Personality

Personality Defined
• Personality is a dynamic concept describing the
growth and development of a person’s whole
psychological system; it looks at some aggregate
whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.
• Personality is the sum total of ways in which an
individual reacts and interacts with others, the
measurable traits a person exhibits
• Personality is the pattern of relatively enduring
ways that a person feels, thinks, and behaves
 Why study personality ?
• Personality is useful for explaining and predicting how
employees generally feel, think, and behave on the job.
• Personality is useful in determining individual --job fit
– Very useful at selection stage
– Determining how individual learn and develop
– Good for building team based on individual preferences and
strength
– Personality is related to individual’s job satisfaction
– Understanding of personality can reduce conflicts and
turnover
 Determinants of Personality
• Is personality a result of Heredity or
Environment ?.
• Personality appears to be a result of both
influences.
 Determinants of Personality
Heredity
• Factors determined at conception: physical stature, facial
attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle
composition and reflexes, energy level, and bio-rhythms
• Heredity accounts about 50% of variations in an
individuals’ personality
• Traits such as shyness , fear distress are basically related
with this approach
• “Heredity Approach” argues that heredity of personality
traits embedded in molecular structure of genes stored
in chromosomes
– Twin studies: raised apart but very similar personalities
– There is some personality change over long time periods
 Environment
• The environment or social system in which an
individual is raised has significant influence in
shaping an individual’s personality
• People around
• Social systems
• Culture
• Value system
• Etc
 Personality Traits
• Enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s
behavior
• The more consistent the characteristic and the more
frequently it occurs in diverse situations, the more
important the trait.
• Popular personality traits include shy, aggressive,
submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal, and timid.
• Researchers believe that personality traits can help in
employee selection, job fit, and career development.
How do we measure personality traits ?
• Approaches
• Objective Tests:
– Paper-and-Pencil Measures of Who We Are
– These are questionnaires and inventories designed
to measure various aspects of personality
– This approach is very popular in OB
 How do we measure personality traits ?

• Approaches
• Projective Tests
– Projective tests present individuals with
ambiguous stimuli (such as pictures or drawings)
and then ask the individuals being tested to report
what they perceive.
– Their answers are the basis for determining their
personality
– This type of testing is not very popular in OB
 Major Types of Personality Tests
• The commonly used types of personality tests
are :
– Myers – Briggs Type Indicator
– Big Five model
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
• One of the most widely used personality frameworks
• It is a 100-question personality test that asks people
how they usually feel or act in particular situations.
• Individuals are classified as:
– Favorite world: Extraverted or introverted (E or I)
– Information: Sensing or intuitive (S or N)
– Decision : Thinking or feeling (T or F)
– Structure: Perceiving or judging (P or J)
• These classifications are then combined into sixteen
personality types.
 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Sociable and Extroverted Introverted Quiet and

Assertive (E) (I) Shy

Practical and Intuitive Unconscious

Sensing (S)
(N) Processes
Orderly

Use Reason Thinking Uses Values

Feeling (F)
(T) & Emotions
and Logic

Want Order Perceiving Flexible and

Judging (J)
(P) Spontaneous
& Structure
 The Big Five Model
• The Big Five model of personality holds that there are five
basic dimensions that underlie all others and encompass
most of the significant variations in human personalities.
• The Big Five factors are:
– Extroversion,
– Agreeableness,
– Conscientiousness
– Neuroticism (Emotional Stability)
– Openness to Experience.
• There is a lot of research that supports the Big Five model
and it has been shown to predict behavior at work
 The Big Five Model
• Extroversion. The tendency to seek stimulation and to
enjoy the company of other people
• Agreeableness. The tendency to be compassionate toward
others.
• Conscientiousness. The tendency to show self-discipline, to
strive for competence and achievement.
• Neuroticism. The tendency to experience unpleasant
emotions easily.
• Openness to Experience. The tendency to enjoy new
experiences and new ideas.
 A Big Five Personality Profile
Exhibit :
How Do the Big Five Traits Predict Behavior?

• Research has shown this to be a better framework.

• Certain traits have been shown to strongly relate to
higher job performance:
– Highly conscientious people develop more job knowledge,
exert greater effort, and have better performance.
– Other Big Five Traits also have implications for work.
• Emotional stability is related to job satisfaction.
• Extroverts tend to be happier in their jobs and have good social
skills.
• Open people are more creative and can be good leaders.
• Agreeable people are good in social settings.
 Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB
• Core Self-Evaluation
– The degree to which people like or dislike themselves
– Positive self-evaluation leads to higher job performance
• Machiavellianism
– A pragmatic, emotionally distant power-player who believes that ends
justify the means
– High Machs are manipulative, win more often, and persuade more
than they are persuaded. Flourish when:
• Have direct interaction
• Work with minimal rules and regulations
• Emotions distract others
• Narcissism
– An arrogant, entitled, self-important person who needs excessive
admiration
– Less effective in their jobs
 More Relevant Personality Traits
• Self-Monitoring
– The ability to adjust behavior to meet external, situational
factors.
– High monitors conform more and are more likely to
become leaders.

• Risk Taking
– The willingness to take chances.
– May be best to align propensities with job requirements.
– Risk takers make faster decisions with less information.
 More Relevant Personality Traits
• Type A Personality
– Aggressively involved in a chronic, incessant struggle to achieve
more in less time
• Impatient: always moving, walking, and eating rapidly
• Strive to think or do two or more things at once
• Cannot cope with leisure time
• Obsessed with achievement numbers
– Prized in North America but quality of the work is low
– Type B people are the complete opposite

• Proactive Personality
– Identifies opportunities, shows initiative, takes action, and
perseveres to completion
– Creates positive change in the environment
 An interesting temperament
• Morning Persons and Evening Persons
– This dimension of personality examines what portion of
the day individuals feel most energetic and alert.
• As the name implies, morning people feel more
energetic in the morning and evening people feel
energetic at night.

• People should find work that takes advantage of their

“up” periods under the guise of the person-job fit
thanks