Ch. 4 - Personality, Cultural Values, and Abilities Flashcards
Personality
The structures and propensities inside a person that explain their characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behaviour
The Big Five Taxonomy
Five broad dimensions used to summarize our personalities:
-Conscientiousness
-Agreeableness
-Neuroticism
-Openness
-Extraversion
Conscientiousness
A strong desire to accomplish task-related goals well and thoroughly
What is the biggest influence on job performance out of the Big Five? The second biggest?
Biggest Influence: Conscientiousness
Second Biggest Influence: Neuroticism
Agreeableness
One’s ability to put others’ needs before their own. Individuals with high agreeableness are said to be communion striving
Which dimension of the Big Five is the most beneficial for service jobs?
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
Tendency to experience negative emotions. Affects how people deal with stress. Most jobs benefit from employees who are calm, stable, and secure (opposite of neuroticism)
Which dimension of the Big Five is toughest to gauge in a short period of time?
Neuroticism
Differential Exposure
Being more likely to appraise day-to-day situations as stressful
Differential Reactivity
Being less likely to believe that one can cope with the stressors experienced on a daily basis
Internal Locus of Control
Present in people that attribute the causes of events to themselves. These people look within themselves for change.
Neurotic people hold an _________ locus of control
External (they often attribute events to the external environment)
External Locus of Control
Present in people that attribute the causes of events to the external environment. These people look at the external environment for change.
“Why is this happening to me?”
Which locus of control does this characterize?
External
Is it good to have a completely internal locus of control?
No. It is best to be have a locus of control between internal and external. Too much internal locus of control can lead to self-depreciation.
Openness to Experience
Willingness to try new things. Most people are not fully open or fully closed.
Is being more open to new experiences always a good thing?
Usually, but not always. Consider a pilot. They need to fly a plane by the book to ensure their passengers are safe.
What is the relationship between Consciousness and Job Performance?
Moderate positive correlation
What is the relationship between Consciousness and Organizational Commitment?
Moderate positive correlation
Culture
Shared values, beliefs, motives, identities, and interpretations that result from common experiences of members of a society
Cultural Values
Shared beliefs about a desirable end states or modes of conduct in a given culture
Hofstede’s Dimensions of Cultural Values
Framework used to understand differences in culture across countries. The dimensions include:
-Individualism/Collectivism
-Power Distance
-Uncertainty Avoidance
-Masculinity/Femininity
-Short-Term Oriented/Long-Term Oriented
Ability
Relative stable capabilities people have to perform a particular range of different but related activities (not teachable or trainable)
Cognitive Ability
Capabilities related to the acquisition and application of knowledge in problem solving:
-Verbal
-Quantitative
-Reasoning
-Spatial
-Perceptual
Does cognitive ability improve as you age?
No. In fact, cognitive ability often declines as you age.
How is cognitive ability measured?
Using the Personnel Assessment Form (PAF). Provides scores in 2 subtests measuring verbal and quantitative ability. An overall measure of cognitive ability can be acquired by combined to derive an overall measure of general cognitive intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence (EI/EQ)
Capabilities related to the management and use of emotions when interacting with others
What are the 4 branches of emotional intelligence?
-Self Awareness
-Other Awareness
-Emotion Regulation
-Use of emotions
Self Awareness
An individual’s ability to understand the types of emotions they are experiencing, the willingness to acknowledge them, and the capability to express them accurately.
Other Awareness
An individual’s ability to recognize and understand other peoples’ emotions
Emotion Regulation
The ability to quickly recover from emotional experiences and control one’s feelings.
Use of emotions
An individual’s ability to harness emotions and use them to improve their chances of being successful in a given area
What is the relationship between Cognitive Ability and Job Performance?
Strong positive correlation
What is the relationship between Cognitive Ability and Job Performance?
No correlation
What are the strengths of collectivist organizations?
-Higher levels of task performance and citizenship behaviour in team settings
-Lower levels of counterproductive behaviour and withdrawal behaviour
-Greater commitment to employers
-Preference for group rewards
Individualism-Collectivism
The degree to which a culture has a loosely knit social framework or a tight social framework
Power Distance
The degree to which a culture prefers equal power distribution or an unequal power distribution
Uncertainty Avoidance
The degree to which a culture tolerates ambiguous situations or feels threatened by them
Masculinity-Femininity
The degree to which a culture values stereotypically male traits (eg. assertiveness) or stereotypically feminine traits (eg. caring for others)
Short-Term Oriented/Long-Term Oriented
The degree to which a culture stresses values that are past and present oriented (i.e. next 4 years) or future oriented
What is the main purpose of Project GLOBE?
To examine the impact of culture on the effectiveness of various leader attributes, behaviours, and practices.
Ethnocentrism
A propensity to view one’s own cultural values as “right” and other cultural values as “wrong”
