Ob ch5
Transcript of Ob ch5
Ch5 Personality and values
Personality
• What is personality– The sum total of ways in which an individual
reacts to and interacts with others
• Measuring personality– Self-report surveys → problems : fake,
accuracy– Observer ratings surveys
Personality determinants
• Heredity vs. environment– Identical twins researches– Genetics accounts for 50% of the personality
similarities between twins
• Personality changes– Ex. Dependability tend to increase over time– More changeable in adolescence and more
stable among adults.
Personality determinants
• Personality traits– Enduring characteristics that describe an
individual’s behavior– Ex. Lazy, loyal– More frequently occurs, more consistent
overtime → more important in describing the individual
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI)
• 100-question personality test that ask people how they usually feel or act in particular situations.– Extraverted(E) vs. Introverted(I)
Sensing(S) vs. Intuitive(N)Thinking(T) vs. Feeling(F)Judging(J) vs. Perceiving(P)
→16 personality types
• Validity-most of the evidence suggested not• Valuable tool for increasing self-awareness
The Big Five Personality Model
• Big Five factors: Extroversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Emotional stability
Openness to experience• How do the Big Five traits predict behavior at
work?– Higher conscientious higher levels of job knowledge
higher job performance– Conscientious is more important than other traits(to
Business success)
Exhibit 5-2
Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB
• Core self-evaluation– Positive core self-evaluation related to job
satisfaction and better job performance
• Machiavellianism– The degree to which an individual is
pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means
– High-Mach outcomes are moderated by situational factors
– High Machs flourish when:• Interact face to face with others rather than
indirectly• Situation has a minimal number of rules and
regulations, allowing latitude for improvisation• Emotional involvement with details irrelevant to
winning
– High Machs make good employees depends on the type of job
Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB
• Narcissism– While they thought they were better leaders than their
colleagues, their supervisors actually rated them as worse.
• Self-monitoring– High in self-monitoring show considerable adaptability
in adjusting their behavior to external situational factors
• Risk taking– People differ in their willingness to rake chances, a
affects how much time and information managers need to take a decision
Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB
• Type A personality– Aggressive involvement in a chronic,
incessant struggle to achieve more and more in less and less time and, if necessary , against the opposing efforts of other things or other people.
• Proactive personality– People who identify opportunities, show
initiative take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs.
Values
• Basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse ones.
• Contain judgment element, have both content and intensity attributes.
• Value system-based on a ranking of an individual’s values in terms of their intensity.
Values
• The importance of values – influence attitudes and behavior
• Terminal vs. instrumental values– Rokeach Value survey
• 2 sets, each contain 18 individual value items
– Terminal values– Instrumental values– RVS values vary among groups → can
create serious conflicts while groups content
Values
• Generational values– Contemporary work cohorts
Cohort Entered the Workforce Approximate Current Age
Dominant Work Values
Veterans 1950s or early 1960s 65+ Hardworking, conservative, conforming; loyalty to the organization
Boomers 1965-1985 Mid-40s to mid-60s Success, achievement, ambition, dislike of authority, loyalty to career
Xers 1985-2000 Late 20s to early 40s Work/life balance, team-oriented, dislike of rules; loyalty to relationships
Nexers 2000-present Under 30 Confident, financial success, self-reliant but team-oriented; loyalty to both self and relationships
Linking an individual’s personality and values to the workplace
• Person-job fit theory– Vocational Preference Inventory
questionnaire
– The theory argues that satisfaction is highest and turnover lowest when personality and occupation are in agreement• There do appear to be intrinsic differences in
personality among individuals• Different types of jobs• People in jobs congruent with their personality →
more satisfied and less likely to voluntarily resign
Linking an individual’s personality and values to the workplace
• Person-organization fit– People are attracted to and selected by
organizations that match their values, and they leave organizations that are compatible with their personalities
– Fit better with the organization’s culture → higher employee satisfaction and reduced turnover
Global Implications
• Personality– Big Five model appear in almost all cross-
cultural studies– Differences tend to be in the emphasis on
dimensions and whether countries are predominantly individualistic or collectivistic
Global Implications
• Values– Hofstede’s framework for assessing cultures
• Power distance• Individualism vs. Collectivism• Masculinity vs. Femininity• Uncertainty avoidance• Long-term vs. Short-term orientation
– External validity ? → data representation and cultural differences
– The GLOBE Framework for Assessing Cultures• An ongoing cross-cultural investigation of
leadership and national culture• Identified 9 dimensions on which national cultures
differ• Ex. humane orientation, performance orientation
Summary and Implications for Managers
• Personality– Personality and job performance were not
meaningfully related across traits or situations
• Values– Employee’s performance and satisfaction are
likely to be higher if their values fit well with the organization