Personality and Values Flashcards
5-1 What is personality?
The sum of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others.
How do we typically measure personality?
*Personality assessments
*Observer ratings
*Self-report ratings
What factors determine personality?
*Heredity
*Environment
Research supports importance of heredity over environment
5-2 What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Big Five personality model?
MBTI: widely used and recognized
Questions as to validity
Big Five: Supported by more research
Have the most verifiable links to important organizational behavior
Not the only traits a person exhibits or the only ones with OB implications
Personality Traits
Enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior
Big Five Model
A personality assessment model that describes five basic dimensions of personality
Conscientiousness
A personality dimension that describes someone who is responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized
Emotional Stability
A personality dimension that characterizes someone as calm, self-confident, and secure (positive) versus nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative)
Extraversion
A personality dimension describing someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive
Openness to experience
A personality dimension that characterizes someone in terms of imagination, sensitivity, and curiosity
Agreeableness
A personality dimension that describes someone who is good natured, cooperative, and trusting
CSE
Core self-evaluation
CSEs are bottom-line conclusions individuals have about their capabilities, competence, and worth as a person
Self-esteem
Self-efficacy
Positive CSEs
People with positive CSEs like themselves and see themselves as effective and in control of their environment
Negative CSEs
Those with negative CSEs tend to dislike themselves, question their capabilities, and view themselves as powerless over their environment
CSEs : Job satisfaction
People who are positive on this trait see more challenge in their jobs and attain more complex jobs
Self-monitoring
A personality trait that measures an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational factors
High self-monitors
Pay closer attention to the behavior of others and are more capable of conforming
Show less commitment to their organizations but receive better performance reviews
More likely to emerge as leaders
More mobile in their careers
Receive more promotions
More likely to occupy central positions in organizations
We can accurately judge individuals’ personalities a few seconds after meeting them: True or false?
True
We can appraise others’ personalities only a few seconds after meeting them, sometimes even from a photo
Proactive Personality
People who identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs
Affected by context
5-3 How do the concepts of core self-evaluation (CSE), self-monitoring, and proactive personality help us to understand personality?
These personality traits predict important organizational outcomes
Personality is related to employability
Dark Triad
A constellation of negative traits consisting of: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy
Machiavellianism
The degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means
Narcissism
The tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive admiration, and possess a sense of entitlement
Psychopathy
The tendency for a lack of concern for others and a lack of guilt or remorse when actions cause harm
Describe how personality affects job search and unemployment
Conscientiousness and extraversion are predictive of networking intensity, general job search intensity, interview callbacks, and job offers, even after controlling for demographic characteristics and the time spent unemployed
Positive affectivity
Important in getting interviews, job offers, and becoming employed and coping with unemployment
Approach and Avoidance traits
Traits that lead to approaching challenges head-on or avoiding them
Describe how the situation affects whether personality predicts behavior
Personality and the situation both affect work behavior, but when the situation is right, the power of personality to predict behavior is even higher
Situational strength theory
A theory indicating that the way personality translates into behavior depends on the strength of the situation
The Four Elements of Situation Strength in Organizations
Clarity
Consistency
Constraints
Consequences
Clarity
The 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 (i.e., the job of janitor provides higher clarity of each task than the job of nanny)
Consistency
The extent to which cuess regarding work duties and responsibilities are compatible with one another
Jobs with high consistency represent strong situations because all the cues point toward the same desired behavior (i.e., the job of acute care nurse has higher consistency than the job of manager)
Constraints
The 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 (i.e., the job of bank examiner is one with stronger constraints than forest ranger)
Consequences
The degree to which decisions or actions have imortant implications for the organization or its members, clients, suppliers, and so on
Jobs with important consequences represent strong situations because the environment is prbably heavily structured to guard against mistakes (i.e., a surgeon’s job has higher conequences than a foreign-language teacher’s)
Why are organizations strong situations?
They impose rules, norms, and standards that govern behavior
Trait Activation Theory (TAT)
TAT predicts that some situations, events, or interventions “activate” a trait more than others
Using TAT, we can foresee which jobs suit certain personalities (i.e., a compensation-based job will appeal more to an extravert as they are more reward-sensitive; in jobs that encourage creativity, differences in openness may better predict desired behavior than differences in extraversion)
5-4 What are the strongest predictors of job search behavior?
Networking intensity
Conscientiousness and extraversion (2 strongest predictors)
Time structure
Self esteem
Self-efficacy
Contrast terminal and instrumental values
Values one would like to achieve in their lifetime vs. modes of behavior and means of achieving one’s terminal values
Values
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
Tend to be stable and enduring
Partly determined by genetically transmitted traits
Value system
A hierarchy based on a ranking of an individual’s values in terms of their intensity
Organization of values
The foundation for understanding attitudes and motivation
Influence our perception
Terminal values
Desirable end-states of existence; the goals a person would like to achieve during their lifetime
Instrumental values
Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one’s terminal values
Generational values
Values of importance to specific generations (boomers, xers, millennials, etc.)
5-5 How does the situation or environment affect the degree to which personality predicts behavior?
Conscientiousness is helpful to the performance of most jobs
Extraversion is related to emergence as a leader
5-6 What is the difference between terminal and instrumental values?
Terminal values are the goals one hopes to achieve in their lifetime while instrumental values are the means on uses to achieve those goals
5-7 What are the differences between person–job fit and person–organization fit?
Person-job fit relates to a fit between personality type and occupational environment
Person-organization fit relates to people attracted to organizations that match their values
Person-job fit theory
A theory that identifies six personality types and proposes that the fit between personality type and occupational environment determines satisfaction and turnover
Person-organization fit theory
A theory that people are attracted to and selected by organizations that match their values, and leave when there is no compatibility
5-8 How do Hofstede’s five value dimensions and the GLOBE framework differ?
Hofstede’s study was done in the ’70s specifically with IBM employees in 40 different countries
GLOBE began in 1993 and is an ongoing investigation of leadership and culture
Hofstede’s dimensions have stood the test of time while the GLOBE study confirmed them
Hofstede’s five value dimensions
Power distance
Individualism
Collectivism
Masculinity versus Femininity
Uncertainty avoidance
Power distance
A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally
Individualism
A national culture attribute that describes the degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups
Collectivism
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 and protect them
The success of the team is more important overall than the success of any one individual
Masculinity (in job culture)
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 chatacterized by assertiveness and materialism
Femininity (in job culture)
A national culture attribute that indicates little differentiation between male and female roles; a high rating indicates that women are treated as equals of men in all aspects of the society
Uncertainty avoidance
A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them
Long-term versus short-term orientation
Long-term emphasizes the future, thrift, and persistence
Short-term emphasizes the present and accepts change
GLOBE
Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness research program
An ongoing cross-cultural investigation of leadership and national culture
Distributive bargaining
Claiming as large a piece of the pie as possible
