MSE 211 - Organizational Behaviour

Introduction to Personality

• Definition of Personality

  • Recognized as stable and enduring traits that distinguish individuals.
  • Affects how we observe and interpret others’ behaviors.
  • Long-lasting qualities help predict future behaviors.

• Basic Assumptions of Personality Theory

  • People possess stable and distinctive traits influencing behavior.
  • Knowledge of an individual’s personality can improve predictions of their actions in various situations.
  • Application in organizations for personnel selection and team dynamics.
  • Example roles:
  • CEOs should display characteristics like conscientiousness and extraversion.

Approaches to Personality

Idiographic Approaches

• Aim for deep understanding of individual personalities (Freud, Kelly).
• Focuses on unique characteristics and personal development.
• Address clinical issues and psychotherapeutic techniques.

Nomothetic Approaches

• Define broad personality traits applicable to many individuals through standardized tests.
• Use of measurable traits to assess and compare personalities.

Psychodynamic Approach (Freudian Theory)

• Components of Psyche:
  • Id: Instinctual drives and desires; pleasure-seeking.
  • Superego: Internalized societal values and norms; conscience.
  • Ego: Mediator balancing the conflicting demands of the id, superego, and reality.
• Pathological behaviors occur when ego fails to mediate appropriately, leading to defense mechanisms (e.g., projection).
• Issues with Freudian Theory
  • Focuses primarily on abnormal behavior, neglecting 'normal' actions.
  • Overemphasis on early developmental stages and sexual drives.
  • Lack of empirical support for theories about unobservable constructs.

Personal Construct Theory (George Kelly)

• Focuses on unique constructs individuals apply to interpret their experiences.
• Constructs are bi-polar (e.g., ‘good teacher’ vs. ‘bad teacher’) and evolve with experience.
• Weaknesses include lack of specificity and abstractness making them difficult to apply in complex real-world situations.

Trait Approach to Personality

• Dominates current personality assessments.
• Traits categorized into dimensions, such as:
  • Type A vs. Type B personalities.
  • Myers-Briggs dimensions (Introversion vs. Extroversion, Thinking vs. Feeling).
• The Big Five Personality Traits:
  • Extraversion: Extrovert vs. Introvert.
  • Agreeableness: Agreeable vs. Disagreeable.
  • Conscientiousness: Focused vs. Lazy.
  • Emotional Stability: Neurotic vs. Emotionally stable.
  • Openness: Open vs. Closed to experiences.

Measurement of Traits

• Big-5 Mini-Test:
  • Participants rate adjectives that apply to themselves on a scale.
  • Each dimension scores range from 8 to 72.
  • Different score ranges categorize levels: low (8-29), average (30-50), and high (51-72).

Problems with the Trait Approach

• Lack of overarching theory to define core personality dimensions.

• Measurement challenges:

  • Ambiguity of Traits: Words may have different interpretations (e.g., ‘bold’ vs. ‘aggressive’).
  • Desire for Social Acceptance: Responses might be skewed towards favorable traits.
  • Actual Self-Knowledge: Limited self-awareness complicates accurate assessment.

• Validity Issues:

  • Predictive validity: Low correlations with actual behavior (typically below r = 0.3 signifies weak predictive capacity).
  • Construct validity: Conflicting outcomes might occur due to social desirability bias.

Influence of Situations on Behavior

• Situational contexts heavily influence individual behavior.
• Examples:
  • A person might act aggressively in different settings (e.g., dinner parties vs. sports fields).
  • Fundamental Attribution Error: Misattributing behavior to personality rather than context due to limited situational information.

Intelligence

• General Intelligence: Refers to learning abilities influenced by genetics and environmental factors.
• Measurement and Impact:
  • IQ Tests: Detect patterns in reasoning, social skills, and more; have limited correlation with job performance (r ~ 0.21-0.27).
  • Aptitude: Specific potential in domains like math or writing. Tailored aptitude tests can assist in effective personnel selection.

Summary

• Individuals display distinctive personalities and intelligence, but relying on simplistic trait categorizations may inadequately explain unique behaviors.
• Strengthen insight by adapting constructs through experiences, while acknowledging limits of generalizations in personality frameworks.
• Future discussions may utilize Lewin's Field Theory to understand behaviors in psychological contexts relatable to specific situations.