personality ob

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

W W W . P R E N H A L L . C O M / R O B B I N S

© 2003 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 4–2

What is Personality?

When we talk of personality, we don’t mean that a person has charm, a positive attitude toward life, a smiling face, or is a finalist for “ Happiest and Friendliest” in this year’s Miss America contest.

When psychologists talk of personality, they mean a dynamic concept describing the growth and development of a person’s whole psychological system.

Rather than looking at parts of the person, personality looks at some aggregate whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.


What is Personality?


Personality Determinants

• Heredity• Environment• Situation

Heredity: refers to those factors that were determined at conception. Physical structure, facial attractiveness, gender, temperament, energy level etc.

Environment: Among the factors that exert pressures on our personality formation are the culture in which we are raised, our early conditioning, the norms among our family, friends and social groups etc.

Situation: A third, the situation, influences the effects of heredity and environment on personality. An individual’s generally stable and consistent, does change in different situations.


Personality Traits

Sixteen Primary Traits


The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Personality Types• Extroverted or Introverted (E or I)• Sensing or Intuitive (S or N)• Thinking or Feeling (T or F)• Perceiving or Judging (P or J)

MBTI is one of the most widely used personality frameworks which has no hard evidence as valid measure of personality.


The Big Five Model


Major Personality Attributes Influencing OB

Locus of control Machiavellianism Self-esteem Self-monitoring Propensity for risk taking Type A personality


Locus of Control


Machiavellianism

Conditions Favoring High Machs• Direct interaction• Minimal rules and regulations• Distracting emotions


Self-Esteem and Self-Monitoring


Risk-Taking

High Risk-taking Managers– Make quicker decisions.– Use less information to make decisions.– Operate in smaller and more entrepreneurial

organizations. Low Risk-taking Managers

– Are slower to make decisions.– Require more information before making decisions.– Exist in larger organizations with stable

environments. Risk Propensity

– Aligning managers’ risk-taking propensity to job requirements should be beneficial to organizations.


Personality Types


Achieving Personality-Job Fit

Personality Types• Realistic• Investigative• Social• Conventional• Enterprising• Artistic


Holland’s Typology of Personality

andCongruent

Occupations


Relationships among

Occupational Personality

Types


Emotions- Why Emotions Were Ignored in OB

The “myth of rationality”– Organizations are not emotion-free.

Emotions of any kind are disruptive to organizations.– Original OB focus was solely on the effects of

strong negative emotions that interfered with individual and organizational efficiency.


What Are Emotions?

MoodsMoodsFeelings that tend to be Feelings that tend to be less intense than less intense than emotions and that lack a emotions and that lack a contextual stimulus.contextual stimulus.

EmotionsEmotionsIntense feelings that are Intense feelings that are directed at someone or directed at someone or something.something.

AffectAffectA broad range of emotions A broad range of emotions

that people experience.that people experience.


What Are Emotions? (cont’d)


Felt versus Displayed Emotions


Emotion Dimensions

Variety of emotions– Positive– Negative

Intensity of emotions– Personality– Job Requirements

Frequency and duration of emotions– How often emotions are exhibited.– How long emotions are displayed.


Facial Expressions Convey Emotions


Emotion Continuum

The closer any two emotions are to each other on the continuum, the more likely people are to confuse them.


Gender and Emotions

Women– Can show greater emotional expression.– Experience emotions more intensely.– Display emotions more frequently.– Are more comfortable in expressing emotions.– Are better at reading others’ emotions.

Men– Believe that displaying emotions is inconsistent

with the male image.– Are innately less able to read and to identify with

others’ emotions.– Have less need to seek social approval by

showing positive emotions.


External Constraints on Emotions

OrganizationalOrganizationalInfluencesInfluences

CulturalCulturalInfluencesInfluences

IndividualIndividualEmotionsEmotions


OB Applications of Understanding Emotions

Ability and Selection– Emotions affect employee effectiveness.

Decision Making– Emotions are an important part of the decision-

making process in organizations. Motivation

– Emotional commitment to work and high motivation are strongly linked.

Leadership– Emotions are important to acceptance of

messages from organizational leaders.


OB Applications of Understanding Emotions

Interpersonal Conflict– Conflict in the workplace and individual

emotions are strongly intertwined. Deviant Workplace Behaviors

– Negative emotions can lead to employee deviance in the form of actions that violate established norms and threaten the organization and its members.

• Productivity failures• Property theft and destruction• Political actions• Personal aggression


Ability and Selection

Emotional Intelligence (EI)– Self-awareness– Self-management– Self-motivation– Empathy– Social skills

Research Findings– High EI scores, not high

IQ scores, characterize high performers.

personality ob

Leadership & Management