JAMMIE B.

AKUT
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR Dr. CHAVES

INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATIONS

Self-concept or self identity refers to the global understanding a sentient being has of oneself.
The self-concept is composed of relatively permanent self-assessments, such as knowledge of
one's skills and abilities, one's occupation and hobbies, and awareness of one's physical
attributes. The self-concept is not restricted to the present. It includes past selves and future
selves. Future selves represent the individuals’ ideas of what they might become, what they
would like to become, and what they are afraid of becoming. They correspond to hopes, fears,
standards, goals, and threats. Personality is made up of 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. Some of the fundamental
characteristics of personality include consistency – the recognizable order and regularity to
behaviours since people act in the same ways or similar ways in a variety of situations;
psychological and physiological since personality is a psychological construct, but also
influenced by biological processes and needs; impact behaviors and actions because
personality does not just influence how we move and respond in our environment; it also causes
us to act in certain ways; last is multiple expressions - personality is displayed in more than just
behaviour, it can also be seen in out thoughts, feelings, close relationships, and other social
interactions.

An emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings,
thoughts, and behavior. They are subjective experiences, or experienced from an individual
point of view. They are often associated with mood, temperament, personality, and disposition.
The James-Lange theory posits that emotional experience is largely due to the experience of
bodily changes. This theory and its derivatives state that a changed situation leads to a changed
bodily state. As James says 'the perception of bodily changes as they occur is the emotion. This
theory is supported by experiments in which by manipulating the bodily state, a desired emotion
is induced. The James-Lange theory, conversely, asserts that first we react to a situation and
then we interpret our actions into an emotional response. In this way, emotions serve to explain
and organize our own actions to us.
Emotional Intelligence is a relatively recent behavioural model, rising to prominence with Daniel
Goleman. The EQ concept argues that IQ, or conventional intelligence, is too narrow; that there
are wider areas of Emotional Intelligence that dictate and enable our success. Success requires
more than IQ, which has tended to be the traditional measure of intelligence. Another concept is
the Multiple Intelligence developed by Dr. Gardner where he says that we should also place
equal attention on individuals who show gifts in the other intelligences: the artists, architects,
musicians, naturalists, and others who enrich the world in which we live. Unfortunately, many
children who have these gifts do not receive much reinforcement from school. The theory of
multiple intelligences proposes that teachers be trained to present their lessons in a wide variety
of ways using music, cooperative learning, art activities, role play, multimedia, field trips, inner
reflection, and much more. The theory of multiple intelligences also gives adults a whole new
way to look at their lives; examining potentials that they left behind in their childhood but now
have the opportunity to develop through courses, hobbies, or other programs of self-
development.

Having read different articles about self concept, personality, emotional and multiple
intelligences made me realize that it is imperative to know the self well since we deal with
internal and external situations that need our attention. If we are not aware of our selves we will
be vulnerable to stress and problems, which might make us liabilities to the company we work
at. Before we take into account the whole organization, our personal issues must be dealt with
first.

Question:
Can you cite concrete examples when organizations would use multiple intelligence or
emotional intelligence to address different issues in the company?

REFERENCES

Abelson, Michael (2006). Basic Elements of Individual Behavior in Organizations. (Online).(July 30, 2009)
http://wehner.tamu.edu/mgmt.www/mgmt.363/non-business_363/Chapter%2015%20%20
%20Griffin%208th%20Edition.pdf

Armstrong, Thomas. (nd). Multiple Intelligences. (Online). (July 30,2009)

http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm

Cherniss, Cary & Goleman, Daniel. (1998).Guidelines for Best Practice. (Online).( July 30,
2009)http://www.businessballs.com/emotionalintelligencebestpractice.pdf