W.2 Individual differences: cognitive ability, personality, and emotional intelligence

Question 1

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory

Inner psyche comprised of 3 parts:

Answer 1

1. The Id → primal desires for pleasure, basic nature, (wild child, eg infant, unconscious impulsive part)
   Doesn’t reflect on what it needs just wants
2. Ego→ enables us to reason and practice self-control
3. Superego → quest for perfection, influenced by philosophical and spiritual ideals, culturally influenced, tells us what we should & shouldn’t do, punished if we do something bad

Question 2

If the Id, Ego and Superego aren’t in harmony what results?

Answer 2

If these aren’t in harmony there’s tension

Question 3

Why is Freud’s psychoanalytic approach criticised?

Answer 3

Criticised as being unscientific, no support in scientific research

Question 4

Behaviourism

Answer 4

BF Skinner → reinforcement theory

Question 5

BF Skinner’s Behaviourism & reinforcement theory: key determinants of behaviour are

Answer 5

Stimulus- external factor tirggering behavioural response
Response- action/behaviour caused by the stimulus
Reward- (positive reinforcement) something of value a person receives after performing a desired response (encourages repetition of desired response)
Could be a punishment (negative reinforcement)

Question 6

criticisms of behaviourism

Answer 6

Not this simple, ppl behave in different, complex ways, lots of possible responses
Exert more effort, alter one’s goals
Fails to explain range of human behaviours that are possible, but also mental events (thoughts, feelings & goals which influence our behaviour)

Question 7

Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory Holds that a person’s behaviour is influenced by:

Answer 7

his or her environment and their personal characteristics, including their personality, values, goals, etc.

Question 8

Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory is what type of model?

Answer 8

Triadic

1. personal factors, (environment & behaviours)
2. Environmental factors
3. Behavioural factors

Question 9

What is the model that most people subscribe to and why?

Answer 9

as has greater explanation and recognition of factors

Question 10

Behaviourism and B. F. Skinner’s reinforcement theory

(operant conditioning) SRR model of reinforcement

Answer 10

1. Stimulus (triggers a behavioural response)
2. Response
   3a) reward (+Ve reinforcement to promote repetition of desired response)
   3b) punishment (-ve reinforcement to distinguish undesirable response)

Question 11

Cognitive Ability

Answer 11

capacity
to learn, reason, problem solve,
plan, think abstractly, and
comprehend complex ideas
(Arvey et al., 1995)

Question 12

What’s the hierarchical model of cognitive ability

Answer 12

1. General cognitive ability

2. Broader cognitive abilities (numerical, verbal reasoning, abstract reasoning, etc)

Question 13

Frank schmidt & john hunter looked at individual differences & job performance and found cognitive ability was

Answer 13

the single strongest predictor of performance

Question 14

Individual differences in personality

Answer 14

Personality refers to a person’s unique and relatively stable
set of characteristics or patterns of behaviour, thoughts, and
emotions (Funder, 2012).

Question 15

There are three basic beliefs underpinning personality theories:

Answer 15

1. Personality traits, characteristics, and dispositions are relatively stable and enduring.
2. They are major determinants of one’s behaviour.
3. They are likely to influence behaviours across a wide variety of situations.

Question 16

Are situational or personal factors more influential?

Answer 16

Depends on the strength of personal traits or situation
There’s a continuum (extrovert - introvert which determines the strength of the personality trait in response to a situation)
In strong situations, people act similarly (like a funeral)
Weak situations personality is more apparent, since there are less social constraints

Question 17

behaviour is a product of what?

Answer 17

of person & situation acting together

Question 18

trait based models of personality

Answer 18

1. Conscientiousness- degree to which someone is well organised & uses disciplined ways to achieve goals, think before acting
2. Emotional stability- can easily handle stressful situations, slow to anger, rarely becomes discouraged
3. Extraversion- degree to which someone enjoys being around others
4. Agreeableness- degree to which individual is easy going & tolerant, willing to help others, dislikes conflict, sensitive to feelings of others
5. Openness to experience- extent to which they think creatively, appreciation of art and beauty, broad intellectual curiosity

Question 19

how is personality linked to career success?

Answer 19

Influencing jobs selected
Job performance
Interactions at work

Question 20

emotional intelligence

Answer 20

ability to monitor one’s own and others’ emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide one’s thinking and actions

Question 21

three main assumptions underpinning the concept of EI:

Answer 21

Emotions play an important role in life and work.
People vary in their ability to perceive, understand, use, and manage emotions.
These differences affect individual adaptation in a range of contexts, including the workplace

Question 22

characteristics of EI

Answer 22

Strong self awareness,
Awareness of own emotions
Accurately detect emotions in others
Uses this to manage interactions with others

Question 23

models of EI

Answer 23

Mixed models → ei seen as broad construct including personality traits & ability
Ability based model→ sees EI as ability in its own right, focuses on the notion that we vary in aptitude to processing affective or emotion based info

Question 24

4 main EI abilities (each ability builds on the previous one)

Answer 24

1. Self-awareness (understand emotions, strengths & weaknesses, what, why makes you feel)
2. Self-management → Ability to generate use and feel emotions you need
3. Social awareness
4. Relationship Management

Question 25

what is bandura’s social cognitive theory called?

Answer 25

triadic reciprocal determinism (TRD).

Triadic because there are three factors (person, environment and behaviours).

Reciprocal because there is a two-way, mutual influence between each pair of factors.

Determinism because each factor influences, or determines, the others.

Question 26

fixed mindset

Answer 26

believe everyone is born with a certain amount of intelligence, bc of this there’s little need to improve yourself (ie someone with high iq thinking they know everything or defeatist attitude)

Question 27

humility is an

Answer 27

asset to the organisation, they prioritise their firm over themselves

Question 28

EI not as clearly related to

Answer 28

performance at work as personality and

intelligence.

Question 29

 EI predicts

Answer 29

academic performance, and

is associated with a 10 to 12 % increase in grades at University.

Question 30

Upsides to Dark and Downsides to Bright Personality: A Multidomain Review and Future Research Agenda.

Answer 30

(Smith et al, 2018)

Question 31

(Smith et al, 2018)

Answer 31

Upsides to Dark and Downsides to Bright Personality: A Multidomain Review and Future Research Agenda.

Question 32

What does research focus too much on?

Answer 32

downside of dark traits & upside of light traits

Question 33

Advantages and disadvantages of light and dark traits vary

Answer 33

based on situation

Question 34

Effects of personality in organisations are far

Answer 34

more complex than previously observed
extreme levels of bright traits can be bad → TOO organised → NOT flexible
Thus, there are optimum levels of bright traits

Question 35

HEXACO model focuses on

Answer 35

bright traits, viewed as desirable

Question 36

HEXACO

Answer 36

Honesty-humility
Emotionality
Xtraversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Openness to Experience 

(it’s the 5 big personality traits + humility)

Question 37

Need to consider the influence of what tied to dark personality traits?

Answer 37

contextual factors & non-linear effects (when llooking at organisational behaivour)

Question 38

Reported positive effect between narcissism and

Answer 38

creativity

Question 39

Initially, narcissists are considered popular, but

Answer 39

make fewer friends over time

Question 40

Bright Traits ie, Conscientiousness, long considered a key predictor of performance may

Answer 40

hurt team performance when change is necessitated

Question 41

Bright traits may enhance

Answer 41

undesirable relationships, and be detrimental when taken to the extreme (e.g. being too nice) or in certain situations (e.g. too agreeable –>bad ideas form)

Question 42

dark trait workers more likely to get

Answer 42

leadership roles (overconfidence traits, more likely to take risks & stand out)

Question 43

Positive relationship between narcissism and leader emergence, but not between

Answer 43

narcissism and leader effectiveness

Question 44

Bright traits, such as extraversion, are common predictors of leader emergence and effectiveness → BUT can be bad egs:

Answer 44

E.g. diligent leader → micromanager, organised but restricts freedom of workers

High emotional stability → may be seen as lacking attachment or concern

Question 45

CEOs higher in hubris and/or overconfidence are bad for organisations
because eg

Answer 45

Engage in fewer socially responsible activities, strategy choices fail more

Tend to be very bold → take risky action

Narcissistic CEOs good to help firms recover from shocks and innovation

Question 46

Light traits → charismatic CEOs may easily

Answer 46

manipulate others for personal gain

Question 47

Too many narcissists in group lead

Answer 47

to decreased creativity

→ intergroup hostility

Question 48

True or False. Type-based models of personality, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) has better reliability and validity than trait-based models of personality, such as the Big Five Factor model.

Answer 48

False Although the MBTI is widely used, there is little evidence supporting its reliability and validity. As such, most researchers prefer to use a trait-based model of personality, such as the Big Five Factor model or the HEXACO model.