Personality and Diversity Flashcards
Personality
- A persistent set of characteristics qualities and traits that taken together form a unique person… the sum of the ways an individual reacts to and interacts with others
- When someone exhibits these characteristics in a large number of situations, we call them the personality traits of that person More consistent = more central
Dispositional approach
- Individuals’ personalities determine their behaviour
and they possess stable traits or characteristics that influence their attitudes and behaviours - Individuals are predisposed to behave in certain ways.
Situational approach
Characteristics of the work environment influence people’s attitudes and behaviours
Interactionist approach
People’s attitudes and behaviours are a function of both disposition and the situation
Situation strength theory
Depends on: Clarity (Cues about duties & responsibilities are clear),
* Consistency (compatible duties goals and responsibilities)
* Constraints (freedom limited by outside forces),
* Consequences (decisions and actions are important)
Strong situations
Situations where there are clear and defined roles, rules, and contingencies.
Trait activation theory
Certain situations activate personality traits
People thrive in work contexts where their traits are activated
Trait activation leads to performance when these traits are valued
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Energy (Extravert, Introvert)
Information (Sensing, Intuition)
Decisions (thinking, Feeling)
Lifestyle (Judging, Perceiving )
Challenges to MBTI
- Reliability: Inconsistent results across time and people
- Validity: Does not predict outcomes we care about ( i.e. job performance)
- Conceptualization: Forced dichotomization of continuous variables
- Understandability: Not easily interpretable
OCEAN Framework
Says personality types include 5 dimensions. Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.
Openness to experience
- Preference for novelty and variety
E.g.: Flexible/open to change vs resistant to change
Creativity vs unimaginative
Conscientiousness
The tendency to be disciplined, organized, and reliable
E.G.: Responsible vs irresponsible
Dependable vs. impulsive
Orderly vs. messy
Self-disciplined vs. careless
Extraversion
Sociability and the tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others
E.G.: Outgoing vs shy
Assertive vs cautious
Energized vs. drained by busy environments
Agreeableness
The tendency to be prosocial and cooperative with others
Neuroticism/ emotional stability
Vulnerability to unpleasant emotions and difficulty withstanding stress
Big 5 measurement issues
The most common method is self-reported surveys but
Individuals lie, especially when results are used for evaluation purposes
Situational factors can affect results (i.e., a bad mood)
Core self-evaluation
- Self-esteem- How you see yourself “I love myself”
- Self-efficacy- Belief you can do it “I can do it”
- Locus of control- Internal vs. external “I can control it”
Self-monitoring
An individual’s ability to accurately read and adjust behaviour to external, situational factors
High self-monitors:
Make contradictions- public & private selves
Receive more promotions, occupy central positions
More likely to emerge as leaders
Deep diversity
Attitudes opinions values information- Take time to emerge
Surface diversity
Sex, race, gender, age, etc. -Are more readily observable
Intersectionality
“Individuals have different identities that intersect in ways that impact how they are viewed understood and treated” Crenshaw
Intersectionality at work:
Black, Asian, and White women are subject to distinct stereotypes which impact how they are treated e.g warm and agreeable. Are often penalized when they act different
People struggle to remember Black women’s names and faces compared to Black men, White women & White men.
The Business Case for diversity
Business case: Organizations should value diversity because it is instrumental to organizational goals “Do it because it has benefits”
* Decreases sense of belonging and organizational attractiveness among underrepresented groups
* Generate performance contingent support
Fairness/ Moral case:
organizations should value diversity because it is the morally and ethically sound thing to do
Benefits of diversity
Higher quality work output
Better decision-making
Great team satisfaction
benefits to diversity are contingent
The team can discuss team functioning
Status differences between groups minimized
Learning orientation
Recognize diversity, rather than seek to minimize
Colorblindness
E.G. I don’t see colour
Ignoring and minimizing social differences
* By masking group differences, it can create a culture of ignoring real group disparities, and even justifying them.
* Does not address incorrect negative stereotypes
* Dominant groups become the cultural default
* Codeswitching by minorities
* Lower engagement
* Poorer performance
Multiculturalism
Acknowledging and celebrating social differences (e.g. everyone is different and I value that)
* Reduces prejudice
* Can lead to more stereotyping based on visible differences even if the differences are perceived more favourable
* Greater engagement and organizational commitment
* Minorities feel appreciated, sense of belongingness, but only those that are highly identified
Tokenism
- Corporate boards which exclude marginalized group members are sub-optimal
- But a diverse board by itself does not improve performance
- Attitude and culture towards diversity impacts whether individuals are tokenized or valued
- Tokens have higher levels of depression and stress lower job satisfaction and commitment and experience more discrimination, sexual harassment and stereotyping
- Tokens suffer both hypervisibility and invisibility
Allocative inequality:
Women sort into lower-paid occupations and establishments
Valuative Inequality:
Female-dominated occupations pay less than male-dominated occupations
Within-Job Inequality:
Women receive lower pay than men within the same occupation within the same establishment
Prejudice
: “Affect component” Negative feelings towards an individual or group of individuals because of their group membership
Discrimination:
Unequal treatment or outcomes based on social group membership
Can be:
* Overt (e.g., segregation laws) or subtle (micro-aggressions, backhanded complements)
* Intentional or unintentional
* Systemic (policies or procedures that target minority groups) or Interpersonal
* Can be due to disadvantage or advantage
Individuals Fostering Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Individuals:
* Be a good ally.
* Confront bias:
* “Would you say the same thing to about a person who was not…?”
* “What makes you think that.”
* “I agree, …had a great idea.”
Groups and Teams (Fostering Diversity, Equity & Inclusion)
- Create structured vs unstructured settings (PC Norms), with common goals and positive outcomes
- Track who does the office housework
- Foster positive diversity mindsets
Organizations (Fostering Diversity, Equity & Inclusion)
- Opt-out policies (as opposed to opt-in)
- Reward DEI work.
- Collect and analyze data, accountability, formalization, and transparency.
- Increase managerial diversity.
Circle of trust implications
- We tend to associate with others who are similar to ourselves and like, trust, and have more empathy for them; even though we don’t consciously seek this
- Informal recruitment programs, like word of mouth and employee referrals will attract similar people to the organization
- Although the company may have more information on these recruits and their skills ( through employee knowledge of them), this approach will rarely increase organizational diversity
Ally Ship
- Center the allyship target not yourself
- Focus on the impact, not intent
- Don’t try to relate your own experiences
- Don’t center your own emotions
- Look for opportunities to listen and learn
- Books media podcasts ERGs
- Ask about work experiences and goals not about their racial experiences, appearance, or personal lives
- Echo, mentor, sponsor
Conditions for perceptual bias
Time pressure
Cognitive load
Low scrutiny (no accountability)
Ambiguity (no guidelines to hiring)
Fighting Bias in hiring
- Use blind screening when possible.
- Create concrete evaluation criteria before meeting candidates. (or similarity standards may shift criteria) “eliminates post rationalization
- Use structured interviews and ask the same questions to everyone.
- Rank all candidates on the same criteria immediately following the interview/meeting/assessment
- Justify all rankings.
