example, probably has higher
consistency than job of manager.

• Constraints, or the extent to which individuals’ freedom to decide or act is limited by forces outside
their control. Jobs with many constraints represent strong situations because an individual has
limited individual discretion. Bank examiner, for example, is probably a job with stronger
constraints than forest ranger.

• Consequences, or the degree to which decisions or actions have important implications for the
organization or its members, clients, suppliers, and so on. Jobs with important consequences
represent strong situations because the environment is probably heavily structured to guard
against mistakes. A surgeon’s job, for example has higher consequences than a foreign-language
teacher’s.

3.2. Trait Activation Theory

Another important theoretical framework toward understanding personality and situations is trait
activation theory (TAT). TAT predicts that some situations, events, or interventions “activate” a trait
more than others.

Using TAT, we can foresee which jobs suit certain personalities. For example, a commission-based
compensation plan would likely activate individual differences because extraverts are more reward-
sensitive, than, say, open people. Conversely, in jobs that encourage creativity, differences in openness
may better predict desired behavior than differences in extraversion. See Exhibit 4-3 for specific
examples.
 Course: Organizational Behavior
Subject: Personality and Values

Exhibit 4-3 Trait Activation Theory: Jobs in Which Certain Big Five Traits Are More Relevant

TAT also applies to personality tendencies. For example, a recent study found that people learning
online responded differently when their behavior was being electronically monitored. Those who had
a high fear of failure had higher apprehension from the monitoring than others and learned
significantly less. In this case, a feature of the environment (electronic monitoring) activated a trait
(fear of failing), and the combination of the two meant lowered job performance.

Together, situation strength and trait activation theories show that the debate over nature versus
nurture might best be framed as nature and nurture. Not only does each affect behavior, but they
interact with one another. In other words, personality and the situation both affect work behavior, but
when the situation is right, the power of personality to predict behavior is even higher.

4. Values

Values represent basic convictions that a person has about what is right, good, or desirable. Values
have both content and intensity attributes, and have the tendency to be stable and enduring. The
content attribute says a mode of conduct or end-state of existence is important. The intensity attribute
specifies how important it is. An individual’s set of values ranked in terms of intensity is considered the
person’s value system. We all have a hierarchy of values according to the relative importance we assign
to values such as freedom, pleasure, self-respect, honesty, obedience, and equality.

Values tend to be relatively stable and enduring. Many of the values we hold are established in our
early years – by parents, teachers, friends, and others. If we question our values, they may change, but
more often they are reinforced. There is also evidence linking personality to values, implying our values
may be partly determined by genetically transmitted traits. Conscientious people, for example, may
place a greater value on safe and ethical conduct.
 Course: Organizational Behavior
Subject: Personality and Values

Values lay the foundation for our understanding of attitudes and motivation and generally
influence attitudes and behaviors.

4.1. Terminal Versus Instrumental Values

Milton Rokeach argued that we can separate values into two categories. One set, called terminal
values, refers to desirable end-states. These are the goals the person would like to achieve during a
lifetime. The other set, called instrumental values, refers to preferable modes of behavior, or means
of achieving the terminal values.

Some examples of terminal values are prosperity and economic success, freedom, health and well-
being, world peace, and meaning in life. Examples of instrumental values are autonomy and self-
reliance, personal discipline, kindness, and goal-orientation.

Each of us places value on both the ends (terminal values) and the means (instrumental values). A
balance between the two is important, as is an understanding of how to strike this balance.

4.2. Generational Values

Researchers have integrated several analyses of work values into groups that attempt to capture
the shared views of different cohorts or generations in the U.S. workforce. You will surely be familiar
with the labels, some of which are used internationally. It is important to remember that, while
categories are helpful, they represent trends, not the beliefs of individuals.

Exhibit 4-4 shows that different generations hold different work values. Boomers (Baby Boomers)
entered the workforce during the 1960s through the mid-1980s. Xers (Generation Xers) entered the
workforce beginning in the mid-1980s. The most recent entrants to the workforce are the Millennials.
Though it is fascinating to think about generational values, remember that these classifications lack
solid research support. Generational classifications may help us understand our own and other
generations better, but we must also appreciate their limits.

Exhibit 4-4 Dominant Work Values in Today’s Workforce

 Course: Organizational Behavior
Subject: Personality and Values

5. Linking an Individual’s Personality and Values to the Workplace

Thirty years ago, organizations were concerned with personality, in part because they used it to
match individuals to specific jobs. That concern has expanded to include how well the individual’s
personality and values match the organization. Why? Because managers today are less interested in
an applicant’s ability to perform a specific job than with his or her flexibility to meet changing situations
and maintain commitment to the organization. Still, one of the first types of fit managers look for is
person-job fit.

5.1. Person-Job Fit

The concept of Person-Job Fit is best articulated in John Holland’s personality-job fit theory as
shown in Exhibit 4-5. Holland presents six personality types and proposes that satisfaction and the
propensity to leave a job depends on the degree to which individuals successfully match their
personalities to an occupational environment. He identifies six personality types: realistic,
investigative, social, conventional, enterprising, and artistic.

Exhibit 4-5 Holland’s Typology of Personality and Congruent Occupations

5.2. Person-Organization Fit

The Person-Organization Fit is most important for an organization facing a dynamic and
changing environment. Such organizations require employees who are able to readily change tasks
and move fluidly between teams. It argues that people leave jobs that are not matched with their
personalities.

Using the Big Five terminology, for instance, we could expect that people high on extraversion
fit well with aggressive and team-oriented cultures, that people high on agreeableness match up
better with a supportive organizational climate than one focused on aggressiveness, and that
people high on openness to experience fit better in organizations that emphasize innovation rather
than standardization. Research on person-organization fit has also looked at whether people’s
 Course: Organizational Behavior
Subject: Personality and Values

values match the organization’s culture. This match predicts job satisfaction, commitment to the
organization, and low turnover.

5.3. Other Dimensions of Fit

Although person-job fit and person-organization fit are considered the most salient dimensions
for workplace outcomes, other avenues of fit are worth examining. These include person-group fit
and person-supervisor fit.

Person-group fit is important in team settings, where the dynamics of team interactions
significantly affect work outcomes.

Person-supervisor fit has become an important area of research since poor fit in this dimension
can lead to lower job satisfaction and reduced performance.

6. Cultural Values

Unlike personality, which is largely genetically determined, values are learned. They are passed
down through generation and vary by cultures. As researchers have sought to understand cultural
value differences, two important frameworks that have emerged are from Geert Hofstede and the
Globe studies.

6.1. Hofstede’s Framework

Dr Hofstede studied people working for IBM in more than 50 countries as a part of his study.
Initially, he identified only four dimensions and later added two more.

1. Power distance: is the degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions
and organizations is distributed unequally.
2. Individualism versus collectivism: individualism is the degree to which people in a country
prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups. Collectivism emphasizes a tight
social framework in which people expect others in groups in which they are a part to look after
them and protect them.
3. Masculinity versus femininity: masculinity is the degree to which values such as the acquisition
of money and material goods prevail. Femininity is the degree to which people value
relationships and show sensitivity and concern for others. Societies that score high on
masculinity demonstrate a preference for achievement, heroism, assertiveness as well as
material rewards for success. Such societies are more competitive. On the other hand,
societies that score high on femininity foster values like modesty, cooperation, care of the
weak as well as the quality of life. Consensus is important in such societies rather than
competition.
4. Uncertainty avoidance: is the degree to which people in a country prefer structured over
unstructured situations. In cultures scoring high on uncertainty avoidance, people have
 Course: Organizational Behavior
Subject: Personality and Values

increased anxiety about uncertainty and ambiguity and use laws and controls to reduce
uncertainty. People in cultures low on uncertainty avoidance are more accepting of ambiguity,
are less rule oriented, take more risks, and accept change more readily.
5. Long-term versus short-term orientation: long-term orientations look to the future and value
thrift and persistence. Short-term orientation values the here and now; they accept change
more readily and don’t see commitments as impediments to change.
6. Indulgence versus restraint: Indulgence means free gratification of the natural human drives
whereas restraint means that social norms regulate the gratification of these drives. In
societies that are high on indulgence, the social norms are relatively relaxed and people can
enjoy life freely. On the other hand, the societies that are low on indulgence and high on
restraint have and follow strict social norms. Fun activities are generally regulated by the social
norms.

6.2. The GLOBE Framework

The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) program began
updating Hofstede’s research using data from 825 organizations and 62 countries. The variables
studied are similar to Hofstede’s, with some additional ones as well. For example, performance
orientation is the degree to which a society encourages and rewards group members for performance
improvement and excellence, and humane orientation is the degree to which a society rewards
individuals for being altruistic, generous, and kind to others.

Implications for Managers

• Consider screening job candidates for high conscientiousness—and the other Big Five traits—
depending on the criteria your organization finds most important. Other aspects, such as core
self-evaluation or narcissism, may be relevant in certain situations.
• Although the MBTI has faults, you can use it for training and development; to help employees
better understand each other, open communication in work groups, and possibly reduce
conflicts.
• Evaluate jobs, work groups, and your organization to determine the optimal personality fit.
• Consider situational factors when evaluating observable personality traits, and lower the
situation strength to better ascertain personality characteristics more closely.
• The more you consider people’s different cultures, the better you will be able to determine
their work behavior and create a positive organizational climate that performs well.

SOURCES

Robbins S.P. & Judge, T. A. (2019). Organizational Behavior, 18th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson:
United Kingdom.

Mutlucan, Nigar Çağla (2019). Örnek Olaylarla Örgütsel Davranış. Beta Yayınları.
 Course: Organizational Behavior
Subject: Personality and Values

https://adnanuludag.net/hofstede-kulturel-boyut-teoremi-ve-turkiye/

Abhijeet Pratap (2017). Hofstede model of cultural dimensions. Retrieved from

https://notesmatic.com/2016/10/hofstede-model-cultural-dimensions/