INDIVIDUAL SOCIETY

AND NATION
MODULE 1
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

 Gender is one of many characteristics that people bring with them when
they join an organization.
 Research has shown that individual differences in the form of ability
(which includes intelligence) and biographical characteristics (such as
age, gender) affect employees’ performance and satisfaction. Thus,
psychology has a special stream of studying individual differences in
people so as to understand them better.
 Individual differences are the facts that make people different from
each other. We all know that we are different from each other in many
ways such as: our physical aspects, likes and dislikes, interests, values,
psychological makeup (and the list goes on), in other words... the whole
"Personality".
 No two people or animals can be "same" (they can be similar only), so
the concept of individual differences arise!!

Broadly, there are two categories of individual differences:

 Ability
 Biographical characteristics
Ability

 An individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.

 It is an assessment of what one can do.
 An individual’s overall abilities are essentially made up of two set of factors: intellectual &
physical.
Intellectual Abilities:
 The capacity to do mental activities such as thinking, reasoning, & problem solving.
 People in most societies place a high value on intelligence, & for good reason.
 Compared to others, smart people generally earn more money and attain higher levels of
education.
 Smart people are also more likely to emerge as leaders of groups.
 Intelligence quotient (IQ) tests, e.g., are designed to ascertain a person’s general intellectual
abilities. So, too, are popular college admission tests such as CAT, GMAT.
 
The seven most frequently cited dimensions making up
intellectual abilities are:

Dimension Description Job Example

Number Aptitude Ability to do speedy & accurate arithmetic Accountant:
Computing the
sales
tax on a set of items.
Verbal Comprehension Ability to understand what is read or Plant Manager:
heard and the relationship of words to Following
each other corporate
policies on hiring.
Perceptual Speed Ability to identify visual similarities and Fire Investigator:
differences quickly and accurately Identify clues to
support a charge of
arson (the criminal act
of deliberately setting
fire to property).
Inductive Reasoning Ability to identify a logical sequence in Market
a problem and then solve the problem Researcher:
Forecasting
demand for a
product in the
next time period.
Deductive Reasoning Ability to use logic and assess the Supervisor: Choosing
implications of an argument between two
different suggestions
offered by
Dimensions of IntellectualAbility

employees.
Spatial Visualization Ability to imagine how an object Interior Decorator:
would look if its position in space were Redecorating
changed an office.
Memory Ability to retain and recall Salesperson:
past experiences
Remembering the
names of customers.
 Intelligence dimensions are positively related, so that high scores on one
dimension tend to be positively correlated with high scores on another. If
you score high on verbal comprehension, e.g., you’re more likely to
score high on spatial visualization.
 The correlations aren’t perfect, meaning that people do have specific
abilities. However, the correlations are high enough that for some time,
researchers have recognized a general factor of intelligence, called
general mental ability (GMA).
 GMA is an overall factor of intelligence as suggested by the positive
correlations among specific intellectual ability dimensions.
Physical Abilities

 The capacity to do tasks that demand stamina, dexterity, strength, & similar
characteristics.
 Though the changing nature of work suggests that intellectual abilities
are becoming increasingly important for many jobs, physical abilities
have been and will remain important for successfully doing certain jobs.
 Research on the requirements needed in hundreds of jobs has identified
nine basic abilities involved in the performance of physical tasks. These
are as follows:
 Nine Basic Physical Abilities
Strength Factors
1. Dynamic strength Ability to exert muscular force repeatedly or continuously over
  time.
2. Trunk strength Ability to exert muscular strength using the trunk (particularly
abdominal) muscles.
3. Static strength Ability to exert force against external objects.
4. Explosive strength Ability to expend a maximum of energy in one or a series of
explosive acts.
Flexibility Factors
5. Extent flexibility Ability to move the trunk and back muscles as far as possible.
6. Dynamic flexibility Ability to make rapid, repeated flexible movements.
Other Factors
7. Body coordination Ability to coordinate the simultaneous actions of different parts
of
the body.
8. Balance Ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces pulling off
balance.
9. Stamina Ability to continuous maximum effort requiring prolonged effort
over time.
Biographical characteristics: Personal characteristics such as
age, gender, race, & length of tenure – that are objective and can
easily be obtained from personnel records.

 Age: The relationship between age and job performance is likely to be an issue of
increasing importance during the next decade for at least three reasons. First,
there is a widespread belief that job performance declines with increasing age.
Regardless of whether this is true, a lot of people believe it and act on it. Second,
the workforce is aging. The third reason is the retirement age.
What is the perception of older workers?
 Evidence indicates that employers hold mixed feelings. They see a number of
positive qualities that older workers bring to their jobs, such as experience,
judgment, a strong work ethic, and commitment to quality. But older workers are
also perceived as lacking flexibility and as being resistant to new technology. And
in a time when organizations are actively seeking individuals who are adaptable
and open to change, the negatives associated with age clearly hinder the initial
hiring of older workers and increase the likelihood that they will be let go during
cutbacks.
Gender: Few issues initiate more debates,
misconceptions, and unsupported opinions that whether
women perform as well on jobs as men do.

 The evidence suggests that the best place to begin is with the recognition
that there are few, if any, important differences between men and women
that will affect their job performance. There are, for instance, no consistent
male-female differences in problem-solving ability, analytical skills,
competitive drive, motivation, sociability, or learning ability.
 Psychological studies have found that women are more willing to conform to
authority and that men are more aggressive and more likely than women to
have expectations of success, but those differences are minor.
 Given the significant changes that have taken place in the past 40 years in
terms of increasing female participation rates in the workforce and
rethinking what constitutes male and female roles, you should operate on
the assumption that there is no significant difference in job productivity
between men and women.
Race: Race has been studied quite a bit, particularly as it relates to
employment outcomes such as personnel selection decisions,
performance evaluations, pay, and workplace discrimination.

 In employment settings, there is a tendency for individuals to favor

colleagues of their own race in performance evaluations, promotion
decisions, and pay raises. For example, African Americans generally fare
worse than whites in employment decisions. African Americans receive
lower ratings in employment interviews, are paid less, and are promoted
less frequently.
 The major dilemma faced by employers who use mental ability tests for
selection, promotion, training, and similar personnel decisions is concern
that they may have a negative impact on racial and ethnic groups.
Social Group

 In India, reservation benefits are extended to certain social groups.

Reservation is a form of affirmative action whereby a percentage of
seats are reserved for individuals belonging to these categories.
Preference is given to persons belonging to categories that have been
recognized as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward
classes. Other parameters such as religion and state of domicile are also
taken into consideration for providing such opportunities.
Tenure

Extensive reviews have been conducted of the seniority-productivity

relationship. If we define seniority as time on a particular job, we can say that
the most recent evidence demonstrates a positive relationship between
seniority and job productivity. So tenure, expressed as work experience,
appears to be a good predictor of employee productivity.
Sexual Orientation and Gender
Identity
 Employers differ a lot in how they treat sexual orientation. In most
countries, the law does not prohibit discrimination against employees
based on sexual orientation, though some countries do have anti-
discrimination policies. Many employers ignore it, some do not hire gays,
but an increasing number of employers are implementing policies and
practices protecting the rights of the gays in the workplace.
 As for gender identity, companies are increasingly putting in place
policies to govern how their organization treats employees who change
genders (often called transgender employees).
MANAGING INDIVIDUAL
DIFFERENCES
 Speak a little less, listen a little more
Most people get tremendous pleasure from speaking about themselves.
But, here we have to be careful; if we always speak about our
achievements or tribulations, people will get fed up with our egoism.
 If we are willing and able to listen to others, we will find it much
appreciated by our friends. Some people are not aware of how much
they dominate the conversation. If you find you are always talking about
yourself, consider the advice of the Greek philosopher, Epictectus
 “Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as
much as we speak.”
Which is more important being right or
maintaining harmony?

 A lot of problems in relationships occur because we want to maintain our

personal pride. Don’t insist on always having the last word. Healthy
relationships are not built through winning meaningless arguments. Be
willing to back down; most arguments are not of critical importance
anyway.

Avoid Gossip
 If we value someone’s friendship we will not take pleasure in
commenting on their frequent failings. They will eventually hear about
it. But, whether we get found out or not, we weaken our relationships
when we dwell on negative qualities. Avoid gossiping about anybody;
subconsciously we don’t trust people who have a reputation for gossip.
Forgiveness
 Forgiveness is not just a cliché; it’s a powerful and important factor in
maintaining healthy relationships. However, real forgiveness also means
that we are willing to forget the experience. If we forgive one day, but
then a few weeks later bring up the old misdeed, this is not real
forgiveness. When we make mistakes, just consider how much we would
appreciate others forgiving and forgetting.

Know When to Keep Silent

 If you think a friend has a bad or unworkable idea, don’t always argue
against it; just keep silent and let them work things out for themselves.
It’s a mistake to always feel responsible for their actions. You can offer
support to friends, but you can’t live their life for them.
Right Motive

 If you view friendship from the perspective of “what can I get from this?”
you are making a big mistake. This kind of relationship proves very
tentative. If you make friendships with the hope of some benefit, you
will find that people will have a similar attitude to you. This kind of
friendship leads to insecurity and jealousy.
 Furthermore, these fair weather friends will most likely disappear just
when you need them most. Don’t look upon friends with the perspective
“what can I get out of this?”. True friendship should be based on mutual
support and good will, irrespective of any personal gain
Oneness

 The real secret of healthy relationships is developing a feeling of

oneness. This means that you will consider the impact on others of your
words and actions. If you have a true feeling of oneness, you will find it
difficult to do anything that causes suffering to your friends. When there
is a feeling of oneness, your relationships will be free of jealousy and
insecurity.
 For example, it is a feeling of oneness which enables you to share in the
success of your friends. This is much better than harboring feelings of
jealousy. To develop oneness we have to let go of feelings of superiority
and inferiority; good relationships should not be based on a judgmental
approach. In essence, successful friendship depends on the golden rule:
“do unto others as you would have done to yourself.” This is the basis of
healthy relationships.
Humor

 Don’t take yourself too seriously. Be willing to laugh at yourself and be self-
deprecating. This does not mean we have to humiliate ourselves, far from it
— it just means we let go of our ego. is often the best antidote for relieving
tense situations.

Bridging Individual Differences

 Perceived Interdependence
 Shared goal
 Sense of Crisis
 Respect
 Trust
PERSONALITY

 For understanding ourselves, we need to know about our personality

type. But before knowing about our personality type, we need to know
what personality all about is? What do mean by ‘personality’?
 Why are some people quiet and passive, while others are loud and
aggressive? Are certain personality types better adapted than others for
certain job types? Before we can answer these questions, we need to
address a more basic one: What is personality?
 What is Personality?

 When we talk of personality, we don’t mean that a person has charm, a

positive attitude toward life, or a smiling face. When psychologists talk of
personality, they mean a dynamic concept describing the growth and
development of a person’s whole psychological system. Rather than looking
at parts of the person, personality looks at some aggregate whole that is
greater than the sum of the parts.
 Gordon Allport defined personality as “the dynamic organization within the
individual of those psycho- physical systems that determine his unique
adjustments to his environment”.
IMPORTANCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE IN PERSONALITY
DEVELOPMENT (PERSONALITY DETERMINANTS):

 The nature vs nurture debate within psychology is concerned with the

extent to which particular aspects of behavior are a product of either
inherited (i.e. genetic) or acquired (i.e. learned) characteristics.
 Nature is what we think of as pre-wiring and is influenced by genetic
inheritance and other biological factors. Nurture is generally taken as
the influence of external factors after conception e.g. the product of
exposure, experience and learning on an individual.
 The nature-nurture debate is concerned with the relative contribution
that both influences make to human behavior.
 An early debate in personality research centered on whether an
individual’s personality is a result of heredity or of environment. Was the
personality predetermined at birth, or was it the result of the individual’s
interaction with his/her surroundings? Clearly, there’s no simple black
and white answer. Personality appears to be a result of both hereditary
(nature) and environmental factors (nurture).
 However, it might surprise you that research in personality
development has tended to better support the importance of heredity
over the environment.
 Heredity refers to factors determined at conception. Physical stature,
facial attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle composition and
reflexes, energy level, and biological rhythms are generally considered
to be either completely or substantially influenced by who your parents
are
 – that is, by their biological, physiological, and inherent psychological
makeup. The heredity approach argues that the ultimate explanation of
an individual’s personality is the molecular structure of the genes,
located in the chromosomes.
 Evidence demonstrates that traits such as shyness, fear, and aggression
can be traced to inherited genetic characteristics.
 Researchers in many different countries have studied thousands of sets
of identical twins who were separated at birth and raised separately. If
heredity played little or no part in determining personality, you would
expect to find few similarities between the separated twins. But the
researchers found a lot in common. For almost every behavioral trait, a
significant part of the variation between the twins turned out to be
associated with genetic factors.
 For instance, one set of twins who had been separated for 39 years and
raised 45 miles apart were found to drive the same model and color car.
They chain smoked the same brand of cigarette, owned dogs with the
same name, and regularly vacationed within three blocks of each other
in a beach community 1,500 miles away.
 This is not to suggest that personality never changes. Over periods of
time, people’s personalities do change. Most research in this area
suggests that while some aspects our personalities do change over time,
the rank orderings do not change very much. For example, people’s
scores on measures of dependability tend to increase over time.
However, there are still strong individual differences in dependability
and despite the fact that most of us become more responsible over
time, people tend to change by about the same amount so that the rank
order stays roughly the same. That is, if you are more dependable than
your sibling now, that is likely to be true in 20 years, even though you
both should become more dependable over time.
IMPORTANCE AND RECOGNITION OF
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN PERSONALITY

In organizations, assessments of individual differences are carried out at the

time of selection and during other times in an employee’s career. Personality
tests can help in screening, succession planning, career planning, team
building, and management development activities.
  Screening – Screening is a stage where a large number of applicants are
reduced to a smaller group who appear to have the necessary abilities and
experience. This might involve a test or tests and passing some “cut score”
that assesses applicants on criteria such as achievement and leadership.
 Selection – After screening, the short-listed applicants are selected through
selection methods like interviews and group discussions, along with scores
and assessments on psychometric tests, in order to appoint the candidates
in the target jobs.
 Succession planning – Assessment helps in identifying individuals who
could move up into the target job grade if a vacancy were to occur. In
addition, selection planning can help those who are not quite ready to
move up a grade by identifying what abilities they need to develop in order
to cope with the more complex job demands of the role.
 Career planning – Career planning helps at transition points in careers
which have been forced on the individual through redundancy. It is also
helpful when, due to various other reasons, the individual is compelled to
find out how well his/her abilities are matched to various available options.
 Team building – Assessment about individual differences can provide team
members with a neutral framework for exploring relationship and
performance issues. Some tests have been specifically developed to
support team building activities.
 Management development – Assessment of an individual’s abilities and
personality provides an effective starting point for the construction of a
focused and relevant personal development plan.
PERSONALITY TRAITS

 Early work on the structure of personality tried to identify and label enduring
characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior. Popular characteristics
include shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal and timid. When
someone exhibits these characteristics in a large number of situations, we
call them personality traits. Thus, personality traits are the enduring
characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior.
 The more consistent the characteristic and the more frequently a trait occurs
in diverse situations, the more important that trait is in describing the
individual.
 A number of early efforts tried to identify the primary traits that govern
behavior. However, the Big Five Model of Personality is the most widely
accepted approach that has become the dominant framework for identifying
and classifying traits.
The Big Five Personality Model

A personality assessment model that taps 5 basic dimensions:

 Extraversion
 Agreeableness
 Conscientiousness
 Emotional stability
 Openness to experience
 Extraversion: Captures one’s comfort level with relationships. A personality
dimension describing someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive.
 Agreeableness: Refers to an individual’s propensity to defer to others. A
personality dimension that describes someone who is good natured,
cooperative, and trusting.
 Conscientiousness: Is a measure of reliability. A personality dimension that
describes someone who is responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized.
 Emotional stability: Taps a person’s ability to withstand stress. A personality
dimension that characterizes someone as calm, self-confident, secure
(positive) vs. nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative).
 Openness to experience: Addresses one’s range of interests and fascination
with novelty. A personality dimension that characterizes someone in terms of
imagination, sensitivity, and curiosity.
 The Big Five Factors
Factor High Average Low
Extraversion Extraverted, gregarious, Moderate in activity and enthusiasm. Introverted, reserved, timid, &
outgoing, active,assertive, and Enjoy the company of others but also serious. Prefer to be alone or
high-spirited. Prefer to be around value privacy. with a few close friends.
people most
of the time.

Agreeableness Compassionate, good- natured, and Generally warm, trusting, Hard-headed, skeptical, proud,
eager to cooperate and to avoid and agreeable, but can sometimes be competitive, cold, disagreeable,
conflict. Are warm and stubborn and and antagonistic.
trusting. competitive.

Conscientiousness Conscientious, well- organized, Dependable and Easy-going, not very well-
dependable, and persistent. Have organized, &
moderately well- organized.
high standards and always strive to sometimes careless and
achieve Generally have clear goals, but are unreliable. Prefer not to make
goals. able to set the work aside. plans.

Emotional Emotionally stable, tend to be calm, Generally calm & able to deal with Nervous, anxious,
stability confident, & secure. stress, but sometimes experience depressed, & insecure.
feelings of guilt, anger,
or sadness.
Openness to Creative, curious, & artistically Practical but willing to consider Down to earth, practical, &
experience sensitive. Have broad interests & new ways of doing things. Seek traditional; find comfort in the
are very imaginative. a familiar.
balance between the old and the
new.
 Influences of Big Five Traits
Big Five Traits Why it is relevant? What does it affect?
Extraversion  Better interpersonal skills  Higher performance  
 Greater social dominance  Enhanced leadership  
 More emotionally expressive  Higher job and satisfaction life

Agreeableness  Better liked    Higher performance

 More compliant conforming and  Lower levels of deviant behavior

Conscientiousness  Greater effort and persistence  Higher performance

 More drive and discipline  Enhanced leadership
 Better organized and planning  Greater longevity

Emotional  Less negative thinking fewer and  Higher job and satisfaction life
stability negative emotions  Lower stress levels
 Less hyper-vigilant

Openness to  Increased learning  Training performance

experience  More creative  Enhanced leadership
 More flexible and autonomous  More adaptable to change
THE MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR (MBTI):
 
 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is second most widely used
personality- assessment instruments in the world. It’s a 70-question
personality test that asks people how they usually feel or act in
particular situations. On the basis of their answers, individuals are
classified as extraverted on introverted (E or I), sensing or intuitive (S or
N), thinking or feeling (T or F), and judging or perceiving (J or P).
 These terms are defined as follows:
 Extraverted versus introverted – Extraverted individuals are outgoing, sociable, and
assertive. Introverts are quiet and shy.
 Sensing versus intuitive – Sensing types are practical and prefer routine and order.
They focus on details. Intuitivists rely on unconscious processes and look at the “big
picture”.
 Thinking versus feeling – Thinking types use reason and logic to handle problems.
Feeling types rely on their personal values and emotions.
 Judging versus perceiving – Judging types want control and prefer their world to be
ordered and structured. Perceiving types are flexible and spontaneous.
 These classifications together describe 16 personality types. To
illustrate, let’s take several examples. INTJs are scientists. They usually
have original minds and great drive for their own ideas and purposes.
They are skeptical, critical, independent, determined, and often
stubborn. ESTJs are organizers. They are realistic, logical, analytical, and
decisive and have a natural head for business or mechanisms. They like
to organize and run activities. The ENTP type is a visionary. He or she is
innovative, individualistic, versatile, and attracted to entrepreneurial
ideas. This person tends to be resourceful in solving challenging
problems but may neglect routine assignments.
 A book profiling 13 contemporary businesspeople who created super-
successful firms including Apple Computer, FedEx, Honda Motors,
Microsoft, and Sony found that all were intuitive thinkers (NTs). This
result is particularly interesting because intuitive thinkers represent only
about 5 percent of the population.
 The MBTI is widely used in practice by organizations including Apple
Computer, AT&T, Citigroup, GE, 3M Co., Tata Motors, many hospitals and
educational institutions, and even the defense services. In spite of its
popularity, the evidence is mixed as to whether the MBTI is a valid
measure of personality – with most of the evidence suggesting that it
isn’t. One problem is that it forces a person into either one type or
another (that is, you’re either introverted or extraverted). There is no in-
between, though people can be both extraverted and introverted to
some degree. The best we can say is that the MBTI can be a valuable
tool for increasing self- awareness and providing career guidance. But
because results tend to be unrelated to job performance, managers
probably shouldn’t use it as a selection test for job candidates.