Personality

What
What Is
Is Personality?
Personality?

Gordon Allport:
Personality is “the dynamic organisation
within the individual of those
psychophysical systems that determine
his unique adjustments to the
environment”.
What
What Is
Is Personality?
Personality?
Personality
The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and
interacts with others, measurable traits a person exhibits

Personality
Personality
Personality Traits
Determinants
Determinants
Enduring characteristics • •Heredity
that describe an Heredity
individual’s behavior • •Environment
Environment
• •Situation
Situation
The
The Myers-Briggs
Myers-Briggs Type
Type Indicator
Indicator
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Uses 4 different pairs of attributes to create a matrix of 16
Personality Types

Personality
PersonalityTypes
Types
••Extroverted
Extrovertedvs.
vs.Introverted
Introverted(E
(Eor
orI)I)
••Sensing
Sensingvs.
vs.Intuitive
Intuitive(S
(Sor
orN)
N)
••Thinking
Thinkingvs.
vs.Feeling
Feeling(T
(Tor
orF)
F)
••Judging
Judgingvs.
vs.Perceiving
Perceiving(P
(Por
orJ)J)
Personality
PersonalityTypeTypeisisaacombination
combination
ofofall
allfour
four(e.g.,
(e.g.,ENTJ)
ENTJ)
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.
 SOCIABLE, TALKATIVE, GREGARIOUS, ACTIVE, ASSERTIVE

ANXIOUS, DEPRESSED, ANGRY, EMBARRASSED,

EMOTIONAL, WORRIED & INSECURE

COURTEOUS, FLEXIBLE, TRUSTING, GOOD-NATURED,

COOPERATIVE, FORGIVING, SOFT-HEARTED
AND TOLERANT

DEPENDABILITY, CAREFUL, THOROUGH,

RESPONSIBLE, ORGANISED & PLANFUL

IMAGINATIVE, CULTURED, CURIOUS,

ORIGINAL,BROAD-MINDED, INTELLIGENT AND
ARTISTICALLY SENSITIVE
 Measuring
Measuring Personality
Personality
Personality Is Measured by:

 Self-Report Surveys
 Observer-Rating Surveys
 Projective Measures
– Rorschach Inkblot Test
– Thematic Apperception Test
 TAT
http://www.slideshare.net/blessmaramag/thematic-
apperception-test?next_slideshow=1
Major
Major Personality
Personality Attributes
Attributes Influencing
Influencing OB
OB
 Core Self-Evaluation
– Self-Esteem
– Locus of Control
 Machiavellianism
 Narcissism
 Self-Monitoring
 Risk Taking
 Type A vs. Type B Personality
 Proactive Personality
Core
Core Self-Evaluation:
Self-Evaluation: Two
Two Main
Main Components
Components

Self-Esteem
Individuals’ degree of liking or disliking themselves

Locus of Control
The degree to which people believe they are masters of
their own fate
•Internals (Internal locus of control)
Individuals who believe that they control what
happens to them
•Externals (External locus of control)
Individuals who believe that what happens to them
is controlled by outside forces such as luck or
chance
 Personality
Personality Characteristics
Characteristics
in
in Organizations
Organizations
Locus of Control
Internal External
I control what
happens to me! People and
circumstances
control my fate!
Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism

Machiavellianism (Mach)
Degree to which an individual is pragmatic,
maintains emotional distance, and believes that
ends can justify means

Conditions
ConditionsFavoring
FavoringHigh
HighMachs
Machs
••Direct
Directinteraction
interactionwith
withothers
others
••Minimal
Minimalrules
rulesand
andregulations
regulations
••Emotions
Emotionsdistract
distractfor
forothers
others
Narcissism
Narcissism

A Narcissistic Person
• Has grandiose sense of self-importance
• Requires excessive admiration
• Has a sense of entitlement
• Is arrogant
• Tends to be rated as less effective
Self-Monitoring
Self-Monitoring
Self-Monitoring
A personality trait that measures an
individual’s ability to adjust his or
her behavior to external, situational
factors

High
HighSelf-Monitors
Self-Monitors
• •Receive
Receivebetter
betterperformance
performance
ratings
ratings
• •Likely
Likelytotoemerge
emergeas
asleaders
leaders
• •Show
Showlesslesscommitment
commitmenttoto
their
theirorganizations
organizations
WHO
WHO IS
IS MOST
MOST LIKELY
LIKELY TO.
TO. .. ..

Low self High self

monitors monitors

Get promoted 

Change employers 

Make a job-related
geographic move 
Risk-Taking
Risk-Taking
 High Risk-Taking Managers
– Make quicker decisions
– Use less information to make decisions
– Operate in smaller and more entrepreneurial
organizations
 Low Risk-Taking Managers
– Are slower to make decisions
– Require more information before making decisions
– Exist in larger organizations with stable environments
 Risk Propensity
– Aligning managers’ risk-taking propensity to job
requirements should be beneficial to organizations
 Personality
Personality Types
Types
Type A
1. Are always moving, walking, and eating rapidly
2. Feel impatient with the rate at which most events take place
3. Strive to think or do two or more things at once
4. Cannot cope with leisure time
5. Are obsessed with numbers, measuring their success in terms
of how many or how much of everything they acquire

Type B
1. Never suffer from a sense of time urgency with its
accompanying impatience
2. Feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements or
accomplishments
3. Play for fun and relaxation, rather than to exhibit their
superiority at any cost
4. Can relax without guilt
Personality
Personality Types
Types

Proactive Personality
Identifies opportunities, shows initiative,
takes action, and perseveres until
meaningful change occurs
Creates positive change in the
environment, regardless or even in spite
of constraints or obstacles
Achieving
Achieving Person-Job
Person-Job Fit
Fit

Personality
PersonalityTypes
Types
Personality-Job Fit Theory
••Realistic
Realistic
(Holland)
••Investigative
Investigative
Identifies six personality
types and proposes that the ••Social
Social
fit between personality type ••Conventional
Conventional
and occupational ••Enterprising
environment determines Enterprising
satisfaction and turnover ••Artistic
Artistic