Ch.5 Personality and Values

Question 1

Personality

Answer 1

The sum of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others.

Question 2

Heredity

Answer 2

Factors determined at conception; one’s biological, physiological, and inherent psychological makeup.
Physical stature, facial features, gender, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy level, and biological rhythms are either completely or substantially influenced by parentage—by your biological parents’ biological, physiological, and inherent psychological makeup.

Question 3

Personality traits

Answer 3

Enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior.

Question 4

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Answer 4

A personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into one of 16 personality types.

Question 5

Big Five Model

Answer 5

A personality assessment model that describes five basic dimensions of personality.

Question 6

Big Five Model- conscientiousness

Answer 6

A personality dimension that describes someone who is responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized.
A highly conscientious person is responsible, organized, dependable, and persistent. Those who score low on this dimension are easily distracted, disorganized, and unreliable.

Question 7

Big Five Model- emotional stability

Answer 7

A personality dimension that characterizes someone as calm, self-confident, and secure (positive) versus nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative). High scorers are more likely to be positive and optimistic and to experience fewer negative emotions; they are generally happier than low scorers. Emotional stability is sometimes discussed as its converse, neuroticism. Low scorers (those with high neuroticism) are hypervigilant and vulnerable to the physical and psychological effects of stress. Those with high neuroticism tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed, and insecure.

Question 8

Big Five Model- extraversion

Answer 8

A personality dimension describing someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive. Extraverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and sociable. They experience more positive emotions than do introverts, and they more freely express these feelings. On the other hand, introverts (low extraversion) tend to be more thoughtful, reserved, timid, and quiet.

Question 9

Big Five Model- openness to experience

Answer 9

A personality dimension that characterizes someone in terms of imagination, sensitivity, and curiosity. Open people are creative, curious, and artistically sensitive. Those at the low end of the category are conventional and find comfort in the familiar.

Question 10

Big Five Model- agreeableness

Answer 10

A personality dimension that describes someone who is good natured, cooperative, and trusting. Agreeable people are cooperative, warm, and trusting. You might expect agreeable people to be happier than disagree-able people. They are, but only slightly. When people choose organizational team members, agreeable individuals are usually their first choice. In contrast, people who score low on agreeableness are cold and antagonistic.

Question 11

Dark Triad

Answer 11

A constellation of negative personality traits consisting of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy

Question 12

Dark Triad-Machiavellianism

Answer 12

The degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means. High-Mach employees, by manipulating others to their advantage, win in the short term at a job, but they lose those gains in the long term because they are not well liked.

Question 13

Dark Triad-Narcissism

Answer 13

The tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive admiration, and possess a sense of entitlement.
They are more likely to be chosen for leadership positions, and medium ratings of narcissism (neither extremely high nor extremely low) are positively correlated with leadership effectiveness.66 Some evidence suggests that narcissists are more adaptable and make better business decisions than others when the issue is complex.

Question 14

Dark Triad-psychopathy

Answer 14

The tendency for a lack of concern for others and a lack of guilt or remorse when actions cause harm.
Measures of psychopathy attempt to assess the motivation to comply with social norms; impulsivity; willingness to use deceit to obtain desired ends; and disregard, that is, lack of empathic concern for others.

Question 15

core self-evaluation (CSE)

Answer 15

Bottom-line conclusions individuals have about their capabilities, competence, and worth as a person. People who have positive CSEs like themselves and see themselves as effective and in control of their environment. Those with negative CSEs tend to dislike themselves, question their capabilities, and view themselves as powerless over their environment.

Question 16

self-monitoring

Answer 16

A personality trait that measures an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational factors. High self-monitors show considerable adaptability in adjusting their behavior to external situational factors. They are highly sensitive to external cues and can behave differently in varying situations, sometimes presenting striking contradictions between their public personae and their private selves. Low self-monitors like Zoe can’t disguise themselves in that way. They tend to display their true dispositions and attitudes in every situation; hence, there is high behavioral consistency between who they are and what they do.

Question 17

Proactive personality

Answer 17

People who identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs
Proactive individuals have many desirable behaviors that organizations covet. They have higher levels of job performance and do not need much oversight.87 They tend to be satisfied with their jobs, committed to their organizations, and tend to engage in more networking behaviors. Proactive individuals often achieve career success.

Question 18

situation strength theory

Answer 18

A theory indicating that the way personality translates into behavior depends on the strength of the situation.

Question 19

situation strength theory- Clarity

Answer 19

degree to which cues about work duties and responsibilities are available and clear. Jobs high in clarity produce strong situations because individuals can readily determine what to do. For example, the job of janitor probably provides higher clarity about each task than the job of nanny.

Question 20

situation strength theory- Consistency

Answer 20

cues regarding work duties and responsibilities are compatible with one another. Jobs with high consistency rep-resent strong situations because all the cues point toward the same desired behavior. The job of acute care nurse, for example, probably has higher consistency than the job of manager.

Question 21

situation strength theory- Constraints

Answer 21

extent to which individuals’ freedom to decide or act is limited by forces outside their control. Jobs with many constraints represent strong situations because an individual has limited individual discretion. Bank examiner, for example, is probably a job with stronger constraints than forest ranger.

Question 22

situation strength theory- Consequences

Answer 22

degree to which decisions or actions have important implications for the organization or its members, clients, suppliers, and so on. Jobs with important consequences represent strong situations because the environment is probably heavily structured to guard against mistakes. A surgeon’s job, for example, has higher consequences than a foreign-language teacher’s.

Question 23

Trait Activation Theory

Answer 23

A theory that predicts that some situations, events, or interventions “activate” a trait more than others. For example, a commission-based compensation plan would likely activate individual differences because extraverts are more reward-sensitive, than, say, open people. Conversely, in jobs that encourage creativity, differences in openness may better predict desired behavior than differences in extraversion

Question 24

values

Answer 24

Basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence

Question 25

value system

Answer 25

A hierarchy based on a ranking of an individual’s values in terms of their intensity.

Question 26

terminal values

Answer 26

Desirable end-states of existence; the goals a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime. examples of terminal values are prosperity and economic success, freedom, health and well-being, world peace, and meaning in life.

Question 27

instrumental values

Answer 27

Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one’s terminal values. Examples of instrumental values are autonomy and self-reliance, personal discipline, kindness, and goal-orientation.

Question 28

personality–job fit theory

Answer 28

A theory that identifies six personality types and pro-poses that the fit between personality type and occupational environment determines satisfaction and turnover.

Question 29

person–organization fit

Answer 29

A theory that people are attracted to and selected by organizations that match their values, and leave when there is no compatibility

Question 30

Hofstede’s Framework-power distance

Answer 30

A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally. A high rating on power distance means large inequalities of power and wealth exist and are tolerated in the culture, as in a class or caste system that discourages upward mobility. A low power distance rating characterizes societies that stress equality and opportunity.

Question 31

Hofstede’s Framework-individualism

Answer 31

A national culture attribute that describes the degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups.

Question 32

Hofstede’s Framework-Collectivism

Answer 32

A national culture attribute that describes a tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of which they are a part to look after them and protect them.

Question 33

Hofstede’s Framework-masculinity

Answer 33

A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which the culture favors traditional masculine work roles of achievement, power, and control. Societal values are characterized by assertiveness and materialism.

Question 34

Hofstede’s Framework-femininity

Answer 34

A national culture attribute that indicates little differentiation between male and female roles; a high rating indicates that women are treated as the equals of men in all aspects of the society.

Question 35

Hofstede’s Framework-uncertainty avoidance

Answer 35

A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them.

Question 36

Hofstede’s Framework-long-term orientation

Answer 36

A national culture attribute that emphasizes the future, thrift, and persistence.

Question 37

Hofstede’s Framework-short-term orientation

Answer 37

A national culture attribute that emphasizes the present and accepts change.

Question 38

Summary

Answer 38

Personality matters to organizational behavior. It does not explain all behavior, but it sets the stage. Emerging theory and research reveal how personality mat-ters more in some situations than others. The Big Five has been a particularly important advancement, though the Dark Triad and other traits matter as well. Every trait has advantages and disadvantages for work behavior, and there is no perfect constellation of traits that is ideal in every situation. Personality can help you to understand why people (including yourself!) act, think, and feel the way we do, and the astute manager can put that understanding to use by taking care to place employees in situations that best fit their personalities. An understanding of personality can also help you understand what strengths you may have (and should strive for) when searching for a job. Values often underlie and explain attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions.
Values tend to vary internationally along dimensions that can predict organizational outcomes; however, an individual may or may not hold values that are consistent with the values of the national culture