BUSI 3310 Chapter 2

Personality

relatively stable set of psychological characteristics that influences the way an individual interacts with their environment and how they feel, think, and behave.

• relatively stable over lifetime

• summarizes personal style of dealing with world

• ranked as more important than work experience and education

  • team player, willing to work, better fit

  • predicts behaviour

personality approaches to OB

• dispositional approach

• situational approach

• interactionist approach

• strong situation hypothesis

• trait activation theory

Dispositional approach

• individuals possess stable traits or characteristics that influence their attitudes and behaviours

• not stable across studies

• individual dispositions and personality

• people are predisposed to behave in a certain way

Situational approach

• situational factors (e.g., characteristics of the work environment) influence attitudes and behaviours

• job satisfaction is determined by situational factors

Interactionist approach (interactionism)

• behaviour is a function of both individual and situational characteristics

• most widely accepted approach

The strong situation hypothesis

• Individual differences, like personality, have less influence on behaviour in strong situations than in weak situations

• Personality has the most impact on weak situations

• Strong situations:

  • Behaviour expectations are clear

  • Behaviour concequences are clear

  • Ex: red lights

• Weak situations:

  • Behaviour expectations aren’t clear

  • Behaviour concequences aren’t clear

  • Ex: yellow lights

Trait activation theory

• Personality traits predict behaviour only when the when the situation highlights the need for that trait

• Not one personality is best

The 5 Factor Model

• conscientiousness

• agreeableness

• neuroticism

• extraversion

• openness to experience

conscientiousness

• Responsible and achievement oriented

• Strongest predictor of job performance

agreeableness

• Friendly and approachable

• Helping others 

neuroticism

• enduring tendency to experience unpleasant emotions (e.g., anger, anxiety, depression) easily

extraversion

• outgoing vs shy

openness to experience

• high

  • creative

  • curious

  • cultured

• low

  • practical with narrow interests

HEXACO model

• conscientiousness

• agreeableness

• neuroticism

• extraversion

• openness to experience

• honesty and humility

core self-evaluations

• encompasses an individual's subconscious, fundamental evaluations about themselves, their own abilities, and their own control

• not a personality trait, groups 4 distinct traits that are strong predictors of job satisfaction and job performance

  • self-esteem

  • self-efficacy (general)

  • locus of control

  • neuroticism

Self-esteem

• person’s overall appraisal of their worth or self-image

  • high: favourable self-images; associated with higher job satisfaction and job performance

  • low: unfavourable self-images and tend to be uncertain about the correctness of their opinions, attitudes, and behaviours

• people are motivated to protect themselves from threats to their _____

• behavioural plasticity

Self-efficacy (general)

• an individual's estimate of their own ability to perform well and handle a variety of situations

• develops over lifespan as repeated successes and failures are experienced across a variety of tasks and situations

• high: higher job satisfaction and job performance

Locus of control

• extent to which people believe they have control over events in their lives

• individuals’ beliefs about the location of the factors that control their behaviour

• high internals: opportunity to control their own behaviour resides within themselves

• high externals: external forces determine their behaviour

  • see the world as an unpredictable place where luck, fate, or powerful people control their destinies

Self-monitoring

adjusting behaviour to accommodate different situations

High self-monitors

• try to observe the thoughts, actions and feelings of those around them and control the images they project; behave somewhat like actors

• concerned with how others think of them

• weak self innovators

• difficulty resisting social pressures

Low self-monitors

• act the way they feel and say what they think in spite of their social surroundings

• people who wear their heart on their sleeve

Positive and negative affectivity

• affective dispositions; enduring; believed to have a genetic basis

• predicts emotional tendencies

• state vs trait affect

• they’re not opposite ends of a continuum but are relatively independent dimensions

high positive affectivity

• people who experience positive emotions (like joy and excitement) and view the world, including themselves and other people, in a positive light

• high job satisfaction and performance

high negative affectivity

• people who experience negative emotions and moods (like fear and anxiety) and view the world in a negative light

• turnover and absenteesim

Proactive personality

• stable personal disposition that reflects a tendency to take initiative across a range of activities and situations and to effect positive change in one’s environment

• challenging the status quo rather than passively adapting to present conditions

• searching for and identifying opportunities, showing initiative, taking action, and persevering until meaningful change is established

• those who don’t have this are more likely to be passive and to react and adapt to their environment

Learning

• relatively permanent change in human capabilities that includes knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviours, and competencies that aren’t the result of growth processes

• occurs when practice or experience leads to permanent change in behaviour potential

• factor of employee performance and organizational success

Operant learning theory (reinforcement theory)

• Skinner (1938)

• People are motivated to perform or avoid certain behaviours because of past outcomes that have resulted from those behaviours

• Reinforcement is the process where stimuli (or removing stimuli) strengthen (or weaken) behaviours

• Positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction

Positive reinforcement

• desirable object to reward desirable behaviour

• encourage behaviour

• praise from boss for learning something

Negative reinforcement

• taking away something to reward behaviour

• encourage behaviour

• Doing training to avoid annoying reminder email

Punishment

• inflicting undesirable concequences

• stops behaviour

• cutting hours and being sent home for bad behaviour

Extinction

• taking away something positive to stop a behaviour

• stops behaviour

• ignoring someone if they interrupt during a presentation

Social learning theory

• People learn vicariously by observing others (models) who they believe are credible and knowledgeable

Social cognitive theory

• builds on social learning theory, emphasizes role of cognitive processes in learning and self-regulation

• observational learning, self-efficacy, and self-regulation

• people develop beliefs about their abilities through interactions with environment

  • beliefs influence thoughts and behaviour

• people manage their behaviour by:

  • Thinking of the consequences of their actions (forethought)

  • Setting performance goals

  • Monitoring their performance

  • Comparing their performance to their goals

  • Rewarding themselves for goal accomplishment.

personality variables in OB

• The 5 Factor Model

  • HEXACO

• Core Self-evaluations

  • Self-Esteem

  • General Self-efficacy

  • Locus of Control

  • Neuroticism

• Self-Monitoring

• Positive and Negative Affectivity

• Proactive Personality

• Dark Triad

Behavioural plasticity

• people with low self-esteem are more susceptible to external and social influences than those with high self-esteem

  • they’re unsure of their own views and behaviour and are more likely to look to others for info and confirmation

  • seek social approval from others by adopting others’ views and behaviour

Organizational Errors Involving Reinforcement

• Confusing Rewards with Reinforcers

• Neglecting Diversity in Preferences for Reinforcers

• Neglecting Important Sources of Reinforcement

Confusing Rewards with Reinforcers

• Rewards can fail to serve as reinforcers if they’re not contingent on specific behaviours.

• For example, assigning overtime work based on seniority, rather than performance

Neglecting Diversity in Preferences for Reinforcers

• Organizations often fail to appreciate individual differences in preferences for reinforcers.

• For example, one employee may value paid time off while another may prefer the opportunity to earn extra money

Neglecting Important Sources of Reinforcement

• Performance feedback (can be a reinforcer if positive)

• Social recognition or informal acknowledgment, attention, praise, approval, or genuine appreciation for work well done from one individual or group to another