Personality

Defining Personality
 The unique and relatively stable patterns of behaviour,
thought and emotions that characterise individuals
 It is the sum total of unique ways in which an
individual reacts and interacts with others.
 Implications:
 Stability implies that it is possible to identify an
individual’s personality characteristics
 Once identified these characteristics can be used to
predict an individual’s behaviour
Determinants of Personality
Determinants of Personality
Nature vs. Nurture

 Nature: Heredity (genetic make-up)

 Nurture: Environment (upbringing)

 Interaction between the two

 The Five Factor Model of Personality
(Digman, 1990; Goldberg, 1993; Hampson, 1999; John, 1990; McCrae & Costa, 1997)

Five basic dimensions of personality that are assumed to underlie many specific traits

Factor Traits of high scorers Traits of low scorers

Conscientiousness Dependable, Careless, unreliable,
hardworking, sloppy, lazy,
organised, persevering disorganised
Neuroticism/Emotional Calm, secure, happy, Moody, temperamental,
Stability unworried nervous, insecure
Agreeableness Cooperative, warm, Cold, belligerent, hostile,
caring, courteous, selfish, rude, suspicious
trusting
Extraversion Sociable, outgoing, Reserved, timid, quiet,
assertive, gregarious withdrawn
Openness to Experience Curious, creative, Conventional, comfort in
imaginative, novel familiar, narrow interests,
shallow, imperceptive
 Neuroticism (N)
 Extraversion (E)
 Openness (O)
 Agreeableness (A)
 Conscientiousness (C )
 Neuroticism (N)

 The degree to which a person is angry, anxious, depressed, emotional, insecure

and worried;

 Disruptive emotions interfere with adaptation, men and women high in N are also
prone to have irrational ideas, to be less able to control their impulses, and to cope
more poorly than others with stress;

 Individuals with low score on N – emotionally stable;

 Usually calm, even-tempered, and relaxed, and they are able to face
stressful situations without becoming upset
 Extraversion (E)
 Extraverts are sociable as well as active and talkative

 Like excitement and simulation and tend to be cheerful,

energetic and optimistic

 Introverts are reserved rather than unfriendly

 Introverts may say they are shy when they mean that they prefer
to be alone, they do not necessarily suffer from social anxiety
 Introvert are not unhappy or pessimistic
 Openness (O)
 The degree to which the individual is broad minded,
curious and original;

 Open individuals are curious about both inner and outer worlds,
and their lives are experientially richer – willing to entertain novel
ideas and unconventional values;

 Low on O – conventional in behavior and conservative in outlook –

prefer familiar to novel;

 Both open and closed individuals perform useful functions in society

 Agreeableness (A)
 Primarily a dimension of interpersonal tendencies;

 Agreeable person is fundamentally altruistic – sympathetic to others

and eager to help them, and believes that others will be equally
helpful in return, warm and considerate;

 Disagreeable or antagonistic person is egocentric, skeptical or others’

intentions, and competitive rather than cooperative;

 uncooperative, short tempered and irritable

 Conscientiousness
 The degree to which a person is responsible, careful,
hardworking, organized, dependable and self-disciplined;

 Conscientious individual is purposeful, strong-willed,

and determined;

 Low C – careless, impulsive, more disorganized, and

irresponsible;
Research on the “Big five”
 Conscientiousness: strongly related to job performance, low absenteeism

 Emotional Stability: related to performance and low absenteeism, effectiveness

in stressful situations

 Agreeableness: related to handling customer relations and conflict more

effectively

 Extraversion: related to high absenteeism, management and sales success

 Openness to Experience: better job training proficiency, better decisions in

problem solving

 All five related to better team performance – higher the average scores of team
members on all five, the better their teams performed
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
 Widely used and very popular tool in career counselling,
team building, conflict management and analysing
management styles

 MBTI developed by Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs-

Myers in the 1940s – the latest form (Form M) has 93
items - measuring preferences on the four pairs of traits
yielding 16 personality types
 MBTI

Extraversion (E) Introversion (I)

Outgoing Quiet
Interacting Concentrating
Speaks then thinks Thinks, then speaks
Gregarious Reflective

Sensing (S) Intuiting (N)

Practical General
Details Possibilities
Concrete Theoretical
Specific Abstract

Thinking (T) Feeling (F)

Analytical Subjective
Head Heart
Rules Circumstance
Justice Mercy

Judging (J) Perceiving (P)

Structured Flexible
Time oriented Open ended
Decisive Exploring
Organised Spontaneous
16-Type Personality
 Extraversion: outgoing, interacting, speaks then thinks, gregarious
 Concerns: may not be aware of what’s happening inside themselves, may
have difficulty being and working alone, may come across as intrusive and
shallow (esp. to introverts), higher tendency to engage in risky, impulsive
behaviours – need introversion for balance

 Introverts: quiet, concentrating, thinks then speaks, reflective

 Concerns: can be difficult to get to know, can get drained and tired with
people (esp. strangers), may have difficulty getting involved in group tasks,
can be withdrawn and difficult to get to know – need extraversion for
balance
 Sensing: are practical, details oriented, focus on reality, concrete and
specific
 Concerns: may miss the big picture due to a focus on specific details, can
appear to be too literal and materialistic (esp. to those who prefer intuiting)

 Intuiting: are more general, focus on possibilities, theoretical and

abstract
 Concerns: may skip over important steps/procedures or details, can appear
to be impractical dreamers (esp. to those who prefer sensing)
 Thinking: use more of the ‘head’, going by rules and justice, make their
decisions more on impersonal, objective logic
 Concerns: may ignore important feelings, may seem, blunt, harsh, cold and
condescending (esp. to those with a feeling preference) – need feeling for
balance

 Feeling: use more of the heart, going by circumstance and mercy, make
their decisions more on person-centered values
 Concerns: have difficulty telling people unpleasant things or taking tough
decisions, may seem over-emotional and irrational (esp. to those who prefer
thinking) – need thinking for balance
 Judging: are more structured, time-oriented, decisive and organised
 Concerns: may make decisions too quickly or cling on to a plan, may have
difficulty adapting themselves to changed demands when already on a
certain process, may not notice new and necessary information after having
set their plan, may seem rigid, demanding and inflexible (esp. to those who
prefer perceiving) – need perceiving for balance

 Perceiving: are more flexible, open-ended, exploring and spontaneous

 Concerns: may feel constrained by rules and limits, may have difficulty
making decisions, tend to rush at the last minute to complete tasks, may
start too many projects and have difficulty finishing them, may keep
postponing things and seem disorganised and irresponsible (esp. to those
who prefer judging) – need judging for balance
Personality Variables
1 Self-Esteem: degree of self-like/dislike
 Self-Esteem The degree to which a person has positive
self-evaluation;
 High self-esteem – favorable self-image;
 Low self-esteem – unfavorable self-image;
 Persons with low self-esteem also tend to be uncertain
about correctness of their opinion, attitudes, &
behaviors;
2 Locus of Control: The degree to which people feel they
are in control of their destiny – internals show more job
satisfaction, lower absenteeism, more motivated and
involved with their jobs than externals
 Internals seem to perform better on jobs that require
initiative and innovation
 Externals do better on more routine assignments
 Externals – prefer direct supervision
 Internals - participation
 3 Self-monitoring: The ability to which people adapt their
behaviours to the demands of specific situations – positively
related to work performance, career success but also to less
stable and shallower personal relationships
 the extent to which people observe and regulate how they
appear and behave in social settings and relationships
 High self-monitors tend to show concern for socially
appropriate behavior, tune in to social cues, and regulate
their behavior according to these cues
 4 Machiavellianism: The willingness to manipulate
others for one’s own purposes – found to flourish in
situations of direct interactions, minimum rules and
regulations, emotional involvement
 A strategy of social conduct that involves manipulating others
for personal gain
 People of this type are said to be rational, unemotional and
willing to go to extreme length to achieve their personal goals
 Narcissism: The tendency to be arrogant,
have a grandiose sense of self-
importance, require excessive admiration
and have a sense of entitlement.
 Psychopathy ; The tendency for a lack of
concern for others and lack of guilt or
remorse when their actions cause harm.
5 Affectivity
 Positive Affectivity: overall sense of well-being; seeing
self, others and events in a positive light across
situations – linked to accuracy in judgement and
decision making, effective performance of work teams

 Negative Affectivity: negative views of self, others and

events across situations – related to workplace
aggression, unpleasant work environment and other
forms of dysfunctional behaviour at work
6 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;
7 Type A and B Personality:
 Type A behavior pattern – Type A’s tend to be
impatient, lose their temper, talk rapidly, and
interrupt others
 Type B behavior pattern – Type B’s tend to
work steadily, take a relaxed approach to life,
and evenly tempered
 Type A • Type B
 Impatient and always
moving, eating, doing
something
 Obsessed with
numbers
 Try to do more than
one thing at a time
 Fast, hard workers;
emphasize quantity
 Great salespeople
– Do not suffer from
time urgency
– Feel little need to
display or discuss
achievements
– Play for fun and
relaxation, without
guilt
– More creative
– Make it to the top of
organizations