PERSONALITY

Dr.Bhumija Chouhan

The study of personality and its development provides an opportunity to consider the individual as a unique entity Personality of an individual is unique and behavior is influenced by personal and environmental factors. Basic understanding of human personality is vital to the study and analysis of OB. Because personality embraces all the unique traits and patterns of adjustment of the individual in his relationship with others and his environment.

Personality is thus traditionally referred to how people influence others through their external appearances. But for an academician personality includes (1) External appearance and behavior (2) the inner awareness of self as a permanent organizing force (3) the particular organization of measurable traits, both inner and outer. Personality is the unique and relatively stable patterns of behavior, thoughts and emotions shown by individuals. Fred Luthans defines the term personality as how people affect others and how the understand and view themselves as well as their pattern of inner and outer measurable traits and the personal situation intervention.

Definition

According to Robbins, personality is the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others. According to Duch personality includes: (1) External appearance and behavior or social stimulus value (2) Inner awareness of self as a permanent organizing force (3) the particular pattern or organization of measurable traits both inner and outer. Thus personality denotes for the methods of affecting others, reacting to others, action and interacting with others. These methods are chosen by individuals based on several factors, important one among these are their traits.

Personality Traits

Personality traits are enduring characteristics that describe an individuals behavior. According to Luthans the way people affect others depends on their personality traits. Personality traits include height, weight, facial features, color dimension etc. Popular characteristic include shy, aggressive, lazy, ambitions, loyal and timid. These characteristics when they are enlisted in a large no of quotations called Personality traits.

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

One of the most widely used personality frameworks is called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It is essentially a 100-question personality test that asks people how they usually feel or act in a particular situation.
MBIT is a personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people 1 of 16 personality types. This is one of the most widely used personality tests.

Cont.
On the basis of the answers which individuals give in the test, personality can be classified as:

(i) Extroverts or Introverts (E or I) (ii) Sensitive or Intuitive (S or N) (iii) Thinking or Feeling (T or F) (iv) Perceiving or Judging (P or J)

Cont.
These classifications can be combined into 16 personality types shown below. 1. Reserved vs. Outgoing 2. Less intelligent vs. More intelligent 3. Affected by feeling vs. Emotionally stable 4. Submissive vs. Dominant 5. Serious vs. Happy go lucky 6. Expedient vs. Conscientious 7. Timid vs. Venturesome 8. Tough-minded vs. Sensitive

Cont.
9.Trusting vs. Suspicious 10. Practical vs. Imaginative 11. Forthright vs. Shrewd 12. Self assured vs. Apprehensive 13. Conservative vs. Experimenting 14. Group dependent vs. Self-sufficient 15. Uncontrolled vs. Controlled 16. Relaxed vs. Tense

Cont.
(i) INTJS Visionaries Visionaries are people having original minds and great drive for their own ideas and purpose. Their characteristics are that they are skeptical, critical, independent, determined and often stubborn.
(ii) ESTJS Organizers Organizers are people with realistic, logical, analytical and decisive minds. These people are naturally the business class people who have talent to do business. They have the ability to organize and run activities.

The Big Five Model

(iii) ENTP Conceptualizers They are innovative, individualistic, versatile and attracted to enterprencuacial ideas. These people tend to be resourceful in solving challenging problems but may neglect routine assignments. The Big Five Model

MBTI may lack valid supporting evidence but that cannot be said for the five-factor model of personality, which is called as Big Five.

Cont.
The major personality traits which influence the job behavior and job performance are denoted as Big-five personality traits. These five factors encompass most of the significant variation in human personality. These factors are: (1) Extroversion Extroversion represents a persons interest in the external world. This dimension captures ones comfort level with relationships. When we talk about external world then individuals interest can be exhibited through sociability, talkativeness/gregariousness and assertiveness. Extroverts are assertive, talkative, sociable, gregarious people and introverts are vice versa i.e. reserved, timid and quiet.

Cont.
(2) Agreeableness
Agreeableness refers to an individuals propensity to defer to others. Agreeable people are cooperative, warm and trusting, on the other hand, less agreeable are cold, disagreeable and antagonistic. Individuals with agreeable traits think from the viewpoint of their employees or clients, accept the proposals, needs or requests of the employees. Employees job behaviour and job performance is influenced with such a trait are good natured, cooperative and trusting.

Cont.
(3) Conscientiousness It represents a measure of reliability Conscientiousness refers to governing or regulating the work activity by conscientinisness are reliable, organized, dependable and persistent. The conscientiousness trait of the executive changes the job behavior and enhances the job performance of the subordinates. The conscientiousness trait includes responsibility dependability, persistency and achievement-oriented. (4) Emotional Stability This represents a persons ability to withstand stress, some executives absorb the actions, reactions, vairous feelings, attitudes, outcome of activities etc. and maintain stability of their emotions. Consequently they tend to be calm, self confident and secure. People with less emotional stability tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed and insecure.

Cont.
(5) Openness to Experience It refers to an individuals range of interest and fascination with novelty. Executives are expected to be open to new job experience, learn, absorb and integrate them with their previous experience and knowledge. This trait includes imaginative, artistically sensitive, intellectual, creative and curious people.

Determinants of Personality

Personality represents a process of change and it relates to the psychological growth and development of individuals. It becomes important to know the factors that cause a given personality to change or develop. Scott and Mitchell various determinants of personality into four factors:

Biological factors Family and Social factors Cultural factors Situational factors.

Determinates of Personality

A.

Biological Factors
The general biological characteristics of human biological system influence the way in which human being tends to sense external event data interpret and respond to them. Biological factors can be divided into 3 major heads

(i) Heredity,

(ii) Brain and

(iii) Physical strature

B. Family and Social Factors

The development of the individual proceeds under the influence of many socializing forces and agencies from nuclear family to more distant and enough grouping. The infant acquires those behavior patterns that are customary and acceptable to the standard of the family and the community where the family lives. The status of the family in the society has great influence in individuals perception about self, others, work, money etc. Family and social factors have their impact on personality through socialization and identification processes.

C. Cultural Factors Culture is traditionally considered as the major determinant of an individuals personality. The culture largely determines what a person is and what a person will learn. The culture within a person is brought up, is very important determinant of behavior of person. Most of the Indians are humble, obedient, tolerant, non-violent, nonmaterialistic, noncompetitive and tend to sacrifice. Culture is the complex of beliefs, values, norms, opinions and attitudes which are stored by individuals of contemporary period and transmitted from generation to generation.

Culture is learnt from the family members, friends, peers, social groups, teachers etc. Culture shapes the personality of an individual in addition to heredity. Stephen P. Robbin views that heredity sets are the parameters or outer limits while culture makes the individual to adjust himself/herself to the demands and requirements of the environment.

D. Situational Factors

An individuals personality may change in different situations. The demands of different situations may call for different outputs of ones personality.
According to Milgram a situation exerts an important pressure on the individual. It exercises constraints and may provide push. In certain circumstances it is not so much the kind of person a man is as the kind of situation in which he placed that determines his actions.

Application of Personality in Organisation

Personality helps managers in managing organizations effectively. Personality can be applied in the area of matching jobs and individuals, designing motivation systems, designing control system.

(1)

Matching Jobs and Individuals

Designing Motivation System Designing Control System

(2)

(3)

Personality Attributes Influencing Organization Behaviour