PERSONALITY

Definition of personality
• Personality is the sum total of ways in which
an individual reacts to and interacts with
others. We most often describe it in terms of
the measureable traits a person exhibits.
 Measuring personality
• The most common means of measuring
personality is through self-report surveys, with
which individuals evaluate themselves on a
series of factors, such as “I worry a lot about
the future.” though self report measures work
well when well constructed, one weakness is
that the respondent might lie or practice
impression management to create a good
impression.
• When people know their personality scores are
going to be used for hiring decisions, they rate
themselves as about half a standard deviation
more conscientious and emotionally stable
than if they are taking the test just to learn
more about themselves. Another problem is
accuracy. A perfectly good candidate could have
been in a bad mood when taking the survey,
and that will make the scores less accurate.
 Personality determinants
• Heredity
• Environment
 Heredity
• Heredity refers to the factors determined at
conception. Physical stature, facial
attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle
composition and reflexes, energy level, and
biological rhythms are generally considered to
be completely or substantially influenced by
two of your parents are – that is, by their
biological, physiological and inherent
philological makeup.
• The heredity approach argues that ultimate
explanation of an individual’s personality is
the molecular structure of genes, located in
the chromosomes.
• Environment refers to refers to the immediate
physical and social setting in which people live
or in which something happens or develops. It
includes the culture that the individual was
educated or lives in, and the people and
institutions with whom they interact.
• Personality changes over the period of time in
a consistent manner. For example at the age of
20, a person will smarter than what s/he was
at the age of 10. However, the changes are
also dependent on genetic characteristics.
 Personality Type Explained
• According to Carl G. Jung's theory of psychological
types [Jung, 1971], people can be characterized by
their preference of general attitude:
• Extraverted (E) vs. Introverted (I),
• their preference of one of the two functions of
perception:
• Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N),
• and their preference of one of the two functions of
judging:
• Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)
• Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P)
• Extraversion – Introversion, signifies the
source and direction of a person’s energy
expression. An extravert’s source and
direction of energy expression is mainly in the
external world, while an introvert has a source
of energy mainly in their own internal world.
• Sensing – Intuition, represents the method by
which someone perceives information.
Sensing means that a person mainly believes
information he or she receives directly from
the external world. Intuition means that a
person believes mainly information he or she
receives from the internal or imaginative
world.
• Thinking – Feeling, represents how a person
processes information. Thinking means that a
person makes a decision mainly through logic.
Feeling means that, as a rule, he or she makes
a decision based on emotion, i.e. based on
what they feel they should do.
• Judging – Perceiving, reflects how a person
implements the information he or she has
processed. Judging means that a person
organizes all of his life events and, as a rule,
sticks to his plans. Perceiving means that he or
she is inclined to improvise and explore
alternative options.
• The 16 personality types
• ESTJISTJENTJINTJ

• ESTPISTPENTPINTP

• ESFJISFJENFJINFJ

• ESFPISFPENFPINFP
• ISTJ
• Quiet, serious, earn success by thoroughness and dependability.
Practical, matter-of-fact, realistic, and responsible. Decide logically
what should be done and work toward it steadily, regardless of
distractions. Take pleasure in making everything orderly and organized
- their work, their home, their life. Value traditions and loyalty.
• ISFJ
• Quiet, friendly, responsible, and conscientious. Committed and steady
in meeting their obligations. Thorough, painstaking, and accurate.
Loyal, considerate, notice and remember specifics about people who
are important to them, concerned with how others feel. Strive to
create an orderly and harmonious environment at work and at home.
• INFJ
• Seek meaning and connection in ideas, relationships, and material
possessions. Want to understand what motivates people and are
insightful about others. Conscientious and committed to their firm
values. Develop a clear vision about how best to serve the common
good. Organized and decisive in implementing their vision.
• INTJ
• Have original minds and great drive for implementing their ideas
and achieving their goals. Quickly see patterns in external events
and develop long-range explanatory perspectives. When committed,
organize a job and carry it through. Skeptical and independent, have
high standards of competence and performance - for themselves
and others.
• ISTP
• Tolerant and flexible, quiet observers until a problem appears,
then act quickly to find workable solutions. Analyze what makes
things work and readily get through large amounts of data to
isolate the core of practical problems. Interested in cause and
effect, organize facts using logical principles, value efficiency.
• ISFP
• Quiet, friendly, sensitive, and kind. Enjoy the present moment,
what's going on around them. Like to have their own space and to
work within their own time frame. Loyal and committed to their
values and to people who are important to them. Dislike
disagreements and conflicts, do not force their opinions or values
on others.
• INFP
• Idealistic, loyal to their values and to people who are important to
them. Want an external life that is congruent with their values.
Curious, quick to see possibilities, can be catalysts for
implementing ideas. Seek to understand people and to help them
fulfill their potential. Adaptable, flexible, and accepting unless a
value is threatened.
• INTP
• Seek to develop logical explanations for everything that interests
them. Theoretical and abstract, interested more in ideas than in
social interaction. Quiet, contained, flexible, and adaptable. Have
unusual ability to focus in depth to solve problems in their area of
interest. Skeptical, sometimes critical, always analytical
• ESTP
• Flexible and tolerant, they take a pragmatic approach focused on
immediate results. Theories and conceptual explanations bore them -
they want to act energetically to solve the problem. Focus on the
here-and-now, spontaneous, enjoy each moment that they can be
active with others. Enjoy material comforts and style. Learn best
through doing.
• ESFP
• Outgoing, friendly, and accepting. Exuberant lovers of life, people, and
material comforts. Enjoy working with others to make things happen.
Bring common sense and a realistic approach to their work, and make
work fun. Flexible and spontaneous, adapt readily to new people and
environments. Learn best by trying a new skill with other people.
• ENFP
• Warmly enthusiastic and imaginative. See life as full of possibilities.
Make connections between events and information very quickly,
and confidently proceed based on the patterns they see. Want a lot
of affirmation from others, and readily give appreciation and
support. Spontaneous and flexible, often rely on their ability to
improvise and their verbal fluency.
• ENTP
• Quick, ingenious, stimulating, alert, and outspoken. Resourceful in
solving new and challenging problems. Adept at generating
conceptual possibilities and then analyzing them strategically. Good
at reading other people. Bored by routine, will seldom do the same
thing the same way, apt to turn to one new interest after another
• ESTJ
• Practical, realistic, matter-of-fact. Decisive, quickly move to implement
decisions. Organize projects and people to get things done, focus on
getting results in the most efficient way possible. Take care of routine
details. Have a clear set of logical standards, systematically follow
them and want others to also. Forceful in implementing their plans.
• ESFJ
• Warmhearted, conscientious, and cooperative. Want harmony in their
environment, work with determination to establish it. Like to work
with others to complete tasks accurately and on time. Loyal, follow
through even in small matters. Notice what others need in their day-
by-day lives and try to provide it. Want to be appreciated for who they
are and for what they contribute.
• ENFJ
• Warm, empathetic, responsive, and responsible. Highly attuned to the
emotions, needs, and motivations of others. Find potential in everyone,
want to help others fulfill their potential. May act as catalysts for
individual and group growth. Loyal, responsive to praise and criticism.
Sociable, facilitate others in a group, and provide inspiring leadership.
• ENTJ
• Frank, decisive, assume leadership readily. Quickly see illogical and
inefficient procedures and policies, develop and implement
comprehensive systems to solve organizational problems. Enjoy long-
term planning and goal setting. Usually well informed, well read, enjoy
expanding their knowledge and passing it on to others. Forceful in
presenting their ideas
 Big five model of personality
• The Big Five personality traits are five broad
domains or dimensions of personality that are
used to describe human personality. The
theory based on the Big Five factors is called
the Five Factor Model (FFM). The Big Five
factors are openness, conscientiousness,
extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
• A summary of the factors of the Big Five and their constituent
traits:

• Openness to experience: (inventive/curious vs.

consistent/cautious). Appreciation for art, emotion, adventure,
unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience. Openness
reflects the degree of intellectual curiosity, creativity and a
preference for novelty and variety a person has. It is also
described as the extent to which a person is imaginative or
independent, and depicts a personal preference for a variety of
activities over a strict routine. Some disagreement remains
about how to interpret the openness factor, which is sometimes
called "intellect" rather than openness to experience.
• Conscientiousness: (efficient/organized vs.
easy-going/careless). A tendency to be
organized and dependable, show self-
discipline, act dutifully, aim for achievement,
and prefer planned rather than spontaneous
behavior.
• Extraversion: (outgoing/energetic vs.
solitary/reserved). Energy, positive emotions,
urgency, assertiveness, sociability and the
tendency to seek stimulation in the company
of others, and talkativeness.
• Agreeableness: (friendly/compassionate vs.
analytical/detached). A tendency to be
compassionate and cooperative rather than
suspicious and antagonistic towards others. It
is also a measure of one's trusting and helpful
nature, and whether a person is generally well
tempered or not.
• Neuroticism: (sensitive/nervous vs.
secure/confident). The tendency to experience
unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger,
anxiety, depression, and vulnerability.
Neuroticism also refers to the degree of
emotional stability and impulse control and is
sometimes referred to by its low pole,
"emotional stability".
 Other personality traits relevant to OB
• Core self evaluation
• Machiavellianism
• Narcissism
• Self monitoring
• Risk taking
• Proactive personality
 Core self evaluation
• Core self-evaluations (CSE) represent a stable
personality trait which encompasses an individual's
subconscious, fundamental evaluations about
themselves, their own abilities and their own
control. People who have high core self-
evaluations will think positively of themselves and
be confident in their own abilities. Conversely,
people with low core self-evaluations will have a
negative appraisal of themselves and will lack
confidence
 Machiavellianism

• The degree to which an individual is

pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and
believes ends justifies means.
 Narcissism
• The tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose
sense of self importance, require excessive
admiration, and have sense of entitlement.
 Self-monitoring
• A personality trait that measures an
individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior
to external, situational factors.
 Proactive personality
• People who identify opportunities, show
initiative, take action, and persevere until
meaningful change occurs.
 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.