© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Chapter 3 Personality, Perception, and Attribution.

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Chapter 3Personality, Perception, and

Attribution


3-2

Lewin’s Formula

B = f(P,E),

where B = behavior

P = person

E = Environment

B = f(P,E),

where B = behavior

P = person

E = Environment


Variables Influencing Individual Behavior


3-5

Skills and Abilities• Personality • Emotional Intelligence (EI)• General Mental Ability (GMA)

– Defined as an individual’s innate cognitive intelligence.

– Single best predictor of work performance across many occupations studied both in the U.S. and across many different cultures.

– What are the implications of this “fact”? See the article Dweck Research.


3-6

Pfeffer & Sutton (2006) on talent• Treat talent as something almost

everyone can earn, not that just a few people own. Talent isn’t fixed unless you believe it is.

• The law of crappy systems trumps the law of crappy people

• Wisdom, not intelligence, is probably the most important talent for sustaining organizational performance

• Encourage people to be noisy and nosy – it promotes wisdom

Pfeffer & Sutton (2006) on talent

Wisdom

Acting with knowledge (??) while doubting what you know

Antithesis

Acting without knowledge or without doubting; also inaction combined with endless analysis or, worse yet, no effort to learn what to do

Understanding and acknowledging the limits of your knowledge

Acting like a know-it-all, not seeming to understand, accept, or acknowledge the limits of your knowledge

Having humility about your knowledge Being arrogant or insecure about your knowledge

Asking for and accepting help from others Not asking for, or refusing, help from others

Giving help Not giving help, even when people clearly need your knowledge and skill

Being curious – asking questions, listening, constantly striving to learn new things from the events, information, and people around you

Lacking curiosity about people, things, and ideas; answering questions and talking only to show people how smart you are, without learning anything from them


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Pfeffer & Sutton (2006) The talents of wisdom: people who sustain organizational

learning• Noisy complainers: Repair problems right away and

then let every relevant person know that the system failed

• Noisy troublemakers: always point out others’ mistakes, but do so to help them and the system learn, not to point fingers (purposeful vs. egocentric)

• Mindful error-makers: Tell managers about their own mistakes, so that others can avoid making them too. When others spot their errors, they communicate learning – not making the best impression – is their goal.

• Disruptive questioners: won’t leave well enough alone. They constantly ask why things are done the way they are done. Is there a better way of doing things?


3-9

Definition of Personality

A set of relatively stable characteristics that lead to consistent patterns of behavior

As a manager, how can you know or assess an individual’s personality? Why would you want to do this?


Value of understanding personality is primarily to help leaders understand their own basic personality dimensions, and then to learn to emphasize the positive and mitigate the negative aspects of their own style.

Also helps you understand others to know something about their personality – knowledge that you can use to guide YOUR behavior.


Big Five Personality Traits


Firm Performance•ROA•ROI•ROS

StrategicFlexibility

Openness to Experience +

Extraversion +

Conscientiousness -

Emotional Stability +

Agreeableness +

Nadkarni & Herrmann, AMJ, 2010

http://www.bretlsimmons.com/2010-11/leader-lab-new-evidence-for-how-company-performance-is-affected-by-ceo-personality/


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Personality

• Core self-evaluation (CSE) is a broad set of personality traits that refers to self-concept.

• CSE is comprised of– Locus of control– Self-esteem– Generalized self-efficacy– Emotional stability


Personality

Locus of Control

Internal External

I control what happens to me!

People and circumstances control my fate!


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Locus of control

Internals have higher job satisfaction, are more likely to assume managerial positions, prefer participative management, have higher work motivation, hold stronger belief that efforts lead to performance, receive higher salaries, and display less anxiety than externals. Will not react well to being closely supervised.

Externals prefer more structured work setting and may be more reluctant to participate in decision making.


Self-Esteem

Success tendsto increaseself-esteem

Failure tendsto decreaseself-esteem


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High SE: perceive strengths as well as weaknesses, but believe strengths more important; perform better and are more satisfied with their jobs; seek out higher status jobs; contribute to success of teams; may also be seen by others as bragging.

Low SE: more strongly affected by what other people think of them; compliment individuals who give them positive feedback while cutting down people who give them negative feedback

Encourage SE by giving subordinates challenges and opportunities for success.

Self Esteem: An individual’s general feeing of self-worth


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Self-monitoring The extent to which people base their behavior on

cues from other people and situations High SM pay attention to what is appropriate in

particular situations and to the behavior of other people, and they behave accordingly

Low SM are not as vigilant to situational cues and act from internal states rather than paying attention to the situation


Self-MonitoringBehavior based on cues

High self monitors– flexible: adjust

behavior according to the situation and the behavior of others

– can appear unpredictable and inconsistent

Low self monitors– act from internal

states rather than from situational cues

– show consistency– less likely to respond

to work group norms or supervisory feedback


WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO. . .

Low self monitors

High self monitors

Get promoted

Change employers

Make a job-related geographic move


The Role of Affect

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


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Attachment Orientation

• Characteristic related to how people form and maintain supportive relationships with others.

• Three patterns of attachment behavior that affect the ways individuals perceive and enact relationships at work: InterdependenceCounterdependenceOverdependence


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• Interdependence: secure pattern of behavior, involves the formation of flexible, reciprocal relationships. Belief that others will be there for help when they are needed.

• Counterdependence: pattern of behavior in which individuals, believing that no one will be available to turn to in stressful situations, isolate themselves and resist supportive overtures by others.


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• Overdependence: pattern of behavior where individuals cling too tightly to others and may drain their support systems by failing to reciprocate support.

• Previous research: Counterdependence and overdependence negatively related to worker health and interdependence positively related to worker health


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Interdependence

Hope

Trust

Burnout

Performance

-0.64

0.39

0.64

0.21


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Machiavellianism

A personality trait involving willingness to manipulate others for one’s own (selfish) purposes. Do whatever it takes to get your way.

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).


Narcissism

• Exploitativeness/Entitlement: I deserve respect, and insist you give it to me

• Leadership/Authority: I love to be the center of attention

• Superiority/Arrogance: I am better than others

• Self-absorption/Self-Admiration: I truly am extraordinary and special

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Narcissistic Leaders

• Not concerned with treating people fairly

• Not good for morale and motivation

• Higher manager turnover

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Narcissistic Employees

• Do not have a realistic conception of their own talent and abilities.

• Likely to also be extraverted and agreeable

• Not good in teams• Don’t take negative feedback well

– Disparage evaluator– Disparage co-workers

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If the CEO is a Narcissist

• Bold, risky actions• Big wins or big losses• Performances swings between

the extremes• No significant difference in

corporate performance

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3-31

Strong Situation

•A situation that overwhelms the effects of individual personalities by providing strong cues for appropriate behavior.

•Strong personalities will dominate in weak situations

Implications?


3-32

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


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

E/I

S/N

T/F

J/P


3-34

Type Theory Preferences and Descriptions

Nelson Table 3.2.CLP


3-35

MBTI

All individuals have some development of both sides of each pair of functions/attitudes.

Each type has advantages and pitfalls. No type is better than another.

Accepting and understanding type helps individuals be more effective.

Understanding the full range of types helps an individual to communicate and work effectively with others.

Pitfalls: labeling or excuse for behavior


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Social Perception

• The process of interpreting information about another person

• Three categories of factors influence our perception of another person:– Characteristics of ourselves, as perceivers– Characteristics of the target person we are

perceiving– Characteristics of the situation in which the

interaction takes place

Social Perception

Model

Social Perception

Target Characteristics• Physical appearance• Verbal communication• Nonverbal cues• Intentions

Perceiver Characteristics• Familiarity with target• Attitudes/Mood • Self-concept• Cognitive structure

Situational Characteristics• Interaction context• Strength of situational cues

Barriers • Selective perception• Stereotyping• First-impression error• Projection• Self-fulfilling prophecies



Barriers to Social Perception

Impression Management

Stereotype

First Impression Error

Projection

Self-fulfilling prophecy


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Stereotypes

Psychological representations of the characteristics of people that belong to particular groups. It is a categorization process. Aids to explanation. Help the perceiver make sense of a

situation. Energy saving devices Shared group beliefs.

Categorization is the cognitive process by which we detect differences and similarities between groups.


Impression Management

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


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Attribution Theory

Attribution theory - explains how individuals pinpoint the causes of their own behavior or that of others – two theories of attribution in this chapter (be familiar with text examples) and chapter 6 (Kelley’s Theory)).

Information cues for attribution information gathering (relates to the behavior/performance of others) consensus distinctiveness consistency


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Explaining the behavior of othersConsensus - the extent to which peers in the

same situation behave the same way (within task comparison)

Distinctiveness - degree to which the person behaves the same way in other situations (between task comparison)

Consistency - the frequency of a particular behavior over time


The Attribution Process

Antecedents--

factors internal

to the perceiver

Attributions made by the perceiver

Consequences for the perceiver

•Information•Beliefs•Motivation

•Perceived external or internal causes of behavior

•Behavior•Feelings•Expectations


Information Cues & Attributions

There are no com pla in tsabout o ther em ployees

(low consensus)

In terna l a ttribu tion(John 's behavior stem s

m ain ly from inte rna l causes)

John has rece ived sim ilarcom pla in ts in the past(low d istinctiveness)

C om pla in ts about Johnhave been com ing in steady

(h igh consistency)

C ustom er has com pla inedabout John


Information Cues & Attributions

O ther em ployees areperfo rm ing poorly

on co llections(h igh consensus)

Externa l a ttribu tion(M ary's behavio r stem s

m ain ly from externa l causes)

M ary on ly perfo rm spoorly on th is task

(h igh d istinctiveness)

M ost o f the tim eM ary handles co llections w e ll

(low consistency)

M ary has perfo rm edpoorly on co llections


Attributions (explanations) of the causes of behavior in yourself.

• Internal–Ability and effort

• External–Task difficulty and luck


Causal Attributions Of Your Behavior (Success and Failure)

Stable Unstable

Internal

External

S = esteem, efficacy

F = depression

S = luck

F = hope/optimismF = frustration

Attributional biases

• Two types of attribution errors

– Fundamental attribution error: tendency to make attributions to internal causes when focusing on someone else’s behavior

– Self-serving bias

– Prevents individuals from accurately assessing their own performance and abilities and makes more difficult determining real cause of failure

– Tendency to blame others for a person’s own failures associated with poor performance and an inability to establish satisfying interpersonal relationships at work and other social settings

• When problems occur at work, managers and employees often make different attributions about the causes.


Advice for managers when problems occur at work

• Avoid the fundamental attribution error (stop blaming)• Anticipate the employee’s self-serving bias and be

proactive. Know that the employee will attribute causes of failure to (blame) the environment, including management. Account for the impact of the environment, including your own behavior, on the employee’s behavior. Look inside first. Eliminate all other causes as much as possible before you blame employees. Employees that see you doing this will credit you with procedural justice.

• If the environment is a major cause, it will be affecting others as well. Fix the system and stop blaming.

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Chapter 3 Personality, Perception, and Attribution.

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Transcript of © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Chapter 3 Personality, Perception, and Attribution.