Personality

Organizational Behavior
Look at these statements We are like Everybody We are like Somebody We are like Nobody What do you make out of these statements?

Organizational Behavior
Think of yourself for a few minutes and write 5-7 attitudes/behaviors that aptly describes you.

ENVIRONMENT
PERSON

PERSONALITY

GENETIC FACTORS

Organizational Behavior
Definitions of personality

Relatively stable pattern of behaviors and consistent internal states that explain a persons behavioral tendencies.

Personality traits are less evident in situations where social norms, reward systems and other conditions constrain our behaviors. (Weiss & Adler) Debate: Is the second statement true?

Organizational Behavior
Personality is influenced by Hereditary Factors Physical attributes Intelligence Temperament Health factors Cultural Factors Sets the context by giving set of values and assumptive beliefs The social roles which people enact. Popular research work by Hofstede (IBM employees across 50 countries) SKIP
5

Organizational Behavior
Type 1 Individualism Type 2 Collectivism

Stand up for themselves, self interest Stand up to the collective identity, , independence group interest is paramount , interdependence, cooperative behavior.

Centralized power

Diffused power

Growth of unequal intellectual/ Embrace democratic ideals, physical power, unequal distribution decentralized power, delegation power, centralized authority

Masculine oriented
Hero worship, men take on dominant roles, showing of wealth is accepted role, top positions reserved for men, women usually play secondary role

Feminine oriented
Respecting the environment, relationship is more important than wealth, role distribution is not on gender. Emphasis on quality of life

Organizational Behavior
Why understanding of personality is important in the context of organization? Recruitment Placement Promotion Project assignments Basically person-job fit. The degree to which there is a match between the individual characteristics and requirements of job (ability-aptitude match).
7

Organizational Behavior
Ability It is the capacity to do physical and intellectual tasks. Aptitude It is the capacity to learn the ability to do the physical and intellectual tasks. Mismatch of ability, aptitude and job demands creates problems. Concept of Psychological Contract (ONGC example) Is a dynamic relationship between the set of expectations with which people join organizations and what they will get in return from the organization
8

Organizational Behavior
Personality Traits The link between trait and behavior depends on Frequency of occurrence Consistency of occurrence in diverse situation Important developments in understanding personality Carl Jung Original contributor on personality. He talked about Introversion: Oriented to inner thoughts, work quietly. Extroversion: Oriented towards outer world, enjoy communicating verbally, like to experience life than reflecting 9

Organizational Behavior

Judgers: Orderly, planned approach, prefer control, structure. Perceiver: Oriented towards outer world, enjoy communicating verbally, like to experience life than reflecting Based on cognitive and evaluative style we have four types of personality styles Sensing and Intuition: How information is gathered Thinking and Feeling: How information is processed
10

Organizational Behavior

Sensation method:
Seek details, hard facts, logical, comfortable with rules, policies, quantitative data, seek clear guidelines, learn from concrete experience and often operate from left brain.

Intuitive Method:
Uncomfortable with routine methods, rely on hunches, intelligent guesses, non verbal clues, data collection is random, comfortable with large and ambiguous data, imaginative, futuristic , creative and operate more from right brain.

11

Organizational Behavior

Thinking Oriented:
Analytical, rational, logical, usually unemotional, believe in scientific methods and usual avoid personal consideration.

Feelings oriented:
Person centric values, personalize evaluation, sensitive to ideas, feelings of others. Dislike conflicts, value harmony and consider alternatives based wishes and feelings of others than logic and analysis.

12

Organizational Behavior
Eyseneks model of personality- popularly known as P-E-N (Pshycotism, Extraversion, Neurotism)- test Extraversion: Gregarious, assertive, seeks excitement, tend to think loud, and normally can not solve problems in their head. Introversion: Reserved, less outgoing, less sociable, tend to have small circle of friends, not necessarily loners, can solve problems in their head, prefer non social or less social activities. Neither shy nor experience social discomfort. Neurotism: Experience negative emotions like guilt anxiety, anger, guilt, and depressed mood. Poor response to environment, threat perception, overreactions to minor tensions, self conscious. 13

Organizational Behavior
Big Five Personality Theory (McCrae, Smith et al). Believed that personality differences can be explained. Extraversion: Focuses on the comfort level of an individual in their interaction with others. Ranges from being assertive , outgoing, talkative, open to timid, quiet, and reserved (introversion) Agreeableness: Individual behaviors towards others while interacting with them. May range from warm, cooperative, and close to cold, antagonistic and distant.
14

Organizational Behavior
Big Five Personality Theory

Conscientiousness: Extent to which individuals show consistent and reliable behavior. It may range from highly responsible, reliable, and consistent to being unreliable, disorganized and inconsistent.
Emotional Stability: Ability of an individual to control his/her emotions at the time of crises. It may range from controlled, calm, confident to nervous, depressed and insecure.
15

Organizational Behavior
Big Five Personality Theory

Openness to experience: Individuals ability to be open to any kind of experience that helps him/her to do the tasks effectively. It may range from easily approachable, creative and sensitive to being uncomfortable in new environment.

16

Organizational Behavior
Important Personality Traits Locus of control: The degree to which people believe that they rather than the external forces determine their own lives (Internals). On the other hand some attribute to fate, luck, and other external forces(Externals- Two typesExternal factors and Chance factors). Dogmatism: It is the degree of flexibility or rigidity of persons views. People who are high on dogmatism tend to be rigid and closed. Anything opposite views will be threatening to them. People who are low on dogmatism are open minded and receptive to opposing views. 17

Organizational Behavior
Risk propensity: Willingness to take risks. High on this take fast decisions and take chances. Risk averse persons are more careful, and try to minimize risks. Self Esteem: It is the judgment one makes about ones own worth. High on this tend to like themselves, have high expectation for success, and feel confident in reaching their goals. Low on this feel less confident, and look to others for praise and reinforcement. Self Monitoring: The degree to which people are sensitive to others and adapt their behaviors to the external expectation and situations. They are like great actors that they can assume a personality. Low on self

18

monitoring tend to reveal more clearly and tend to be themselves regardless of situations and expectation of others.

Organizational Behavior
Important personality profiling tools extensively used by the organizations
1. 2. 3.

4.

5.

Catells 16 Personality Factors (16 PF) Dr. William Moultons DISC (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Competence) F I R O B (Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation) Inclusion (I), Control ( C ), Affection (A) each on two dimensions Expressed behavior (what one does) and Wanted behavior (what one wants) MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator ) 100 questions assessment on how people act/feel. Individuals are classified as Extraverts (E) or Introverts (I), Sensing (S)or Feeling (F), Judging (J) or Perceiving (P) Enneagram Personality Tool- Personality profiling-9 types