04/12/2023 Organizational behaviour Lesson 2 1

PERSONALITYIndividual Differences

Part 1

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Personality

Objectives: Students should be able to

Explain the basic sources of personality. Identify some personality traits that affect

behaviour.

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Personality

Learning objective 1 Explain the basic sources of

personality determinants.

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Personality

Personality concept1. Behaviour involves a complex interaction of the

person and the situation.2. Personality represents personal characteristics

that lead to a consistent pattern of behaviour.3. Personality describes people commonalities and

differences.4. Personality is stable over time.

Definition : personality represents the overall profile or combination of stable psychological attributes that capture the unique nature of a person.

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Personality

Heredity

Environment•Culture•Family•Group membership•Life experience

Heredity and environment are important determinants of personality.

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Personality

Heredity A source of personality differences Research shows strong genetics effects on

human personality. Some research points to evidence of 50 to 55% of personality traits have been attributed to genetics.

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Personality

Environment

Environment is considered to be a source of personality differences.

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Personality

Four environmental components contributing are:

Family

Culture

Life experiences

Group membership

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Personality

Culture – the distinctive ways that people in different societies organize and live their lives. Culture determine societal values and morns as well

as the role people play. Culture assist in determining broad patterns of

behavioural similarities among people. Cultures are not homogenous. People of the same

cultural background do not always respond the same way.

Implication for managers: Managers of a same cultural background as their

subordinate should not assume that their subordinates are like themselves in context of societal values, personality, or other individual characteristics.

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Personality

Family Family is a primary means for socialization of

an individual into a particular culture. The family influences personality formation.

Family related variable such as socio-economic status, family size, birth order, race, religion, geographic location, parent’s educational level, etc. influence personality development.

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Personality

Group membership A person’s personality is influence by his or

her membership in a group. Personality may result from the influence of

membership in different groups, past and present.

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Personality

Life experiences: Specific events and experience can impact on

one’s personality development. A complex series of events and interactions

with others people shape an adult’s self-esteem.

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Personality

Learning Behaviour 2 Indentify some personality traits that affect

behaviour.

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Personality

Specific personality traits are basic components of personality

The Big-Five personality dimensions (factors) describe an individual’s personality in terms of:1. Extroversion2. Emotional stability3. Agreeableness4. Consciousness5. Openness to experiences

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Personality

Extroversion High : talkative, active, sociable,

assertive, gregarious Low: reserved, quiet, introverted

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Personality

Emotional stability High : Calm, relaxed, secure Low: worried, depressed, anxious, insecure,

angry, embarrassed

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Personality

Agreeableness High : Cooperative, tolerant, good-

natured, trusting, courteous, caring Low: Rude, cold, unkind

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Personality

Conscientiousness High : Dependable, thorough,

organized, responsible, planful, achievement oriented, hardworking

Low : Sloppy, careless, inefficient

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Personality

Personality types Psychologists also describe personality

characteristics and dispositions as personality types.

Many personality types are for understanding and managing behaviour in organizations. The following describe some personality types: Self-esteem Locus of control Machiavellian Type A and B personalities

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Personality

Self-esteem Self evaluation in terms of one’s own

behaviour, abilities, appearance, and worth. People with self-esteem:

likely to take more risk in job selection Attracted to high-status occupations Less easily influenced by other’s opinion in work

setting Set higher goals for themselves Less susceptible to stress, conflict, ambiguity,

poor supervision, poor working conditions. etc

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Personality

Openness High : Curious, intelligent,

broadminded, creative, imaginative, cultured

Low : Simple, unimaginative, conventional

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Personality

Locus of control The extent to which people believe that they can

control event affecting them. It may be external or internal External locus of control is the believe that

one’s destiny is controlled by luck, fate, chance, or other people.

Internal locus of control is the believe that one’s life is primarily controlled by one’s behaviour and actions.

People with an internal locus of control have better control of the behaviour and tend to be more active politically and socially.

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personality Machiavellian personality type

A Machiavellian personality: Holds cynical views of other people’s motives Places little value on honesty Approaches the world with manipulative intent Maintains distance between themselves and others is emotionally detached from other people in their

lives

A person of this personality type can contribute to interpersonal conflicts, given his or her suspicious interpersonal orientation.

Source: Champoux , 2006 p111

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Personality

Type A: Aggressive Shows a sense of

time urgency Focuses excessively

on achievement Continuously creates

new and more goals and engage in more activities

Do things quickly Has a tendency to

dominate others Explodes in angry to

trivial events

Type B has no sense of time

urgency Stops to review

achievements Has high self esteem Not bother by common

everyday events Approaches the world

more calmly than type A

Type A and B personalities