eleventh edition

organizational behavior

stephen p. robbins

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 40

 Chapter 4

Personality
and Emotions

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
S T E P H E N P. R O B B I N S
E L E V E N T H E D I T I O N
2005 Prentice Hall Inc. WWW.PRENHALL.COM/ROBBINS PowerPoint Presentation
All rights reserved. by Charlie Cook
 After studying this chapter,
OBJECTIVES

you should be able to:

1. Explain the factors that determine an

individuals personality.
LEARNING

2. Describe the MBTI(myers briggs type indicator) personality

framework.
3. Identify the key traits in the Big Five
personality model.
4. Explain the impact of job typology on the
personality/job performance relationship.
5. Differentiate emotions from moods.
6. Contrast felt versus displayed emotions.
2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 42
 After studying this chapter,
O B J E C T I V E S (contd)

you should be able to:

7. Explain gender-differences in emotions.

8. Describe external constraints on emotions.
9. Apply concepts on emotions to OB issues.
LEARNING

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 43

 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 44
 Personality.

The sum total of stable patterns of behaviour in

which an individual reacts and interacts with
others.

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
S T E P H E N P. R O B B I N S
E L E V E N T H E D I T I O N
2005 Prentice Hall Inc. WWW.PRENHALL.COM/ROBBINS PowerPoint Presentation
All rights reserved. by Charlie Cook
 Personality Determinants

Heredity: It includes physical stature,facial

attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle
composition, reflexes, energy level, biological rhythms
are influenced by the parents biological, physiological
and psychological make up.
Environment:Culture establishes the norms, attitudes and
values that plays an important role in shaping our
personality.
Situation:Situation infuences the effects of heredity and
environment.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 46

 Personality Traits or Dimensions

Extroversion vs Introversion.
Agreeableness.
Conscientiousness.
Emotional Stability vs Emotional Instability.
Openness to experience.
Locus of control (internal/external).
Self monitoring (sensitive and adaptable)
Machiavellianism

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 47

 What is Personality?

Personality
The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts
and interacts with others.

Personality Traits
Enduring characteristics Personality
that describe an Determinants
individuals behavior. Heredity
Environment
Situation

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 48

 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

A personality test that taps four characteristics and
classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types.

Personality Types
Extroverted vs. Introverted (E or I)
Sensing vs. Intuitive (S or N)
Thinking vs. Feeling (T or F)
Judging vs. Perceiving (P or J)

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 49

 Myers-
Briggs
Sixteen
Primary
Traits

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 410

 The Big Five Model of Personality Dimensions

Extroversion
Sociable, gregarious, and assertive

Agreeableness
Good-natured, cooperative, and trusting.

Conscientiousness
Responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized.

Emotional Stability
Calm, self-confident, secure (positive) versus nervous, depressed,
and insecure (negative).

Openness to Experience
Imaginativeness, artistic, sensitivity, and intellectualism.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 411

 Major Personality Attributes Influencing OB
Locus of control
Machiavellianism
Self-esteem
Self-monitoring
Risk taking
Type A personality

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 412

 Locus of Control

Locus of Control
The degree to which people believe they
are masters of their own fate.

Internals
Individuals who believe that they
control what happens to them.

Externals
Individuals who believe that
what happens to them is
controlled by outside forces
such as luck or chance.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 413

 Machiavellianism

Machiavellianism (Mach)
Degree to which an individual is pragmatic,
maintains emotional distance, and believes
that ends can justify means.

Conditions Favoring High Machs

Direct interaction
Minimal rules and regulations
Emotions distract for others

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 414

 Self-Esteem and Self-Monitoring

Self-Esteem (SE)
Individuals degree of liking
or disliking themselves.

Self-Monitoring
A personality trait that measures
an individuals ability to adjust
his or her behavior to external,
situational factors.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 415

 Risk-Taking
High Risk-taking Managers
Make quicker decisions
Use less information to make decisions
Operate in smaller and more entrepreneurial
organizations
Low Risk-taking Managers
Are slower to make decisions
Require more information before making decisions
Exist in larger organizations with stable environments
Risk Propensity
Aligning managers risk-taking propensity to job
requirements should be beneficial to organizations.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 416

 Personality Types
Type As
1. are always moving, walking, and eating rapidly;
2. feel impatient with the rate at which most events take place;
3. strive to think or do two or more things at once;
4. cannot cope with leisure time;
5. are obsessed with numbers, measuring their success in
terms of how many or how much of everything they acquire.

Type Bs
1. never suffer from a sense of time urgency with its
accompanying impatience;
2. feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements
or accomplishments;
3. play for fun and relaxation, rather than to exhibit their
superiority at any cost;
4. can relax without guilt.
2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 417
 Personality Types

Proactive Personality
Identifies opportunities,
shows initiative, takes
action, and perseveres
until meaningful change
occurs.
Creates positive change
in the environment,
regardless or even in
spite of constraints or
obstacles.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 418

 Achieving Person-Job Fit

Personality-Job Fit
Theory (Holland)
Personality Types
Identifies six personality
types and proposes that Realistic
the fit between personality Investigative
type and occupational
Social
environment determines
satisfaction and turnover. Conventional
Enterprising
Artistic

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 419

 Hollands
Typology of
Personality
and
Congruent
Occupations

E X H I B I T 42

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 420

 Six Personality Types & Sample Occupations
Type Personality Characteristics Sample Occupation
Realistic: Prefers physical Shy, genuine, persistent, Mechanic, drill press
activities that require skill, stable, conforming, operator, assembly-line
strength, & coordination practical worker, farmer
Investigative: Prefers Analytical, original, Biologist, economist,
activities involving curious, independent mathematician, news
thinking, organizing, & reporter
understanding
Social: Prefers activities Sociable, friendly, Social worker, teacher,
that involve helping & cooperative, counselor, clinical
developing others understanding psychologist
Conventional: Prefers rule- Conforming, efficient, Accountant, corporate
regulated, orderly, & practical, unimaginative, manager, bank teller,
unambiguous activities inflexible file clerk
Enterprising: Prefers Self-confident, ambitious, Lawyer, real estate
verbal activities where energetic, domineering agent, public relations
there are opportunities to specialist, small
influence others & attain business manager
power
Artistic: Prefers Imaginative, disorderly, Painter, musician,
ambiguous & idealistic, emotional, writer, interior decorator
unsystematic activities impractical
that allow creative
expression
Source:
2005 Prentice HallBased
Inc. on
AllJ.rights
L. Holland, Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments, 2nd ed. (Englewood Cliffs,
reserved. 421
NJ: Prentice Hall, 1985).
 Relationships
among
Occupational
Personality
Types

Source: Reprinted by special permission of the publisher, Psychological

Assessment Resources, Inc., from Making Vocational Choices, copyright 1973, E X H I B I T 43
1985, 1992 by Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. All rights reserved.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 422

 Emotions- Why Emotions Were Ignored in OB
The myth of rationality
Organizations are not emotion-free.
Emotions of any kind are disruptive to
organizations.
Original OB focus was solely on the effects of strong
negative emotions that interfered with individual and
organizational efficiency.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 423

 WHAT ARE EMOTIONS ?

Happiness, fear, anger, affection, shame, disgust,

surprise, lust, sadness, elation, love, frustration, anxiety,
failure, achievement etc.

The above are the emotions which directly affect our day-to-day life.
There are TWO dimensions of emotions:
Physiological side: Emotion is a complex state of human mind, involving
bodily changes of widespread character such as breathing, pounding
heart, flushed face, sweating palms, pulse rate, gland secretions, etc.

Psychological side, a state of excitement or perturbation marked by strong

feelings.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 424

 Emotions And Their Blends:

Anger: fury, outrage, resentment, annoyance, hostility.

Love: acceptance, friendliness, trust, kindness, infatuation.
Shame: guilt, remorse, humiliation, regret.
Fear: anxiety, nervousness, apprehension, terror.
Enjoyment: happiness, joy, relief, contentment, pleasure.
Sadness: Grief, sorrow, cheerlessness, gloom.
Surprise: Shock, astonishment, amazement wonder.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 425

Dimensions of Emotions.

Variety.
Intensity.
Frequency.
Duration.
Emotionlessness.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 426

 Affect

Emotional
Labor

Moods Emotions

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 427

 What Are Emotions?

Affect
A broad range of emotions
that people experience.

Emotions Moods
Intense feelings that are Feelings that tend to be
directed at someone or less intense than
something. emotions and that lack a
contextual stimulus.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 428

 What Are Emotions? (contd)

Emotional Labor
A situation in which an employee expresses
organizationally desired emotions during
interpersonal transactions.
Emotional Dissonance
A situation in which an employee
must project one emotion while
simultaneously feeling another.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 429

 Felt versus Displayed Emotions

Felt Emotions
An individuals actual emotions.

Displayed Emotions
Emotions that are organizationally
required and considered appropriate
in a given job.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 430

 Emotion Continuum
The closer any two emotions are to each other on
the continuum, the more likely people are to
confuse them.

E X H I B I T 44
Source: Based on R.D. Woodworth, Experimental Psychology (New York: Holt, 1938).
2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 431
 Emotion Dimensions
Variety of emotions
Positive
Negative
Intensity of emotions
Personality
Job Requirements
Frequency and duration of emotions
How often emotions are exhibited.
How long emotions are displayed.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 432

 Gender and Emotions
Women
Can show greater emotional expression.
Experience emotions more intensely.
Display emotions more frequently.
Are more comfortable in expressing emotions.
Are better at reading others emotions.
Men
Believe that displaying emotions is inconsistent with
the male image.
Are innately less able to read and to identify with
others emotions.
Have less need to seek social approval by showing
positive emotions.
2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 433
 Possible Reasons for Gender Differences

1. Socialization - Men are taught to be

brave & tough; women nurturing
2. Women may have more innate ability to
read others & present their emotions
3. Women may have a greater
need for social approval & higher
propensity to show emotions

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 434

 Emotions & National Culture
Cultural factors influence what is or is not
considered emotionally appropriate
Seems to be high agreement of meaning by
emotions within cultures
Whats acceptable in one culture
may seem extremely unusual or dysfunctional in
another

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 435

 External Constraints on Emotions

Organizational Cultural
Influences Influences

Individual
Emotions

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 436

 Affective Events Theory (AET)
Emotions are negative or positive responses to a work
environment event.
Personality and mood determine the intensity of the
emotional response.
Emotions can influence a broad range of work performance
and job satisfaction variables.
Implications of the theory:
Individual response reflects emotions and mood cycles.
Current and past emotions affect job satisfaction.
Emotional fluctuations create variations in job satisfaction.
Emotions have only short-term effects on job performance.
Both negative and positive emotions can distract workers
and reduce job performance.
2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 437
 Affective Events Theory (AET)

Source: Based on N.M. Ashkanasy and C.S. Daus, Emotion in the Workplace: The New E X H I B I T 45
Challenge for Managers, Academy of Management Executive, February 2002, p. 77.
2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 438
 OB Applications of Understanding Emotions
Ability and Selection
Emotions affect employee effectiveness.
Decision Making
Emotions are an important part of the decision-making
process in organizations.
Motivation
Emotional commitment to work and high motivation
are strongly linked.
Leadership
Emotions are important to acceptance of messages
from organizational leaders.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 439

 OB Applications (contd)
Interpersonal Conflict
Conflict in the workplace and individual emotions are
strongly intertwined.
Customer Services
Emotions affect service quality delivered to customers
which, in turn, affects customer relationships.
Deviant Workplace Behaviors
Negative emotions lead to employee deviance (actions
that violate norms and threaten the organization).
Productivity failures
Property theft and destruction
Political actions
Personal aggression
2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 440
 Implications for Managers

Personality
Match personality types with compatible jobs
External locus of control may lead to less job satisfaction &
less willingness to accept responsibility for actions
Emotions
Avoid assessing individual behavior as if it were completely
rational
Understanding emotions can improve ability to explain &
predict behavior

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 441

OB applications
Emotional Intelligence (EI).
Decision making.
Motivation.
Leadership.
Interpersonal conflict
Employee Deviance.
Cognitive Dissonance.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 442

 Emotional Intelligence is the capacity for recognizing our
own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves,
and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our
relationships. Emotional intelligence describes abilities
distinct from, but complementary to, academic
intelligence. Daniel Goleman (1998)

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 443

 The Indian Perspective

Emotional intelligence is the ability of an individual to appropriately and

successfully respond to a vast variety of emotional inputs being elicited
from inner self and immediate environment.
Emotional intelligence constitutes three psychological dimensions such as
emotional competency, emotional maturity and emotional sensitivity,
which motivate an individual to recognize truthfully, interpret honestly
and handle tactfully the dynamics of human behaviour. (Dalip Singh
2003)

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 444

 What experts say

Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Management consultants

feel that there are personal characteristics called
emotional intelligence which are responsible for the way
in which we behave, how we feel, how we relate to
others, how well we do at our jobs, and how healthy we
are.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 445

 Contd..
Lack of Emotional Intelligence can result in being
uncomfortable with other people, not being happy
with your job, not succeeding at your job, and
even being physically and psychologically
healthy - with stress-related problems, or not
having satisfactory interpersonal relations

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 446

 Ability and Selection

Emotional Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Intelligence
Intrapersonal (self awareness,
An assortment of self assurance, self regard,
independence, self actualization)
noncognitive skills, Interpersonal (empathy,
capabilities, and interpersonal relationships, social
responsibility, interdependence)
competencies that Stress Management (stress
influence a persons tolerance, impulse control,
proactivity, conflict management)
ability to succeed in Affect (motivation, change
coping with management, happiness,
optimism)
environmental
demands and Research Findings
High EI scores, not high IQ
pressures. scores, characterize high
performers.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 447

 EMOTIONAL SKILLS MANAGERS MAY LEARN

Emotional Competency
Emotional Maturity
Emotional Sensitivity

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 448

 I. EMOTIONAL COMPETENCY

Tackling Emotional Upsets

High Self-esteem
Handling Egoism
Handling Inferiority Complex

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 449

 II. EMOTIONAL MATURITY
Self-Awareness
Developing Others
Delaying Gratification
Adaptability and Flexibility

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 450

 III. EMOTIONAL SENSITIVITY
Understanding Threshold of
Emotional Arousal
Empathy
Improving Inter-personal Relations
Communicability of Emotions

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 451

 SOME MYTHS/FACTS ABOUT EQ

Being EI does not mean a weak, submissive or defensive

personality.
Being highly EI does not not mean being extra nice, polite or
sugar coating your language
There is no difference between the sexes.
There is no direct evidence to prove that EQ is dependent
upon heredity.
However, the environment does seem to influence the EQ.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 452

 Myths..
Advocating EQ does not mean that we are promoting low
scorers or average IQ people.
Having average EQ is not bad or undesirable
Having high EQ is always welcome.
We are not negating the IQ. In fact a combination of high
EQ and high IQ would be a most ideal personality. It would
be a win win situation.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 453

CAN EQ BE DEVELOPED?
YES. You can develop your EQ by upgrading your
emotional skills. The popular thinking that EQ is
entirely inherited is incorrect. Emotional
Intelligence is not fixed at birth. There is no
emotional intelligence genes as such that we
know of today. It is something one has learned.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 454

 Contd..

Can EQ be developed at any stage/age of

personal or professional life. The answer is
YES. You can upgrade your emotional skills at
any stage of your life. In fact, age and maturity
are positively correlated with the EQ.
Same is not true about IQ which is more or
less static.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 455

 Developing Emotional Intelligence
Label your feelings, rather than labeling people or
situations
Distinguish between thoughts and feelings.
Take more responsibility for your feelings.
Use your feelings to help them make decisions
Show respect for other people's feelings.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 456

 APPLYING EQ IN BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS

Customer Service
Hiring
Turnover
Training
Corporate Culture
Productivity
Goal Setting
Emotional Support
Leadership

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 457

 Developing Emotional Intelligence
Feel energized, not angry.
Validate other people's feelings.
Practice getting a positive value from their your
emotions.
Don't advise, command, control, criticize, judge
or lecture to others.
Avoid people who invalidate you.

2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 458