Week 2 - Self Awareness & Personality Flashcards
Dimensions of Personality! Dispositional, Situational & Interactionalist approaches Self awareness
What is personality?
A person
s tendency toward thinking, behaving
and feeling in consistent ways across different
types of situations & across time.
What is are the three aspects of personality?
Approach to
interaction
(Behaviour)
Approach to
perception/processing
information
(Thinking)
Approach to
interpreting and
reacting
(Feeling)
What does OCEAN trait’s stand for?
Slide 9
Openness - imagination, feelings, actions, ideas
Conscientiousness - competence, self-discipline, thoughtfulness, goal-driven
Extroversion, social, assertiveness, emotional expression
Agreeableness - cooperative, trustworthy, good-natured
Neuroticism (Emotional Stability) - unstable emotions
Connections between work and the traits?
Extraversion = lower absenteeism
Emotional Stability = more motivation and job satisfaction
Conscientiousness = lower absenteeism, counterproductive work behaviour, and turnover. More motivation job satisfaction and job performance.
Openness to experience and agreeableness have no links
How is behaviour different from personality?
Can be observed/measured all the time - E.g., Talkativeness in social situations is extraversion vs. talkativeness in non social
situations is not
Is influenced by personality & other factors
E.g., Talking in class is determined by personality and reinforcement in class whereas
talking across different social situations is determined by personality
What is this debate: Is your behaviour
determined more
by your personality
or the situation?
The Person situation debate
Dispositional Approach
Focuses on individual dispositions and personality.
Individuals possess stable traits or characteristics that influence
their attitudes and behaviours.
Individuals are predisposed to behave in certain ways.
Situational Approach
Many studies have shown that job satisfaction and other work
related attitudes are largely determined by situational factors
such as the characteristics of work tasks.
rewards/punishments influenced by emotions/attitudes/behaviours result in job satisfaction
Interactionist Approch
Organizational behaviour (individuals’ attitudes and behaviour) is a function of both dispositions and the situation.
To predict and understand organizational behaviour, we need to
know something about an individual’s personality and the work
setting.
The interactionist approach is the most widely accepted
perspective within organizational behaviour.
Give an example of a “weak” situation
Interactionist Approach:
Roles are loosely defined, few
rules and weak reinforcement
and punishment contingencies.
Personality has the strongest
effect in weak situations.
Give an example of a “weak” situation
Interactionist Approach:
Roles, rules, and contingencies
are more defined.
Personality has less of an
impact in strong situations.
Implications of the Interactionist Approch?
Some personality characteristics are useful in certain
organizational situations.
There is no one best personality.
Appreciate the advantages of employee diversity.
The importance of fit putting the right person in the right job,
group, or organization.
Self Awareness Steps
- Making observations of thoughts and behaviours
- Scales and Questionnaires
- Reliable, valid, and structured scales - Comparing observations with external sources
- Context matters (Professional social, intimate) - Learning for results
- Modify the future behaviour
- Self observation
- Comparison
Why become self aware?
To develop Intrapersonal skills
ex. Choose appropriate careers: considering your own personality and interests
To manage yourself - setting appropriate goals
Accept yourself - 30-50% of personality is genetic
Develop Interpersonal skills - Initiating building and maintaining relationships, understand other people and why they react
To improve performance (Church, 97)
What are things that leaders should become self aware of?
Intra: Attitudes towards authority
Self Esteem
Inter: Self Monitoring, Social Skills
Both: Self control
What is Behavioural Placticity?
Events and people in organizations have more impact on beliefs and actions on someone with low self- esteem
Employees with ___ self
esteem react badly to negative feedback it lowers subsequent
performance.
low
People with ____ self
esteem make more fulfilling career decisions and have higher job
satisfaction and job performance.
high
People with _____ self
esteem are more resilient to the strains of everyday worklife.
high
Self esteem is an aspect of ____
Emotional Stability
Emotional Stability (aka Neuroticism)=??
Calm, Angry, anxious, worried, guilt
ridden, nervous
Authority + High self esteem = ??
Tendency to act in an obedient manner in situations where it is socially expected of one to follow an overt/implied command
Tendency to follow rules, respect procedures, behave in socially
appropriate manner, be conforming, be compliant
E.g., in traffic; in a church, in certain offices, with people holding certain roles
Social Skills
Able to read others accurately
Make favorable first impressions
Adapt to a wide range of social situations
Be persuasive
Summary: Put oneself in the place of another person and try to understand what the person expects
in an interaction
Self-monitoring
The extent to which people observe and regulate how they
appear and behave in social settings and relationships.
E.g., a high self monitor may deceive people by being friendly when s/he really dislikes them
more involved in their jobs, perform better, and are more likely to emerge as leaders.
do not feel comfortable in ambiguous social settings in which it is hard to determine what behaviours are
socially appropriate.
Low self monitors behave according to their own inner states whereas high monitors behave according to the
social situation
Summary: Incorporate information about other person’s expectations in one’s subsequent behaviour
e.g., Regulating oneself when interacting with supervisor
Self Control
Features…
Impulse control : Delay gratification
Persistence (Conscientiousness)
On task;
On others expectations
E.g., customer service context
Low risk seeking (for self and other)
Ability to Control emotions
E.g., Temper, anxiety
Can do all of these in social (interpersonal) and personal (intrapersonal) context
Summary: Stay focused on the other person’s expectation
E.g., supervisor’s expectation of being treated with respect
