Unit 8:- Personality

Personality
• The word personality is derived from latin word
‘persona’ which means ‘mask of music and
dance’. At that period character of play wear
mask according to their role.
• Personality can be defined as the individual’s
unique and relatively stable pattern of behavior,
thought, and feelings.
• In other words, it is the sum total of behavioral
and mental characteristics that are distinctive of
an individual.
• Personality is social and psychological impact
one makes on others during the adjustment
process.
• Thus, personality refers to uniqueness of
individual.
• It includes both outlook and internal mental
qualities.
• The patterns of behavior and outlook of
individual is to large extent stable though some
qualities do change over time.
 Nature of personality
• It is the dynamic organization within the
individual of those psycho-physical systems that
determine his unique adjustment to his
environment.
• It is the most characteristic integration of an
individual’s structures, modes of behavior,
interests, attitudes, capacities, abilities etc.
• It is unique, special and different for each
individual.
• Individual’s personality is relatively stable
however dynamic also.
• Individual’s personality is the product of heredity,
environment and situation.
• Personality is also influenced by social
interaction and culture.
• Personality should not be equated with one’s
character. Character is an ethical concept
while, personality is a psychological concept.
• Personality includes everything about a person.
It includes all the behavior pattern (overt and
covert).
 Psychodynamic approaches to
personality
• Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician, developed
psychoanalytic theory in 1896.
• According to Freud's theory, conscious experience is a
small part of our psychological makeup and experience.
• He argued that much of our behavior is motivated by
the unconscious, a part of the personality that contains
the memories, knowledge, beliefs, feelings, urges,
drives, and instincts of which the individual is not
aware.
• Psychodynamic approaches to personality are based on
the idea that personality is motivated by inner forces
and conflicts about which people have little awareness
and over which they have no control.
• The theory state two aspects of mind:
1. Topographical aspect of mind
2. Structural aspect of mind
• Topographical aspect/model of the mind:
Here, it describes the features of mind’s
structure and the function.
1. Unconscious
2. Preconscious
3. Conscious
• In mental functioning nothing happens by
chance.
Conscious: It includes our current thoughts whatever we
are thinking about or experiencing at a given moment.

Preconscious / Subconscious level: Beneath the

conscious there is much larger preconscious. It contains
memories that are not part of current thoughts but can
readily be brought to mind if the need arises

Unconscious level: Beneath the preconscious, and

forming the bulk of the human mind, is the
unconscious: thoughts, desires, and impulses of which
we remain largely unaware.
Although some of this material has always been
unconscious, Freud believed that much of it was once
conscious but has been actively repressed – driven from
consciousness because it was too anxiety-provoking.
Structural aspect of mind:
• Freud suggested that personality consists
largely of three parts: id, ego, and superego.
Id: Id consists of all our primitive, innate urges,
which includes various bodily needs, sexual
desire, and aggressive impulses. According to
Freud, id is totally unconscious and operates in
accordance with what he termed the Pleasure
principle: it wants immediate, total
gratification and is not capable of considering
the potential costs of seeking this goal.
 EGO
• Unfortunately, the world offers few opportunities for
instant pleasure.
• Moreover, attempting to gratify many of our innate
urges would soon get us into serious trouble.
• It is in response to these facts that the second structure
of personality, the Ego develops.
• Thus, the ego operates in accordance with the reality
principle: it takes into account external conditions and
the consequences of various actions and directs
behavior so as to maximize pleasure and minimize
pain.
 Super-ego
• It is the final aspect of personality described by Freud.
• It too seeks to control satisfaction of id impulses; but,
in contrast to the ego, it is concerned with morality –
with whether various actions that could potentially
satisfy id impulses are right or wrong.
• The superego permits us to gratify such impulses only
when it is morally correct to do so – not simply when it
is safe or feasible, as required by the ego.
• The superego is acquired from our parents and through
experience, and it represents our internalization of the
moral teachings and norms of our society.
 Determinants of Personality
• Personality is very dynamic and may be
affected by various factors.
• The personality traits, habits and learned
behavior generally are shaped and featured
various factors:
Heredity
Situational
Environment
 Heredity
• Heredity is another factor determining human
personality because of common heredity there is
similarities in people’s personality.
• Man originates from the union of male and female
germ cells into a single cell which is formed at the
moment of 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.
• Physical structure, facial attractiveness, temperament,
muscle composition and reflexes, energy level, and
biological rhythms are characteristics that are
considered to be inherent from one’s parents.
• Research on animals has showed that both
physical and psychological characteristics can
be transmitted through heredity.
 Situation
• The type of specific situation which a person
encounters also equally shapes the type of personality
characteristics.
• An individual’s personality, while generally stable and
consistent, does change in different situations.
• The varying demands of different situations call forth
different aspects of one’s personality.
• For example, an individual’s exposure to a job
interview and the type of experiences encountered
during that time will shape certain personality
characteristics.
• Similarly, going for a picnic with friends and
encountering the type of experiences whether pleasant
and unpleasant will shape the personality characteristics
of individuals.
 Environment
• Man comes to form ideas and attitudes according to the
physical environment he lives in.
• To the extent that the physical environment determines
cultural development and to the extent, that culture in
turn determines personality
• The culture in which people are brought up in their
lives and the type of socialization process such as
family’s child rearing practices, socio economic status
of the family, number of children in a family, birth
order, education of the parents, friends and peer group
pressures, religious practices, the type of schooling and
recreational activities, pastime behavior etc play a
critical role in shaping our personalities.
 Personality Traits
• Popular characteristics including shy, aggressive,
submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal and timid.
• Those characteristics, when they exhibited in
large number of situations, are called personality
traits or enduring characteristics that describe on
individual’s behavior.
• In this unit, we go through the two personality
traits:
 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
 Big Five Models
 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI)
• The MBTI is a 100 question based on Carl
Jung’s Personality types used to assess
personality.
• The MBTI questions are formulated to get the
responses or choices of how an individuals feel
or acts in a particular situation.
• When scoring questionnaire the preferences of
the individual is counted.
• MBTI describes four dimensions of
Personality Types:
(a) Extroversion versus Introversion: (The ways
in which people relate to the world)
(b) Sensing versus Intuition: (Becoming aware of
and perceiving information)
(c) Thinking versus feeling: (Ways of deciding
and prefer to make judgments)
(d) Judging and Perception: (The amount of
control exercising and organizing people)
a) Extroversion and Introversion
• This deals with whether the focus of attention is
directed towards outwardly or inwardly. Where do
you prefer to focus your attention?
• Extroversion: Extroverted attention flows
outward to the world of objects and people or
external ideas. They are interacting more with
people.
• Extroverts are usually active, sociable, like
variety and stimulation, and are often good
speakers, sales people or public relations
professionals.
• Introversion: Introverted attention focused on
the subjective, inner world of thoughts,
feelings and ideas. Introverts like quit
reflection, can concentrate on one idea or
thought for longer than an extrovert, and are
less active and prone to change.
• Research scientists, academicians and
librarians are often introverts.
 b) Sensing Versus Intuition
• This aspect deals with the ways of collecting
information and ideas.
• Sensing: A person with a sensing preferences focuses
on the specific, practical, tangible and prefer habitual
order.
• The sensing person relies more on the physical or
material reality of the world of the five senses: touch,
sight, sound, taste or smell.
• Sensing managers take in information through their
senses and attend to the details of the problem.
• They like to solve problems in standard ways and are
patient with routine details and are precise in their
work.
• They emphasize action, urgency and bottom-line
results.
• Intuition: This person relies more on their
insights and based on that they guess, assume and
draw the inferences.
• Ideas, associations or creative process often
accompany the presence of intuition.
• They focus on the relationships and connections
between facts.
• Intuition manager like solving new problems and
are impatient with routine details.
• They perceive the problem in its totality and
consider several alternatives simultaneously.
• They are imaginative and futuristic, enjoying
mind testing games.
 c) Thinking versus Feeling
• These deals with the way people make
decisions.
• Thinking: The person with a preference for
thinking tends to be objective, analytical and
impersonal in decision and judgments.
• Thinking managers are logical and analytical
in their problem solving and search for
additional information in a logical manner.
• Feeling: People who use feelings to make
decision are more likely to be empathetic,
loyal, and appreciative and tactful.
• Feeling types consider the person and are
likely to bend the rules if the situation
warrants.
• Feeling managers heavily emphasize the
human aspects in dealing with organizational
problems and is more process oriented.
• They enjoy pleasing people and avoid
conflicts.
 d) Judgment versus Perception
• This aspect deals with the amount of control a person
has over events and organizing things.
• Judgment: The strong Judgment oriented people tend
to live in a planned, decided and orderly way, wanting
to regulate their life and control events.
• They are given more responsibility and authority
because their operating mode is stable and predictable.
• The person with a strong orientation for judgment will
therefore be good at making decision and planning.
• They usually make good managers, engineers and
lawyers.
• Perception: Perceptive people tend to live in a
flexible, spontaneous way, wanting to
understand life and adapt to it.
• They often appear to be more relaxed and less
organized than judging types and are less
attracted to schedules and routines.
• The perceptive type, on the other hand, may
wait until all the information and aspects of
situation are seen before they make a decision.
• Artists, consultants, musicians and counselors
tend to be perception oriented.
 Big Five Model
• There are five Big Personality Traits which have a
significant impact in individual’s life. To
remember from acronym, we can say OCEAN
model. The Big five personality traits are as
follows:
a) Openness to experience
b) Conscientiousness
c) Extroversion
d) Agreeableness
e) Neuroticism or Emotional Stability
 a) Openness to experience
• This refers to the extent to which people are more
imaginative, artistic sensitivity and
intellectualism.
• Individuals tend to vary widely ranging from
conservative to creative or artistic.
• Extremely open people are creative, and
artistically sensitive.
• Whereas not so open category personnel are very
conservative and find comfort in the familiar or
routine activities.
 b) Conscientiousness
• This refers to the extent to which people are
responsible and dependable in their work and life.
• A highly conscientiousness person is responsible,
organized, dependable and persistent.
• They are likely to move upward direction very
quickly and attain remarkable achievement in
their life.
• Those who score low on this dimension are easily
distracted, disorganized and unreliable.
 c) Extroversion
• Extroverts are sociable, lively, and gregarious and seek
outward interaction.
• Such individuals are likely to be most successful
working in marketing division, public relations etc.
where they can interact face to face with others.
• Introverts are quite, reflective, introspective and
intellectual people, preferring to interact with a small
intimate circle of friends.
• Introverts are more likely to be successful when they
can work on highly abstract ideas (accountant) in a
relatively quite atmosphere.
 d) Agreeableness
• This refers to the extent to which individuals
agreeing and cooperating with others.
• Highly agreeable people are cooperative, warm
and trusting.
• People who score low on agreeableness are
cold, disagreeable and antagonistic.
• This characteristic is very important and
critical in attaining a successful achievement in
their life.
 e) Neuroticism or Emotional
Stability
• This refers to the extent to which people have
the ability to withstand stress.
• People with positive emotional stability tend to
be calm, self confident and secure.
• Those with low level of emotional stability
tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed and
insecure.
 Major Personality Attributes
Influencing Organization Behavior
• Attribution is the fundamental quality of a
stimulus through which perceived events and
behaviors are assigned
• It help to form impression of others and
impressions about ones self while interacting
with environment.
• It help to identify the causes of behaviors of
others and to gain knowledge of their stable
traits and disposition.
• The major personality attributes that influences organization
are:
Locus of control:
• People are assumed to be of two types: `Internals' and
`Externals'.
• Internals are people who believe that much of what
happens to them is controlled by their destiny.
• Externals believe that much of what happens to them is
controlled by outside forces.
Machiavellianism:
• High Machs tend to take control, especially in loosely
structured situations; Low Machs respond well to
structured situations.
• High Machs tend to be more logical, rational and
Pragmatic.
• They are more skilled in influencing and coalition
building.
Self-esteem:
• People differ in the degree to which they like or dislike
themselves. This trait is called self-esteem.
• Individuals with high self-esteem will take more risks
in job selection and more likely to choose
unconventional jobs than people with low self-esteem.
Self-monitoring
• A personality trait that measures on individuals ability
to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational
factors.
• Individuals high in self-monitoring show considerable
adaptability in adjusting their behavior to external
situational factors.
• They are highly sensitive to external cues and can
behave different situations.
Risk Taking
• This refers to the extent to which people are willing to take chances.
• High risk taking managers made more rapid decision and used less
information in making their choices than did the low risk taking
managers.
Type ‘A’ or Type ‘B’
• People who are Hard-driving, impatient, aggressive, and super
competitive are termed as Type `A' Personality.
• Those who are easy-going, sociable, laid-back and non-competitive
are termed as Type `B' Personality.
• Type A people tend to be very productive and work very hard. They
are workaholics.
• Type B people do better on complex tasks involving judgment,
accuracy rather than speed and team work.
 Measurement of personality
• It’s a complex process therefore its not possible to
measure personality by single test.
• Psychologist have used various techniques to
understand behavior of people.
• In clinical setting, personality test and other
assessment methods are used in making a
diagnosis.
• Those techniques provides an estimation of
clients strength and weakness, and are useful in
making interpretation and planning of treatment.
• Broadly it can be divided into two categories:
1. Objective Method
2. Projective Method
 1. Objective Method
• This requires individual to respond to certain
statements if it concerns them and is called paper-pencil
test.
• It consists of a formal standardized questionnaire,
statements, or objective with alternate answer which
applies to human behaviors.
• The answer are usually given the form of ‘yes’ or ‘no’,
true or false.
• These indicators of individual’s personality.
• Inventory test assume that it reveals a relation between
the response and the inner ‘real’ trait of an individual.
• The Minnesota Multi-phasic Personality Inventory is
one of the frequently used technique of objective
method
Minnesota Multi-phasic Personality
Inventory (MMPI)
• Its developed by Starke Hathaway and J.C.
Mckinley of Minnesota University in 1943.
• It has very long history of applications in clinical
practice and research in diagnosing psychological
disorder.
• MMPI is a questionnaire which is based on 10
dimension of personality.
• Its consists of 550 items or statements with yes,
no and I don’t know questions as an alternative.
• A revision of the MMPI, the MMPI-2 has 567
items with 10 clinical dimensions and scales.
• The 10 Clinical Subscales of the MMPI-2, require
answering certain questions on the test in a specific
manner:
1. Hypochondriasis – Looks at a wide variety of vague
and nonspecific complaints about bodily functioning.
2. Depression – Measures clinical depression, which is
characterised by poor morale, lack of hope in the
future, and a general dissatisfaction with one’s life.
3. Hysteria – Primarily measures five components —
poor physical health, shyness, cynicism, headaches and
neuroticism.
4. Psychopathic Deviate – Measures general social
maladjustment and the absence of strongly pleasant
experiences.
5. Masculinity/Femininity – Measures interests in
vocations and hobbies, aesthetic preferences, activity-
passivity and personal sensitivity.
6. Paranoia – Primarily measures interpersonal
sensitivity, moral self-righteousness and
suspiciousness.
7. Psychasthenia – Is intended to measure a person’s
inability to resist specific actions or thoughts,
regardless of their maladaptive nature.
8. Schizophrenia – Measures bizarre thoughts, peculiar
perceptions, social alienation, poor familial
relationships, difficulties in concentration and impulse
control, lack of deep interests, disturbing question of
self-worth and self-identity, and sexual difficulties.
9. Hypomania – Is intended to measure milder degrees of
excitement, characterized by an elated but unstable
mood, psychomotor excitement (e.g., shaky hands) and
flight of ideas (e.g., an unstoppable string of ideas).
10. Social Introversion – Measures the social introversion
and extroversion of a person.
 2. Projective Test
• A projective test is indirect method.
• The project test are free from cultural influences and present
an ambiguous or unstructured situation into which the
subject may read his own ideas, wishes, fear, conflicts,
intellectual levels, coping techniques and fantasies which
project his strong personality trends.
• Examinee even reveals unconventional and unrecognized
motives and emotional stress without realizing that they are
expressing their inner self.
• Projective test were developed as a protest against the
inventories, which were based on structured items.
• The subject does not know the meaning and does not know
what will make a good impression on the experimenter.
• The only difficulty the subject may face is expressing his
response.
• The most used projective test are:
1. Rorschach Test (RT)
2. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
 Rorschach Test
• It was developed by Swiss psychiatric, Hermann
Rorschach in 1921.
• He dropped ink onto a piece of paper and folded the
paper in half, created a symmetrical pattern to make the
test.
• He used 10 symmetrical inkblots, irregular in outline
and varied in shading, in which 5 of the cards in the test
are black, white and gray, the remaining other card
included various color.
• These unstructured cards were used as a diagnostic
tool.
• While administering the test subject were asked to
explain what they saw and their responses are recorded.
• The test administration is divided into three
periods:
Free-association period: In this period the
examiner record the subjects, responses,
comments and time taken for the first responses.
Inquiry period: After the responses of all cards
have been presented, the examiner questions the
examinee about each response to find which part
of blot was explained. The subject is also
enquired about import features of the picture.
Testing of the limits: The examiner notes what
kind of responses not been given by the subjects.
The examiner try to know why its not responded.
• After the responses have been tabulated and scored
Rorschach test is done on the basis of four criteria.
They are
Location: Identifying the location of your response is
another element scored in the Rorschach system.
Location refers to how much of the inkblot you used to
answer the question.
Determinants: Determinant coding is one of the most
complex features of scoring Rorschach. This is where
the examiner considers the reasons why you see what
you see. It covers Color, Form, Movement and Shading.
Content: Content refers to the name or class of objects
used in responses. The individual responses are divided
into man, animal, trees, nature, sex, interests etc
Originality: The responses given by subject are divided
into whether it is popular, original, and normal or
deviated from the normal responses of other subject.
 Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
• TAT was developed at Harvard University by Henry
Murry and his collaborator Morgan in 1935.
• TAT assumes that people interpret ambiguous picture
according to their motives, preoccupation, defenses,
conflicts, affection, fear, and a way of interpreting
world.
• It consist of 30 black and white pictures plus a blank
card from which the subject have to make up stories.
• In first interval 20 pictures are given and in second
interval, other 10 were given.
• In particular, the subject have to explain the following:
 The situation represented by picture, a description on
what is happening, an explanation about the scene in
the picture, a discussion about an event which led up to
it, and the situation that will grow from it.
A description on the thoughts, feelings and
emotions of the characters in the pictures.
Finally the subjects has to tell what the
outcome to the situation will be.
• TAT has been used to penetrate into the deep
unconscious
• TAT interpretation gives psychologist the
liberty to judge and identify in the subject
personality significant themes, needs felt and
emotional attitudes towards parents and others.
• TAT has been used to measure achievement
motivation and to make predictions of future
achievements related to behavior.
• According to Murry, TAT picture responses can
be analyzed into five important events:
• The Hero: important traits of the main character,
• The Need: motives and interests of the main
character,
• The press: the forces and strength of
environment,
• The theme: the action and reaction between the
hero’s environment and his forces,
• The outcome: the concluding situation, or end of
the story
 Personality and Behavior in Work
• Personality affects all aspects of a person's
performance, even how he reacts to situations on
the job.
• Not every personality is suited for every job
position, so it's important to recognize personality
traits and pair employees with the duties that fit
their personalities the best.
• This can lead to increased productivity and job
satisfaction and helps in functioning more
efficiently.
Outgoing or Extroverted
• People with outgoing personalities often work best in
positions where they get to interact with others.
• These people can provide friendly and helpful customer
service, and they can boost the attitudes of other workers by
being upbeat and happy.

Employee Work Ethic

• A strong work ethic develops in employees who make their
jobs a high priority.
• Assign these workers to teams developing new projects or
roles with additional responsibility and the need to make
decisions on the spot, such as public relations or
management of a department.
• People with a weak work ethic often require more
management and oversight to keep them focused on their
work, while people with a strong work ethic typically work
well with minimum oversight.
Attention to Detail
• Some people are wired to think of the big picture, to see
not only where your company is now but where it could
or should be in the future.
• They make creative, broad plans designed to keep the
company moving forward, and they think of new
initiatives to solve existing problems.
• They are often highly organized and keep excellent
records
Motivation and Recognition
• Keep your employees running at full steam by
understanding what motivates them.
• This is sometimes difficult to figure out on your own,
so personality testing tools should be used.
• For example, Some people are motivated solely by
money; if you dangle the promise of a raise or bonus,
they are likely to work harder.