PERSONALITY

Personality is an individual difference that lends consistency to a person’s behavior. Both

heredity and environmental forces shape personality.

A. Personality Theories

The four major theories of personality are listed in order of their time frame of study,
with trait theory research rare in today's literature.

1. Trait Theory

Trait theory states that in order to understand individuals, we must break

down behavior patterns into a series of observable traits.

2. Psychodynamic Theory

The second important theory is based on the work of Sigmund Freud.

Psychodynamic theory emphasizes the unconscious determinants of
behavior.

3. Humanistic Theory

Humanistic theory emphasizes individual growth and improvement, as

popularized by Carl Rogers.

4. Integrative Approach

The integrative approach describes personality as a composite of an

individual's psychological processes.

B. Personality Characteristics in Organizations

Hundreds of personality characteristics have been identified that are relevant to

personality. Some characteristics with interesting implications in organizations are
locus of control, self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-monitoring, and positive/negative
affect.

1. Locus of Control

The degree to which individuals perceive control over a situation being

internal or external is called locus of control. Locus of control refers to the
range of beliefs that individuals hold in terms of being controlled by self
(internal locus) or controlled by others or the situation (external locus).

2. Self-Efficacy
 Generalized self-efficacy refers to a belief about one’s own ability to deal
with events and challenges. High self-efficacy results in greater confidence in
one’s job-related abilities to function effectively on the job. Success in
previous situations leads to increased self-efficacy for present and future
challenges.

3. Self-Esteem

An individual's self-worth is referred to as self-esteem. Individuals with high

self-esteem have positive feelings about themselves. Low self-esteem
individuals are strongly affected by what others think of them, and view
themselves negatively.

4. Self-Monitoring

The extent to which people base their behavior on cues from other people and
situations is self-monitoring. Individuals high in self-monitoring pay
attention to what behavior is appropriate in certain situations by watching
others and behaving accordingly. Low self-monitoring individuals prefer that
their behavior reflects their attitudes, and are not as flexible in adapting their
behavior to situational cues.

5. Positive/Negative Affect

Individuals exhibit attitudes about situations in a positive or negative fashion.

An individual's tendency to accentuate the positive aspects of situations is
referred to as positive affect, while those accentuating less optimistic views
are referred to as having negative affect. Employees with positive affect are
absent from work less often. Negative affect individuals report higher levels of
job stress.

C. Measuring Personality

There are a host of methods that can be used to measure and assess personality. The
most popular are projective tests, behavioral measures, and self-report
questionnaires. In projective tests, individuals describe what they see in images they
are shown. Behavioral measures involve observation of behavior in controlled
situations. Individuals respond to a series of questions in self-report questionnaires.

IV. A POPULAR APPLICATION OF PERSONALITY THEORY IN

ORGANIZATIONS: THE MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR

Carl Jung developed the Jungian theory of individual differences. The MBTI is an
instrument to measure this theory. Jung suggested that human similarities and differences
could be understood by combining performance. People are not exclusively one way or
another; there is a preference for extraversion or introversion, just as there is for right- or left-
handedness.

A. The Preferences
 The combination of the four basic preferences indicates a person’s psychological
type.

1. Extraversion/Introversion

Extroverts are energized by interactions with others while introverts prefer

time
alone.

2. Sensing/Intuiting

Sensors gather information through the five senses. Intuitors gather

information through a “sixth sense.”

3. Thinking/Feeling

Thinkers make logical, objective decisions. Feelers make decisions in a

more personal way.

4. Judging/Perceiving

Judgers have a preference for closure and organization in their life while
perceivers are more spontaneous and try to keep their options open.

B. The Sixteen Types

The four preferences can be combined to form sixteen psychological types. Types are
not
inherently good or bad. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

V. SOCIAL PERCEPTION

Social perception affects the way we view the world around us. It is the process of
interpreting information about other people, a process heavily used by management.

A. Characteristics of the Perceiver

Several characteristics of a perceiver define one's perception of another person.

Familiarity with the person being perceived leads the perceiver to believe that he or
she understands the intentions of the individual. Attitudes and moods also affect
one’s impressions of others. The perceiver's self-concept leads to a more negative or
positive view of the attributes of others. Finally, a person’s cognitive structure, or
pattern of thinking, affects his or her perception of others.
 B. Characteristics of the Target

The person being perceived influences the social perception process through a
combination of physical appearance, verbal and nonverbal communication, and
apparent intentions.

C. Characteristics of the Situation

The social context in which you meet an individual has a great deal to do with
perceiving the individual positively or negatively. The strength of the situational cues
also affects person perception. Strong situational cues lead to the assumption that the
situation prompts a person's behavior rather than his/her own personality.

D. Barriers to Social Perception

There are five distinct barriers to social perception, which are: selective perception,
stereotyping, first-impression error, projection, and self-fulfilling prophecies.

Selective perception is the process of selecting information that supports our

individual viewpoints while discounting information that threatens our viewpoints.
This approach leads to verbal rationalizations. When we stereotype an individual, we
generalize and do not allow his or her individual strengths to be relevant to our
perception of him or her. First impression error is the tendency to form lasting
opinions about an individual based on the initial meeting or perception. This is a
major difficulty with hiring from interviews, where the first impression lasts into the
socialization process. Projection involves the tendency to assume that other people
are similar to us and that our own values and beliefs are appropriate. In some cases,
our expectations affect the way we interact with others to produce a certain outcome.
This is referred to as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

E. Impression Management

The conscious monitoring and manipulation of others' opinions is referred to as

impression management.

VI. ATTRIBUTION IN ORGANIZATIONS

As humans, we are naturally curious about the causes of our behavior and the behavior of
others. The process of assigning causality to behavior is referred to as attribution.

A. Internal and External Attributions

The process of connecting behavior and performance to specific internal or external

sources of control is known as attribution.

B. Attributional Biases

There are two common errors that affect the attribution process: self-serving bias, and
the fundamental attribution error. Fundamental attribution error is the tendency to
 make attributions to internal causes when focusing on someone else's behavior. Self-
serving bias is the tendency to attribute one's own successes to internal causes and
one's failures to external causes.

VII. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: USING PERSONALITY, PERCEPTION,

AND ATTRIBUTION AT WORK

VIII. LOOKING BACK: Brinker International

CHAPTER SUMMARY

· Individual differences are factors that make individuals unique. They include
personalities, perceptions, skills and abilities, attitudes, values, and ethics.
· The trait theory, psychodynamic theory, humanistic theory, and integrative approach are
all personality theories.
· Managers should understand personality because of its effect on behavior. Several
characteristics affect behavior in organizations, including locus of control, self-esteem,
self-efficacy, self-monitoring, and positive/negative affect.
· Personality has a stronger influence in weak situations, where there are few cues to guide
behavior.
· One useful framework for understanding individual differences is type theory, developed
by Carl Jung and measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
· Social perception is the process of interpreting information about another person. It is
influenced by characteristics of the perceiver, the target, and the situation.
· Barriers to social perception include selective perception, stereotyping, first impression
error, projection, and self-fulfilling prophecies.
· Impression management techniques such as name-dropping, managing one's appearance,
self-descriptions, flattery, favors, and agreement are used by individuals to control others'
impressions of them.
· Attribution is the process of determining the cause of behavior. It is used extensively by
managers, especially in evaluating performance.