Chapter 4

Personality and
Values

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
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 Opening
Opening questions
questions
 Why are some people quite and passive, while
others are loud and aggressive ?
 Are certain personality types better adapted than
others for certain job types
 What are basic components of personality ?
 What are similarities and differences among
people in terms of personalities
 Why personality study and development is
important in Personal , social and organizational
settings ?

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 Definition
Definition
 The word personality itself stems from the Latin
word persona, which referred to a theatrical mask
worn by performers in order to either project
different roles or disguise their identities.

 "Although no single definition is acceptable to all

personality theorists, we can say that personality is
a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique
characteristics that give both consistency and
individuality to a person's behavior." -Feist and
Feist, 2009

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 personality
personality
 Personality is defined as the characteristic set of
behaviors , cognitions and emotional patterns
that evolve from biological and environmental
factors.

 While there is no generally agreed upon definition

of personality, most theories focus on motivation
and psychological interactions with one's
environment

 personality plays such an important role in

human behavior

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 Personality
Personality
 Personality and individual differences
 Research in personality ranges from analyses of
genetic codes and studies of biological systems
to the study of sexual, social, ethnic, and cultural
bases of thought, feelings, and behavior.
 Personality research includes studies of
cognitive abilities , interpersonal styles, and
emotional reactivity.
 Personal growth

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 Class
Class discussion
discussion

Can we develop our

own personality ?

 (Thoughts should be right and positive )

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 Personality
Personality development
development
 Understanding of self is very necessary
 Complexities , veils , impurities of thoughts ,
emotions and biases
 Instinct ways of living life
 Remove your inferiorities
 Masking the self to cover inferiorities (example
of teacher’s personalities )
 Healthy vs unhealthy personalities

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 What
What is
is Personality?
Personality?
Personality
An individual's personality refers to his/her
appearance, characteristics, attitude, mindset and
behavior with others.
Personality Traits
Enduring characteristics Personality
Personality
that describe an Determinants
Determinants
individual’s behavior. • •Heredity
Heredity
• •Environment
Environment
• •Situation
Situation

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 Facts
Facts about
about personality
personality
 Personality research has led to the development of a number of
theories that help explain how and why certain personality traits
develop.
 personality is made up of the characteristic patterns of thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors that make a person unique. In addition to
this, personality arises from within the individual and remains fairly
consistent throughout life.
 Explanations for personality can focus on a variety of influences,
ranging from genetic explanations for personality traits to the role
of the environment and experience in shaping an individual's
personality.
 Environmental factors that can play a role in the development and
expression of personality include such things as parenting and
culture. How children are raised can depend on the individual
personalities and parenting styles of caregivers as well as the
norms and expectations of different cultures. 

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 psychology
psychology of
of personality
personality

Understanding the psychology of personality is

much more than simply an academic exercise. The
findings from personality research can have important
applications in the world of medicine, health, business,
economics, technology, and other areas. Researchers
have found that certain personality characteristics may
be linked to illness and health behaviors. By building a
better understanding of how personality works, we can
look for new ways to improve both personal and public
health.

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 Theories
Theories of
of personalities
personalities

There are a number of theories about how

personality develops. Different schools of
thought in psychology influence many of
these theories. Some of these major
perspectives on personality include:

•Type theories are the early perspectives on

personality. These theories suggested that
there are a limited number of "personality
types" which are related to biological
influences.
• 
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 Theories
Theories of
of personality
personality

•Trait Theories tend to view personality as the result of internal

characteristics that are genetically based.

•Psychodynamic theories of personality are heavily influenced by

the work of Sigmund Fried  and emphasize the influence of the
Unconscious  mind on personality. Psychodynamic theories include
Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual stage theory and Erik Erikson’s
Stages of Psychosocial development
•Behavioral Theories suggest that personality is a result of
interaction between the individual and the environment. Behavioral
theorists study observable and measurable behaviors, often
ignoring the role of internal thoughts and feelings.
•

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 Humanist
Humanist theories
theories

•Humanist theories emphasize the importance of

free will and individual experience in developing ​
a personality.
•Humanist theorists include Carl
Rogers and Abraham Maslow.

•Humanist theorists promote the concept of self-

actualization, which is the innate need for
personal growth and the ways that personal
growth motivates behavior.

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 The
The Myers-Briggs
Myers-Briggs Type
Type Indicator
Indicator

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

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

Personality
PersonalityTypes
Types INTJs

• •Extroverted
Extrovertedvs.
vs.Introverted
Introverted(E(Eor
orI)I) ESTJs

• •Sensing
Sensingvs.
vs.Intuitive
Intuitive(S
(Sor
orN)
N)
ENTP
• •Thinking
Thinkingvs.
vs.Feeling
Feeling(T
(Tor
orF)
F)
• •Judging
Judgingvs.
vs.Perceiving
Perceiving(J(Jor
orP)
P)

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 Myers-
Myers-
Briggs
Briggs
Sixteen
Sixteen
Primary
Primary
Traits
Traits

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 The
The Big
Big Five
Five Model
Model of
of Personality
Personality Dimensions
Dimensions
Extroversion
Sociable, gregarious, and assertive

Agreeableness This dimension refers to an individual’s

propensity to defer to others
Good-natured, cooperative, and trusting.
Conscientiousness
The conscientiousness dimension is a measure of
Reliability. Responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized.

Emotional Stability taps a person’s ability to withstand stress

Calm, self-confident, secure (positive) versus nervous, depressed,
and insecure (negative).
Openness to Experience range of interests and
fascination with novelty
Imaginativeness, artistic, sensitivity, and intellectualism.
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 The
The Big
Big Five
Five Model
Model of
of Personality
Personality Dimensions
Dimensions

Individuals who are dependable, reliable, careful, thorough, able to plan,

organized, hardworking, persistent, and achievement-oriented tend
to have higher job performance in most if not all occupations.
Emotional stability is most strongly related to life satisfaction, job
satisfaction, and low stress levels. This is probably true because high
scorers are more likely to be positive and optimistic and experience
fewer negative emotions.
Individuals who score high on openness to experience are more
creative in science and art than those who score low. Because
creativity is important to leadership, open people are more likely to be
effective leaders, and more comfortable with ambiguity and change

Extraversion is a relatively strong predictor of leadership emergence in

groups; extraverts are more socially dominant, “take charge” sorts of
people, and they are generally more assertive than introverts.

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4–18
 Major
Major Personality
PersonalityAttributes
Attributes Influencing
Influencing OB
OB
 Narcissism
 Locus of control
 Machiavellianism
 Self-esteem
 Self-monitoring
 Risk taking
 Type A personality

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 Narcissism
Narcissism
Narcissists often want to gain the admiration of others
and receive affirmation of their superiority, they tend to
“talk down” to those who threaten them, treating others
as if they were inferior. Narcissists also tend to be
selfish and exploitive and believe others exist for their
benefit. Their bosses rate them as less effective at their
jobs than others, particularly when it comes to helping
people.

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 Locus
Locus of
of Control
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.

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 Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism (Mach)
Degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains
emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify
means.
High Machs manipulate more, win more, are persuaded less,
and persuade others more than do low Machs. They like their
jobs less, are more stressed by their work, and engage in
more deviant work behaviors.

Conditions
ConditionsFavoring
FavoringHigh
HighMachs
Machs
••Direct
Directinteraction
interaction
••Minimal
Minimalrules
rulesand
andregulations
regulations
••Emotions
Emotionsdistract
distractfor
forothers
others 4–22
 Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem and
and Self-Monitoring
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.

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 Risk-Taking
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.

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 Personality
Personality Types
Types
Type A’s
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 B’s
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.
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