Module 4

PERSONALITY, ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR

Module Introduction
Individuals are truly unique in their own ways. Each one of us has our set of preferences of what
we like to do, who we want to be and who we want to be with. Even what we prefer to eat and drink can
probably differ from the others. Basically, our individual attributes and traits can affect our actions and
behaviors towards other people and events. Often, we are used to tag along people having the same
characteristics as us, and ignore those who are different.
In the workplace setting, it is important to consider one’s personality to further understand their
consequent attitudes and behaviors, more importantly, since it does vary from one person to another. As
this chapter deals with the discussion of the fundamentals of personality, it also targets to bring
excitement to the students as they discover their distinct personality types and eventually, see and
understand others’ uniqueness too. Personality, attitudes and behavior shall be distinguished from one
another during the course of discussion.

Topic Outcomes
After reading and understanding this module, students will be able to:
1. Differentiate between Big Five Personality Traits and the MBTI;
2. Describe the determinants of personality development; and
3. Analyze the importance of attitude and behavior in the workplace.

THE MEANING AND CONCEPTS OF PERSONALITY

Personality is a term often widely used to explain why a person thinks, acts or behaves in a
particular manner. This drives a person to his attitude and behavior towards other individuals, events and
situations. Personality refers to the stable dominant traits and qualities of an individual which results in a
consistent manifested behavior towards people and across various situations.This makes up a person’s
uniqueness. For instance, a sociable person may be seen performing better in groups and teams. In
addition, he can easily gain company of people even in new places. On the other hand, an individual who
is an introvert may prefer working productively on his own. You could expect him to be behind the stage.
In the organizations, introverts are often found at the back office, e.g. accounting office. Apparently, their
behaviors reflect their personality respectively.
Individual personality is influenced by several factors. These are coined as determinants of
personality.
1. Heredity. In biology, this is our inheritance from our parents. Heredity is the passing of the parents’
traits to their children. Physical traits like hair color and height are common inherited characteristics.
Genes can likewise play a role in the individual’s personality. Although, it is a fact that not everything
learned is by birth.
2. Environment. As individuals grow, they are exposed to different conditions and situations in the
environment. People, especially during the early development stage, consider their families, friends and
other social groups responsible in shaping their personality. In essence, the culture is an important
determinant of personality. What is considered acceptable in a particular group may determine how its
people will act and behave consequently. Further, as people grow to adulthood, their experiences also
shape their personality.
Personality plays a vital role in organizational behavior. The management must ensure that the
individuals in the organization have a good understanding and recognition of what their personalities are.
This will lead them to a clear vision of what they want to achieve since they have identified where they
are good at. Moreover, their personality will also determine what certain things can motivate them. The
management shall then be able to place them in jobs where they can perform better and comfortably.

Big Five Personality Traits

 Among the many theories and models on personality, the Big Five Personality Traits, also known
as OCEAN model, is the most widely used and accepted by psychologists. According to this model, each
of the O-C-E-A-N traits represents a continuum wherein individuals may fall anywhere here. These traits
are stable throughout the lifetime of a person and are influenced both by heredity and environmental
factors. OCEAN is an acronym that stands for openness, consciousness, extraversion, agreeableness and
neuroticism.
Openness to Experience. This refers to the degree to which a person is willing to embrace
changes and take new experiences. People who score high on this are daring, creative thinkers and
spontaneous. While those who are low on this prefer going on routines and are less likely to cope with
changes.
Conscientiousness. This refers to the degree to which a person is in control and disciplined
working on specific goals. This measures how competent and organized an individual is. Those who are
high in conscientiousness have a clear direction and are mindful of the things related to completing a
given task. Its opposites include disorganized and impulsive individuals.
Extraversion. This refers to the degree to which a person seeks energy from the social
environment through interactions. Extroverts are outgoing people. They prefer being surrounded by
people and are considered as “life of the party.” On the other hand, introverts are quiet and reserved. They
work well in solitude. They do not often engage in small talks and find social gatherings a bit tiring. Thus,
they require quite some time to regain energy on their own.
Agreeableness. This refers to the degree to which a person goes well with other people. This is
different with extraversion in such a way that agreeableness focuses more on creating genuine
relationships, helping others and being sensitive to what others feel. People who score high on this are
forgiving, empathic and modest. In contrast, people who are low on this are rude, stubborn and
demanding. Teamwork is fostered by individuals who are high in
agreeableness. While the opposites tend to be antagonistic.
Neuroticism. Also known as emotional stability, this refers to the degree to which a person is able to
respond in stressful and difficult situations. Emotionally stable individuals perform better in the
workplace even during stressful days with high job demands. Those who score low are emotionally
stable, calm and resilient. On the other hand, people who score high in neuroticism are irritable, hostile
and vulnerable. Research by Soto & John in 2012 has shown the trends of the Big Five Personality Traits.
It was found that the degree of agreeableness and conscientiousness of individuals eventually increases as
they get older. While for extraversion, no significant trend was found, however, there is an increase in
assertiveness. When individuals reach adolescence to middle adulthood, their openness and neuroticism
gradually decrease.

The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality test created by Isabel Myers and
Katherine Briggs. They based their 100-item personality test on the theory pioneered by Carl Jung, a
Swiss psychiatrist. According to Jung, individuals may either be of extravert or introvert type and had two
basic mental processes, i.e. perception and judgement. He divided perception into sensing and intuiting
while judgement into thinking and feeling to come up with four personality dimensions. The traits now
include (1) introversion/extraversion, (2) perceiving/judging, (3) sensing/ intuition, and (4)
thinking/feeling. It is important to note that individual preference does not necessarily mean that one is
better than the other. It means they are only different. MBTI is aimed at understanding people and making
it useful to everyday lives.
After the assessment, the participant will be given a four-letter code, e.g. INFJ, ESFP and ISTJ,
which corresponds to each of the four categories (1) I/E, (2) S/N, (3) T/F and (4) P/J. 16 Personality
Types may be identified using MBTI Assessment. MBTI Assessment is valid and reliable, hence, many
people have relied on this personality test.
Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I) : What makes you excited and energetic? Extraverts seek
energy from the social environment while introverts get energy in solitude.
 Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N) : How do you gather information? Sensors prefer using their senses
in collecting information from the environment. Intuitives use their “sixth sense”, looks at the overall
context, insights and hunches.
Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F) : What do you value during decision making? Thinkers find the
most logical solutions when creating decisions and judgements. Feelers consider their emotions and tend
to be subjective in the decision making process.
Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P) : How do you organize your environment? Judgers are
definite with their goals, organized and regulated. Perceivers are much flexible, easy going and
spontaneous oriented.

Other Organizational Relevant Personality Traits

1. Locus of Control. This personality concept refers to the degree to which one believes that causes and
controls of events, situations or experiences are attributed to either himself or to the external forces.
Locus of control is classified into two. Those (1) internals believe that they are in control of what happens
to their lives. They think that they can be successful if they exert efforts and perform well. On the other
hand, (2) externals tend to attribute their experiences to the external factors. This could either be
attributed to luck or fate. These individuals believe that they are not in control and are actually helpless.
Internals are more motivated than the externals.
2. Self-monitoring. It is a personality trait in which an individual tries to understand the social situation
and regulates his behavior for him to fit in a particular situation. A person with high self-monitoring can
easily cope up with situations because they tend to read the nonverbal behavior of other people and
eventually alter his own for him to be able to present an image that the situation is expecting him to
portray. Thus, this type of person gains more friends, in contrast with people with low self-monitoring.
High self-monitors are flexible and can adapt to different situations. Low self-monitors do not care
whether they are conforming with the norms and just act themselves out. They do not tend to change for a
particular situation and believe that they are consistent. While low self monitors are coined insensitive,
high self-monitors are often called superficial.
3. Self-esteem. This refers to the extent to which an individual is confident of his or herself. Individuals
with high self-esteem believe in their capabilities and that they have what it takes to become successful.
While, people with low self esteem often do not see their worth, dislike themselves and prefer to seek
approval of other people as they make decisions.
4. Machiavellianism. This personality trait involves being manipulative and emotionally distant. High
Machs or the Machiavellians are emotionally detached but utilize their charm to win and persuade other
people.
5. Type A and B Personalities. Friedman and Rosenman, medical doctors, identified two types of
personality which were particularly concerned with how individuals manage stressful situations. They
discovered that people with Type A personality are competitive, with a sense of urgency and are short-
tempered. They quickly react to situations and are generally impatient. While Type B individuals are the
opposite. They also have the drive for ambitions but are more relaxed and easy going. The two
cardiologists explained that Type A individuals are more prone to heart diseases than Type B individuals.
This approach however, has been criticized by many since people do not actually all fit to these
personality types.
EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR
Attitude refers to the predisposition of an individual to behave towards a person, object or idea.
This is what a person thinks in a particular situation. While, behavior can be defined simply as actions of
individuals in response to a particular situation. It is the way an individual acts out his feelings and
thoughts. Attitude determines behavior. Whenever a person has a preference over something, for instance,
liking or disliking a particular food cuisine, he or she is expressing an attitude. Basically, attitudes tend to
be permanent or stable. These are directed and related to one’s behavior towards a person, object or idea.
In the workplace, individuals may also have an attitude concerning their jobs. Work attitudes are defined
as the set of beliefs, feelings and thoughts on how people are to behave vis-a-vis their job and the
organization. Job satisfaction and organizational commitment were identified as important employee
attitudes to deal with in organizational behavior.

But first, let use discuss how attitudes are formed. Understanding attitude formation is
fundamental in knowing how to apply attitude concepts to organizational issues. Attitudes have
three basic elements.

1. Cognitive element. This is composed of collected information that individuals consider about
a person, object or idea.
2. Affective element. This includes the feelings of an individual towards a person, object or
idea.
3. Behavioral element. This is the person’s intent to behave in a particular manner towards a
person, object or idea. One’s behavior is very much dependent on how he/she likes or dislikes
a specific thing.
Attitude can be formed through various approaches.
1. Dispositional approach explains attitudes are actually viewed as personality traits. It explains that
a relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular situation is represented by attitude. This
means that having a predisposition in a job (whether being satisfied or not) disregards the actual
nature of work. Attitude is not dependent on the actual job but on the predisposition of the
individual. Thus, employers must hire individuals with appropriate and proper dispositions
towards their job.
2. Situational approach suggests that attitude is case-to-case basis. This means that attitude occurs
based on a given situation and that it could change if the situation will be
likewise changed. For instance, if an employee has a positive attitude in his job because he has a
good supervisor, his attitude may change when his supervisor is no longer good or the supervisor
himself is already replaced with another one. In general, changing the situation can change
attitudes too.
3. Social-information-processing approach. This approach is a more complicated process
in forming attitudes. Social-information-processing means that the social context in which a
person is in develops his perceptions of the situation, so is his attitude. For instance, a new
member was introduced in a team (social context), and the old members explain and orient him to
the work situation, e.g. perks and bonuses (information concerning the event), the individual then
forms a new attitude aligned with his teammates.

Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction can be defined as a state of fulfillment of an individual towards his/her
job. Since it is often associated with various employee behaviors in the workplace, this has been
considered as one of the most examined attitudes in organizational behavior. Extant literature
showed that job satisfaction is linked to employee performance, organizational commitment, employee
turnover intention, employee retention, motivation and more. Hence, maintaining a
high level of job satisfaction is significant to any organization. Job satisfaction results from the feeling
that one has towards what he expects and receives from his current job.
Five job dimensions were identified to represent the job characteristics in which employees are
influenced.
1. Work itself. This is the extent to which a person’s job is providing him with engaging activities,
opportunity to learn and accept responsibility.
2. Pay. This is the financial amount given to the individual as a form of remuneration with the
understanding that there is a commensurate pay equal for the job.
3. Promotion opportunities. This is the chance of an individual for career advancement in the
organization.
4. Supervision. This is the extent to which the supervisor is able to provide the employees
the needed technical assistance and support.
5. Co-workers. This is the extent to which the peers or colleagues are socially supportive
and technically proficient.

To measure job satisfaction several instruments have been developed throughout the
years. The two popular job satisfaction scas used widely are the MSQ or Minnesota Satisfaction
Questionnaire and Paul E. Spector JSS or Job Satisfaction Model.
Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire measures employee satisfaction as regards his/her job. This
survey is in three forms. Two long versions and one short questionnaire. This
survey measures various aspects of a job to wit, Ability Utilization, Co-workers, Moral Values,
Achievement, Creativity, Recognition, Activity, Independence, Responsibility, Advancement, Security,
Supervision--HumanRelations, Authority, Social Service, Supervision--Technical, Company Policies,
Social Status, Variety, Compensation, and Working Conditions.
According to Prof. Paul E. Spector, there are nine facets in which employee attitudes may be
assessed. JSS is a 36-item questionnaire designed to assess employee attitudes about
their jobs and related aspects. JSS includes assessment of job satisfaction in terms of (1) Pay,
(2) Promotion, (3) Supervision, (4) Fringe Benefits, (5) Contingent Rewards (performance based
rewards), (6) Operating Procedures (required rules and procedures), (7) Coworkers, (8) Nature
of Work, and (9) Communication.

Organizational Commitment
Several studies have shown that job satisfaction is related to another employee attitude in the
workplace known as organizational commitment. This employee attitude can be defined as the
psychological state of an individual to get attached in the organization for certain reasons. According to
John Meyer and Natalie Allen , organizational commitment has three components.
1. Affective commitment. It refers to the strong attachment of an individual to his job. People with
high affective commitment value their organization and are sincere in staying committed.
2. Continuance commitment. This is commitment that results from the fear of losing the job
without having better opportunities outside the organization. This is associated with the
individual’s cost of leaving the organization.
3. Normative commitment. This refers to commitment due to a sense of obligation. One is
committed to the organization because of the pressure to stay, thinking that it is the right
thing to do.

Management needs to create strategies to promote affective commitment of employees to the

organization. Research showed that employees who are satisfied with their jobs also have a high affective
commitment. On the other hand, continuance commitment and normative commitment can be reduced by
identifying what influenced them to be committed that way.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

Organizational Citizenship Behavior or OCB refers to the discretionary, voluntary behavior of
people whereby they perform beyond what is expected of them. Although it is outside their job
description or not being required by their organization, individuals who feel organizational citizenship go
beyond out of their motivation. This results in greater satisfaction and performance. An employee
generously working overtime without expecting to get paid for it is an example of OCB.
There are five dimensions of OCB as categorized by Organ.
1. Altruism. This is characterized by the individual’s willingness to extend help to others,
especially the co-workers in the organization. Offering assistance to other employees
 with urgent deadlines is an example of altruism.
2. Conscientiousness. This relates to genuine compliance of an employee in carrying out
his/her work, especially as regards spending ample working hours for efficiency sake.
Individuals who feel this OCB need less supervision and can help employees manage
costs.
3. Sportsmanship. This is linked to how an individual demonstrates a positive attitude and
loyalty in the organization by avoiding complaints on minor inconveniences. They are the
ones that tolerate inevitable inconveniences without complaining at all in their workplace.
4. Civic Virtue. This includes strong support to the organizational policies. People with this
OCB type take responsibility towards the organization. They generally have sincere
concern.
5. Courtesy. This is characterized by individuals taking necessary steps to avoid conflicts
and problems and establish good relationships instead. They are responsible for giving
advice to other colleagues to prevent future problems in the workplace.

Organizational Citizenship behavior is found to enhance the levels of employee

performance and commitment that eventually result in the achievement of organizational goals.

Cognitive Dissonance
Everyone wants to behave according to what they feel and think. As attitude determines
behavior, it is important that a person make actual expressions out of it. However, there are instances that
people are not able to behave in a manner that it is congruent with their attitudes. This condition leads to
what is known as cognitive dissonance . This refers to the mental discomfort that an individual
experiences when there is attitude-behavior inconsistency. This
means that a person needs to behave in a way inconsistent with his attitude which ends up with uneasy
feelings, regret and sometimes embarrassment. When people are faced with choices, creating decisions
can also result in cognitive dissonance when the said decision is against what he actually believes.

Emotions, Emotional Labor and Emotional Intelligence

Emotion refers to the strong feeling and subjective reactions of an individual to particular
situations. Emotion is a psychological state. Reactions of individuals include happiness, sadness, fear,
disgust, anger, and surprise and are known as the six basic emotions. Emotions have a critical role in our
daily lives, including our work life. People should
understand how emotions are conveyed because this can create an impact on their behaviors.
When individuals are not able to portray the emotion that they are actually feeling in a
given situation, they experience emotional labor. It is a process in which a person is expected to
express emotions contrary to what they really feel. Most employees in their jobs, particularly in
customer service and sales, experience emotional labor. Regardless of what they actually feel
towards the clients, they must display a positive emotion.
Relatively, emotional intelligence (EI), also known as emotional quotient (EQ) refers to
the ability to recognize, monitor and regulate own emotions and others’ as well. Daniel Goleman
identified five elements of emotional intelligence including:
1. Self-awareness. People with high self-awareness recognize the effect of their emotions
and behaviors to the people around them.
2. Self-regulation. This refers to the individual’s ability to control his emotions.
3. Motivation. People with high emotional intelligence are self-motivated. They have
the drive to achieve their goals and perform at their best.
4. Empathy. It is the ability to put oneself in the position of other people. Thus, those
individuals with empathy are able to respond to the feelings of others.
5. Social skill. This is the ability of a person to establish good relationships. People
who are effective in relationship management become change catalysts, influencers, and
can promote teamwork and collaboration.