Personality

5
 • Determinants
• Personality and situations
Contents • Big Five Model
… • MBTI
• Dark Triad
• Other personality traits
Personality
• The sum total of ways in
which an individual reacts
to and interacts with
others.

Determinants

Heredity Environment
Personality and situations

Situation-Strength theory

• The way personality translates depends on the strength of the situation

• Degree to which norms, cues or standards dictate appropriate behavior
• Clarity – Duties and Responsibilities are clear
• Consistency – D & R are compatible with one another
• Constraints – Individual’s freedom to decide or act
• Consequences – implications for the organization, members, clients,
suppliers etc

Trait Activation Theory

• Some situations, events or interventions “activate” a trait more than

others.
Two dominant frameworks used to
describe personality:

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®)

• Big Five Model
 The Myers – Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI)

• A personality test that taps

four characteristics and
classifies people into 1 of the
16 personality types.

• It is a 100-question
personality test that asks
people how they usually feel
or act in particular situations
 MBTI -- Myers Briggs Type Indicator

Extroversion Introversion

Sensing iNtuition

Thinking Feeling

Judging Perceiving

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
Personality Types
The Types and Their Uses
• Each of the sixteen possible combinations has a name, for
instance:
• Visionaries (INTJ): original, stubborn, and driven
• Organizers (ESTJ): realistic, logical, analytical, and
businesslike
• Conceptualizers (ENTP): entrepreneurial, innovative,
individualistic, and resourceful

• http://www.celebritytypes.com/

• Research results on validity mixed

• MBTI® is a good tool for self-awareness and counseling.
• Should not be used as a selection test for job candidates.
The Big Five Model
Extraversion Sociable, gregarious, and assertive

Agreeableness Good-natured, cooperative, and trusting

Conscientiousness Responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized

Calm, self-confident, secure under stress (positive), versus

Emotional stability
nervous, depressed, and insecure under stress (negative)

Openness to experience Curious, imaginative, artistic, and sensitive

OCEAN
Psychometric Test – Big 5 - https://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/
Implications of Big Five model
Compared to introverts,
extroverts tend to be more
happier in their jobs and their life. Agreeable people tend to be
But extroverts are more impulsive more happier than the
as they rate high on absenteeism, disagreeable ones.
and engage in more risky
behavior.

Conscientious people live longer because they take care

of themselves and engage in less risky behavior.
But they are not adaptable to changing contexts
because they prefer organized and structured
processes.
Continued….
Obviously emotionally stable persons
are more happier than unstable ones.
But one drawback is that – people
who are not emotionally stable can
take better, faster and good decisions
even in their bad moods when
compared to stable persons in their
bad moods.

Open people cope better with

organizational change and are more
adaptable in changing contexts.
 Model of how Big Five Traits influence OB criteria

BIG FIVE TRAIT WHY IT IS RELEVANT? WHAT DOES IT AFFECT?

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

Better interpersonal skills Higher performance

Extraversion Greater social dominance Enhanced leadership
More emotionally expressive Higher job and life satisfaction

Increased learning Training performance

Openness More creative Enhanced leadership
More flexible and autonomous More adaptable to change

Better liked Higher performance

Agreeableness
More complaint and conforming Lower levels of deviant behavior

Conscientiousness Greater effort and persistence Higher performance

More drive and discipline Enhanced leadership

Better organized and planning Greater longevity
The Dark Triad

Machiavellianism Narcissism Psychopathy

 Machiavellianism
Degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains
emotional distance and believes that ends can justify
means
• High Machs
• High Machs tend to take a more detached,
calculating approach in their interaction with other
people.
• They tend to believe most people are concerned
only with their own well-being and to depend too
much on anyone else is foolish.
• They believe some of the most efficient ways to
achieve a goal are to use deception, rewards,
promises, flattery, and even punishments to
manipulate others into doing their bidding.
Continued…..
Low Machs
• Low Machs tend to take a more personal, empathic
approach in their interaction with other people.
• They tend to be more trusting of others and more
honest.
• They believe humans are essentially good natured.
• At the extreme, low Machs are passive, submissive,
and highly agreeable. They also tend to believe
that everyone has a good and bad side.
 Narcissism

In Psychology, Narcissism
describes a person who has a
grandiose sense of self-
importance, requires excessive
admiration, has a sense of
entitlement, and is arrogant.

Narcissists are rated by their

They tend to be selfish and
bosses as less effective at their
exploitive, and they often
jobs, particularly when it
carry the attitude that others
comes to helping other
exist for their benefit
people.
 Psychopathy
• The tendency for a lack of concern for
others and a lack of guilt or remorse when
their actions cause harm.
• Use deceit to obtain desired results
• Not comply with social norms
• Impulsivity and disregard
• Lack of empathic concern
• Does not connote insanity
Major personality attributes influencing OB

• Core Self Evaluation

• Self-monitoring
• Type A
• Type B
• Proactive personalities
Core Self Evaluation

It is the degree to which individuals like or dislike themselves.

Whether they see themselves as capable and effective, and
Whether they feel they are in control of their environment or
powerless over their environment

Core Self Evaluation is determined by two factors

• Self esteem
• Locus of control
 Continued…

• Individuals degree of liking

or disliking themselves and
Self Esteem the degree to which they
think they are worthy or
unworthy as a person

Must read Book to improve self esteem -

http://www.pdfarchive.info/pdf/M/Ma/Maltz_Maxwell_-_The_New_Psycho-Cybernetics.pdf
Continued…

• The degree to which people believe that

they are the masters of their own fate
• Internal Locus of control
Locus of • Individuals who believe that they
control what happens to them
Control • External Locus of Control
• Individuals who believe that what
happens to them is controlled by
outside forces such as luck or chance
Self-monitoring

It refers to an individuals ability to adjust his or her behavior

to external, situational factors.

High self-monitors (HSM) are highly sensitive to external

cues and can behave differently to different situations.

Low self-monitors (LSM) display their true dispositions and

attitudes in every situation.

HSM tend to pay closer attention to the behavior of others.

Continued….
They receive better performance ratings, more likely to
emerge as leaders, and show less commitment to the
organizations.

HSM managers tend to be more mobile in their careers,

receive more promotions and occupy central positions in the
organizations.

HSMs will be more successful in managerial positions in

which individuals are required to play multiple and
contradicting roles.
 Type A

Aggressive involvement in a chronic, incessant struggle to

achieve more and more in less and less time, and if
necessary, against the opposing efforts of other things or
other people.

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
• Never suffer from a sense of time urgency with
its accompanying impatience.
• Feel no need to display or discuss either their
achievements or accomplishments unless such
exposure is demanded.
• Play for fun and relaxation, rather than exhibit
their superiority at any cost.
• Can relax without any guilt.
Proactive Personalities

People who identify opportunities,

show initiative, take action, and
persevere until meaningful change
occurs.

They are more likely to be seen as

leaders and act as change agents
within the organization.

They are more likely to challenge the

status quo or voice their displeasure
when situations are not to their liking.
Continued….
However these are people who
leave their jobs and start their
own business. Because they
select, create, and influence
work situations in their favor.

Proactive are more likely to seek

out job and organizational
information, develop contacts in
high places, engage in career
planning, and demonstrate
persistence in the face of career
obstacles.
Summary
• Personality?
• Determinants – Personality and situation.
• MBTI – Big Five – Dark Triad
• Other personality traits