Chapter 05 - Personality and Values-InS

INDIVIDUAL
PERSONALITY AND VALUES

Chapter 05
Farhan Shahzad- [Lecturer HRM @ Sukkur IBA University] Material is compiled from book Organizational Behavior- Stephen P. Robbins and other sources
In our society we come across people:
Aggressive Extrovert
What is Personality?
 When we talk about personality, it doesn’t mean person has
charm, a positive attitude toward life, or a constantly smiling
face.
 Said Personality is the ”dynamic organization within individual of

those psychological systems that determine his/her unique
adjustments to environment”.
Personality as the sum of total ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with
others.
Why measuring personality traits are important?
Because
Personality tests are used in hiring decisions and help managers to forecast who is best
for a job.
Personality Determinants
 An early debate in personality research centered on, whether an individual’s
personality was result of heredity or environment.
 It appears it is result of both: Heredity and Environment
1. Heredity: Physical stature (build), facial attractiveness, gender, temperament,

muscle composition and reflexes, energy level and other are influenced by—who
your parents are. (biological & psychological inherent)
i.e Identical Twins: Who were separated at birth and raised separately.
Separated for 39 years raised 45 miles apart were found:
Drive same model of car and same color, same brand of cigarette, dog breed
2. Environment
 Children become smarter as they age.

 Generally it is seen that teenage years are periods of great exploration and change.
Two Dominant Frameworks Used to Describe Personality:
1. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®)
2. Big Five Model
1. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®)
 Extraversion (E) – Introversion (I)

Where you prefer to get or focus your energy
 Sensing (S) – iNtuition (N)
The kind of information you prefer to gather and trust
 Thinking (T) – Feeling (F)
The process you prefer to use in coming to decisions
 Judging (J) – Perceiving (P)
How you prefer to deal with the world around you
Personality Test
2. Big Five Personality Model
1. Extroversion
 Sociable, gregarious, and assertive
2. Agreeableness
 Good-natured, cooperative, and trusting
3. Conscientiousness
 Responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized
4. Emotional Stability
 Low on Neuroticism Scale:
 Calm, self-confident, secure
 High on Neuroticism:
 Nervous, depressed, and insecure, moody
5. Openness to Experience
 Curious, imaginative, artistic, and sensitive
How Do the Big Five Traits Predict Behavior?
Research has shown this to be a better framework.

 Traits are STRONGLY RELATE to HIGHER JOB PERFORMANCE
1. Highly conscientious people develop more job knowledge, exert greater effort, and have better
performance.
 Because they are dependable, reliable, careful, thorough, able to plan, organized,
hardworking, persistent, and achievement-oriented tend to have higher job performance
in most if not all occupations
2. Emotional stability is related to job satisfaction, life satisfaction, low stress level.
 Low score in Neuroticism: Optimistic and experience fewer negative emotions
 High score in Neuroticism: Fear, anger, stressful and anxious
3. Extroverts tend to be happier in their jobs and have good social skills.
4. Open to experience people are more creative and can be good leaders.
5. Agreeable people are good in social settings.

Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB
Core Self Evaluation: Individuals’ degree of liking or disliking themselves.
 Whether they see themselves as capable and effective in control of their environment
Locus of Control: The degree to which people believe they are masters of their own
fate.
 Internal locus of control

 People who have positive core self-evaluations like themselves and see themselves
as effective, capable, and in control of their environment.
 Too much positive: Lead to overconfidence  Bad Decisions
 External locus of control

 People who have negative core self-evaluations tend to dislike themselves, question
their capabilities, and view themselves as powerless over their environment.
What about Job Performance ?

Contd..
Machiavellianism: (Mach) named after Niccolo Machiavelli,.
 Degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance,
and believes that ends can justify means.
 High Mach:
 They interact face to face with others rather than indirectly
 Confident, Persuasive (persuade others), Manipulative
 Minimum rules and regulation
Ends Justify the Means—Ethics?

Contd..
Narcissism:
 Wants to be center of attention
 Looks in the mirror a lot
 Thinks s/he has many talents
 Requires excessive admiration
 Has a sense of entitlement
 Selfish, Exploit, Arrogant
 Treat others as they are inferior
 Research Evidence:
 Narcissists are more charismatic and thus more likely to emerge as leaders
 But the subordinate rated them as worse if boss has that personality
 Boss rate narcissist less effective at their jobs:
 Particularly when it comes to helping others.
Where they can be fit?

Contd..
Self Monitoring:
A personality trait that measures an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to
external, situational factors.
 High Self Monitors [Flexible and adoptive]
 Regulate one’s own behavior in a social context
 High self-monitors readily adjust their behavior to the situation at hand.
Low Self- High Self-

Monitoring Monitoring
 Low Self Monitors
 Tend to regulate themselves according to their own internal beliefs and are typically less
concerned with social context.
 Boss rate narcissist less effective at their jobs:
 Particularly when it comes to helping others. Personality Test
Contd..
Risk Taking:
The willingness to take chances, may be best to align propensities with job
requirements.
Risk Risk
Averse Takers
 High Risk Takers [Risk Takers]

 Make quick decisions
 Use less information to make decision
 Operate in smaller and more entrepreneurial organization
 Low Risk Taker [Risk Averse]

 Are slower to make decision
 Require more information before making decision
 Exist in large organizations with stable environment
Contd..
Proactive Personality:
People with this personality type, actively take initiative to improve their current
circumstances or create new one.
 Identifies opportunities, shows initiative, takes action, and perseveres until meaningful change occurs
 Create positive change in their environment in-spite of constraints or obstacles
Type A and B Personality
VALUES
 Is capital punishment right or wrong? Is it good or not?

 Some people may argue it is an appropriate for heinous crimes.
 Other may argue, no government has the right to take anyone’s life.
 Pay given on performance is better and pay linked to seniority is wrong?

 If employees think in this way but organization link pay to performance.
 Values are important in contributing to employee satisfaction.
Values:
 Values represent basic convictions on how to conduct yourself or how to live your life
that is personally or socially preferable – “How to” live life properly.
 Values are the things that you believe are important in the way you live and work.
 Value is judgmental element of what is right, good, or desirable
We study how values influence employee behavior?

Sources of Value System
Our value system develop from:

 Genetics:
 Values are pertly determined by our genetically transmitted traits.
 Transferred by parents
 Culture [Environment]
 Altered due to environmental factors
 Learn from society (family, friend, teachers and others)
Value System
 Values are considered subjective and vary across people and culture.
 Hierarchy of values that form our value system.
 It can be defined as a hierarchy based on a ranking of an individual’s values in

terms of their intensity.
[Prioritizing the values]
Classification of Values
Rokeach Value Survey (RVS): One set called Terminal and other instrumental values/
1. Terminal Values [Core Values, Permanent in Nature] (End States)
 Values for which we think are more important and we has more desirable end-states.
 For example: comfortable life, freedom (free in choices), world peace, sense of accomplishment
2. Instrumental Values (Ways of achieving)

 Refers to preferable modes of behavior, or means of achieving terminal values.
 For example: Ambitious, forgiving, honest, imaginative, responsible and self
control.
Generational Values
 Different generations:
 Like boomers want to stay in office for longer hours  loyal, dedication
 Gen X & Y focus on work life balance.
Linking an Individual's Personality and Values to the Workplace
Initially organization don’t focus on how well and individual’s personality

and values match the job and organization.
Now a days organizations are very dynamic in their work
Manager’s need to focus not only on applicant’s ability to perform a specific job but
his/her flexibility to meet changing situations and commitment to the organization.
Person-Job Fit
 Match a job requirement with a personality characteristics is best way to hire

candidate.
Person-Organization Fit
 Researchers also focus on matching a people to organization

as well as to any specific jobs.
 If organization faces a dynamic and changing environment they require employees
to:
 Readily change tasks and move easily between teams.
 It is important that employee’s personality fit with the organization’s culture
than only with characteristics of any specific job.
International Values
1. Power Distance
The extent to which less powerful members

accept that power is distributed unequally
 High power distance countries: People blindly obey
superiors; strict obedience
 Low power distance countries: People question

authority and attempt to distribute power.
2. Uncertainty Avoidance
 People attempt to make their life as predictable and

controllable as possible.
“It shows Society’s tolerance for ambiguity “
 The extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous

situations; and try to avoid such situations.
3. Individualism or Collectivism
Individualism
–The extent to which people look after themselves and
immediate family only.
Collectivism
–The tendency of people to belong to groups and to look
after each other in exchange for loyalty.
4. Masculinity or Femininity
Masculinity
– A cultural characteristic in which the dominant social
values are success, money, and things. (Believe on
Material Reward)
Femininity (Bit different than traditional connotations)

– A cultural characteristic in which the dominant social
values are ‘caring for others’ and ‘quality of life’.
5. Time Orientation (1988)
 Long-Term Orientation:
Focus on the future, able to adapt traditions when
conditions change, tend to save and invest, focus on
achieving long-term results (Asian countries)
Short-term oriented cultures:

Focus on quick results, do not tend to save, service to
others, belief in absolutes, value stability and leisure (U.S.,
UK, Spain)
6. Indulgence vs. Restraint
Indulgent
–Trait related to relative happiness based on instant
gratification (Satisfaction)  Optimistic
• Perceived happiness, life in control, positive emotions, basic needs
satisfied (U.S., UK, Australia, Chile)
Restraint:
Less happiness, sense of helplessness, less likely to
remember positive emotions, basic needs not always met
(China, Egypt, Romania)  Pessimistic
Chapter 05 Completed 

Chapter 05 - Personality and Values-InS

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 05 - Personality and Values-InS

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

INDIVIDUAL

PERSONALITY AND VALUES

 Said Personality is the ”dynamic organization within individual of

1. Heredity: Physical stature (build), facial attractiveness, gender, temperament,

 Children become smarter as they age.

1. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®)

2. Big Five Model

 Extraversion (E) – Introversion (I)

Research has shown this to be a better framework.

5. Agreeable people are good in social settings.

 Internal locus of control

 External locus of control

What about Job Performance ?

Ends Justify the Means—Ethics?

Where they can be fit?

Low Self- High Self-

 High Risk Takers [Risk Takers]

 Low Risk Taker [Risk Averse]

 Create positive change in their environment in-spite of constraints or obstacles

 Is capital punishment right or wrong? Is it good or not?

 Pay given on performance is better and pay linked to seniority is wrong?

We study how values influence employee behavior?

Our value system develop from:

 Hierarchy of values that form our value system.

 It can be defined as a hierarchy based on a ranking of an individual’s values in

[Prioritizing the values]

2. Instrumental Values (Ways of achieving)

Initially organization don’t focus on how well and individual’s personality

Now a days organizations are very dynamic in their work

 Match a job requirement with a personality characteristics is best way to hire

 Researchers also focus on matching a people to organization

The extent to which less powerful members

 Low power distance countries: People question

 People attempt to make their life as predictable and

“It shows Society’s tolerance for ambiguity “

 The extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous

Femininity (Bit different than traditional connotations)

Short-term oriented cultures:

You might also like