SESSION 3 PERSONALITY & ATTITUDE

Contents for Session 3

Guess the Famous Personalities

What do you think are the traits that describe the above Personalities?
What is Personality?

Personality is the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with
others. It is often described in terms of measurable traits that a person exhibits.
The dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that
determine his unique adjustments to his environment Gordon Allport

What are the various determinants of Personality?

1. Heredity Factors that were determined at conception. Personality is the result

of the molecular structure of the genes
Physical appearance / Facial attractiveness, Gender , Temperament,
Energy levels, etc
Three streams of Research lending credibility to Heredity factors in determining
Individual personality
i. Genetic behaviour among young children
ii. Study of twins who were separated at birth
iii. Consistency in Job satisfaction over time

2. Environment Culture, early conditioning, norms among our families, family

values, etc. E.g. North Americans tend to be ambitious, independent, aggressive
compared to other cultures who are cooperative & prefer family over career

3. Situation Influences the effects of heredity & environment on Personality. An

individuals personality, although generally stable & consistent, does change in
different situations
What do you mean by Personality Traits?
The enduring characteristics that describe an individuals behavior.

16 Primary Personality Traits

Reserved Vs. Outgoing

Less Intelligent Vs. More Intelligent

Affected by Feelings Vs. Emotionally Stable

Submissive Vs. Dominant

Serious Vs. Happy Go Lucky

Expedient Vs. Conscientious

Timid Vs. Venturesome

Tough minded Vs. Sensitive

Trusting Vs. Suspicious

Practical Vs. Imaginative

Forthright Vs. Shrewd

Self Assured Vs. Apprehensive

Conservative Vs. Experimenting

Group Dependant Vs. Self sufficient

Uncontrolled Vs. Controlled

Relaxed Vs. Tense

What are the various Personality Frameworks

The two dominant frameworks that describe Personality:

1. Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Essentially a 100 question personality test that asks people how they usually
feel or act in particular situations
Taps four characteristics
Extroverted or Introverted (E or I)
Sensing or Intuitive (S or N)
Thinking or Feeling (T or F)
Perceiving or Judging (P or J)
Classifies people into one of the 16 personality types
(These types are different from the 16 Primary traits as explained before)
Each of the sixteen possible combinations has a name, for instance:
Visionaries (INTJs) Original minds, self driven, stubborn, critical,
skeptical, independent, determined
Organizers (ESTJs) Realistic, logical, analytical, decisive, business
minded, organize & run activities
Conceptualizer (ENTPs) Entrepreneurial, Innovative, individualistic,
versatile, resourceful, may neglect routine assignments
In an interesting study on a book that profiled 13 contemporary businesspeople
who created super successful firms like Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Honda motors, it
has been found that their senior leadership are Intuitive Thinkers (NTs) which
represent only 5 percent of the population
Inspite of the fact that MBTI might not be a valid measure of personality, it is still
used in wide range of organizations like Apple, GE, 3M, etc
2. Big 5 Model (Big 5 factor model)

MBTI may lack valid evidence. Hence, an alternative framework was introduced
namely Five factor model of Personality or typically called as Big Five
In this model, five basic dimensions underlie all other dimensions & encompass
most of the significant variation in human personality
The Big five factors are:
Extraversion - Captures ones comfort level with relationships, like
Sociable, gregarious, assertive
Agreeableness Measures individuals propensity to defer to others, like
Good-natured, cooperative, warm, trusting
Conscientiousness Measure of reliability like Responsible,
dependable, persistent, organized
Emotional Stability Taps an individuals ability to withstand stress like
Calm, self-confident, secure under stress
Openness to Experience Addresses an individuals range of interests
& fascination with novelty like Creative, curious, imaginative, artistic,
intellectual, sensitive

How does Big 5 model help in predicting Behaviour?

Research has shown this to be a better framework than MBTI

Few dimensions / factors are said to have a direct & a strong relation with higher
job performance, for instance
Highly conscientious individuals develop more job knowledge, exert
greater effort, and have better job performance
Extroverts tend to be happier in their jobs and have good social skills.
They perform better in managerial or sales jobs
Open people are more creative, can be good leaders & helps in predicting
training proficiency

Class Exercise Dr. Phil Test (Also known as Big 5 test)

Personality of Bill Gates, co-founder & chairman of Microsoft

High on Conscientiousness dimension of Big 5 model `

Class Video shown on Steve Jobs Speech

Personality of Steve Jobs, founder, Apple
His personality traits are:
Innovation & Creative
Passion
Fearless
Marketing genius
Visionary
Perfectionist
Opportunist
Confidence
Motivator
Good decision making skills
Good managerial skills
Sincere & dedicated towards job
Internal Locus of Control
Steve Jobs has an ENTJ personality type

About ENTJ Personality Type

ENTJ personalities are very charismatic, rational and quick-minded. They are
meant to lead and inspire other people and there is no other type that can do this
with such ease
According to ENTJs, nothing is impossible if you try hard enough. These
leadership traits form the core of the ENTJ personality type
Naturally, they rarely have difficulties convincing other people that the goal
chosen by the ENTJ should also become one of their personal goals
ENTJs can be unbelievably confident and charismatic these qualities draw
most other types like a magnet and this makes it quite easy for an ENTJ to
achieve what they want to achieve
People belonging to this type love challenges, big and small, and firmly believe
that they can accomplish everything given enough time and resources
Major Personality Attributes Influencing OB

Specific attributes that help in predicting behaviors in the organizations

1. Locus of Control The degree to which people believe they are the masters of
their own fate
Internals Individuals who believe that they control what happens to them
Externals Individuals who believe that what happens to them is controlled
by outside forces such as luck or chance. Externals are less satisfied with
their jobs, have high absenteeism rates, are more alienated from the work
setting & are less involved in their jobs
Why are Externals dissatisfied with their jobs?
Why Internals have lower absenteeism?
Why most of the successful salespeople are mostly Internals?

Overall, Internals perform much better on their jobs than Externals. But the nature
& type of jobs is an important factor here
Best suited jobs for Internals Managerial & professional jobs which
require complex information processing, initiative & independence of action
Best suited jobs for Externals Jobs that are well structured, routine in
nature & the success depends heavily on complying with the direction of
others
2. Machiavellianism The degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains
emotional distance & believes that ends can justify means
If it works, use it is consistent with a High Mach perspective
High Machs manipulate more, win more, are themselves less persuaded but
persuade others more than the low machs
High machs flourish under following situations:
When they interact face to face with others rather than indirectly
When the situation has a minimum no. of rules & regulations
When emotional involvements with details are irrelevant to winning
distract low machs
Are high machs good employees? The answer depends on the type of job
considering ethical implications in evaluating performance
Best suited jobs for High machs jobs that require bargaining skills (such as labour
negotiation) or that offers substantial rewards for winning (commissioned sales)

3. Self Esteem Individuals degree of liking or disliking of themselves

High Self Esteem individuals will take more risks in job selection & are likely
to choose unconventional jobs / take stand & more satisfied with their jobs
Low Self Esteem individuals depend on seeking approval from others

4. Self Monitoring A personality trait that measures an individuals ability to adjust

his or her behaviour to external situational factors
High on Self monitoring More mobile in their career, receive more
promotions, better suitable for managerial positions demanding multiple roles.
Example: Politicians.
Low on Self Monitoring Display their true dispositions, high behavioral
consistency in who they are & what they do

5. Risk Taking The degree to which individuals are willing to take risks
Overall, High risk taking mangers take quick decisions with less information than Low
risk taking managers although the decision accuracy is the same for both the groups.
Hence which is better depends on the nature & type of jobs
For Instance, High risk taking managers would perform better as a Stock trader in a
Brokerage firm but not as an accountant who performs auditing activities (the latter is
more suitable job for a low risk taking manager)

6. Type A Personality
A Type A Personality is Aggressively involved in a chronic, incessant struggle to
achieve more & more in less & less time & and if necessary, against the opposing
efforts of other things or other persons
Excessively competitive
Always seem to be experiencing a chronic sense of time urgency
Highly ambitious
 In North America, Type As are highly prized & are positively associated
with ambition

Type B Personality
Are exactly opposite to Type A Personality
Rarely harried by the desire to obtain a widely increasing number of things or
participate in an endless growing series of events in an ever decreasing amount
of time

Who are more successful in Organizations? TYPE B

What is an Attitude?

Attitude is an evaluative statements / judgements either favourable or

unfavourable concerning objects, people or events
Attitude reflects how one feels about something. When I say I like my job, I am
expressing my Attitude about work
The term Attitude & Values are not same but interrelated. Attitudes are less
stable. For e.g. Advertising messages attempt to alter your attitudes towards
certain product or service
Attitudes are important in Organizations because they affect Job Behaviour
Components of Attitudes

Cognitive component of an attitude The opinion or belief segment of an

attitude
Affective component of an attitude The emotional & feeling segment of an
attitude
Behavioral component of an attitude An intention to behave in a certain way
towards someone or something

Example Discrimination is wrong

Cognitive component of an attitude I believe in this Statement
Discrimination is wrong
Affective component of an attitude I do not like Rahul because he
discriminates minorities
Behavioral component of an attitude I choose to avoid Rahul because of
my feeling about him

For our class purpose, the term Attitude refers to the Affective part of the three
components
Types of Attitudes

Job Satisfaction The term refers to an individuals general attitude toward his
or her job

Employees with High level of Job Satisfaction holds positive attitude

towards their job whereas those with Low level of Job Satisfaction holds
a negative attitude towards their job

Job Involvement It measures the degree to which a person identifies with his
or her job, actively participates in it & considers his or her performance important
to self worth
Employees with High level of Job Involvement strongly identify with &
really care about the job they perform leading to low absenteeism rates

Organizational Commitment A state in which an employee identifies with a

particular organization & its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the
organization
Employees with High level of Organizational Commitment strongly
identifies with their employing organization

Which is a better indicator of Employee Turnover

Job Involvement or Organizational Commitment

Organizational Commitment
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction refers to an individuals general attitude toward his or her job

Happy Workers are Productive Workers? True or False

This statement is False
 How Employees Express Dissatisfaction
Employees dissatisfaction can be expressed as four responses (shown below) that
differ from one another along two dimensions. Exit & Neglect behaviors affect
performance variables Productivity, Absenteeism & Turnover. But this model
expands employee response to Voice & Loyalty

Rather than quitting, they can complain, destroy organization property, steal it, not
perform job responsibilities, etc. The diagram above offers 4 responses that differ from
one another:
Exit Dissatisfaction expressed through behaviour directed towards leaving the
organization (including looking for a new position or resigning)
Voice Dissatisfaction expressed through active & constructive attempts to
improve conditions (including suggesting improvements, discussing problems
with superiors & some form of union activity)
Loyalty Dissatisfaction expressed by passively but optimistically waiting for
conditions to improve (including speaking for the organization in face of external
criticism & trusting the organization to do the right thing)
Neglect Dissatisfaction expressed through passively allowing conditions to
worsen including chronic absenteeism, late arrival, reduced effort, increased
error rate
Job Satisfaction & OCB

Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) is a discretionary behaviour

that is not a part of an employees formal job requirements but that
nevertheless promotes the effective functioning of the organization

Job Satisfaction influences OCB, but through perception of fairness

Employees will assume that Job Satisfaction is a major determinant of OCB as

satisfied employees would talk more positive about the organization, help others
& go beyond their normal duties as they want to reciprocate their positive
experiences with the organization. There is a modest relationship between Job
Satisfaction & OCB. But when fairness is controlled for, satisfaction is unrelated
to OCB.
This means that basically Job Satisfaction comes down to conceptions of fair
outcomes & treatment by the superiors. If you do not feel that your supervisor,
your organization policies & procedures are fair, your Job Satisfaction is likely to
suffer significantly. When you perceive them as fair, a trust is developed & when
you trust your employer you are willing to go an extra mile & voluntarily engage in
behavior that is beyond formal job requirements.
Hence, when employees perceive Organization, its policies, procedures,
outcomes & treatment of their bosses to be fair, satisfaction goes up & so does
OCB.