SECTION 5

PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY

Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that forms a

person s unique identity.
• It signifies the role which a person plays in public.
• Every individual has a unique, personal and major determinant of his
behavior that defines his/her personality.
Personalities, in a study of organizational behavior do matter.
Personality is defined as "a unique set of traits and characteristics,
relatively stable over time."
THE ORIGINS OF PERSONALITY:
THE NATURE-NURTURE DEBATE
❖For psychologists studying the development of personality, "nature vs. nurture"
was a central debate.
❖"Nature vs. nurture" suggests that biology (a person's genes) and society
(the environment in which a person grows up) are competing developmental
forces.
o Today most psychologists would concede both nature and nurture are
necessary for personality development.
o Both help to make us who we are.
DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY

Several factors influence the shaping of our personality. Major

among these are
1. Heredity,
2. Culture,
3. Family Background,
4. Our Experiences through Life,
5. And The People we interact with.
PERSONALITY THEORIES

Traits Theory
The traditional approach of understanding personality was to identify and
describe personality in terms of traits. In other words, it viewed personality as
revolving around attempts to identify and label permanent characteristics that
describe an individual's behavior.
❖The more consistent the characteristic and the more frequently it occurs in diverse
situations, the more important that trait is in describing the individual.
EARLY SEARCH FOR PRIMARY TRAITS

o Efforts to isolate traits have been stuck because there are so many of them. In one study, as
many as 17,953 individual traits were identified.
o One researcher isolated 171 traits but concluded that they were superficial and lacking in
descriptive power.

The result was the identification of 16 personality factors by Cattell, which he

called the source, or primary, traits.
These 16 traits have been found to be generally steady and constant sources of behavior,
allowing prediction of an individual's behavior in specific situations by weighing the
characteristics for their situational relevance.
RAYMOND CATTELL CLASSIFICATION

Based on the answers individual gave they have been classified as on the basis of the
answers individuals give to the test, they are classified as:

1. Extraversion and Introversion (E Or I), -

The first pair of styles is concerned with the direction of your energy.
▪ If you prefer to direct your energy to deal with people, things, situations, or "the
outer world", then your preference is for Extraversion.
▪ If you prefer to direct your energy to deal with ideas, information, explanations or
beliefs, or "the inner world", then your preference is for Introversion.
RAYMOND CATTELL CLASSIFICATION

2. Sensing and Intuition(S Or N), -

The second pair concerns the type of information/things that you process.
▪ If you prefer to deal with facts, what you know, to have clarity, or to describe what
you see, then your preference is for Sensing.
▪ If you prefer to deal with ideas, look into the unknown, to generate new possibilities
or to anticipate what isn't obvious, then your preference is for Intuition.
▪ The letter N is used for intuition because I has already been allocated to Introversion.
RAYMOND CATTELL CLASSIFICATION

3.Thinking and Feeling(T Or F), -

The third pair reflects your style of decision-making.
▪ If you prefer to decide on the basis of objective logic, using an
analytic and detached approach, then your preference is for Thinking.
▪ If you prefer to decide using values - i.e. on the basis of what or who
you believe is important - then your preference is for Feeling.
RAYMOND CATTELL CLASSIFICATION

4. Judgment and Perception (P Or J).-

The final pair describes the type of lifestyle you adopt.
▪ If you prefer your life to be planned and well-structured then your preference
is for Judging. This is not to be confused with 'Judgmental', which is quite different.
▪ If you prefer to go with the flow, to maintain flexibility and respond to things as
they arise, then your preference is for Perception.
MEASURES OF PERSONALITY

➢What about personality? Unfortunately, we cannot directly "measure"

personality. But if we cannot directly observe the seemingly
unconscious, how do we know it exists?
➢The answer to the question lies in the fact that we can, in fact, directly
observe behaviors.
➢Psychologists thus use behavioral indicators in constructing
projective tests. These tests are designed to draw conclusions about
personality from observed behaviors.
MYERS-BRIGGS TYPES INDICATOR (MBTI)

Myers-Briggs theory is an adaptation of the theory of psychological types produced by

Carl Gustav Jung. It is based on 16 personality types.
MYERS-BRIGGS TYPES INDICATOR (MBTI)

1) INTJs are visionaries.

o They usually have original minds and great drive for their own ideas and purposes. They
are characterized as skeptical, critical, independent, determined, and often stubborn.
2) ESTJs are organizers.
o They are realistic, logical, analytical, decisive, and have a natural head for business or
mechanics. They like to organize and run activities.
3) The ENTP type is conceptualizer.
o He or she is pioneering, individualistic, versatile, and attracted to entrepreneurial ideas.
This person tends to be resourceful in solving challenging problems but may neglect
routine assignments.
BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS

The Big Five Model is a personality assessment model that taps basic
dimensions encompassing most of the significant variation in human
personality, namely extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness,
emotional stability, and openness to experience.
• Extraversion—outgoing, sociable, assertive
• Agreeableness—good-natured, trusting, cooperative
• Conscientiousness—responsible, dependable, persistent
• Emotional stability—unworried, secure, relaxed
• Openness to experience—imaginative, curious, broad-minded
BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS

• Extraversion. This dimension captures one's comfort level with relationships.

Extraverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and sociable. Introverts tend to be
reserved, timid, and quiet.
• Agreeableness. This dimension refers to an individual's tendency to defer to
others. Highly agreeable people are cooperative, affectionate, and trusting. People who
score low on agreeableness are cold, disagreeable, and antagonistic.
• Conscientiousness. This dimension 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.
BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS

• Emotional stability. This dimension taps a person's ability to bear up

stress. People with positive emotional stability tend to be calm, self-
confident, and secure. Those with highly negative scores tend to be nervous,
anxious, Depressed, and insecure.
• Openness to experience. The final dimension addresses an individual's
range of interests and fascination with novelty. Extremely open people are
creative, curious, and artistically sensitive. Those at the other end of the
open- ness category are conventional and find comfort in the familiar.
MAJOR PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES

1. Locus of Control
Locus of control is the center of control of an individual‘s code of conduct. People can be
grouped into two categories i.e., internals and externals respectively.
❖People who consider themselves as the masters of their own fates are known as internals,
while, those who affirm that their lives are controlled by outside forces known as externals.
Before making any decision, internals actively search for information, they are achievement
driven, and want to command their environment. Thus, internals do well on jobs that craves
complex information processing, taking initiative and independent action.
❖Externals, on the other hand, are more compliant, more willing to follow instructions, so,
they do well in structured, routine jobs.
MAJOR PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES

2. Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism is being practical, emotionally distant, and believing that ends justify means.
Machiavellians are always wanting to win and are great persuaders.

❖Here are the significant features of a high-mach individuals −

· High-Machs prefer precise interactions rather than beating about the bush.
· High-Machs tend to improvise; they do not necessarily abide by rules and regulations all the time.
· High-Machs get distracted by emotional details that are irrelevant to the outcome of a project.
MAJOR PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES

3. Self-esteem
It is the extent up to which people either like or dislike themselves.
Self-Esteem is directly related to the expectations of success and on the job satisfaction.
▪ Individuals with high self-esteem think that they have what it takes to succeed. So,
they take more challenges while selecting a job.
▪ On the other hand, individuals with low self-esteem are more susceptible to
external distractions. So, they are more likely to seek the approval of others and to
adapt the beliefs and behaviors of those they respect.
MAJOR PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES

4. Self-monitoring
Self-monitoring is the capability of regulating one‘s behavior according to
social situations.
▪ Individuals with high self-monitoring skill easily adjust their behavior according to
external, situational factors. Their impulsive talents allow them to present public
personae which are completely different from their private personalities.
▪ However, people with low self-monitoring skills cannot cover themselves.
Regardless of any situation, they are always themselves. They have an attitude of,
―what you see is what you get.
MAJOR PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES

5. Risk taking
Generally, managers are reluctant on taking risks.
▪ However, individual risk-taking inclination affects the bulk of information
required by the managers and how long it takes them to make decisions.
▪ Thus, it is very important to recognize these differences and align risk-taking
propensity with precise job demands that can make sense.