Organisational behavior
Chapter Personality
The effort to match job requirements with personality characterstics is described in the personality
job fit theory. → 6 personality types and proposed that satisfaction and the propensity to leave a job
depend on how well individuals match their
personalities to a job.
In individualistic countries where workers
expect to be heard and respected by
management → person-job fit increases
individual’s job satisfaction.
Collectivistic countries → person job fit is
weaker.
Person-organization fit
Person-organization fit: people are attracted to
and are selected by organizations that match
their values.
Research on person–organization fit also looked
at whether people’s values match the
organization’s culture. A match predicts high job
satisfaction, commitment to the organization,
and task performance, as well as low turnover.
Other dimensions of fit
1. Person group fit → team settings
2. Person supervisor fit → poor fit can lead
to lower satisfaction & performance
What is personality
Personality: the sum of ways in which an
individual reacts to and interacts with others.
Measuring personality → assessments have been increasingly used in diverse organizational settings.
In general, when people know their personality scores are going to be used for hiring decisions, they
rate themselves as about half a standard deviation more conscientious and emotionally stable than if
they are taking the test to learn more about themselves.
People in individualistic countries trend toward self-enhancement, while people in collectivist
countries trend toward self-diminishment.
Personality determinants → debate on whether personality is the result of heredity or environment.
→ appears to be a result of both.
Heredity: factors determined at conception (physical stature, facial features, muscle composition,
energy level).
Personality can change over time (but everyone tends to change by about the same amount).
Personality traits: enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior.
,The best known personality frameworks are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Big Five
Personality Model.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Extraverted (E) versus Introverted (I). Extraverted individuals are outgoing, sociable, and
assertive. Introverts are quiet and shy.
Sensing (S) versus Intuitive (N). Sensing types are practical and prefer routine and order, and they
focus on details. Intuitives rely on unconscious processes and look at the big picture.
Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F). Thinking types use reason and logic to handle problems. Feeling
types rely on their personal values and emotions.
Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P). Judging types want control and prefer order and structure.
Perceiving types are flexible and spontaneous.
The big five personality model
Conscientiousness. The conscientiousness dimension is a measure of personal consistency and
reliability. A highly conscientious person is responsible, organized, dependable, and persistent. Those
who score low on this dimension are easily distracted, disorganized, and unreliable.
Emotional stability. The emotional stability dimension taps a person’s ability to withstand stress.
People with emotional stability tend to be calm, self-confident, and secure. High scorers are more
likely to be positive and optimistic and to experience fewer negative emotions; they are generally
happier than low scorers. Emotional stability is sometimes discussed as its converse, neuroticism.
Low scorers (those with high neuroticism) are hypervigilant and vulnerable to the physical and
psychological effects of stress. Those with high neuroticism tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed,
and insecure.
Extraversion. The extraversion dimension captures our relational approach toward the social
world. Extraverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and sociable. They experience more positive
emotions than do introverts, and they more freely express these feelings. On the other hand, introverts
(low extraversion) tend to be more thoughtful, reserved, timid, and quiet.
Openness to experience. The openness to experience dimension addresses the range of interests
and fascination with novelty. Open people are creative, curious, and artistically sensitive. Those at the
low end of the category are conventional and find comfort in the familiar.
Agreeableness. The agreeableness dimension refers to an individual’s propensity to defer to others.
Agreeable people are cooperative, warm, and trusting. You might expect agreeable people to be
happier than disagreeable people. They are, but only slightly. When people choose organizational
team members, agreeable individuals are usually their first choice. In contrast, people who score low
on agreeableness are cold and antagonistic.
Employees who score higher in conscientiousness develop higher levels of job knowledge, more able
to maintain job performance. It also results in individuals that are too deliberate and perfectionistic.
Emotional stability
Most strongly related to life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and reduced burnout and intentions to quit.
Extraversion at work
,Tend to perform well in jobs that require interpersonal interaction. → socially dominant, natural
leaders.
Openness at work
The most creative and innovative, effective leaders, and comfortable with ambiguity.
Agreeableness at work
Better liked, perform well in interpersonally oriented jobs like customer service.
the dark triad: a constellation of negative personality traits consisting of Machiavellianism,
narcissism, and psychopathy
Machiavellianism: pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes ends can justify means. →
manipulative and aggressive.
Narcissism: person who has a grandiose sense of self-importance, requires excessive admiration, and
is arrogant. →fragile and hypersensitive, lack of empathy. But on the bright side, more charismatic.
Psychopathy: lack of concern for others and a lack of guilt or remorse when actions cause harm.
Other traits
- Antisocial (extraversion, but violent)
- Borderline (low self esteem, high uncertainty, inefficient, low job satisfaction)
- Schizotypal (eccentric and disorganized, creative, susceptible to work stress)
- Obsessive-compulsive (perfectionists, stubborn, attention to detail & strong work ethic)
- Avoidant (inadequate, hate criticism)
Core self-evaluations: believing in one’s inner worth and basic competence → positive = ppl like
themselves. → more ambitious goals, more committed to their goals, and persist longer in attempting
to reach them.
Self-monitoring: describes an individual’s ability to adjust behavior to external, situational factors.
High self-monitors show considerable adaptability in adjusting behavior to exertnal situational
factors. → pay close attention to behavior of others and are more capable of conforming than are low
self-monitors.
Proactive personality: identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until
meaningful change occurs. → higher job performance, creativity, do not need much oversight, and are
given more autonomy. → important for work teams.
What personality characteristics predict job search behaviors among the unemployed? →
conscientiousness and extraversion are predictive of networking intensity, job search intensity and
interview callbacks.
Positive affectivity is also important in getting interviews, job offers, etc. → positive affect enables
students to have a clearer more open perspective toward the job search process.
As such, it might be worthwhile to try to adopt an “approach” orientation—take the challenge head
on, try to stay positive and organized, and build your network! Second, some research in Germany
suggests that your personality can change after unemployment.
Personality and situations
, Situation strength theory: a theory indicating that the way personality translates into behavior
depends on the strength of the situation. The degree to which norms, cues, or standards dictate
appropriate behavior.
Four elements
Clarity, or the degree to which cues about work duties and responsibilities are available and clear.
Jobs high in clarity produce strong situations because individuals can readily determine what to do.
For example, the job of janitor probably provides higher clarity about each task than the job of nanny.
Consistency, or the extent to which cues regarding work duties and responsibilities are compatible
with one another. Jobs with high consistency represent strong situations because all the cues point
toward the same desired behavior. The job of acute care nurse, for example, probably has higher
consistency than the job of manager.
Constraints, or the extent to which individuals’ freedom to decide or act is limited by forces
outside their control. Jobs with many constraints represent strong situations because an individual has
limited individual discretion. Bank examiner, for example, is probably a job with stronger constraints
than forest ranger.
Consequences, or the degree to which decisions or actions have important implications for the
organization or its members, clients, suppliers, and so on. Jobs with important consequences represent
strong situations because the environment is probably heavily structured to guard against mistakes. A
surgeon’s job, for example, has higher consequences than a foreign-language teacher’s.
Beyond the basics, though, it is not always desirable for organizations to create strong situations for
their employees for several reasons. First, the elements of situation strength are often determined by
organization rules and guidelines, which adds some objectivity to them.
Jobs with tightly controlled processes can be dull or demotivating. Also, strong situations might
suppress the creativity, initiative, and discretion prized by some organizational situations.
Trait activation theory:
predicts that some situations,
events, or interventions activate
a trait more than others.
TAT also applies to personality
tendencies.
Together, situations strength and
TAT show that the debate over
nature versus nurture might best
be framed as nature and nurture.
Values: basic convictions that a
specific mode of conduct or end-
state of existence is personally
or socially preferable to an
opposite or converse mode of
conduct or end-state existence.
When we rank values in terms
of intensity, we obtain that person’s value system. Values tend to be relatively stable and enduring.
