Module 2: Chapter 2 (Personality & Learning) Flashcards
Define personality
a relatively stable set of psychological characteristics on how you feel, behave, and think
Define Dispositional approach, Situational approach, and Interactionist approach
- Dispositional approach: individuals possess stable traits that influence their attitudes and behaviours
→ Individuals are predisposed to behave in certain ways - Situational approach: characteristics of the organizational setting influences people’s attitudes and behaviour
→ Such as rewards and punishment that influence people’s behaviour - Interactionist approach [Combined approach]: Individuals’ attitudes and behaviour are a function of both dispositions and the situation
→ to understand OB, one must know something about an individual’s personality and the setting in which a person works
Define trait activation theory
traits lead to certain behaviours only when situations makes the need for the trait salient (most noticeable)
Personality Variables: Define the Five Factor Model and describe the five factors
EECAO
Five Factor Model: Five dimensions that describe personality
- Extraversion/introvert: person is outgoing versus shy; requires a lot of interpersonal interaction
- Emotional stability/neuroticism: has emotional control; lower emotional stability (neuroticism) means depression
- Agreeableness/cold: are cooperative; cold people are uncooperative
- Conscientiousness/lazy: a person is goal-orientated; lazy people are careless
- Open to Experience/conservative: a person thinks flexibly and is receptive to new ideas; conservatives favour the status quo
Personality Variables: define the Locus of Control and the two types
Locus of control: a set of beliefs about whether one’s behaviour is controlled mainly by internal or external forces
- Internal Locus: they believe they are the centre of control in their life (ex. Driver of their life)
- External locus: best in the passenger side of your life, don’t have much control of your life, external controls affect your outcomes
Personality Variables: define Self-Monitoring
Hint: how people regulate and how they a___ and b___ in
Self-Monitoring: the extent to which people observe and regulate how they appear and behave in social settings and relationships
→ High-self monitors take great care in observing thoughts, actions, and feelings of those around them, tune into social cues
Personality Variables: define self-esteem, stemming from that, define behavioural plasticity theory
Self-esteem: the degree to which a person has a positive self-evaluation
→ either have high or low confidence
→ low-esteem people react badly with feedback as they seek approval from others
- Behavioural plasticity theory: people with low self-esteem tend to be more susceptible to external and social influences than those who have higher self-esteem
Define Positive Affectivity and Negative Affectivity
- Positive Affectivity: propensity to view the world, including oneself and other people, in a positive light
→ Are cheerful, lively, and energetic; have higher job performance - Negative Affectivity: propensity to view the world, including oneself and other people, in a negative light
→ Experience anxiety, depression, unhappiness; likely to use harassment and physical aggression, and absenteeism and turnover
Define Proactive personality, as well, define Proactive behaviour
Hint: environment versus idea/theory
Proactive personality: a personal disposition that reflects a tendency to take initiative across a range of situations to effect positive change in one’s environment
→ Are not constrained by situational forces and act to change their environment
Proactive behaviour: taking initiative to improve current circumstances or creating new ones
→ Challenges the status quo (being more proactive)
Define Self-Efficacy (GSE)
a general trait that refers to an individual’s belief in their ability to perform successfully in a variety of challenging situations
→ a motivational trait
a broad personality concept that consists of more specific traits that reflect the evaluations people hold about themselves and their self-worth.
Which personality concept is this?
And what four traits does it makeup?
Core Self-evaluations
→ The four traits that makeup a person's core self-evaluation are self-esteem, general self-efficacy, locus of control, and neuroticism (emotional stability)
Define Operant learning
Hint: people learn to operate..
Operant Learning: learning by which the subject learns to operate on the environment to achieve certain outcomes
* Ex. Salespeople learn effective sales techniques to achieve commissions and avoid criticism from their managers
Operant learning Theory: define Reinforcement , Positive Reinforcement, and Negative Reinforcement
Note: Both Positive and Negative Reinforcement achieve the same result
- Reinforcement: the process by which stimuli strengthen behaviours
→ Ex. The sales commissions and criticism are reinforces for salespeople - Positive Reinforcement: the application of a stimulus that increases or maintains the probability of some behaviour
→ Ex. Securities analyst reads a particular set of financial newspapers regularly, as the development of this reading habit has resulted in a series of successful business decisions - Negative Reinforcement: the removal of a stimulus that in turn increases or maintains the probability of some behaviour
→ Ex. Managers who constantly nag at their employees unless the employees work hard are using negative reinforcement; the only way employees can stop the nagging is if they work harder
What are the two ways to reduce the probability of a behaviour?
- Extinction: the gradual dissipation of behaviour following the termination of reinforcement
- Punishment: the application of an aversive stimulus following some behaviour designed to decrease the probability of that behaviour
Define Social Cognitive Theory
Social Cognitive Theory (SCT): emphasizes the role of cognitive processes in learning and in the regulation of people’s behaviour
→ People learn by observing the behaviour of others
→ People manage their own behaviour by thinking about the consequences of their actions
