Chapter 3

Personality,

Dr. Ramesh M Swamy

Variables Influencing
Individual Behavior
The Person
• skills & abilities
• personality
• perception
• attribution
• attitudes
• values
• ethics
Variables Influencing
Individual Behavior
The Person
• skills & abilities
The Environment
• personality • organization
• perception • work group
• attribution • job
• attitudes • personal life
• values
• ethics
Variables Influencing
Individual Behavior
The Person
• skills & abilities
The Environment
• personality • organization
• perception • work group
• attribution • job
• attitudes • personal life
• values
• ethics

Behavior
Interactional Psychology Approach

The Person
• skills & abilities
The Environment
• personality • organization
• perception • work group
• attribution • job
• attitudes • personal life
• values
• ethics

Behavior

B = f(P,E)
Definition of Personality

Personality - A relatively stable set of

characteristics that influences an
individual’s behavior
Personality Theories

Trait Theory - understand individuals by breaking down

behavior patterns into observable traits
Psychodynamic Theory - emphasizes the unconscious
determinants of behavior
Humanistic Theory - emphasizes individual growth and
improvement
Integrative Approach - describes personality as a
composite of an individual’s psychological processes
Big Five Personality Traits

Extraversion Gregarious, assertive,

sociable
Agreeableness Cooperative, warm,
agreeable
Conscientiousness Hardworking, organized,
dependable
Emotional stability Calm, self-confidant,
cool
Openness to Creative, curious,
Experience cultured

Sources: P.T. Costa and R. R. McCrae, The NEO_PI Personality Inventory (Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, 1992)
and J.F. Salgado, “The Five Factor Model of Personality and Job Performance in the European Community,” Journal of Applied
Psychology, 82 (1997): 30-43.)
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Locus of Control
Internal External
People and
I control what
circumstances control
happens to me!
my fate!
 Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Self-Efficacy - belief and expectations about one’s ability to
accomplish a specific task effectively
Sources of self-efficacy
 Prior experiences
 Behavior models (observing success)
 Persuasion
 Assessment of current physical & emotional
capabilities
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Self - Esteem
Feelings of Self Worth

Success tends Failure tends

to increase to decrease
self-esteem self-esteem
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Self - Monitoring
Behavior based on cues from people & situations
 High self monitors  Low self monitors
 flexible: adjust behavior  act from internal states
according to the rather than from
situation and the situational cues
behavior of others  show consistency
 can appear  lesslikely to respond to
unpredictable & work group norms or
inconsistent supervisory feedback
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Positive Affect - An individual’s tendency to
accentuate the positive aspects of oneself,
other people, and the world in general
Negative Affect - An individual’s tendency to
accentuate the negative aspects of oneself,
other people, and the world in general
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
A strong
situation can
overwhelm the effects
of individual personalities
by providing strong cues
for appropriate
behavior
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations

Strong
personalities
will dominate
in a weak
situation
How is Personality Measured?

Projective Test - elicits an individual’s response to abstract

stimuli
Behavioral Measures - personality assessments that involve
observing an individual’s behavior in a controlled situation
Self-Report Questionnaire - assessment involving an
individual’s responses to questions
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - instrument
measuring Jung’s theory of individual differences.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

 Based on Carl Jung’s work

 People are fundamentally different
 People are fundamentally alike
 People have preference combinations for
extraversion/introversion, perception, judgment
 Briggs & Myers developed the MBTI to
understand individual differences
MBTI Preferences

Preferences Represents

Extraversion Introversion How one

re-energizes
Sensing Intuiting How one gathers
information
Thinking Feeling How one makes
decisions
Judging Perceiving How one orients to the
outer world
CASE STUDY DISCUSSED

1.Ela R Bhatt –The Gentle Revolutinary

2. Not your Stereotypical CEO