PERSONALITY Concept of Personality Traits of Personality ‘The Big Five Traits Mode! Other Traits influencing Organisational Behaviour Factors of infuencing Personality Implications of Personality for Managers When we describe people as fiiet and passive or loud and aggressive or ambitious, we, in fact, portray an aspect of their personality. Personality is a'set of traits and characteristics, habit patterns and conditioned responses to certain stimuli that formulate the impression an individual makes upon others. Thus, personality may come out as warm and friendly, or arrogant and aggressive. Many psychologists contend that personality traits develop in the early childhood years and very few personality characteristics such as physical build and intelligence are biological in nature, but most traits such as patience, open mindedness, extraversions or intravertness, etc. are learnt through experience. The present chapter is an attempt to explore the concept of personality, understand different types of personality and examine factors influencing personality. 3.4 word ‘personality’ signifies the ae which the person. ee to the public Penoraliy of an individual is unique, personal and a major determinant of his behaviour. Because of differences in © scanned with OKEN ScannerEssentials of Organisational Behay * is the dynamic organisation within the individyay a According to Gordon Allport, “ n ‘hose psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment”. tn the wordy. Floyd L. Ruch, “Personality inchudes external appearance and behaviour, inner awareness of sein permanent organising force and the particular pattem or organisation of measurable traits, both ng’ 7 and outer”. ; A comprehensive definition of personality has been given by Fred Luthans. Pérsonality mean 8 how a person aifects others and how he understands and views himself as well asthe pattern of no and outer measurable traits, and the person-situation interaction, How.a ee affects other depends _ upon his physical. appearance (such.as height, weight, facial features, cofour, etc.) and behaviour (sy), as courteous, friendly, expressive, cooperative, etc). Thus, personality represents the “whole perso concept. It includes perception, learning, motivation and more, The analysis of the above, definitions gives the following feat ity : vw smelt ns gives the following features of personality ; (@ Personality of a person represents external appearance and beha onan peorance and beha (i) It represents inner awareness of self as a permanent organising force. physiological and psychological facets of an iour. ii) It is an integrating and organising agent between. individual. (iv) Itis unique in nature. (¥) It becomes habitual to the person concerned, (#9 Tt influences individual's action.or behaviour in relation to a person, organisation or situation 2 TRAITS OF PERSONALITY A personality trait can be defined as “an enduring attribute of a person that appears constantly a variety of situations.” The trait theory makes certain fundamental assumptions: (@ Traits distinguish one personality from another. ibed in terms.of const be deseri (i) Individuals can. © scanned with OKEN Scanneree Yk oh ws TABLE 3.1. Sixteen Primary Trait es a yateee Meese tees Ae AS * a © scanned with OKEN Scanneree(_3.6_ REE Essentials of Organisational Behavigy, also like colours, one may dominate in describing an individuay, also be noted that different people have these traits in varying degrees from high ig unique personality whole. Howeve' personality”. It ma low. The descriptive characteristics of these traits have been summarised in Table 3,2. TABLE 3.2. The “Big Five" Personality Traits |. Conscientiousness Dependable, hardworking, organized, self-disciplined, : : "= persistent, responsible. Emotional stability Calm, secure, happy, unworried, Agreeableness Cooperative, warm, caring, good-natured, courteous, : 5 trusting. The big five traits have been found to be related to job performance as discussed below: 1. Conscientiousness. high conscientious person focuses on a single or a few goals at one time. He is likely to be organised, systematic, careful, thorough, responsible, selfdisciplined, and achievement-oriented. A person with low conscientious tends to focus on many goals at one time. Consequently, he is more disorganised, careless, and irresponsible, as well as less thorough and self-disciplined. ional Stability. It focuses on an individual’s ability to cope up the stress. The individual positive emotional stability tends to be cali, enthusiastic, and secure. The individual with Regative score tends to be nervous, depressed and insecure in stressful situations. _ 3. Agreeableness. It refers to a person’s abili value harmony more than they value havi trusting of others. Peopk of others. They want thin, ity to get along with others. High agreeable people ing their say to their way. The are cooperative and low on agreeableness focus more on their own needs than way, are argumentative and non-cooperative Extraversion. It reflects a person’s comfort level with relationships. Extroverts are sociable, talkative, assertive and open to establishing new relationships, Intraverts are less sociable, less talkative, less assertive and more reluctant to begin new relationships. They are reserved and shy and do not easily mix us with others. Intraverts and extraverts have significantly different career orientations and require different environments to maximise performance. Extraverts are more suitable for positions that require considerable interaction with others, whereas intraverts are more inclined to excel at tasks that require thought and analytical skills. Managerial positions enon slauuzasting that.th erial trait is a factor in managerial © Scanned with OKEN ScannerPersunany Lilia’ of openness tend to be less receptive to new ideas and less willing to change their minds. They also tend to have fewer and narrow interests and to be less curious and creative. hold up better than the others and although they depend on the Although some of the above five” traits that relate to type and nature of the job being performed, the identification of the “bi performance indicates the important role that personality plays in organisational behaviour. may office table neat and clean", High Emotional Stability -“Loften don’t worry about things that are out of my control.” High Aggreableness “| am courteous to my colleagues.” High Extraversion meeting new people and having friendship with them”. Openness to Experience _ “| prefer challenging assignments”. The above factors are measured on a five point scale, agree strongly (5 points), agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree and disagree strongly (1 point). When measured on a continuum, a person may exhibit a low, moderate or high degree of each quality. A person who has an extremely high degree of agreeableness would likely be described as warm, friendly, and good mannered, while one at the opposite extreme might be described as cold, rude and difficult to get along with. Several studies have found that these personality dimensions’ affect work-related behaviour and job performance. Two of the above- conscientiousness and emotional stability-have been found to be good predictors of success in many different jobs. Another dimension, agreeableness is found to be positively related to the interpersonal aspect of work. 3.4 OTHER TRAITS INFLUENCING ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 1, Authoritarianism According to Adorno, “Authoritarianism refers to a belief that there should be status and powe differences among people in organisations.” Authoritarians tend to place high moral value on thei beliefs and are strongly oriented towards conformity of rules and regulations. They naturally prefe stable and structured work environments which are governed by clear rules and procedures. of in the legitimacy of established mechanism i i of peopl A person with authorian personality has a strong beli of formal authority, views obedience to necessary, exhibits a ne; © scanned with OKEN Scannersitions, place high moral value on their beliefs, and arg d regulations. They naturally prefer stable and structureg es and procedures. Similarly, authoritarians are likely Id exhibit high respect for individuals in positions of igid in their p Authoritarians tend to be strongly oriented towards conformity to rules an work environments which are governed by clear rul to prefer autocratic or directive leadership and wou! authority. ‘2. Machiavellianism - ‘The personality eit of Machiavellianism also known as ‘Mach’ is named after Nicolo Machiavel, who wrote inthe 16th century on how to gain and use power. The characteristics of high ‘Mach’ employees in emotional balance and believe that ends can justify are as follows: (The high Machs are pragmatic, maintai means. (ii) They use power tactics to manipulate the behaviour of others to serve their personal interests, (iii) They flourish when they interact face to face with others rather than indirectly. wn the situation has a minimum number of rules and regulations, (iv) They are successful whe (@) They have high self-confidence and high self esteem. They are cool and calculating and have no hesitation using others or taking advantage of others in order to serve their own goals, (1) They are not easily swayed by a sense of friendship, trust or loyalty. They are specially successful in exploiting structured situations and vulnerable people. fficultto say whether high machs make good employees or not. The answer will depend upon job and whether moral and ethical values are considered in evaluating the performance of TABLE 3.3. Comparison of High Machs and Low Machs Low Machs A. Arroganes has no place in their behaviour. They behave humbly with others. ein compassion and love. | and love. They work for personal gains ftdslove ons | love them | in whatever manner they can, even if hen eco people fear them. their ends. . They use manipulative tactices me Fn S SI . as pursuasion, changing rules, a Bre, oe gaa bore une! threats, etc. oe . They work to maximise ¥ : . personal They jains, 'Y work to accompli isati 9 jodllves plish organisational © scanned with OKEN ScannerPersonality 3, ‘Type A’ and “Type B’ Personality People who are impatient, agg and highly e But those who are easy going, laid back and non-compet mpetitive are termed as “Type A’ personality. ¢ are termed as “Type B’ personality. Type ‘A’ people tend to be very productive as they work very hard. Their negative side is that they are very impatient, more irritable and have poor judgement. Type ‘B’ people do better on complex tasks involving judgement and ace’ y rather than sp “Type B’ personalitie: s given in Table 3.4 and hard work. A comparison of the profiles of ‘Type A’ and. TABLE 3.4. Comparison of Typo A and Type B Personality fe Typea TypeB 1. People with type A personality are 1, People with type B personality work always ina hurry and feel urgency patiently and do not feel urgency for r time, time. They try to work more inlesstime. 2, ‘They do not take work pressure and They want to work even during “perform their work at steady pace. leisure time. ae Lee _ deadlines, ifrequired. jeans ta the end. They work to © Scanned with OKEN ScannerSH and contribute significantly to the organisational goals. Self-esteem is directly related to the expectations for success, Self-esteem people believe that they possess the ability they need to succeed at work. People with low self-esteem are more susceptible to external influence than are those with high self-esteem. Low esteems are dependent on the receipt of positive evaluations from others. As a Tesult they are more likely to seek approval from others and more prone to conform to the beliefs and behaviours of those they respect than are the high esteems. - 5. Locus of Control Locus of control means whether people believe that they are in control of events, or events control them. Those who have internal locus of control believe that they can control and shape the course of events in their lives. Those who have external locus of control tend to believe that events occur purely by chance or because of factors beyond their own control. Former category of people seek opportunities for advancement, and rely more on their abilities and judgement at work, whereas latter category of people remain mostly inactive and allow the events occur on their own. =e ee ee People with internal locus of control show the following traits: have greater control over their behaviour. They believe that they are the master of their destiny. Such people are more active in seeking information to make decisions. They are better at retaining ~ the information and are less satisfied with the amount of information they possess. (ii) Such people are more independent and less susceptible to influence of others. @ more active socially. (®) Internals are more likely to use personally persuasive rewards and are likely to use coercion. People with external locus of control show the following traits: oe @ Such people are less satisfied with their jobs, have higher absenteeism rates, are more slienated from the work setting and are less involved on jobs than are internals. They generally prefer directive management. | @ Unlike the internals, these people prefer ¢ oriented rewards. fell that outside forces are affecting the events in their life and they are at the mercy of stiny, chance or other people. : () Uallike the internals, the externals are more interested in job security and not in advancement of careers. () Whereas, the internals prefer intrinsic rewards, like, feeling of achievement, externals are more interested in extrinsic awards. TABLE 3.5. Comparison of Internals and Externals © scanned with OKEN Scannerpersonality ger ai They are ictive and Use ‘their 3. Theyate "ihaetive and allow events to judgement and skills to wor Seounon iinicawin: ae 6. They like to deal with innovative and 6. They like to deal with simple, routine and | unstructured work situations. structured jobs, 7. They actively seek information to 7. They prefer to follow commands than to make decisions and have enough decide on their own. “ control over their behaviours, e 8, Companies experience high absentecism | Such employees. and turnover with such employees. 3.5 FACTORS INFLUENCING PERSONALITY Personality denotes the psychological characteristics of a person that influence his behaviour towards goal achievement. It is the sum total of ways in which an individual interacts with others. Personality has key influence on work performance. In jobs where human relations are very important, personality of the incumbent determines his effectiveness. The factors which shape the personality of an individual are as under: () Heredity. It means the transmission of the qualities ‘from ancestor to descendant through a mechanism lying primarily in the chromosomes of the gene cells. Physical stature, facial atractiveness, sex, temperament, muscle composition, reflexes, etc. are inherited from one’s parents. However, the importance of heredity varies from one personality trait to another. For example, heredity is generally more important in determining a person’s temperament than values and ideals. Brain. Another biological factor that influences personality is the role of brain of an individual. Though some promising in-roads are made by researchers, the psychologists are unable to prove empirically the contribution of human brain in influencing personality. Preliminary results from the electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB) research gives indication that better understanding of human personality and behaviour might come from the study of the brain. nal appearance may have a tremendous effect on his weightage to the physical features of an individual (ii) (ii) Physical Features. An individual’s exten © Scanned with OKEN Scanner2. Essentials of Organisational Behaviour like job rotation and special training programme to satisfy the interests of excoutives. The ‘sfull persons in the same occupation have to a large extent, the same interests. i .. Motives are the inner drives of the individual. They represent goal-directed behaviour of individual. A motive isa cognitive factor which operates in determining one’s behaviour towards goal. Individuals differ in veriables which determine the inner drives. The behaviour of an individual to accomplish the goal varies because of his inner drive ‘amily influences the behaviour of a person especially in the early stages. The (vi) Family Fa nature of such influences will depend upon the following factors (2) Socioeconomic level of the family, (8) Family size. (©) Birth onder. (@) Race. (©) Religion, () Parents’ educational level, (g) Geographic location, eto, For instance, a person brought up in a rich family has a different personality as compared to a person who belongs to a poor family. The family size will also affect the behaviour of a child. The personality of a single child is different from the personality of a person who is brought up in a family of two or more than two siblings. Similarly, the personality of a person brought up in a nucleus family will be different from that of a person brought up in a joint family. Studies have also shown that first born children are more responsible, rational, independent, ambitious and more sensitive to social acceptance. The family environment has a great influence on the development of personality of a child. (vii) Social Factors. The development of individual’s personality is also influenced by social factors. The infant acquires those behaviour patterns that are customary and acceptable to the standards of the community where the family lives. The status of the family in the society influences individual's perception about self, others, work, money, etc. lors, An individual’s personality may change in different LI ferenta of one’s personality. © scanned with OKEN ScannerSOCIALISATION AND IDENTIFICATION The development of individual's personality is also influenced by his family and other social | groups. The infant acquires those behaviour patterns that are customary and acceptable to the standards of the family and the community where the family lives. Family and social factors shape a person's personality through the processes of socialisation and identification. _| Socialisation is a process by which an infant acquires, from the enormously wide range of behavioural potentialities that are open to him at birth, those behaviour patterns that are customary and acceptable to the family and social groups. Socialisation process starts with initial contact between mother and her new infant. Later on, other members of the family and social groups influence the socialisation process. Identification process occurs when a person tries to identify himself with some person | whom he feels ideal in family. Generally a child in the family tries to behave like his father _| ‘or mother. The identification process can be examined from three different perspectives. First, identification can be viewed as the similarity of behaviour (including feelings and ) betwer identification can be looked as the 3.6 IMPLICATIONS OF PERSONALITY FOR MANAGERS Managers need to understand personality of people working with them for managing effectively. The main areas of application of personality aré as follows: (® Matching of Jobs and Persons. Every job requires some specific characteristics on the part of tis performer. When the personality of the job performer matches with the requirements of the job, job performance and job satisfaction tend to be better. Therefore, personality tests and personal interview are used in employee selection. When a person is promoted, the nature of his sf changes and new personality traits need to be developed through training and experience. (Gi) Designing Motivation System. Different incentives are needed to motivate different individuals i in their personality. Some employees prefer financial incentives while ot © scanned with OKEN Scanner— ——————— Esoonls of Oranstona Bet, t 3. What are the traits of high machs? 4. What are the features of Type A and Type B personalities? How does locus of control influence the personality of an individual? 6 What is meant by personality ? How does it determine the behaviour of an individual ? 7. 8. State and explain the factors that shape the personality of an individual. Explain the personality traits that have relevance from the point of view of Organisationg Behaviour. 9. Explain the personality traits that shape the behaviour of individuals. 40. Explain the concept of personality. Do biological factors affect the personality of an individual > Explain 14. Write short notes on the following: (a) _ Role of family in shaping personality (b) Type A and Type B personalities (c)_ Machiavellianism. 4. GW. Allport, Personality—A Psychological Interpretation, Holt, Rinehard & Winston, New York, p. 42. E.R. Hilgard, R.C. Atkinson and R.L. Atkinson, Introduction to Psychology, Oxford and IBH, New Delhi 1975, p. 364. 3. Ruch, Floyd L., Personality and Life, Scott Foresman, Chicago, 1963, p. 353. 4. Luthans, Fred, Organizational Behaviour, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2013, p. 125. Cliffort T. Morgan and Richard A. King : “Introduction to Psychology’, McGraw-Hill Company, New York, 1966, p. 460. 6. RS. Dwivedi, Supervisors: Personality and Performance, Somalya Publications, Bombay, 1978. Endler and Magnusson, ‘Forward in Interactional Theory of Personality’, pp. 956-74. Gordon Allport, R.E. Vernon and Gordner Lindzey, A Study of Values : A Scale for Measuring the Dominant ality, Hongton Miffitin, Boston, 1960. Raymond Cattell, The Scientific Analysis o © scanned with OKEN Scanner