Personality

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.
PersonalityPersonality
andand
ValuesValues
ChapterFOUR

What is Personality?What is Personality?
Personality
The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and
interacts with others; measurable traits a person
exhibits.
Personality Traits
Enduring characteristics
that describe an
individual’s behavior.
Personality
Determinants
• Heredity
• Environment
• Situation
Personality
Determinants
• Heredity
• Environment
• Situation

The Myers-Briggs Type IndicatorThe Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Personality Types
• Extroverted vs. Introverted (E or I)
• Sensing vs. Intuitive (S or N)
• Thinking vs. Feeling (T or F)
• Judging vs. Perceiving (P or J)
Score is a combination of
all four (e.g., ENTJ)
Personality Types
• Extroverted vs. Introverted (E or I)
• Sensing vs. Intuitive (S or N)
• Thinking vs. Feeling (T or F)
• Judging vs. Perceiving (P or J)
Score is a combination of
all four (e.g., ENTJ)
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
A personality test that taps four characteristics and
classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types.

Meyers-Briggs, ContinuedMeyers-Briggs, Continued
A Meyers-Briggs score
– Can be a valuable too for self-awareness and career
guidance
BUT
– Should not be used as a selection tool because it has
not been related to job performance!!!

The Big Five Model of Personality DimensionsThe Big Five Model of Personality Dimensions
Extroversion
Sociable, gregarious, and assertive
Agreeableness
Good-natured, cooperative, and trusting.
Conscientiousness
Responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized.
Openness to Experience
Curious, imaginative, artistic, and sensitive
Emotional Stability
Calm, self-confident, secure under stress (positive), versus
nervous, depressed, and insecure under stress (negative).

Measuring PersonalityMeasuring Personality
Personality is Measured By
 Self-report surveys
 Observer-rating surveys
 Projective measures
– Rorschach Inkblot Test
– Thematic Apperception
Test

Major Personality Attributes Influencing OBMajor Personality Attributes Influencing OB
 Core Self-evaluation
– Self-esteem
– Locus of Control
 Machiavellianism
 Narcissism
 Self-monitoring
 Risk taking
 Type A vs. Type B personality
 Proactive Personality

Core Self-Evaluation: Two Main ComponentsCore Self-Evaluation: Two Main Components
•Self Esteem
Individuals’ degree of liking or disliking
themselves.
•Locus of Control
The degree to which people believe they are
masters of their own fate.
•Internals (Internal locus of control)
Individuals who believe that they
control what happens to them.
•Externals (External locus of control)
Individuals who believe that what
happens to them is controlled by
outside forces such as luck or chance.

MachiavellianismMachiavellianism
Conditions Favoring High Machs
• Direct interaction with others
• Minimal rules and regulations
• Emotions distract for others
Conditions Favoring High Machs
• Direct interaction with others
• Minimal rules and regulations
• Emotions distract for others
Machiavellianism (Mach)
Degree to which an individual is pragmatic,
maintains emotional distance, and believes
that ends can justify means.

NarcissismNarcissism
A Narcissistic Person
•Has grandiose sense of self-importance
•Requires excessive admiration
•Has a sense of entitlement
•Is arrogant
•Tends to be rated as less effective

Self-MonitoringSelf-Monitoring
Self-Monitoring
A personality trait that measures
an individual’s ability to adjust
his or her behavior to external,
situational factors.
High Self-Monitors
• Receive better performance
ratings
• Likely to emerge as leaders
• Show less commitment to
their organizations
High Self-Monitors
• Receive better performance
ratings
• Likely to emerge as leaders
• Show less commitment to
their organizations

Risk-TakingRisk-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 TypesPersonality Types
Type A’s
1. are always moving, walking, and eating rapidly;
2. feel impatient with the rate at which most events take place;
3. strive to think or do two or more things at once;
4. cannot cope with leisure time;
5. are obsessed with numbers, measuring their success in
terms of how many or how much of everything they acquire.
Type B’s
1. never suffer from a sense of time urgency with its
accompanying impatience;
2. feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements
or accomplishments;
3. play for fun and relaxation, rather than to exhibit their
superiority at any cost;
4. can relax without guilt.

Personality TypesPersonality Types
Proactive Personality
Identifies opportunities,
shows initiative, takes
action, and perseveres
until meaningful change
occurs.
Creates positive change
in the environment,
regardless or even in
spite of constraints or
obstacles.

Which of the following is not a typical
personality trait considered to be
organizationally relevant?
Locus of controlLocus of control
Self-monitoringSelf-monitoring
Self-enhancingSelf-enhancing
Self esteemSelf esteem
MachiavellianismMachiavellianism
Chapter Check-Up: Personality
Discuss with your neighbor how each of the three traits above would
influence a college instructor’s behavior, and where you think your
teacher falls with respect to each of them.

Alison arrives to class and realizes that she’sAlison arrives to class and realizes that she’s
forgotten her homework to turn in. She says “Ohforgotten her homework to turn in. She says “Oh
man, it’s just not my lucky day today.” Alisonman, it’s just not my lucky day today.” Alison
has ______________.has ______________.
Alison has a high external locus of control. Alison believes that
things outside of her control determine what happens.
If Alison works on a team with you, and you have a very
high internal locus of control, what kinds of discussions
do you think the two of you might have? Discuss with a
friend.

Julia is known for being a go-getter. She
never leaves a task incomplete, and is
involved in a number of activities.
Moreover, she’s at the top of her class.
She’s so busy that sometimes, she forgets
to stop and eat lunch. Julia can be easily
characterized as someone that has/is a
Type ____ Personality.
A

Julia is also likely to not be very
• Happy?
• Fun?
• Creative?
• Stressed?
In general, Type A’s are rarely creative because
they generally don’t allocate the necessary time
for new solution development; they usually rely on
past experiences to solve problems in order to be
speedy.

 Definition: Mode of conduct or end state is
personally or socially preferable (i.e., what is right &
good)
– Terminal Values
• Desirable End States
– Instrumental Values
• The ways/means for achieving one’s terminal values
 Value System: A hierarchy based on a ranking of an
individual’s values in terms of their intensity.
ValuesValues

Importance of ValuesImportance of Values
 Provide understanding of the attitudes,
motivation, and behaviors of individuals and
cultures.
 Influence our perception of the world around us.
 Represent interpretations of “right” and “wrong.”
 Imply that some behaviors or outcomes are
preferred over others.

Types of Values –- Rokeach Value SurveyTypes of Values –- Rokeach Value Survey
Terminal Values
Desirable end-states of
existence; the goals that a
person would like to achieve
during his or her lifetime.
Instrumental Values
Preferable modes of behavior
or means of achieving one’s
terminal values.

Values in
the
Rokeach
Survey
Values in
the
Rokeach
Survey
E X H I B I T 4-3
E X H I B I T 4-3
Source: M. Rokeach, The Nature of Human
Values (New York: The Free Press, 1973).

Values in
the
Rokeach
Survey
(cont’d)
Values in
the
Rokeach
Survey
(cont’d)
E X H I B I T 4-3 (cont’d)
E X H I B I T 4-3 (cont’d)
Source: M. Rokeach, The Nature of Human
Values (New York: The Free Press, 1973).

Mean Value Rankings of
Executives, Union
Members, and Activists
Mean Value Rankings of
Executives, Union
Members, and Activists
E X H I B I T 4-4
E X H I B I T 4-4
Source: Based on W. C. Frederick and J. Weber, “The Values of
Corporate Managers and Their Critics: An Empirical Description and
Normative Implications,” in W. C. Frederick and L. E. Preston (eds.)
Business Ethics: Research Issues and Empirical Studies (Greenwich,
CT: JAI Press, 1990), pp. 123–44.

 Power Distance
 Individualism vs. Collectivism
 Masculinity vs. Femininity
 Uncertainty Avoidance
 Long-term and Short-term orientation
Values across Cultures: Hofstede’s
Framework
Values across Cultures: Hofstede’s
Framework

Hofstede’s Framework for Assessing CulturesHofstede’s Framework for Assessing Cultures
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 (cont’d)Hofstede’s Framework (cont’d)
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.
Individualism
The degree to which
people prefer to act as
individuals rather than a
member of groups.
Vs.

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.
Vs.

Uncertainty Avoidance
The extent to which a society feels threatened by
uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to
avoid them.
•High Uncertainty Avoidance:
Society does not like
ambiguous situations & tries to
avoid them.
•Low Uncertainty Avoidance:
Society does not mind
ambiguous situations &
embraces them.

Long-term Orientation
A national culture
attribute that
emphasizes the future,
thrift, and persistence.
Short-term Orientation
A national culture attribute
that emphasizes the
present and the here and
now.
Vs.

Achieving Person-Job FitAchieving Person-Job Fit
Personality Types
• Realistic
• Investigative
• Social
• Conventional
• Enterprising
• Artistic
Personality Types
• Realistic
• Investigative
• Social
• Conventional
• Enterprising
• Artistic
Personality-Job Fit
Theory (Holland)
Identifies six personality
types and proposes that
the fit between personality
type and occupational
environment determines
satisfaction and turnover.

Holland’s
Typology of
Personality
and
Congruent
Occupations
Holland’s
Typology of
Personality
and
Congruent
Occupations
E X H I B I T 4–8
E X H I B I T 4–8

Relationships
among
Occupational
Personality
Types
Relationships
among
Occupational
Personality
Types
E X H I B I T 4–9
E X H I B I T 4–9
Source: Reprinted by special permission of the publisher, Psychological
Assessment Resources, Inc., from Making Vocational Choices, copyright 1973,
1985, 1992 by Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. All rights reserved.

Person-Organization FitPerson-Organization Fit
 Important that employees’ personality fit
with overall organization’s culture
 People are attracted to and selected by
organizations that match their
personalities
 Fit between personality of employees
and organization’s culture predicts job
satisfaction, commitment to the
organization, and low turnover

In Country J most of the top management team meets
employees at the local bar for a beer on Fridays, and there
are no reserved parking spaces. Everyone is on a first
name basis with each other. Country J, according to
Hofstede’s Framework, is probably low on what dimension?
Chapter Check-Up: Values
• CollectivismCollectivism
• Long Term OrientationLong Term Orientation
• Uncertainty AvoidanceUncertainty Avoidance
• Power DistancePower Distance
How would a College or University in Country J differ from your
College or University? Identify 3 differences and discuss with a
neighbor.

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