Chapter 5
What is Personality?
The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts & interacts with others, the measurable
traits a person exhibits. Personality is often defined by characteristics such as outgoing or
charming. However, psychologists define personality as the growth & development of a
person’s whole psychological system.
Measuring Personality
◦ Helpful in hiring decisions
◦ Most common method: self-reporting surveys
◦ Observer-ratings surveys provide an independent assessment of personality – often
better predictors
Personality Determinants
Heredity
◦ Factors determined at conception: physical stature, facial attractiveness, gender,
temperament, muscle composition & reflexes, energy level, & bio-rhythms
◦ This “Heredity Approach” argues that genes are the source of personality
◦ Twin studies: raised apart but very similar personalities
◦ Changes over long time periods
Enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior
◦ The more consistent the characteristic & the more frequently it occurs in diverse
situations, the more important the trait.
Two dominant frameworks used to describe personality:
◦ Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®)
◦ Big Five Model
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
The MBTI is the most widely used personality instrument worldwide. Participants are
classified within four scales to determine 1 of 16 possible personality types. These types
are broken down into four dichotomies.
The first is extroverts who tend to be sociable & assertive verses introverts who tend to be
quiet & shy.
The second dichotomy is sensing & intuitive. Sensors are practical & orderly where intuits
utilize unconscious processes.
The third dichotomy is thinking & feeling. Thinking focuses on using reason & logic where
feeling utilizes values & emotions.
The final dichotomy is judging & perceiving. Judgers want order & structure whereas
perceivers are more flexible & spontaneous.
The Big Five Model of Personality Dimensions
• Extroversion- Sociable, gregarious, & assertive
• Agreeableness-Good-natured, cooperative, & trusting
• Conscientiousness-Responsible, dependable, persistent, & organized
• Emotional Stability-Calm, self-confident, secure under stress (positive), versus nervous,
depressed, & insecure under stress
• Openness to Experience-Curious, imaginative, artistic, & sensitive
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, & have
better performance.
Emotional stability is related to job satisfaction.
Extroverts tend to be happier in their jobs & have good social skills.
Open people are more creative & can be good leaders.
Agreeable people are good in social settings and in jobs such as sales & customer service
Core Self-Evaluation
◦ The degree to which people like or dislike themselves
◦ Positive self-evaluation leads to higher job performance
Narcissism
◦ An arrogant, entitled, self-important person who needs excessive admiration
◦ Less effective in their jobs
Machiavellianism
◦ A pragmatic, emotionally distant power-player who believes that ends justify the means
◦ High Machs are manipulative, win more often, & persuade more than they are
persuaded. Flourish when:
Have direct interaction
Work with minimal rules & regulations
Emotions distract others
Tend to have a competitive drive & need to win
Self-Monitoring
◦ The ability to adjust behavior to meet external, situational factors.
◦ High monitors 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
Type A Personality
◦ Aggressively involved in a chronic, incessant struggle to achieve more in less time
Impatient: always moving, walking, & 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
◦ Type B personalities operate at a slower pace, find time for leisure
Proactive Personality
◦ Identifies opportunities, shows initiative, takes action, & perseveres to
completion
◦ Creates positive change in the environment
Values: Values represent basic convictions that make judgments about what is the
best mode of conduct or end-state of existence.
Attributes of Values:
◦ Content Attribute – that the mode of conduct or end-state is important
◦ Intensity Attribute – just how important that content is
Value System
◦ A person’s values rank ordered by intensity
◦ Tends to be relatively constant & consistent
Importance of Values
Provide understanding of the attitudes, motivation, & behaviors
Influence our perception of the world around us
Represent interpretations of “right” & “wrong”
Imply that some behaviors or outcomes are preferred over others
Classifying Values –Milton Rokeach Value Survey
Terminal Values
◦ Desirable end-states of existence; the goals that a person would like to achieve
during his or her lifetime
Instrumental Values
◦ Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one’s terminal values
Linking Personality & Values to the Workplace
Personality & value studies are important to the field of organizational behavior because
they have been linked to workplace outcomes. The person-job fit theory developed by John
Holl& has been critical to thinking about how people fit with a specific job. Holl& classified
people into six personality types utilizing a vocational preference inventory.
Key Points of the Model:
There appear to be intrinsic differences in personality between people
There are different types of jobs
People in jobs congruent with their personality should be more satisfied & have lower
turnover
1. Realistic (R)
2. Investigative (I)
3. Social (S)
4. Enterprising (E)
5. Artistic (A)
6. Conventional (C)
Person-Organization Fit:
◦ The employee’s personality must fit with the organizational culture.
◦ People are attracted to organizations that match their values.
◦ Mismatches will result in turnover.
Can use the Big Five personality types to match to the organizational culture.
Global Implications
There are global implications to personality & values in the workplace. Frameworks such
as the big five & MBTI are transferable across cultures; in fact, the MBTI has been used
worldwide. However, the applicability is higher in some cultures than others. Values, on
the other h&, differ to a great degree across cultures.
Hofstede’s Framework for assessing culture – five value dimensions:
Power Distance
Individualism vs. Collectivism
Masculinity vs. Femininity
Uncertainty Avoidance
Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation
Hofstede’s Framework: Power Distance
The extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions & organizations is distributed
unequally.
Low distance
• Relatively equal power between those with status/wealth & those without
status/wealth
High distance
• Extremely unequal power distribution between those with status/wealth & those
without status/wealth
Individualism
Individualism
◦ The degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as member of
groups
Collectivism
◦ A tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of which they are
a part to look after them & protect them
Masculinity
Masculinity
◦ The extent to which the society values work roles of achievement, power, &
control, & where assertiveness & materialism are also valued
Femininity
◦ The extent to which there is little differentiation between roles for men & women
Uncertainty Avoidance
The extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain & ambiguous situations & tries
to avoid them
High Uncertainty Avoidance:
Society does not like ambiguous situations & tries to avoid them.
Low Uncertainty Avoidance:
Society does not mind ambiguous situations & embraces them.
Time Orientation
Long-term Orientation
◦ A national culture attribute that emphasizes the future, thrift, & persistence
Short-term Orientation
◦ A national culture attribute that emphasizes the present & the here & now
Summary & Managerial Implications
Personality
◦ Screen for the Big Five trait of conscientiousness
◦ Take into account the situational factors as well
◦ MBTI® can help with training & development
Values
◦ Often explain attitudes, behaviors, & perceptions
◦ Higher performance & satisfaction achieved when the individual’s values match
those of the organization
