BUSS 2000, Week 2

Theme 1:
Understanding yourself

Module 2:
Individual differences
Video supporting slides

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Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

Individual differences You’ll learn about:

1. Theories of human behaviour

Feel? 1.1. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic approach
Think? 1.2. Behaviourism and B.F. Skinner’s reinforcement theory
1.3. Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory

Behave?
2. Cognitive ability
2.1. Hierarchical model of cognitive ability
2.2. Myths vs research findings
3. Personality
3.1. Models of personality
3.2. Personality at work
4. Emotional intelligence
4.1. Models of EI
4.2. EI abilities

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Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

1. Theories of human behaviour

1.1.Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic approach

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Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

1. Theories of human behaviour

1.2. Behaviourism and B. F. Skinner’s reinforcement theory

(operant conditioning)

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Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

1. Theories of human behaviour

1.3. Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory

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 Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

2. Cognitive ability
Cognitive ability – the capacity
Predictors of job performance
to learn, reason, problem solve,
plan, think abstractly, and
comprehend complex ideas
(Arvey et al., 1995)

2.1.

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Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

2.2. Cognitive ability: myths vs research findings

Myth 1: “Cognitive ability not quite…

only matters in complex jobs”

Myth 2: “All you need well…

is a certain amount
– any more does not help”

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Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

3. Individual differences in personality

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

Are situational or personal factors more important?

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 Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

3.1. Personality models (1)

3.1.1. Personality type models, e.g., MBTI for learning & development

3.1.2. Trait-based models of personality:

(______________________ (________________________
______________________) ________________________)

(________________________ (________________________
________________________) ________________________)

(________________________
________________________)

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 Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

3.1. Personality models (2)

3.1.2. Trait-based models of personality (continued):
Big Five Factor is the dominant model of personality but it is not without
its critiques:

1)

2)

“Without humility, you are unable to learn” –
Laszlo Bock, Google’s SVP of People Operations

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Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

Can influence:
3.2. Personality at work • work performance
• organisational
Personality choice
• career choice
• career satisfaction

And even career success – by

Predictors of job performance influencing the jobs people select!

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Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

4. Emotional intelligence (EI)

“The 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 (Salovey & Mayer, 1990, p. 189).

4.1. Models of EI

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Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

4. Emotional intelligence (2)

4.2. EI abilities
“People will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did, but 
people will never forget 
how you made them feel.” 
– Maya Angelou

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Theme 1: Understanding yourself Theme 2: Understanding others Theme 3: Leading and influencing others

Can influence:
4. Emotional intelligence (3) • Interactions with
friends
EI • Customer
4.2. EI abilities (continued) satisfaction
• Commitment to
organisation

 EI predicts academic performance, and

is associated with a 10 to 12 % increase
in grades at University.
 However, it is not as clearly related to
performance at work as personality and
intelligence.
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