Human Behavior in Organizations

Personality and Values

Discussion on Personality
Why are some people quiet and passive, while others are loud and aggressive? Are certain personality types better adapted than others for certain jobs?

Personality
Its definition came from Gordon Allport, some 70 years ago
the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment

Personality
Sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others
unique and relatively stable patterns of behavior, thoughts, and emotions shown by individuals

Measurable traits a person exhibits

Measuring Personality
Useful in hiring decisions and help managers forecast who is the best for a job And effectively manage people

Measuring Personality
Objective Tests: Questionnaires and inventories designed to measure various aspects of personality. Reliability: The extent to which a test yields consistent scores on various occasions. Validity: The extent to which a test actually measures what it claims to measure.

Means of Measuring Personality

Self-report survey
Individuals evaluate themselves on a series of factors Weakness: respondent might lie or practice impression management, fake good to create good impression Another problem: accuracy

Observer-rating surveys
Provide an independent assessment of personality, a co-worker or another observer does the rating Better predictor of success on the job

Personality Determinants
Individuals personality result of heredity or of environment? Result of Both Heredity factors determined at conception e.g. physical stature, facial attractiveness, temperament, energy levels and biological rhythms -- an individuals personality is the molecular structure
of the genes, located in the chromosomes Our parents may make our personalities in giving us their genes

Changes in Personality Scores

Peoples scores on measures of dependability tend to increase over time Personality is more changeable in adolescence and more stable among adults

Personality Traits
When an individual exhibits characteristics I a large number of situation
shy

aggressive submissive lazy ambitious loyal timid, etc.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Most widely used personality assessment instrument in the world
100-question personality test that asks people how they usually feel or act in particular situations

16 Personality Types:

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Widely used by organizations including Apple, AT&T, Citigroup, GE, 3M, many hospitals and educational institutions, also the US Armed Forces Valuable tool for increasing self-awareness and providing career guidance but results tend to be unrelated to job performance

Five basic dimensions of personality that are assumed to underlie many specific traits
Extraversion-Introversion Conscientiousness Agreeableness Emotional Stability Openness to Experience

Extraversion-Introversion
The degree to which individuals are gregarious, assertive, and sociable (extraverts) versus being reserved, timid, and quiet (introverts).

Conscientiousness
The extent to which individuals are hardworking, organized, dependable, and persevering (high conscientiousness) versus lazy, disorganized, and unreliable (low conscientiousness).

Agreeableness
The extent to which individuals are cooperative and warm, trusting (highly agreeable) versus cold and antagonist (highly disagreeable).

Emotional Stability
The degree to which individuals are insecure, anxious, depressed, and emotional (emotionally unstable) versus calm, self-confident, and secure (emotionally stable).

Openness to Experience
The extent to which individuals are creative, curious, and cultured (open to experience) versus practical and with narrow interests (closed to experience).

Big 5 Traits Predict Behavior at Work

Research found relationships between the personality dimensions and job performance
Employees who score high in conscientiousness develop higher levels of job knowledge Higher levels of job knowledge then contribute to higher levels of job performance

Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB

More specific attributes that are powerful predictors of behavior in organizations: Core self-evaluation Mechiavellianism Narcissism Self-monitoring Risk taking Type A Proactive personalities

Machiavellianism
A personality trait involving willingness to manipulate others for ones own purposes. Machiavellian tactics:
Neglecting to share important information (e.g., claiming to forget to tell you about key meetings and assignments). Finding subtle ways of making you look bad to management (e.g., damning you with faint praise). Failing to meet obligations (e.g., not holding up their end on joint projects, thereby causing you to look bad). Spreading false rumors about you (e.g., making up things about you that embarrass you in front of others).

Class Exercise
In the space next to each item, enter a number that characterizes your own feelings about that statement. [Disagree Strongly 1; Disagree 2; Neither 3; Agree 4; and, Agree Strongly 5] 1. The best way to handle a person is to tell them what they want to hear.

2.
3. 4.

When you ask someone to do something for you, it is best to give the real reasons for wanting it rather than give reasons that may carry more weight.
Anyone that completely trusts anyone else is asking for trouble. It is hard to get ahead without cutting corners and bending the rules.

5.
6. 7. 8.

It is safest to assume that all people have a vicious streak and that it will come out when given a chance.
It is never right to lie to someone else. Most people are basically good and kind. Most poeple work hard only when they are forced to do so.

Measuring Machiavellianism
1. 2. 3. Add your responses to questions 1,3, 4, 5, and 8. To this number add the sum of 2, 6, and 7 (after scoring them in reverse, 5=1) Finally, add your scores

The higher your score . . . The more Machiavellianism you tend to be!!

Self-Monitoring
A personality trait involving the extent to which individuals adapt their behavior to the demands of specific situations so as to make good impressions on others. Consequences of self-monitoring:
Work Performance: High self-monitors tend to do better than low self-monitors in jobs requiring boundary-spanning activities. Career Success: High self-monitors tend to obtain more promotions than low self-monitors. Interpersonal Relationships: High self-monitors tend to form less stable and shallower personal relationships with others than low self-monitors.

Self-Monitoring

Type A vs. Type B

Type A Behavior Pattern: A pattern of behavior involving high levels of competitiveness, time urgency, and irritability. Type B Behavior Pattern: A pattern of behavior characterized by a casual, laidback style; the opposite of the Type A behavior pattern.

Type A vs. Type B

Task Performance
Type As tend to excel on tasks involving time pressure or solitary work. Type Bs have the advantage when it comes to tasks involving complex judgments and accuracy as opposed to speed.

Interpersonal Relations
Type As tend to annoy coworkers, are more likely to lose their tempers and lash out at others, are more likely to become involved in conflict, and are more likely to engage in aggressive and counterproductive behavior.

Discussion
Suppose you were hiring someone to perform a job that required very fast performance. Would you prefer a type A or a type B person? Why?
Type As work harder than Type Bs at various tasks and as a result, perform at higher levels. Type As do tend to work faster than Type Bs on many tasks, even when no pressure or deadline is involved. Similarly, Type As can get more done in the presence of distractions. They tend to seek more difficult and challenging work than Type Bs. Type As are not always superior to Type Bs. Type As frequently perform poorly on certain kinds of tasks, including those requiring patience or careful judgment. The impatience of Type As often is incompatible with the deliberate, carefully considered decisions required from top-level managers.

Core self-evaluation
People with positive core self-evaluations like themselves and see themselves as effective, capable, and in control of their environment Those with negative core self-evaluations tend to dislike themselves, question their capabilities and view themselves as powerless over their environment

Narcissism
The term is from the Greek myth of Narcissus Narcissism describes a person who has grandiose sense of self-importance, requires excessive admiration, has a sense of entitlement, and is arrogant

Risk taking
"People differ in their willingness to take chances High risk taking managers made more rapid decisions and used less information in making their choices than did the low risk-taking managers.

Proactive Personality
Identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs They create positive change in their environment, regardless of constraints or obstacles Seen as leaders and acts as change agents within an organization They select, create, and influence work situations in their favor

Personality Concepts
Personality: The unique and relatively stable patterns of behavior, thoughts, and emotions shown by individuals. Interactionist Perspective: The view that behavior is a result of a complex interplay between personality and situational factors. Person-Job Fit: The extent to which individuals possess the traits and competencies required to perform specific jobs.

Basic convictions that a specific mode of conductor end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence Value System: A hierarchy based on a ranking of an individual's values in terms of their intensity, such as freedom, pleasure, self-respect, honesty, obedience, and equality

Importance of Values
"Values are important to the study of organizational behavior because they lay the foundation for the understanding of attitudes and motivation and because they influence our perceptions"

Types of Values
a) Terminal Values: Desirable end-states of existence; the goals that a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime. b) Instrumental Values: Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one's terminal values.

Terminal Values vs Instrumental Values

Terminal Values A comfortable life (a prosperous life) An exiting life (a stimulating, active life) A sense of accomplishment (lasting contribution) A world at peace (free of war and conflict) A world of beauty (beauty of nature and the arts) Equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity for all) Family security (taking care of loved ones) Freedom (independence, free choice) Happiness (contentedness) Inner harmony (freedom from inner conflict) Mature love (sexual and spiritual intimacy) National security (protection from attack) Pleasure (an enjoyable, leisurely life) Salvation (saved, eternal life) Self-respect (self-esteem) Social recognition (respect, admiration) True friendship (close companionship) Wisdom (a mature understanding of life) Instrumental Values Ambitious (hardworking, aspiring) Broad-minded (open-minded) Capable (competent, effective) Cheerful (lighthearted, joyful) Clean (neat, tidy) Courageous (standing up for your beliefs) Forgiving (willing to pardon others) Helpful (working for the welfare of others) Honest (sincere, truthful) Imaginative (daring, creative) Independent (self-reliant, self-sufficient) Intellectual (intelligent, reflective) Logical (consistent, rational) Loving (affectionate, tender) Obedient (dutiful, respectful) Polite (courteous, well-mannered) Responsible (dependable, reliable) Self-controlled (restrained, self-disciplined)

Linking Personality and Values to the Workplace

Organizations were concerned on with personality to match individuals to specific jobs, now it has expanded to include how well the individuals personality and match the organization.

Person-Job Fit
Matching job requirements with personality characteristics The theory argues that satisfaction is highest and turnover is lowest when personality and occupation are in agreement

Person-Organization Fit
Importance of employees personalities fit with the overall organizations culture than with the characteristics of any specific job People are attracted to and selected by organizations that match their value, and they leave organizations that are not compatible with their personalities