The document discusses how personality, perception, and attribution influence individual behavior. It examines key personality theories and traits like the Big Five. Perception and attribution are influenced by biases like the fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias. Personality is measured through tests, behaviors, and self-reports. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assesses preferences in extraversion, sensing, thinking, and judging. Impression management and situational strength also impact behavior.

1. Personality, Perception,
and Attribution

2. Variables Influencing
Individual Behavior
P
The Person
• Skills & abilities E
The Environment
• Personality • Organization
• Perceptions • Work group
• Attitudes • Job
•Values • Personal life
• Ethics
B
Behavior
B = f(P,E)

3. Propositions of
Interactional Psychology
∗ Behavior—function of a continuous, multi-directional
interaction between person and situation
∗ Person—active in process
∗ Changed by situations
∗ Changes situations
∗ People vary in many characteristics
∗ Two situational interpretations
∗ The objective situation
∗ Person’s subjective view of the situation

4. Definition of Personality
Personality - A relatively stable set of characteristics that
influences an individual’s behavior

5. Personality Theories
Trait Theory - understand individuals by breaking down
behavior patterns into observable traits
Psychodynamic Theory - emphasizes the unconscious
determinants of behavior
Humanistic Theory - emphasizes individual growth and
improvement
Integrative Approach - describes personality as a
composite of an individual’s psychological processes

6. Big Five Personality Traits
Extraversion Gregarious, assertive,
sociable
Agreeableness Cooperative, warm,
agreeable
Conscientiousness Hardworking, organized,
dependable
Emotional stability Calm, self-confidant, cool
Openness to Creative, curious,
experience cultured
Sources: P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae, The NEO-PI Personality Inventory (Odessa, Fla.: Psychological Assessment Resources, 1992); J. F. Salgado, “The
Five Factor Model of Personality and Job Performance in the European Community,” Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (1997): 30-43.

7. Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Locus of Control
Internal External
I control what People and
happens to me! circumstances
control my fate!

8. Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Self-Efficacy - beliefs and expectations about one’s
ability to accomplish a specific task effectively
Sources of self-efficacy
∗ Prior experiences and prior success
∗ Behavior models (observing success)
∗ Persuasion
∗ Assessment of current physical & emotional
capabilities

9. Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Self-Esteem
Feelings of Self Worth
Success tends
self-esteem
to increase
Failure tends
to decrease
self-esteem

10. Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Self-Monitoring
Behavior based on cues from people & situations
∗ High self monitors ∗ Low self monitors
∗ flexible: adjust behavior ∗ act from internal states
according to the situation rather than from
and the behavior of others situational cues
∗ can appear unpredictable ∗ show consistency
& inconsistent ∗ less likely to respond to
work group norms or
supervisory feedback

11. Who Is Most Likely to . . .
Low-self High-self
monitors monitors
Get promoted
Accomplish tasks, meet other’s
expectations, seek out central 
positions in social networks
Change employers 
Self-promote
Make a job-related
geographic move
Demonstrate higher levels of managerial 
self-awareness; base behavior on other’s
cues and the situation

12. Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Positive Affect - an individual’s tendency to accentuate the
positive aspects of oneself, other people, and the world
in general
Negative Affect - an individual’s tendency to accentuate
the negative aspects of oneself, other people, and the
world in general

13. Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
A strong
situation can
overwhelm the effects
of individual personalities
by providing strong cues
for appropriate
behavior

14. Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Strong
personalities
will dominate
in a weak
situation

15. How is Personality Measured?
Projective Test - elicits an individual’s response to abstract
stimuli
Behavioral Measures - personality assessments that involve
observing an individual’s behavior in a controlled situation
Self-Report Questionnaire - assessment involving an individual’s
responses to questions
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - instrument measuring
Jung’s theory of individual differences.

16. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
∗ Based on Carl Jung’s work
∗ People are fundamentally different
∗ People are fundamentally alike
∗ People have preference combinations for
extraversion/introversion, perception, judgment
∗ Briggs & Myers developed the MBTI to understand
individual differences

17. MBTI Preferences
Preferences Represents
Extraversion Introversion How one
re-energizes
Sensing Intuiting How one gathers
information
Thinking Feeling How one makes
decisions
Judging Perceiving How one orients to the
outer world

18. Social Perception
Barriers
• Selective perception • Projection
• Stereotyping • Self-fulfilling prophecies
• First-impression error
Social Perception -
interpreting information
about another person

19. Percei Social Perception
Targ
ver Ch et Chara
• Fam a cteristic
iliarity w racteristics • Physic
al appea s
• Attitu ith targ • Verba rance
des/Mo et l commu
• Self- od • Nonve nication
Conce rbal cue
• Cogn pt • Intenti s
itive str ons
ucture
Social Perception -
interpreting information
about another person
Barriers
Situational Characteristics
• Interaction context
• Strength of situational cues

20. Impression Management
Impression Management – process by which individuals
try to control the impression others have of them
∗ Name dropping
∗ Appearance
∗ Self-description
∗ Flattery
∗ Favors
∗ Agreement with opinion

21. Attribution Theory
Attribution theory - explains how individuals pinpoint
the causes of their own behavior or that of others
Information cues for attribution information gathering
∗ consensus
∗ distinctiveness
∗ consistency

22. Attribution Biases
Fundamental Attribution Error - tendency
to make attributions to internal causes
when focusing on someone else’s behavior
Self-serving Bias - tendency to attribute
one’s own successes to internal causes and
one’s failures to external causes