2. The word personality is derived from a Greek
word “persona” which means “to speak
through.”
Personality is the combination of
characteristics or qualities that forms a
person's unique identity. It signifies the role
which a person plays in public.
4. Inherited Characteristics
The features an individual acquires from their parents or
forefathers, in other words the gifted features an individual
possesses by birth is considered as inherited
characteristics. It consists of the following features −
•Color of a person’s eye
•Religion/Race of a person
•Shape of the nose
•Shape of earlobes
5. Learned Characteristics
Nobody learns everything by birth. First, our school is our home, then
our society, followed by educational institutes. The characteristics an
individual acquires by observing, practicing, and learning from others
and the surroundings is known as learned characteristics.
Learned characteristics includes the following features −
•Perception − Result of different senses like feeling, hearing etc.
•Values − Influences perception of a situation, decision making
process.
•Personality − Patterns of thinking, feeling, understanding and
behaving.
•Attitude − Positive or negative attitude like expressing one’s
thought.
6. Personality traits are the enduring features
that define an individual’s behavior. A
personality trait is a unique feature in an
individual.
7. Psychologists resolved that there are five major personality traits and every
individual can be categorized into at least one of them. These five personality traits
are:
Conscientiousness
Dependable, organized, reliable, ambitious, hardworking
o Has the biggest positive influence of job performance
o Prioritize accomplishment striving
Conscientious employees have a strong desire to accomplish task-related goals
as a means of expressing personality
Agreeableness
Warm, kind, cooperative, helpful, courteous
o Agreeable people focus on “getting along,” not necessarily “getting ahead.”
o Prioritize communion striving
Have a strong desire to obtain acceptance in personal relationships
Beneficial in some positions but detrimental in others
Service jobs; Managerial positions
8. Neuroticism
Nervous, moody, emotional, insecure, and jealous
o Associated with high negative affectivity
Dispositional tendency to experience unpleasant moods (e.g. hostility,
nervousness, and annoyance)
o Is negatively related to job performance
Because neurotic people are more likely to appraise situations as stressful
& believe they cannot cope
Is related to locus of control (whether people attribute causes of events to themselves or
the environment)
oMore neurotic people: external locus of control (believe events are driven by luck,
chance, or fate)
oLess neurotic people: internal locus of control (believe events are driven by their
behavior)
Openness to Experience
Curious, imaginative, creative, sophisticated
o Valuable in jobs that:
Are dynamic & changing
Require learning
Require high levels of creativity
The capacity to generate novel and useful ideas and solutions
9. Extraversion
Talkative, sociable, assertive, bold, dominant
o Easiest to judge when you first meet someone
o Prioritize status striving
Reflects a strong desire to obtain power and influence
o Associated with high positive affectivity
Dispositional tendency to experience pleasant moods
o Extraverted people tend to be rated as more effective in leadership roles
