2. Personality
Personality can be defined as “the complex
of characteristics that distinguishes an
individual or a nation or group; especially :
the totality of an individual’s behavioral and
emotional characteristics”.
Understanding personalities is a vital part of
being a manager.
People are different and that’s a fact and to
better understand how to interact and
engage with them it is important to
understand what type of personality your
dealing with.
Having an understanding of personality and
learning styles of individuals in your
organization can generate a productive
pleasant place to work.
3. Big Five (Costa & McCrae)
1. Neuroticism
2. Extraversion
3. Openness to Experience
4. Agreeableness
5. Conscientiousness
4. Neuroticism
Tendency to experience negative
(unpleasant) feelings
Emotionally reactive, intense
On other end: calm, emotionally stable, free
from persistent negative feelings
5. Neuroticism Facets
1. Anxiety – sense of danger or threat
- Tense, jittery, nervous …calm, fearless
2. Anger
3. Depression – feel sad, dejected, low
- Lack energey, feel dejected….free from depressive feelings
4. Self-consciousness – sensitive to what others think of them
- feel uncomfortable around others, easily embarrassed….don’t feel
discomfort in social situations, don’t fear being judged by others
5. Immoderation – strong cravings and urges that are hard to
resist
6. Vulnerability – susceptibility to stress
• Feel panic, helpless under pressure….feel poised, confident
under pressure
6. Extraversion
Enjoy being with others
High energy
Tendency to experience positive emotions
Low scorers:
• Quiet, less engaged in social world
• NOT shyness or depression
7. Extraversion Facets
1. Friendliness
- like others and easily reach out to other people…distant and
reserved
2. Gregariousness
- Enjoy being around others, like crowds…need more privacy
and time to self, dislike crowds
3. Assertievness
- Like to speak out, take charge, leaders…let others control
group direction
4. Activity Level
- Much action, energetic, quick…slower paced, less activity
5. Excitement-Seeking
- Easily bored, seek thrills…unlikely to take risks, adverse to
thrill-seeking
6. Cheerfulness
- High on positive emotions such as happiness, optimism,
enthusiasm, and joy…low scores don’t’ experience as much
joy (but NOT depressed)
8. Openness To Experience
Most disagreement about what this factor is
and what to call it.
Imaginative, intellectually curious, sensitive
to aesthetics and feelings …. Down to earth,
practical,conventional
Not a measure of intelligence
9. Openness Facets
1. Imagination
- Fantasy…fact
2. Artistic Interests
- Love beauty, aesthetics…not interested in arts
3. Emotionality
- Awareness of and expression of feelings…less aware and
expressive
4. Adventurousness
- Like new activities, experience different things…prefer
familiar things
5. Intellect
- Like to play with ideas…prefer concrete things over ideas
6. Liberalism
- Challenge authority and convention…prefer conventional
approaches
14. 3-14
Big Five Personality Traits
Extraversion – tendency to
experience positive emotions and
moods and feel good about oneself
and the rest of the world
15. 3-15
Big Five Personality Traits
Managers high in extraversion tend to be
sociable, affectionate, outgoing and friendly
Managers low in extraversion tend to be less
inclined toward social interaction and have a
less positive outlook
17. 3-17
Big Five Personality Traits
Negative affectivity – tendency to experience
negative emotions and moods, feel distressed,
and be critical of oneself and others
18. 3-18
Big Five Personality Traits
Managers high in negative affectivity may often
feel angry and dissatisfied and complain about
their own and others’ lack of progress
Managers who are low in negative affectivity do
not tend to experience many negative emotions
and moods and are less pessimistic and critical
of themselves and others
21. 3-21
Big Five Personality Traits
Managers high in agreeableness are likable,
affectionate and care about others
Managers with low agreeableness may be
distrustful, unsympathetic, uncooperative and
antagonistic
22. 3-22
Big Five Personality Traits
Conscientiousness –
tendency to be
careful, scrupulous,
and persevering
23. 3-23
Big Five Personality Traits
Managers high in this trait are organized and
self-disciplined
Managers low in this trait lack direction and
self-discipline
24. 3-24
Big Five Personality Traits
Openness to Experience – tendency to be
original, have broad interests, be open to a
wide range of stimuli, be daring and take risks
25. 3-25
Big Five Personality Traits
Managers who are high in openness to
experience may be especially likely to take
risks and be innovative in their planning and
decision making
Managers who are low in this trait may be less
prone to take risks and be more conservative in
their planning and decision making
30. Factor V
Openness to Experience
• Curious
• Imaginative
• Wide interests
• Original
• Intelligent
Low
• Narrow interests
• Simple
• Shallow
31. 3-31
Other Personality Traits
Internal locus of control
Belief that you are responsible for your own
fate
Own actions and behaviors are major and
decisive determinants of job outcomes
32. 3-32
Other Personality Traits
External locus of control
Believe that outside forces are responsible for
what happens to and around them
Do not think their own actions make much of a
difference
33. 3-33
Other Personality Traits
Self-Esteem
• The degree to which people feel good about
themselves and their abilities
- High self-esteem causes a person to feel competent,
deserving and capable.
- Persons with low self-esteem have poor opinions of
themselves and are unsure about their capabilities.
34. 3-34
Other Personality Traits
Need for Achievement
• The extent to which an individual has a strong desire
to perform challenging tasks well and meet personal
standards for excellence
35. 3-35
Other Personality Traits
Need for Affiliation
• The extent to which an individual is concerned about
establishing and maintaining good interpersonal
relations, being liked, and having other people get
along
40. Five-Factor Personality and
Organizational Behavior
Conscientiousness and emotional stability
• Motivational components of personality
• Strongest personality predictors of performance
Extroversion
• Linked to sales and mgt performance
• Related to social interaction and persuasion
Agreeableness
• Effective in jobs requiring cooperation and helpfulness
Openness to experience
• Linked to higher creativity and adaptability to change
2-40
41. Myers-Briggs
The Myers-Briggs test was developed by a mother/daughter team in the 40’s
based of off the lifelong work of Carl Jung.
The test was intended to bring a everyday applications of Jung’s work to the
public in order to provide personality matches for social and work
environments.
The test was a new interpretation of Jung’s theory and added to it by including
how people deal with the outside world.
There have been over 600 dissertations written about the study and 1000’s of
articles and books.
42. The Test
The test is broken down into four categories.
1. Favorite World: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or your own
inner world? This is called Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I)
2. Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or
do you prefer to interrupt and add meaning? This is called Sensing (S) or
Intuition (N)
3. Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and
consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances? This is
called Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)
4. Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things
decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options? This
is called Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)
43. Extraversion ( E )
Act First
Prefers interaction from the outside world.
Motivated by the outside forces and people
Enjoys a wide verity of relationship with several individuals
44. Introversion ( I )
Think and reflect before responding
Needs time alone to recharge
Finds motivation from within, closes mind off from outside world
Prefers one-on-one time in relationships
45. Sensing ( S )
Mental state of mind dwells in the present
Uses common sense to create practical solutions
Vivid memory recall rich in detail
Utilizes past experiences for improvisation
Prefers clear concrete information
46. Intuition ( N )
Mentally dwells in the future and future possibilities
Uses imagination and creativity to formulate new solutions
Memory recalls patterns, content, and connections
Comfortable with deciphering fuzzy data
47. Thinking ( T )
Make decisions based on facts and logic
Notices task and work to be done
Provides objective and critical analysis
Accept conflict as part of human nature in relationships
48. Feeling ( F )
Use personal feeling to make decisions
Sensitive to the needs of others and takes others into consideration
Seeks approval from peers and sides with popular opinion
Becomes unsettled around conflict and disorder
49. Judging ( J )
Plans details in advance
Focus task at hand and completes meaningful segments before moving on
Works to avoid stress and stays ahead of deadlines
Uses target dates and goals to manage life
50. Perceiving ( P )
Moves into action with out a plan
Multitask and mixes work with pleasure
Tolerant of deadlines, dose best work under pressure
Avoids commitments that interfere with flexibility, freedom, and variety
51. Extraverts
• Get distracted by
the outside world
• Work more
productively
when other are
involved.
• Invade other’s
time/space.
Introverts
• Get into their own project and
forget the outside world.
• Productively work alone.
Enjoy working alone.
• Are invaded by others’ demands.
Sensors
• Focus on the present.
•Perceive time as a
particular moment
•Enjoy each day as it is.
Intuitives
• Focus on the future.
•Perceive time as endless.
•Look to the future for enjoyment.
Thinkers
• Perceive time as objective.
• Organize a presentation
according to logical principles.
• Present information tersely.
Feelers
• Perceive time as relational.
•Organize a presentation to meet
the audience’s needs.
• Present information personably.
Judgers
• Overlook tasks not on a schedule.
• Dislike being caught at the
last minute.
• Tend to separate work & play.
Perceivers
• Do unscheduled tasks.
• Dislike coming to conclusions
until they have to.
• Tend to mix work and play.
How Types Manage
Time
52. The Code
After taking the test a four
letter code is generated
based on your answers.
There are 16 possible
combinations of letters and
each combination defines the
individuals personality.
Taking your combination of
letters into consideration
determines your personality
preferences.
54. Sensing
Immediate experience, present moment
• which leads to enjoyment of the present moment,
realism, acute observation, memory for detail,
practicality.
• Work with what is “given” in a situation. Pays
attention to those things which can be seen, heard,
or touched.
Prefers to think in concrete, realistic ways
rather than philosophically.
55. Intuition
Possibilities, meanings, relationships
(unconscious perception)
• which leads to imagination, theoretical and future
orientation, creativity, abstractness.
• Big picture, grasps patterns.
• Pays attention to the meanings behind things,
rather than the things themselves.
Prefers to think about things in philosophical
or poetic ways, rather than in concrete or
realistic ways.
56. Scenario
You are the director of an HR department.
The company is struggling and you must lay
off 15% of your workforce.
How do you decide who stays and who
goes?
57. Thinking-Feeling
How do you make decisions?
It’s not about the outcome of the decision.
It’s about the process you go through to
make the decision and what you consider
when making it.
58. Thinking
Links ideas logically
Impersonal cause-effect leads to
• objectivity, attention to justice and fairness,
• seeks order through logic.
• Weighs the evidence, even the unpleasant truth.
Preference for decisions based on clear cut
principals, without regard for how the
decisions will affect others.
• Puts an emphasis on fairness, justice, and logic.
59. Feeling
Weighs relative values and merits-
• more subjectively attuned to others’ values, group values,
human aspects of problems,
• leads to need for affiliation, desire for harmony, and warmth,
• seeks order according to harmony among subjective values.
• Looks at what is important to people involved, decides based
on how much investment you have in each alternative-
leading to tact and empathy.
Prefers decisions based on values
• paying attention to how people will be affected by decisions.
• Puts an emphasis on feelings, on relationships, and on
getting along with others.
63. Judging
Business before pleasure; organize events
Wants to get things settled
Prefers to get things done and accomplished,
to stay organized, and to finish one project
before starting on the next one
64. Perceiving
Experience and adapt to events in life.
Flexible, spontaneous.
Understand life rather than control it.
Adapt to the moment.
Prefers to have several projects going at the
same time.
• Finds it easy to leave one project to start on
another one, and isn’t necessarily bothered if the
first project never gets finished.
66. Extroversion
Attention flows out to objects and people in
the environment,
• desires to act on the environment, affirm its
importance;
• awareness and reliance on environment for
stimulation and guidance;
• action oriented, impulsive, frank, sociable.
• Energized by what goes on in the outer world.
Preference for people and things.
• Likes being with people and working on things,
even more than thinking about them or studying
them.
• Appears outgoing and socially at ease.
67. Introversion
Energy drawn from environment and consolidated
within inner world of ideas and concepts, reliance on
enduring concepts (not environmental events)
• thoughtful contemplative detachment,
• enjoyment of solitude and privacy.
Preference for ideas and concepts.
• Likes thinking about things, even more than doing them.
• May appear to be shy or sometimes withdrawn.
68. Validate Your Type
Your Self-selected
Preferences
E---------------------------I
S--------------------------N
T--------------------------F
J--------------------------P
Your Preferences
Identified on Myers
Briggs Type Inventory
E---------------------------I
S--------------------------N
T--------------------------F
J--------------------------P
69.
70.
71.
72. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI)
Extroversion versus introversion
• similar to five-factor dimension
Sensing versus intuition
• collecting information through senses versus
through intuition, inspiration or subjective sources
Thinking versus feeling
• processing and evaluating information
• using rational logic versus personal values
Judging versus perceiving
• orient themselves to the outer world
• order and structure or flexibility and spontaneity
2-72