PERSONALITY

MEANING OF PERSONALITY
Personality
Personality can be defined as: The sum total of ways in which an individual interacts with people and reacts to situations.

PERSONNALITY DETERMINANTS

1. Heredity The biological, physiological or psychological characteristics that an individual is born with constitute heredity.

2. Situation
Different situations bring out different aspects of an individuals personality.

3. Environment

Environmental factors include the culture of the society in which an individual is brought up, the norms set by the parents, teachers and other social groups with which the individual interacts, and other situations and experiences he undergoes in his life. Norms, attitudes and values are specific to a culture, remain consistent over time and pass on from one generation to another.
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Traits: Traits are enduring characterustics that describes an Individual Behavior Five important traits: 1. Extraversion This refers to the extent to which a person is comfortable with other people. People who have a high degree of extraversion are sociable, talkative and friendly.

2. Agreeableness

This refers to the extent to which a person subjugates his interests for the sake of the group. People who are very agreeable give importance to maintaining harmony and do not insist that others agree with what they say or follow their suggestions.

3. Conscientiousness

This trait refers to the extent to which a person is responsible and achievement oriented. They are responsible, dependable, persistent and highly achievement-oriented.

4. Emotional stability

This trait determines an individuals ability to withstand stress. Individuals who have positive emotional stability feel emotionally secure and tend to be calm.

People who have negative stability are emotionally insecure and experience feelings of anxiety, nervousness and depression.

5. Openness to experience This personality traits refers to an individuals range of interests and indicates how innovative or how rigid he is in his beliefs. An individual with a high level of openness tends to be creative and has a wide range of interests. Individuals who have a low level of openness, in contrast, have a narrow range of interests, rigid mindsets and tend to be less curious and less willing to accept new ideas.
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The Self-concept: Self-esteem and Selfefficacy

Self refers to the personality of an individual as viewed by that person himself. Self-concept refers to the efforts made by an individual to understand his own self.

Self-concept is closely related to the concepts of self-esteem and self-efficacy.

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Self-esteem

Self-esteem refers to the self-perceived competence and self-image of people. Self-esteem has a moderating influence on employees emotional and behavioral responses to various situations and the stress experienced by them. Employees with high self-esteem perceive themselves as unique, competent, secure and empowered.
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Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy refers to a persons perception of his ability to cope with different situations as they arise. People with high self-efficacy have the capability and the required confidence to rise to the occasion. One major difference between the two concepts is that self-esteem is a generalized trait (it is present in all situations) whereas self-efficacy is situationspecific.

The relationship between self-efficacy and performance is cyclical. Self-efficacy affects performance which in turn affects self-efficacy.
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Person-Situation Interaction

People do not act in a similar manner in all situations, but exhibit different behavioral responses in different situations.
Two different people may exhibit different behaviors, in similar situations.

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4. Locus of Control

It refers to the degree to which people believe that they can control their fate or any situation.
Some people believe that they are masters of their own fate while some believe that fate is controlled by luck, chance or external forces. The former, known as internals, attribute an internal locus of control to organizational outcomes. The latter, known as externals, attribute an external locus of control to organizational outcomes.

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 Externals were dissatisfied with their jobs, showed little commitment to work and were frequently absent from work. Internals, however, were committed to their work, had a low rate of absenteeism, and were highly satisfied with their job. Internals perceive themselves to be responsible for their health and take good care of their health. Incidences of sickness or absenteeism are less among internals.
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 Externals do not consider themselves responsible for their health and attribute ill-health to external forces. They fail to take steps to avoid ill-health. Incidences of sickness and absenteeism are higher among externals. Internals are highly achievement-oriented and search extensively for the required information before making a decision or taking any action.

They make considerable efforts to control the environment in which they work and turn situations in their favor.
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5. Machiavellianism Machiavellianism refers to the degree to which an individual is practical in his approach, maintains an emotional distance from others, and believes that ends justify the means. Individuals who score high on Mach are good at manipulating others and try to win by any means. People having a high Mach perform well in situations that involve face-to-face meetings. They are especially productive in jobs that require the use of bargaining (persuasion) skills and in jobs that offer substantial rewards for the achievement of goals.
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6. Self-esteem

The degree of liking an individual has for himself is referred to as self-esteem.

People with high self-esteem are generally confident. Individuals with low self-esteem lack confidence, look for approval from others, and are not likely to take a stand which opposes others views.

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 People who have high self-esteem do not care about pleasing others and fail to be influenced by external factors.
People with high self-esteem derive more satisfaction from their jobs than people with low-esteem.

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7. Self-monitoring

Self-monitoring refers to the ability of an individual to adapt his behavior to the demands of the situation.
They make successful managers and tend to get promoted faster than others. Low self-monitors find it difficult to disguise their true feeling, emotions and reactions and cannot adapt quickly to situations. Their behavior is consistent with the way they feel. Low self-monitors do not advance as far in their careers as high self-monitors.
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8. Risk taking

People who are highly risk-taking in their behavior make decisions quickly without searching for much information.
Risk-averse people do not make decisions in a hurry and gather a lot of information before making any decision. In organizations, the suitability of a persons risktaking or risk-averse behavior depends on the duties and responsibilities of his job.

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The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) A personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types.

Personality Types
Extroverted vs. Introverted (E or I) Sensing vs. Intuitive (S or N) Thinking vs. Feeling (T or F) Judging vs. Perceiving (P or J)

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MyersBriggs Sixteen Primary Traits

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Type A Personality
Individuals who strive continuously to achieve more things in less time, even in the face of opposition.
Are believed to be ambitions and achievementoriented.

Type A individuals set ambitious deadlines for themselves and work under continuous time pressure. Thus, these individuals constantly experience moderate to high levels of stress.

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 They tend to rely on past experience to solve problems and do not feel the need to be innovative in developing solutions to new problems. Their emphasis on speed prevents them from spending too much time on any problem. Type A individuals are hardworking by nature, they are suitable for jobs that call for continuous hard work and struggle such as the job of a salesperson or a business development executive.

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Type B Personality
Type B personalities are not obsessed with the desire to achieve too many things within a short span of time.
Type B individuals, however, are suitable for the top management position in an organization since they tend to be wise, tactful and creative in making decisions.

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Personality Types
Proactive Personality
Identifies opportunities, shows initiative, takes action, and perseveres until meaningful change occurs. Creates positive change in the environment, regardless or even in spite of constraints or obstacles.
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Achieving Person-Job Fit

Personality-Job Fit Theory (Holland) Identifies six personality types and proposes that the fit between personality type and occupational environment determines satisfaction and turnover.

Personality Types
Realistic Investigative

Social
Conventional Enterprising

Artistic

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Hollands Typology of Personality and Congruent Occupations

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EXHIB I T 42

EMOTIONS

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EMOTIONS
EMOTIONS are intense feelings that are directed at someone or something. EMOTIONAL LABOUR: A situation in which an employee expresses organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions. Example: Airline flight attendants are expected to be cheerful, courteous and not hostile in interactions with co-workers.
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 Women
Can show greater emotional expression. Experience emotions more intensely. Display emotions more frequently. Are more comfortable in expressing emotions. Are better at reading others emotions.

Men
Believe that displaying emotions is inconsistent with the male image. Are innately less able to read and to identify with others emotions. Have less need to seek social approval by showing positive emotions.

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Affective Events Theory (AET)

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Source: Based on N.M. Ashkanasy and C.S. Daus, Emotion in the Workplace: The New Challenge for Managers, Academy of Management Executive, February 2002, p. 77.

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EXHIB I T 45

OB APPLICATIONS
1.Emotional Intelligence: It refers to an assortment of cognitive skills, capabilities and competencies that influence a persons ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures. It s composed of five dimensions: 1.Self awareness: being aware of what you are feeling., the ability to read one's emotions and recognize their impact while using gut feelings to guide decisions. exhibited by self confidence and realistic self assessment. The Greater the self awareness greater is one agile and has sharper reflexes to situations and also control of situation. He is in position to judge situation 34 more objectively being aware of self weaknesses and biases

Emotional Intelligence
2. Self management: the ability to manage ones own emotions and impulses. Ability to manage self under all circumstances also exhibited by trustworthiness and integrity , comfort with ambiguity and openness to change. Selfmanagement is your ability to use the awareness of your emotions to stay flexible and direct behavior positively. 3.Self motivation: the ability to persist in the face of setbacks and failures. strong drive to achieve success, optimism and high organizational commitment. Empathy:, Service Orientation
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Contd.
4.Empathy:the ability to sense how others are feeling. 5.Social skills: the ability to handle emotions of others. feeling comfortable with group exhibited by the ability to lead change, persuasiveness and expertise in building and leading team. Service Orientation: Political Awareness: Reading a groups emotional current and power relationships
2.DECISION MAKING: Negative emotions can result in a limited search for new alternatives and a less vigilant use of a information. On the other hand ,positive emotions can increase problem-solving skills and facilitate the integration of information. 3.MOTIVATION: Employees perception and calculations of situations are filled with emotional content that significantly influences how 36 much effort they exert.

Moreover when you see people who are highly motivated in their jobs are emotionally committed. 4.LEADERSHIP: Effective leaders rely on the expression of feelings to help convey their messages. The expression of emotions in speeches are often the critical element that results in individuals accepting or rejecting a leaders message. 5.INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT: A mangers success in trying to resolve conflicts ,is often attributable to his or her ability to identify the emotional elements in the conflict and to get the conflicting parties to work through their emotions.

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6.DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIORS: These deviant behaviors can be violent or non violent and fall into categories such as production(leaving early, intentionally working slowly),property( theft, sabotage), political (gossiping, blaming co-workers) and personal aggression(sexual harassment, verbal abuse).Many of these deviant behaviors can be traced to negative emotions. 7.Ability and Selection Emotions affect employee effectiveness. 8.Customer Services Emotions affect service quality delivered to customers which, in turn, affects customer relationships. 38

Social Learning Theory

Social Learning Theory

Much of human behavior either learnt or modified by learning. Through learning one acquire knowledge, language, attitudes, values, skills etc. Learning is mainly through a) direct experience & reinforcement and b) Observing others They regard situation as important factor.

 If focuses on behavior pattern & cognitive activities in relation to specific conditions that evoke, maintain or modify them. Personal variables what individual will to in a particular situation include: a) Competencies Abilities, skills cognitive strategies- Habitual ways of selectively attending to information and organizing into meaningful ways.
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Social Learning Theory

b) Outcome Expectations Other features of Social Learning Theory: Subjective Value Outcome: Self regulatory system & plans- ability to plan & execute steps leading to a goal will lead to differences in behavior. Unlike trait & psychoanalytic social learning refers situation as important variables.

Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory

Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician, originated psychoanalytic theory in the early 1900s. Freud believed that conscious experience was just the tip of our psychological makeup and experience. In fact, he thought of which a person is not aware. Freud developed a comprehensive theory, which held that personality consists of three separate but interacting components: the id, the ego, and the superego.

Freud Psychoanalytic Theory

The id is the raw, unorganized, inborn part of personality. From the time of birth, the id attempts to reduce tension created by primitive drives related to hunger, sex, aggression and irrational impulses. These drives are fueled by psychic energy as Freud called it.

Freud Psychoanalytic Theory

The ego strives to balance the desires of the id and realities of the objective, outside world. In contrast to pleasure seeking nature of the id, the ego operates according to the reality principle, in which instinctual energy is restrained in order to maintain the safety of the individual and help integrate the person into society.

Freud Psychoanalytic Theory

The superego, the final personality structure to develop, represents social right and wrong as taught and modeled by a persons parents, teachers, and other significant individuals. The superego prevents us from behaving in a morally improper way by making us feel guilty if we do wrong, and the ego-ideal, which represents the perfect person that we wish we were, motivates us to do what is morally right. The superego helps us control impulses coming from the id making our behavior less selfish and more virtuous.