Personality: Understanding self

and others

Dr. Garima Mathur

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 Personality
• PERSONA- comes from the Greek word
meaning “MASK”
• Personality literally means “Likeable Mask”
(Hergenhahn & Olson, 2003)
• Origin of the word implies personality is the
“public self” (our presentation of our self to
the outside world)
• “I” is for personality (what defines you as a
person) therefore “I Am…………..”
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 Personality
• The sum total of ways in which an individual
reacts and interacts with others in the
environment

• The relatively stable pattern of behaviors

and consistent internal states that explain a
person’s behavioral tendencies.

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 Personality
• According to Allport, “Personality is the
dynamic organization with in the individual
of those psycho-physical systems that
determine his unique adjustment to his
environment”.
• Ruch defined, “Personality can be described
as how he understands and views himself,
and his pattern of inner and outer
measurable traits”.

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 Features
• A person’s general style of interacting with
the world.
• Personality is an interaction between biology
and environment.
• People differ from one another in ways that
are relatively consistent over time and place.

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 What determines Personality?

• Heredity
• Environment
 Culture
 Family
 Social- Group Membership
 Situation
 Life Experiences

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 Factors of Personality

Heredity

Culture

Family Personality

Environment
Social

Situational

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 Theories of Personality

• Psychoanalytic theory
• Type and Trait theories
• Humanistic theories
• Socio-Cognitive theories

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 Theories of Personality
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
Socio-psychological Theory - recognizes the
interdependence of individual and society
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 Personality Traits
Enduring characteristics that describe an
individual’s behavior
– The more consistent the characteristic and the
more frequently it occurs in diverse situations,
the more important the trait.
• Two dominant frameworks used to describe
personality:
– Big Five Model
– Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®)

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The Big Five Model of Personality
Dimensions (OCEAN)
Extraversion Gregarious, assertive,
sociable
Agreeableness Cooperative, warm,
agreeable
Conscientiousness Hardworking, organized,
dependable
Neuroticism/Emotio Calm, self-confident, cool
nal stability
Openness to Creative, curious, cultured
experience

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 Openness to Experience
• Broad range of interests
• Fascination with new things and ideas
• Daring and imaginative
• Change and challenge welcomed
• Creative
• Depth and complexity of mental and experiential life
• NOT conventional, satisfied by the familiar

• Openness to experience-having imagination,

sensitivity and curiosity.

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 Conscientiousness
• Reliable
• Responsible
• Organized
• Careful
• Task and goal oriented
• Persistent
• Impulse control, think before acting
• NOT easily distracted, disorganized, unreliable

• Conscientiousness- responsible, dependable,

persistent and organized.

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 Extraversion
• Comfortable with relationships
• Outgoing
• Sociable
• Uninhibited (unreserved)
• Assertive
• NOT reserved, quiet

• Extroversion- sociable, gregarious and assertive.

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 Agreeableness

• Propensity to defer to others

• Cooperative
• Warm
• Trusting
• Modest
• Good natured
• NOT cold, disagreeable

• Agreeableness- good natured, cooperative and

trusting.

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Neuroticism or “emotional stability”
• Ability to withstand stress
• Calm
• Self-confident
• Secure
• Even tempered
• NOT anxious, nervous, depressed, insecure, irritable

• Emotional stability- calm, self-confident, secure

(positive) versus nervous, depressed, and insecure
(negative)

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Overview of the Big “5”

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 Research Findings
• Summary of meta-analytic findings (Barrick & Mount, 1991):
– Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability are the best personality
predictors of job performance across nearly all jobs.
– Extraversion and Agreeableness are important in jobs requiring a high
degree of interpersonal work
– Less consistent evidence for Openness to Experience
• Personality has been shown to predict:
– Job performance and results (e.g. $ sales volume)
– Job satisfaction
– Training performance
– Leadership
– ….and many more important job-related behaviors and attitudes

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 How Do the Big Five Traits Predict
Behavior?
• Research has shown this to be a better framework.
• Certain traits have been shown to strongly relate to higher
job performance:
– Highly conscientious people develop more job knowledge,
exert greater effort, and have better performance.
– Other Big Five Traits also have implications for work.
• Emotional stability is related to job satisfaction.
• Extroverts tend to be happier in their jobs and have good social
skills.
• Open people are more creative and can be good leaders.
• Agreeable people are good in social settings.

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Other Personality Characteristics
in Organizations

Locus of Control
Internal External
I control what People and circumstances
happens to me! control my fate!
 Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Self-Efficacy - beliefs and expectations about one’s ability to
accomplish a specific task effectively

Sources of self-efficacy
– Prior experiences and prior success
– 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 – less likely to respond to
unpredictable & work group norms or
inconsistent supervisory feedback
Who Is Most Likely to . . .

Low-self High-self
monitors monitors
Get promoted
Accomplish tasks, meet other’s
expectations, seek out central positions 
in social networks
Change employers
Self-promote 
Make a job-related
geographic move
Demonstrate higher levels of managerial 
self-awareness; base behavior on other’s
cues and the situation
 More Relevant Personality Traits
• Self-Monitoring
– The ability to adjust behavior to meet external,
situational factors.
– High monitors conform more and are more likely to
become leaders.
• Risk Taking
– The willingness to take chances.
– May be best to align propensities with job
requirements.
– Risk takers make faster decisions with less
information.

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 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
 Type A vs. Type B
Type A Behavior Pattern:
Pattern A pattern of
behavior involving high levels of
competitiveness, time urgency, and
irritability.
Type B Behavior Pattern:
Pattern A pattern of
behavior characterized by a casual, laid-
back style; the opposite of the Type A
behavior pattern.
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 Type A vs. Type B

Task Performance
 Type As tend to excel on tasks involving time pressure
or solitary work.
 Type Bs have the advantage when it comes to tasks
involving complex judgments and accuracy as opposed
to speed.
Interpersonal Relations
 Type As tend to annoy coworkers, are more likely to
lose their tempers and lash out at others, are more
likely to become involved in conflict, and are more
likely to engage in aggressive and counterproductive
behavior.
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 Machiavellianism
– A pragmatic, emotionally distant power-player
who believes that ends justify the means
– High Machs are manipulative, win more often, and
persuade more than they are persuaded. Flourish
when:
• Have direct interaction
• Work with minimal rules and regulations
• Emotions distract others
• A personality trait involving willingness to
manipulate others for one’s own purposes.

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 Machiavellianism Tactics

 Neglecting to share important information (e.g.,

claiming to “forget” to tell you about key meetings
and assignments).
 Finding subtle ways of making you look bad to
management (e.g.. Proving in front of management
that you are unable to complete assigned tasks).
 Failing to meet obligations (e.g., not holding up their
end on joint projects, thereby causing you to look bad).
 Spreading false rumors about you (e.g., making up
things about you that embarrass you in front of
others).
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 Myer- Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI)
• Is a personality test that taps 4 characteristics and
classifies people into 16 personality types

• Extroverted (E) versus Introverted (I)

• Sensing (S) versus Intuitive (N)
• Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F)
• Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P)

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 ENERGIZING

• Extraversion (E): preference for drawing energy

from the outside world of people, activities &
things. Outgoing, sociable and assertive

• Introversion (I): preference for drawing energy

from one’s internal world of ideas, emotions &
impressions. Quiet and shy

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 PERCEIVING

• Sensing (S): preference for taking in information

through the five senses and noticing what is actual.
Practical and prefer routine and order, focus on
details.

• Intuition (N): preference for taking in information

through the “sixth sense” and noting what might be.
Rely on unconscious processes and look at the “big
picture”

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 DECIDING

• Thinking (T): preference for organizing & structuring

information to decide in a logical, objective way. Use
reason and logic to handle problems.

• Feeling (F): preference for organizing & structuring

information to decide in a personal, values-oriented
way. Rely on personal values and emotions.

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 LIVING

• Judging (J): preference for living a planned &

organized life. Want control and prefer world to be
ordered and structured.

• Perceiving (P): preference for living a spontaneous

& flexible life. Flexible and spontaneous.

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 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Extrovert (E)
Type of Social
Interaction Introvert (I)

Sensing (S)
Preference for
Gathering Data Intuitive (N)

Feeling (F)
Preference for
Decision Making Thinking (T)

Perceptive (P)
Style of
Decision Making Judgmental (J)

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 MBTI 16 types
• ISTJ • ESTP
• ISFJ • ESFP
• INFJ. • ENFP
• INTJ • ENTP
• ISTP • ESTJ
• ISFP • ESFJ
• INFP • ENFJ
• INTP • ENTJ

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 Psychoanalytic Approach

• Developed by Sigmund Freud.

• Psychoanalysis is both an approach to
therapy and a theory of personality.
• Emphasizes unconscious motivation - the
main causes of behavior lie buried in the
unconscious mind.

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 Psychoanalytic Approach
Rational, Information
playful, in your
mediating Conscious
Ego immediate
dimension
of personality awareness
Superego Preconscious
Information
Moralistic, which can
judgmental, easily be
perfectionist Unconscious made
dimension of conscious
personality Id Thoughts,
feelings,
urges, and other
Irrational,
illogical, information
impulsive that is difficult
dimension of to bring to
personality conscious
awareness
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 Levels of Consciousness

• Conscious - all Conscious

Ego
things we are
aware of at any Superego Preconscious

given moment
Unconscious

Id

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• Preconscious - Conscious
everything that Ego

can, with a little Superego Preconscious

effort, be
brought into Unconscious

consciousness Id

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• Unconscious - Conscious
inaccessible Ego

warehouse of Superego Preconscious

anxiety-
producing Unconscious

Id
thoughts and
drives

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 Personality Structure
• Id - instinctual drives present at birth
– does not distinguish between reality and fantasy
– operates according to the pleasure principle

• Ego - develops out of the id in infancy

– understands reality and logic
– mediator between id and superego
– Operates according to the reality principle
• Superego
– internalization of society’s moral standards
– responsible for guilt
– the “Conscience”
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 Defense Mechanisms

• Unconscious mental processes employed by

the ego to reduce anxiety

• Id’s unconscious demands are instinctual,

infantile and amoral and have to be blocked
by the ego and superego. This conflict
causes anxiety and the defense mechanisms
come into play.

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 Types of Defense Mechanisms

• Repression - keeping anxiety-producing

thoughts out of the conscious mind

• Reaction formation - replacing an

unacceptable wish with its opposite (“the
best defense is a good offense”).

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 Types of Defense Mechanisms

• Displacement - when a drive directed to one

activity by the id is redirected to a more
acceptable activity by the ego. The motive
remains unaltered but the person substitutes
a different goal object for the original one.

• Sublimation - displacement to activities that

are valued by society. Highest level of ego
defense, consisting of redirection of sexual
impulses to socially valued activities and goals.
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 Types of Defense Mechanisms
• Projection - reducing anxiety by attributing
unacceptable impulses to someone else (blaming
others).e.g, cheating on an exam

• Rationalization - reasoning away anxiety-

producing thoughts (making excuses)

• Regression - retreating to a mode of behavior

characteristic of an earlier stage of development.
It is childish or primitive one.

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 Humanistic Theory
• Humanistic personality theories reject
psychoanalytic notions
– Humanistic theories view each person as basically
good and that people are striving for self-
fulfillment
– Humanistic theory argues that people carry a
perception of themselves and of the world
– The goal for a humanist is to develop/promote a
positive self-concept

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• Abraham Maslow emphasized the basic
goodness of human nature and a natural
tendency toward self-actualization.

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