Personality

Do You have Personality

The way we use the term personality
Good Personality

But Psychologists define it as

A persons unique and relatively stable behaviour patterns
Consistency of who you are, have been, and will become Special blend of talents, values, hopes, loves, hates etc.

Character and Personality

Judgment or evaluation

Personality
..defined as a relatively stable set of characteristics that influence an individuals behaviour..
Shaped by heredity and environment

Four major theories of personality

Trait theory Psychodynamic.. Behaviouristic.. Humanistic..

FIGURE 2.1

Nature and Nurture: The Determinants of Personality

Trait Approach Describe yourself in 18,000 words or less

Aggressive, ambitious, calm, bold, cautious, mature, funny, honest, dull, cheerful, serious, helpful, emotional, curious, optimistic, passionate, kind, thoughtful, humble, anxious, religious, orderly, confidenton and on and on

Classifying Traits
Allport identified several kinds Common traits Characteristics shared by most member of the culture. For Individuals
Cardinal trait All of persons activities can be traced to the trait. Few people have it Central traits Core qualities that capture the essence of the person Secondary traits less consistent relatively superficial aspects of a person

Personality description according to Allport

Name Age Cardinal traits None Central traits Possessive, autonomous, dramatic, self-centered, trusting Secondary traits Prefers colorful clothes, always late, likes spicy food

Trait theory
Behaviour broken into observable traits..
Raymond Cattell identified 16 traits (Source or Primary traits)
Self-assured/apprehensive, reserved/outgoing..

More recently five basic factors

The Big Five Personality traits Extraversion.. Gregarious, assertive..(Reserved) Agreeableness.. Cooperative, warm..(disagreeable) Conscientiousness..hardworking, organised..(lazy) Emotional stability..calm, self-confident..(insecure) Openness to experience..creative, curious..(practical)

FIGURE 2.3

The Hierarchical Organization of Personality

Source: Adapted from R. R. McCrae and P. T. Costa, "Discriminant Validity of NEO-PIR Facet Scales, Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52, pp. 229237. Copyright 1992. Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc.

FIGURE 2.4

A Big Five Personality Profile

Behavioural theories
Personality is a collection of learned behaviour patterns
Acquired through classical and operant conditioning Knowing some are honest will not help us in predicting behaviour in specific situation (College students and honesty)

Psychodynamic theory
Sigmund Freud Emphasizes unconscious determinants of behaviour.. Personality as interaction of three elements..
Id.. Primitive..drives and impulses..uncensored Superego..conscience..values..dos and donts Ego..the mediator..rational..decision making

Other Organizationally Relevant Personality Traits

Locus of control Self-monitoring Self-esteem Type A and Type B personality Need for achievement Need for affiliation Need for power

Locus of Control
External Locus of Control: describes people who believe that fate, luck, or outside forces are responsible for what happens to them. Internal Locus of Control: describes people who believe that ability, effort, or their own actions determine what happens to them.

Personality Characteristics in Organizations

Locus of control
Individuals generalized belief about internal control (self-control) versus external control (Control by situation or others) Internals.. High job satisfaction..likely to be managers..prefers participative style Externals..structured work setting

Locus of Control Organizational Implications

Externals are less satisfied with their jobs, high absenteeism rate, are alienated from the work setting. Almost all successful salespeople are internals. Its pretty difficult to succeed in sales if you dont believe you can effectively influence outcomes.

Definition
Self-Monitoring: The extent to which people try to control the way they present themselves to others.

Personality Characteristics in Organizations

Self-Monitoring
Extent to which people base their behaviour on cues from people and situations High..attention to what is appropriate in particular situations and behave accordingly..more unpredictable Low..not vigilant to situational cues..internal states..consistent

Definition
Self-Esteem: The extent to which people have pride in themselves and their capabilities.

Personality Characteristics in Organizations

Self-esteem..feeling of self-worth
Positive..aware of + and - .. Believe + more than Low..more affected by others..positive feedback,nice guy..negative feedback, bad guy

Definitions
Type A Personality: A person who has an intense desire to achieve, is extremely competitive, and has a strong sense of urgency.
are always moving, walking, and eating rapidly Feel impatient with the rate at which most events take place Strive to think or do two or more things at once Cannot cope with leisure time Are obsessed with numbers, measuring their success in terms of how many or how much of everything they acquire

Definitions
Type B Personality: A person who tends to be easygoing and relaxed.
Never suffer from a sense of urgency with its accompanying patience Feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements or accomplishments unless such exposure is demanded by the situation Play for fun and relaxation rather than to exhibit their superiority at any cost Can relax without guilt

Personality Assessment Tests

Projective tests: Participants are asked to project their thoughts onto a given image. Taps unconscious attitudes, motivations and conflicts.
Rorschach inkblot tests Thematic apperception tests

Questionnaire based
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) Thomas Profile Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Rorschach Inkblot Test Created by Hermann Rorschach this test uses a series (usually 10) of inkblots to assess human personality. Scores are usually tabulated using Exner scoring system synthesis of multiple images in the blot the location of the response variety of determinants used to produce the response (i.e., what makes the inkblot look like what it is said to resemble) the contents of the response (what the respondent actually sees in the blot) the degree of mental organizing activity that is involved in producing the response, and any illogical, incongruous, or incoherent aspects of responses.
Source: Weiner, Irving B. (2003). Principles of Rorschach interpretation.

Rorschach Inkblots

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Projective tests that tap into human unconscious to assess attitude, disorders, personality, repressed fears, angerdeveloped by psychologists Henry A. Murray and Christiana D. Morgan at Harvard during the 1930s. A series of pictures (usually 31) are shown and the subject is asked to narrate a story for each picture presented. Broadly focusing on What happened before the event What is happening now The thinking of characters What would be the outcome of the story

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

A personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into one of 16 personality types. The MBTI claims to measure four bipolar preferences
Extraversion (E) ---- Introversion (I) [How you relate to others] Sensing (S) ----- Intuition (N) [The way you generate information] Thinking (T) ---- Feeling (F) [The way you make decisions] Judging (J) ---- Perceiving (P) [ The way you live life]