Personality and Values

Personality

  • The word personality comes from the Latin root persona, meaning "mask."
  • Personality is the impression we make on others.
  • Defined as a unique set of traits and characteristics, relatively stable over time.
  • Personalities are relatively set or stable over the short-term.
  • Over a longer term, personality may change.
  • Personality is the overall profile or combination of traits that characterize the unique nature of a person as that person reacts and interacts with others.
  • It is most often described in terms of the measurable traits a person exhibits such as shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal, and timid.
  • Understanding personality contribute to an understanding of organizational behavior by adding a consideration of:
    • What they can do?
    • What they will do?

Personality Determinants

  • Personality reflect heredity and environment.
  • Heredity refers to factors determined at conception.
    • Physical stature, facial features, gender, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy level, and biological rhythms are either completely or substantially influenced by parentage.
  • Environmental Factors consist of cultural, social and situational factors.
  • Personality traits enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior.

Big Five Personality Traits

  • The Model proposes that human Personality can be measured along five measure dimension, each of which is distinct and independent from others.
  • Originally developed in 1949.
  • The big 5 personality trait is a theory established by D. W Fiske and later expanded upon by other researchers including Norman (1967) Lewis Glodberg (1981), and McCrae & Costa (1987).
  • This Big Five is a trait model of Personality, rather than a Type of model.
  • The Big five model is also sometime called OCEAN or CANOE, both acronym of the five traits.
    • Openness
    • Conscientiousness
    • Extroversion
    • Agreeableness
    • Neuroticism
Openness
  • Refers to person’s rigidity and range of interest.
  • Person with high level of openness are always
    • Willing to listen to new ideas and to change their own idea, beliefs and attitudes to new information
    • Have broad interest and are curious, imaginative and creative
  • Person with low level of openness
    • Less receptive to new idea and less willing to change their mind
Conscientiousness
  • Refers to number of goals on which a person focuses his/her attention
  • Able to exercise self-discipline and self-control in order to pursue and ultimately achieve their goals.
  • Person who focuses few goals at a time are
    • Organized, Systematic Careful, thorough and disciplined.
  • Person with less Conscientiousness tend to pursue many goals are always
    • Disorganized, careless, irresponsibility and less self-disciplined.
  • High Conscientiousness persons’ are always good performers
Extroversion
  • Refers to sociability, reflects comforts level with relationship
  • Person with low score are quite, reserved, are more successful when work in activities like R & D.
  • Whereas, person with high score are outgoing seek adventure are more successful working in sales activities, public relations unit.
Agreeableness
  • A personality trait that describes a person's tendency to be kind, cooperative, and considerate
    • Cooperative, Forgiving, understanding, good nature in dealing with others.
    • High Score, Helpful, trusting, good working relationship.
    • Low Score- Uncooperative, Suspicious, Poor, working relationship
Neuroticism
  • Reflects a person's level of emotional stability.
  • It is often defined as a negative personality trait involving negative emotions, poor self- regulation (an inability to manage urges), trouble dealing with stress, a strong reaction to perceived threats, and the tendency to complain
  • People with high scores on Neuroticism may experience:
    • anxiety, worry, fear, anger, frustration, envy, jealousy, pessimism, guilt, and depressed mood
  • It's associated with a number of negative outcomes, including:
    • Mental disorders, such as major depression and generalized anxiety disorder
    • Physical maladies, such as cardiac problems, asthma, and irritable bowel syndrome
    • Poor health behaviors Subjective health complaints and job dissatisfaction

Dominant Personality Frameworks

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
  • Most widely used personality-assessment instrument in the world
  • A 100-question personality test that asks people how they usually feel or act in situations
  • Individuals are classified as
    • Extraversion (E)
      • Talkative
      • Externally focused
      • Assertive
    • Introversion (I)
      • Quiet
      • Internally focused
      • Abstract
    • Sensing (S)
      • Concrete
      • Realistic
      • Practical
    • Intuitive (N)
      • Imaginative
      • Future-focused
      • Abstract
    • Thinking (T)
      • Logical
      • Objective
      • Impersonal
    • Feeling (F)
      • Empathetic
      • Caring
      • Emotion-focused
    • Judging (J) *
      • Organized
      • Schedule-oriented
      • Closure-focused
    • Perceiving (P)
      • Spontaneous
      • Adaptable
      • Opportunity-focused
The Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment
  • INTJs are visionaries with original mind and great drive.
  • ENFJs are natural teachers and leaders. They are relational, motivational, intuitive, idealistic , ethical and kind.
  • ESTJs are organizers. They are realistic , logical, analytical and decisive, perfect for business .
  • The ENTP type is innovative , individualistic, versatile and attracted to entrepreneurial ideas,
  • ISJF are nurturing and responsible.
  • ISTJs are dutiful and logical
  • INFJ are insightful and protective.
  • Combinations based on these four categories of type preferences result in 16 different personality types
Issues with Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment
  • The model forces a person into one type or another; that is, you’re either introverted or extraverted. There is no in between.
  • Reliability of the measure
  • Difficulty of interpretation
How Do the Big five traits predict Behavior at Work?
  • Conscientiousness at Work
  • Emotional Stability at Work
  • Extraversion at Work
  • Openness at Work
  • Agreeableness at Work
Traits That Matter Most to Business Success at Buyout Companies
  • Most Important
    • Persistence
    • Attention to detail
    • Efficiency
    • Analytical skills
    • Setting high standards
  • Less Important
    • Strong oral communication
    • Teamwork
    • Flexibility/adaptability
    • Enthusiasm
    • Listening skills

Personal Conception Traits

  • Personal conception traits represent individuals’ major beliefs and personal orientation concerning a range of issues concerning social and physical setting.
  • Locus of control is the extent a person feels able to control his or her own life and is concerned with a person’s internal–external orientation.
  • A proactive personality identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs, compared to others who passively react to situations
  • Authoritarianism is a tendency to adhere rigidly to conventional values and to obey recognized authority.
  • Dogmatism leads a person to see the world as a threatening place and to regard authority as absolute.
  • Self-monitoring is a person’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external situational (environmental) factors

Emotional Adjustment Traits

  • Emotional adjustment traits are traits related to how much an individual experiences emotional distress or displays unacceptable acts.
  • Type A orientations are characterized by impatience, desire for achievement, and a more competitive nature than Type B.
  • Type B orientations are characterized by an easygoing and less competitive nature than Type A.

Linking an Individual’s Personality and Values to the Workplace

  • Personality–job fit theory : A theory that identifies six personality types and proposes that the fit between personality type and occupational environment determines satisfaction and turnover.
  • Person–organization fit : A theory that people are attracted to and selected by organizations that match their values, and leave when there is not compatibility.

Holland's Typology of Personality and Congruent Occupations

  • Realistic: Prefers physical activities that require skill, strength, and coordination
    • Shy, genuine, persistent, stable, conforming, practical
    • Mechanic, drill press operator, assembly-line worker, farmer
  • Investigative: Prefers activities that involve thinking, organizing, and understanding
    • Analytical, original, curious, independent
    • Biologist, economist, mathematician, news reporter
  • Social: Prefers activities that involve helping and developing others
    • Sociable, friendly, cooperative, understanding
    • Social worker, teacher, counselor, clinical psychologist
  • Conventional: Prefers rule-regulated, orderly, and unambiguous activities
    • Conforming, efficient, practical, unimaginative, inflexible
    • Accountant, corporate manager, bank teller, file clerk
  • Enterprising: Prefers verbal activities in which there are opportunities to influence others and attain power
    • Self-confident, ambitious, energetic, domineering
    • Lawyer, real estate agent, public relations specialist, small business manager
  • Artistic: Prefers ambiguous and unsystematic activities that allow creative expression
    • Imaginative, disorderly, idealistic, emotional, impractical
    • Painter, musician, writer, interior decorator

Values

  • Basic convictions on how to conduct yourself or how to live your life that is personally or socially preferable – “How to” live life properly
  • Values can be defined as broad preferences concerning appropriate courses of action or outcomes.
  • As such, values reflect a person’s sense of right and wrong or what “ought” to be. “Equal rights for all” and “People should be treated with respect and dignity” are representative of values.
  • Values tend to influence attitudes and behavior.

Attributes of Values

  • Content Attribute – The content attribute stresses that a particular code of conduct is important
  • Intensity Attribute – The intensity attribute specifies how important that particulars code of conduct is

Value System

  • A person’s values rank-ordered by intensity

  • Tends to be relatively constant and consistent

  • Personal values essentially represent the things that have meaning to us in our lives.

  • Values are important to your understanding of organizational behavior because they influence our behavior across different settings.

Importance of Values

  • Provide understanding of the attitudes, motivation, and behaviors
  • Influence our perception of the world around us
  • Represent interpretations of “right” and “wrong”
  • Imply that some behaviors or outcomes are preferred over others

Terminal Values

  • Desirable end-states of existence; the goals that a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime.
  • The goals in life that are desirable states of existence
    • Freedom
    • Happiness
    • Self-respect
    • Inner harmony
    • Equality
    • A sense of accomplishment
    • Living a comfortable life

Instrumental Values

  • Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one’s terminal values
  • People in same occupations or categories tend to hold similar values.
  • But values vary between groups.
  • Value differences make it difficult for groups to negotiate and may create conflict.

Contemporary Work Cohorts

  • Veterans
    • Entered Workforce: 1950-1964
    • Approximate Current Age: 65+
    • Dominant Work Values: Hard working, conservative, conforming; loyalty to the organization
  • Boomers
    • Entered Workforce: 1965-1985
    • Approximate Current Age: 40-60s
    • Dominant Work Values: Success, achievement, ambition, dislike of authority; loyalty to career
  • Xers
    • Entered Workforce: 1985-2000
    • Approximate Current Age: 20-40s
    • Dominant Work Values: Work/life balance, team-oriented, dislike of rules; loyalty to relationships
  • Nexters
    • Entered Workforce: 2000-Present
    • Approximate Current Age: Under 30
    • Dominant Work Values: Confident, financial success, self-reliant but team-oriented; loyalty to both self and relationships

Person-Job Fit

  • Managers are less interested in someone’s ability to do a specific job than in that person’s flexibility.
  • John Holland’s Personality-Job Fit Theory
  • Six personality types Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI)
  • Key Points of the Model:
    • There appear to be intrinsic differences in personality between people.
    • There are different types of jobs.
    • People in jobs congruent with their personality should be more satisfied and have lower turnover.

Holland’s Personality Types

  • Six types:
    • Realistic
    • Investigative
    • Artistic
    • Social
    • Enterprising
    • Conventional
  • Need to match personality type with occupation

Person-Organization Fit

  • In addition to matching the individual’s personality to the job, managers are also concerned with:
  • The employee’s personality must fit with the organizational culture.
  • People are attracted to organizations that match their values.
  • Those who match are most likely to be selected.
  • Mismatches will result in turnover.
  • Can use the Big Five personality types to match to the organizational culture.

Global Implications

Personality
  • Do frameworks like Big Five transfer across cultures?
    • Yes, the but the frequency of type in the culture may vary.
    • Better in individualistic than collectivist cultures.
Values
  • Values differ across cultures.
Hofstede’s Framework for assessing culture – five value dimensions
  • Power distance
  • Individualism vs. Collectivism
  • Masculinity vs. Femininity
  • Uncertainty Avoidance
  • Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation
Hofstede’s Framework: Power Distance
  • The extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally.
    • Low distance
      • Relatively equal power between those with status/wealth and those without status/wealth
    • High distance
      • Extremely unequal power distribution between those with status/wealth and those without status/wealth
Hofstede’s Framework: Individualism
  • Individualism
    • The degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups
  • Collectivism
    • A tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of which they are a part to look after them and protect them
Hofstede’s Framework: Masculinity
  • Masculinity
    • The extent to which the society values work roles of achievement, power, and control, and where assertiveness and materialism are also valued.
  • Femininity
    • The extent to which there is little differentiation between roles for men and women