Personality & Attitude

Personality & attitude

Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities

that forms a person 's unique identity. It signifies the role
which a person plays in public.

According to Stephen P. Robbins “Personality is the sum total

ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with
others.” It may be defined as those inner psychological
characteristics that both determine and reflect how a person
responds to his environment.

Personality can be defined as those inner psychological

characteristics that both determine and reflect how a person
responds to the environment.
Determinants
1. Heredity : Human behavior is partly affected by
heredity. The parent's qualities are passed on to
the children through the molecular structure of
genes located in the chromosomes. In our day to
day life, so many times we use the term "Like
father like son" as "Like Mother like daughter".
2. Environment : All personality traits are not
determined by heredity. Environment also plays a
very important role in the development of
personality of a person. Environment comprises
of culture, family, social and situational factors.
(a) Culture : Culture is sum total of learned
believes, values and customs. Cultural factors
determine now a person acts whether
independently or dependently. Culture
establishes norms, attitudes and values that are
passed along from generation to generation.
 (b) Family : Families influence the behavior of a
person especially in the early stages. The
 nature of such influence will depend upon the
following factors :
 (i) Socio-economic level of the family
 (ii) Family size
 (iii) Birth order
 (iv) Race
 (v) Religion
 (vi) Parent's educational level and Geographic
location.
 c) Social : Socialization is a process by which an
infant acquires customary and acceptable
behavior. Social life has a considerable impact on
the individual's behavior. A man is known by the
company he keeps. Social groups influence the
behavior of the individuals.
 (d) Situational : Situational factors also play a
very important role in determining the personality
of a person. Life is a collection of experiences.
Some of the events and experiences can serve as
important determinants of his personality.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI)
It is a psychometric questionnaire designed to
measure psychological preferences in how
people perceive the world and make decisions.
Carl Jung XIII proposed the existence of two
dichotomous pairs of cognitive functions:
 Rational (judging) function: thinking and
feeling
 Irrational (perceiving) function: sensation and
intuition
At the center of Myers Briggs theory are four
preferences :
 People (Extraversion or "E"), or ideas and
information (Introversion or "I").
 Facts and reality (Sensing or "S"), or possibilities
and potential (Intuition or "N").
 Logic and truth (Thinking or "T"), or values and
relationship (Feeling or "F").
 A lifestyle that is well-structured (Judgment or
"J"), or one that goes with the flow (Perception or
"P").
Extraversion and Introversion - The first pair of styles is
concerned with the direction of your energy. If you prefer to
direct your energy to deal with people, things, situations, or
"the outer world", then your preference is for Extraversion. If
you prefer to direct your energy to deal with ideas,
information, explanations or beliefs, or "the inner world",
then your preference is for Introversion.
Sensing and Intuition - The second pair concerns the type of
information/things that you process. If you prefer to deal
with facts, what you know, to have clarity, or to describe
what you see, then your preference is for Sensing. If you
prefer to deal with ideas, look into the unknown, to generate
new possibilities or to anticipate what isn't obvious, then
your preference is for Intuition. The letter N is used for
intuition because I has already been allocated to Introversion
Thinking and Feeling - The third pair reflects your style of
decision-making. If you prefer to decide on the basis of
objective logic, using an analytic and detached /separate
approach, then your preference is for Thinking. If you prefer
to decide using values - i.e. on the basis of what or who you
believe is important - then your preference is for Feeling.
Judgment and Perception - The final pair describes the type of
lifestyle you adopt. If you prefer your life to be planned,
stable and organized then your preference is for Judging (not
to be confused with 'Judgmental', which is quite different). If
you prefer to go with the flow, to maintain flexibility and
respond to things as they arise, then your preference is for
Perception.
 Assignment
Do the MBTI personality test
The Big Five Personality Model
(OCEAN)
The Big Five Personality Dimensions/Traits
 Openness: People who like to learn new things and
enjoy new experiences usually score high in openness.
Openness includes traits like being insightful and
imaginative and having a wide variety of interests.
 Conscientiousness: People that have a high degree of
conscientiousness (carefulness) are reliable and
prompt/punctual. Traits include being organized,
methodic, and thorough/systematic.
 Extroversion :Extraverts get their energy from
interacting with others, while introverts get their energy
from within themselves. Extraversion includes the traits
of energetic, talkative, and assertive
 Agreeableness: These individuals are
friendly, cooperative, and compassionate.
People with low agreeableness may be more
distant. Traits include being kind, affectionate,
and sympathetic.
 Neuroticism: Neuroticism is also sometimes
called Emotional Stability. This dimension
relates to one’s emotional stability and degree
of negative emotions. People that score high
on neuroticism often experience emotional
instability and negative emotions. Traits
include being moody and tense.
 Personality & Job-Fit Theory
The personality–job fit theory assumes that a person's
personality traits will reveal insight as to adaptability
within an organization
The degree of unity between a person and the organization is
expressed as their Person-Organization (P-O) fit. This is
also referred to as a person–environment fit.
A common measure of the P-O fit is workplace efficacy; the
rate at which workers are able to complete tasks. These
tasks are toned down by workplace environments.
For example, a worker who works more efficiently as an
individual than in a team will have a higher P-O fit for a
workplace that stresses individual tasks (such as
accountancy)
 Attitude

Definitions :
 Attitude is a complex mental state involving
beliefs and feelings and values to act in
certain manner.
 A tendency to respond positively or
negatively towards a certain idea, object,
person, or situation is know as Attitude.
 An attitude is the way in which an individual
actively adapts to its environment and is the
consequence of a process of cognitive,
affective and behavioral.
COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE

 Cognitive or Informational component:

The beliefs an individual has about a certain
person, object, or situation. e.g. A customer
service representative displays positive
feelings, a police officer or a bill collector
would exhibit negative feelings.
Affective component or Emotional:
A person's feelings that result from his or her
beliefs about a person, object or situation.
It involves a kind of emotion experienced
towards the object of attitude say love or
hatred, like or dislike, palatable or
unpalatable things. E.g. “I like this job/
product/ service e.t.c and so I will take it.”
 Behavioral component:
The tendency to react towards the object of
attitude in certain specific ways.
e.g. He decided to take up the job because of
good future prospects.
Relationship Between Behavior and Attitude

“Attitude is a feeling, belief, or opinion of approval or

disapproval towards something. Behavior is an
action or reaction that occurs in response to an
event or internal stimuli (i.e., thought).”

Positive attitudes visualizes well-adjusted behaviors.

However, in some cases healthy attitudes may result in
harmful behavior. For example, someone may remain
in an abusive and potentially deadly domestic situation
because they hold negative attitudes towards divorce.
 Job Attitude

A job attitude is a set of evaluations of one's

job that constitute one's feelings toward,
beliefs about, and attachment to one's job.

Types of Job Attitude

 Job Lover
 Job Doer
 Job Hater
Right Attitude?

Positive attitude at the work place is the right attitude

as a Positive Attitude Leads to Success and
Happiness. A positive attitude helps you cope more
easily with the daily affairs of life. It brings
optimism into your life, and makes it easier to avoid
worries and negative thinking.
 Barriers to changing attitude
There are two major categories of barriers that come in
the way of changing attitudes:
1. Prior commitment when people feel a commitment
towards a particular course of action that has already
been agreed upon and thus it becomes difficult for
them to change or accept the new ways of
functioning.
2. Insufficient information also acts as a major barrier
to change attitudes. Sometimes people simply see any
reason to change their attitude due to unavailability of
adequate information. E.T.C…..
 Emotional intelligence at work place

EI is the capacity to be aware of, control, and express

one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships
judiciously and empathetically.
Emotional intelligence at work is about how people and
relationships function:
 Relationships between colleagues, between directors
and staff;
 Relationships between the organization and its
customers, stakeholders, suppliers, competitors
components of emotional intelligence in the
workplace:
 Improve your self-awareness: Self-awareness
is the ability to understand and interpret your own moods,
emotions, and inner drives, and how these impact other
people.
 Improve your self-regulation: Self-regulation
is the ability to control or redirect impulsive actions and
emotions that negatively impact your potential for growth
and leadership.
 Improve your motivation: Motivation is
your passion and enthusiasm for your work —
beyond your position, status, or income.
 Improve your ability to show empathy: Empathy
is the ability to understand and respond
appropriately to the emotions of other people
 Improve your social skills: Having good social
skills in the workplace means you're proficient at
managing relationships and building networks.
riately to the emotions of other people.
 JOHARI WINDOW MODEL

The JOHARI WINDOW is a technique that helps

people better understand their relationship
with themselves and others
JOHARI WINDOW MODEL
PERCEPTION

It is the ability to see, hear, or become aware

of something through the senses or we can say
the way in which something is regarded,
understood, or interpreted.

“ Perception is recognition and interpretation

of sensory information”
PERCEPTION ACTIVITY
Factors Influencing Perception

 Stereotype : A standardized mental picture that is

held in common by members of a group and that
represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced
/biased/ discriminatory attitude, or uncritical
judgment. e.g. (negative stereo types)
 All politicians think only of personal gain and
benefit.
 Girls are only concerned about physical appearance.
 Guys are messy and unclean.
 All children don't enjoy healthy food.
 Women who smoke and drink do not have morals.
 (positive stereotypes)
 All Indians are deeply spiritual.
 All Whites are successful.
 All Canadians are exceptionally polite.
(racial stereotypes)
 All white people are all racist.
 Chinese will eat anything.
 The Japanese are engineering geniuses.
(gender stereotypes -women)
 Women always smell good.
 Women are always moody.
 All women like the color pink.
 All women like dolls.
 Women do not drive well.
 Women like make-up.
 Women actually use only 5% of what's in their
purse/bag. Everything else is junk.
(men)
 Men are stronger and more aggressive.
 Men always have an "I don't care" attitude.
 Men are tough.
 Men take 2 seconds to shower.
 Men always lose all arguments against girls.
 Halo Effect: The "halo effect" is when one trait of a person
or thing is used to make an overall judgment of that person
or thing.
E.g. Movies and books may present the theme of a hero who
performs one spectacular task and is asked to rule as king of
the people he saved. The problem is that the hero does not
possess any of the leadership qualities or administrative
skills needed to be an effective ruler. The same thing can
happen in a corporate workplace. A sales professional is
proficient at bringing in new accounts and generating
revenue, so he is promoted to the position of vice president
of sales. Unfortunately, he does not know the first thing
about being a company executive.
 First-impression error: Individuals place a good deal of
importance on first impressions. First impressions are lasting
impressions. We tend to remember what we perceive first
about a person, and some times we are quite reluctant to
change our initial impressions. First - impression error
means the tendency to form lasting opinions about an
individual based on initial perceptions.
 Projection: It is easy to judge others if we assume they are
similar to us. This tendency to attribute one's own
characteristics to other people is called projection.
e.g. An unfaithful husband suspects his wife of being faithless.