1 17 2015 Reading 3 What is Personality Defining Personality Measuring Personality Chapter 5 Personality and Values Personality Personality is the dynamic concept describing the growth and development of a person s whole psychological system Personality the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to an interacts with others Personality tests are useful in hiring decisions and help managers forecast who is best for a job o Most common way is through self report surveys which individuals evaluate themselves on a series of factors One weakness of these surveys is that the respondent might lie or practice impression management to create a good impression Accuracy is another weakness person may have been in a bad mood while taking the survey making it less accurate Personality Determinants An individual s personality is a result of both heredity and environment Heredity refers to factors determined at conception o Biological physiological and inherent psychological makeup Ultimate explanation of an individual s personality is the molecular structure of the genes located in the chromosomes o Twins raised apart have a lot in common Personality Traits are referring to the characteristics someone exhibits in a number of situations The Myers Briggs Type Indicator Myers Briggs Type Indicator MBTI 100 question personality test that askes people how they usually feel or act in a particular setting o Results are in 4 different categories Extraverted E vs Introverted I Sensing S vs Intuitive N Thinking T vs Feeling F Judging J vs Perceiving P o Classifications describe 16 personality types Evidence is mixed about its validity o Forces a person into one type of another no in between o Results tend to be unrelated to job performance and shouldn t be used as a selection test for candidates The Big Five Personality Model Big Five Model five basic dimensions underlie all other and encompass most of the significant variation in human personality o Extraversion captures comfort level with relationships o Agreeableness refers to individual s propensity to defer to others o Conscientiousness measure of reliability o Emotional Stability taps a person s ability to withstand stress o Openness to experience addresses range of interests and fascination with novelty How do the Big Five traits predict behavior at work o Those who are dependable reliable thorough and able to plan organized hardworking persistent and achievement oriented tend to have higher job performance in most occupations o Conscientiousness is as important for manager as for front line employees CEO candidates in private equity company found conscientiousness in the form of persistence attention to detail and setting of high standards was more important than other traits o Conscientious people don t adapt as well to changing contexts generally performance oriented and have more trouble learning complex skills early in training process because their focus is on performance rather than learning o Emotional stability is strongly related to life satisfaction job satisfaction and low stress Less creative levels o Extraverts tend to be happier in their jobs and In their lives as a whole Strong predictor of leadership emergence in groups More socially dominant and take charge o More impulsive o Agreeable individuals are more liked than disagreeable people Tend to do better in interpersonally oriented jobs such as customer services More compliant and rule abiding o Contribut to organizational performance by engaging in citizenship behavior Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB Core Self Evaluations CSE o Positive CSE like themselves and see themselves as effective capable and in control of their environment Negative CSE tend to dislike themselves question their capabilities and view themselves as powerless over their environment o People with positive CSE perform better than other because they set more ambitious goals are more committed to their goas and persist longer to attempt to reach goals o Individuals high in CSE perform especially well if they also feel their work provides meaning and is helpful to others Machiavellianism o Individual high in Machiavellianism is pragmatic maintain emotional distance and believes ends can justify means o Manipulate more win more are persuaded less and persuade others more o High Machs flourish when they interact face to face with others rather than indirectly when the situation has minimal rules and regulations allowing latitude for improve and when emotional involvement with details irrelevant to willing distracts low Mach o Describes a person who has grandiose sense of self importance requires excessive admiration has a sense of entitlement and is arrogant More charismatic and more likely to emerge as leaders and may even display Narcissism better psychological health o Narcissim is undesirable Supervisors related them as worse leaders Tend to talk down to those who threaten them treat them as inferior Selfish and exploitive and believe others exist for their benefit Self Monitoring o Refers to an individual s ability to adjust behavior to external situational factors Show considerable adaptability in adjusting their behavior to external situation factors Highly sensitive to external cues and can behave differently in different situations presenting striking contradiction between their personal and private self o Sometimes present striking contradictions between their public persona and private self o High self monitors pay closer attention to behavior of others and are more capable of conforming than are low self monitors o More mobile in careers receive more promotions Risk Taking o High risk takers make more rapid decisions and use less information than low risk takers Decision accuracy is same for both groups though o Managers in large organizations may be more willing to take risks than entrepreneurs Proactive Personality o Those who are proactive identify opportuityes show initiative take action and persevere until meaningful change occurs compared to others who passively react to situations Seen as leaders and act as change agents o More likely to be satisfied with work and help others more with their tasks because they build more relationships with others o Likely to challenge the status quo or voice their displeasure o Likely to achieve career success o Naturally seem to think about other people and are concerned about their well being Other Orientation and feelings o More obligated to