Bus 387: Chapter 5 personality, perception and employee attitudes

personality

how people affect others and how they understand and view themselves, as well as their pattern of inner and outer measurable traits and the person-situation interaction.

-influenced by heredity, environment and socialization

-traits or dominant characteristic

-trait theory (leadership)

the role of heredity and the brain

identical twins share the same genetic endowment, but if they are raised apart (through separate adoptions), then the similarities and differences can provide insight into the relative contribution of heredity versus environment or nature versus nurture

Self-Esteem

people's self-perceived competence and self-image

-ex: one study found that people with high self-esteem handle failure better than those with low self-esteem. however an earlier study found that those with high-esteem tended to become egotistical when faced with pressure situations and may result in aggressive and even violent behavior when threaten

-has obvious implications for organizational behavior

Organization-based self-esteem (OBSE)

It is defined as the "self-perceived value that individual have of themselves as organization members acting within an organization contact. those who score high on OBSE view themselves positively, and a meta-analysis found a significant positive relationship with performance and satisfaction on the job

Person-Situation Interaction

interaction dimension of personality provide further understanding. the differences may seem to be very small on the surface but when filtered by the person's cognitive mediating processes such as perception, they can lead to quite large subjective differences and diverse behavioral outcomes

The socialization process

that organizations employ can have a positive, long-run impact on the adjustment of newcomers (lower role conflict and ambiguity, less stress, and higher job satisfaction and commitment) and related recent research has found that social processes facilitate job search behavior and advancement in management from entry level tp upper management

specific steps that can lead to successful organizational socialization

specific techniques of socializing new employees would include the use of mentors or role models, orientation and training programs, reward systems and career planning. specific steps that can lead to successful organizational socialization would include the following:

1. provide a challenging first job

2. provide relevant training

3. provide timely and consistent feedback

4. select a good first supervisor to be in charge of socialization

5. design a relaxed orientation program

6. place new recruits in work groups with high morale

Impact on socialization

Such deliberate socialization strategies have tremendous potential impact on socialization. Evidence shows that those new employees attending a socialization training program are indeed more socialized than those who do not and that socialization tactics influence perceived organizational support, which has an impact on voluntary turnover and organizational commitment.

The "Big Five" Personality Traits

been extended through meta-analytic studies to also demonstrate a positive relationship with performance motivation (goal setting, expeсtancy, and self-efficacy, all given detailed attention in later chapters) and job satisfaction. Although the five traits are largely independent factors of a personality, like primary colors, they can be mixed in countless proportions and with other characteristics to yield a unique personality whole. However, also like colors, one may dominate in describing an individual's personality.

The "Big Five" Personality Traits (conscientiousness)

dependable, hardworking, organized, self-disciplined, persistent, responsible

The "Big Five" Personality Traits (emotional stability)

calm, secure, happy, unworried

The "Big Five" Personality Traits (agreeableness)

cooperative, warm, caring, good-natured, courteous, trusting

The "Big Five" Personality Traits (extraversion)

sociable, outgoing, talkative, assertive, gregarious

The "Big Five" Personality Traits (openness to experience)

curious, intellectual, creative, cultured, artistically sensitive, flexible, imaginative

the positive impact of consciousness

there is general agreement that conscientiousness has the strongest positive correlation with job performance

- "individuals who are dependable, persistent, goal directed, and organized tend to be higher performers on virtually any job; viewed negatively, those who are careless, irresponsible, low achievement striving and impulsive tend to be lower performers on virtually any job."

the impact of the other traits

those with high extraversion tend to be associated with management and sales success; those with high emotional stability tend to be more effective in stressful situations; those with high agreeableness tend to handle customer relations and conflict more effectively; and those open to experience tend to have job training proficiency and make better decisions in a training problem solving simulation.

where do you get your energy (extraversion)

outgoing, interacting, speaks then thinks, gregarious

where do you get your energy (introversion)

quiet, concentrating, thinks then speaks, reflective

what do you pay attention to and collect information on (sensing)

practical, details, concrete, specific

what do you pay attention to and collect information on (intuiting)

general, possibilities, theoretical, abstract

how do you evaluate and make decisions (thinking)

analytical, head, rules, justice

how do you evaluate and make decisions (feeling)

subjective, heart, circumstance, mercy

how do you orient yourself to the outside world (judging)

structured, time oriented, decisive, organized

how do you orient yourself to the outside world (perceiving)

flexible, open ended, exploring, spontaneous