1. Assignment on Individual Differences
Work Psychology
Submitted By:
Harshit Jain
Batch: Spring Summer 12-14
Section: SSH1
IIPM, New Delhi
Email id: harshit.jain90@gmail.com

2. Individual differences with respect to personality traits and cognitive
behaviours with respect to work Performance
Individual Difference
It is often said that no two individuals are same. They differ from each other in some way or
the other. Such a similarity or difference between persons reveals individual differences. It
happens in our day-to-day life when we see people around us. A question comes to mind;
how and why people appear similar or different to each other. For example when we think
about their psychological characteristics we often come across people who are very talkative
or less talkative, some laugh too much whereas others take much time even to smile, some
are very friendly whereas some prefer to be alone. In psychology, these are called individual
differences referring to the extent and kind of variations or similarities among people on
some of the important psychological aspects such as intelligence, personality, interest, and
aptitude.
1. Individual Difference with respect to Personality trait with respect to Work
Performance
Personality is a relatively stable set of feelings and behaviors that have been
significantly formed by genetic and environmental factors. The personality traits often
influence the performance at work. This has been explained through the “The Big
Five Personality Model” and how these influence the performance of an individual at
work.
Openness to experience: Openness reflects the degree of intellectual
curiosity, creativity and a preference for novelty and variety a person has. It is
described as the extent to which a person is imaginative or independent, and
depicts a personal preference for a variety of activities over a strict routine.
An open person always brings about innovative ideas to solve a problem and
learn from the experiences. In this way, these learning help him to perform
well in the job and also motivate him/her towards job which results in better
performance. On the other hand, People with low scores on openness tend to
have more conventional, traditional interests. They prefer the plain,
straightforward, and obvious over the complex, ambiguous, and subtle. A
closed person never tries to bring about innovative ideas and perform his

3. duties in monotony which make him/her dissatisfy with the job and hence the
performance declines.
Conscientiousness: It is a tendency to be organized and dependable, show
self-discipline, act dutifully, aim for achievement, and prefer planned rather
than spontaneous behaviour. . It is related to the way in which people control,
regulate, and direct their impulses. High scores on conscientiousness indicate
a preference for planned rather than spontaneous behaviour. The average level
of conscientiousness rises among young adults and then declines among older
adults. Hence people who plan their strategy and goals perform well but
sometimes spontaneous actions are required to solve a particular problem.
The spontaneous actions might also result in better performance in handling
disputes.
Extraversion: It is characterized by breadth of activities, surgency from
external activity/situations, and energy creation from external means. The trait
is marked by pronounced engagement with the external world. Extraverts
enjoy interacting with people, and are often perceived as full of energy. They
tend to be enthusiastic, action-oriented individuals. They possess high group
visibility, like to talk, and assert themselves. The socialisation influences the
performance of individual as they always work in group and coordinate with
the group members. Hence these kinds of people are assigned the jobs related
to team work and jobs requiring interactions like CRM. Introverts have lower
social engagement and energy levels than extraverts. They tend to seem quiet,
low-key, deliberate, and less involved in the social world. Their lack of social
involvement should not be interpreted as shyness or depression instead they
are more independent of their social world than extraverts. Introverts are
assigned with the individual task or projects and are often offered work
related to desk projects. Introverts always focus on their individual
performance and not likely to work in group and hence are not influenced by
the performance of others whereas extraverts often link their performance
with the group.
Agreeableness: The agreeableness trait reflects individual differences in
general concern for social harmony. Agreeable individual’s value getting
along with others. They are generally considerate, kind, generous, trusting and

4. trustworthy, helpful, and willing to compromise their interests with others.
Agreeable people also have an optimistic view of human nature. Because
agreeableness is a social trait, research has shown that one's agreeableness
positively correlates with the quality of relationships with one's team
members. Agreeableness also positively predicts transformational leadership
skills. Leaders with high levels of agreeableness are more likely to be
considered transformational rather than transactional and hence their work
performance is often better than others. They also motivate the subordinates
and help them improve their performance as a result their group performance
also improves. Disagreeable individuals place self-interest above getting
along with others. They are generally unconcerned with others well-being,
and are less likely to extend themselves for other people. Sometimes their
scepticism about others motives causes them to be suspicious, unfriendly, and
uncooperative. They do not share ideas with others and believe that their ideas
can be used by others for their own benefits. Hence sometimes many
innovative ideas are not enlightened and influence the performance of
individual, group or the organisation in terms of development and growth.
Neuroticism: Neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotions,
such as anger, anxiety, or depression. It is sometimes called emotional
instability, or is reversed and referred to as emotional stability. Those who
score high in neuroticism are emotionally reactive and vulnerable to stress.
They are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening, and minor
frustrations as hopelessly difficult. Their negative emotional reactions tend to
persist for unusually long periods of time, which means they are often in a
bad mood. For instance, neuroticism is connected to a pessimistic approach
toward work, confidence that work impedes with personal relationships, and
apparent anxiety linked with work which affect their performance and
sometimes declines the performance of the individual. These problems in
emotional regulation can diminish the ability of a person scoring high on
neuroticism to think clearly, make decisions, and cope effectively with stress.
At the other end of the scale, individuals who score low in neuroticism are
less easily upset and are less emotionally reactive. They tend to be calm,
emotionally stable, and free from persistent negative feelings. Hence their
performance is stable and maintains balance between work and personal life.

5. 2. Individual Difference with respect to cognitive behaviour with respect to Work
Performance
The cognitive behaviour also plays an important role work performance of the
individual. The attitude of the individual influences his/her performance. Every
individual have different attitude and this is being reflected in their work
performance. Some of the key factors which help in determining the relationship
between cognitive behaviour and work performance are:
Job Satisfaction: Job satisfaction is defined as the general attitude of
employees towards their work or a job. Some of the important sources for job
satisfaction include challenge of the job, the degree of the interest that the
work holds for the person, the extent of required physical activity, types of
rewards etc. Job satisfaction leads directly to effective job performance.
Individual differences are also reflected in this work performance as one
person might show interest in creative and innovative jobs and one might not
like the job. Hence one is satisfied and other is dissatisfied and hence the
performance of the individual depends on the type of job performed.
Emotional Intelligence: Emotional Intelligence is a form of social
intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others feelings
and emotions to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide
one’s thinking and action. A study found that productivity and duration of
employment was determined by the employee’s relationship with the
immediate supervisor. If the individual is satisfied with his supervisor the
work performance is better than the employee dissatisfied with the supervisor.
It depends on the emotional and work relationship of the employee and the
supervisor. Bosses who are empathetic towards the feelings of employees and
who are able to intervene at the appropriate time stand to induce a feeling of
trust and attachment among employees and hence higher job performance of
the employee.
Organisational Commitment: Organisational Commitment refers to the
strength of an employee’s involvement in the organisation and identification
with it. The relationship between organisational commitment and turnover is
one of the most important relationships. The stronger an employee’s
commitment is to the organisation, the less likely the person to quit. Strong

6. commitment is often correlated with the low absenteeism and relatively high
productivity. Committed individuals tend to be more goal-directed and waste
less time while at work, which has positive scores on typical productivity
measures.
Trust: Trust is described as the amount of confidence and the belief that an
individual has in specific individuals or groups. It is one of the binding forces
in interpersonal relationships. It is a prerequisite for effective interpersonal
communication. If trust is build up between employees and boss, the
productivity is also increased and the job performance is improved.
Sometimes lack of trust because of difference in culture, work attitude, values
and beliefs, grapevine, low initiative etc is created which affects the job
performance of the individual and hence it is a critical factor that affects the
commitment of employees towards management.