Chapter 5 Personality and Values Personality personality The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others heredity Factors determined at conception one s biological physiological and inherent psychological makeup personality traits Enduring characteristics that describe an individual s behavior Myers Briggs Type Indicator MBTI A personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types Extraverted E versus Introverted I Extraverted individuals are outgoing sociable and assertive Introverts are quiet and shy Sensing S versus Intuitive N Sensing types are practical and prefer routine and order They focus on details Intuitives rely on unconscious processes and look at the big picture Thinking T versus Feeling F Thinking types use reason and logic to handle problems Feeling types rely on their personal values and emotions Judging J versus Perceiving P Judging types want control and prefer their world to be ordered and structured Perceiving types are flexible and spontaneous Big Five Model A personality assessment model that taps five basic dimensions extraversion agreeableness conscientiousness emotional stability and openness to experience Extraversion The extraversion dimension captures our comfort level with relationships Extraverts tend to be gregarious assertive and sociable Introverts tend to be reserved timid and quiet Agreeableness The agreeableness dimension refers to an individual s propensity to defer to others Highly agreeable people are cooperative warm and trusting People who score low on agreeableness are cold disagreeable and antagonistic Conscientiousness The conscientiousness dimension is a measure of reliability A highly conscientious person is responsible organized dependable and persistent Those who score low on this dimension are easily distracted disorganized and unreliable Emotional stability The emotional stability dimension often labeled by its converse neuroticism taps a person s ability to withstand stress People with positive emotional stability tend to be calm self confident and secure Those with high negative scores tend to be nervous anxious depressed and insecure Openness to experience The openness to experience dimension addresses range of interests and fascination with novelty Extremely open people are creative curious and artistically sensitive Those at the other end of the category are conventional and find comfort in the familiar core self evaluation Bottom line conclusions individuals have about their capabilities competence and worth as a person Machiavellianism The degree to which an individual is pragmatic maintains emotional distance and believes that ends can justify means narcissism The tendency to be arrogant have a grandiose sense of self importance require excessive admiration and have a sense of entitlement self monitoring A personality trait that measures an individual s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external situational factors proactive personality People who identify opportunities show initiative take action and preserve until meaningful change occurs Values values Basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence value system A hierarchy based on a ranking of an individual s values in terms of their intensity terminal values Desirable end states of existence the goals a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime instrumental values Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one s terminal values Boomers Baby Boomers are a large cohort born after World War II when veterans returned to their families and times were good Boomers entered the workforce from the mid 1960s through the mid 1980s They brought with them a large measure of the hippie ethic and distrust of authority But they place a great deal of emphasis on achievement and material success Pragmatists who believe ends can justify means they work hard and want to enjoy the fruits of their labors Boomers see the organizations that employ them merely as vehicles for their careers Terminal values such as a sense of accomplishment and social recognition rank high with them The lives of Xers Generation Xers have been shaped by globalization two career parents MTV AIDS and computers Xers value flexibility life options and the achievement of job satisfaction Family and relationships are very important Xers are skeptical particularly of authority They also enjoy team oriented work In search of balance in their lives Xers are less willing to make personal sacrifices for the sake of their employer than previous generations were On the RVS they rate high on true friendship happiness and pleasure The most recent entrants to the workforce the Millennials also called Netters Nexters Generation Yers and Generation Nexters grew up during prosperous times They have high expectations and seek meaning in their work Millennials have life goals more oriented toward becoming rich 81 percent and famous 51 percent than do Generation Xers 62 percent and 29 percent respectively but they also see themselves as socially responsible At ease with diversity Millennials are the first generation to take technology for granted More than other generations they tend to be questioning electronically networked and entrepreneurial At the same time some have described Millennials as entitled and needy They may clash with other generations over work attire and communication They also like feedback An Ernst Young survey found that 85 percent of Millennials want frequent and candid performance feedback compared to only half of Boomers Linking an Individual s Personality and Values to the Workplace personality job fit theory A theory John Holland that identifies six personality types and proposes that the fit between personality type and occupational environment determines satisfaction and turnover International Values Hofstede s five value dimensions of national culture are power distance individualism vs collectivism masculinity vs femininity uncertainty avoidance and long term vs short term orientation Power distance Power distance describes the degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally A high rating on power distance means that large inequalities of power and wealth exist and are tolerated in the culture as