this deals with personality and its traits

1. Personality

2.  Definition:
 The unique qualities of an individual and how
those qualities affect understanding of
themselves and others
 The Role of Heredity and the Brain
 External appearance – due to genetics
 Internal characteristics – nature vs. nurture –
Twin Studies show that 40% are fixed…60%
developable

3.  How would you describe it?
 Is it inherited?
 Are you more like your mom or dad?
 Does it change over time?
 Does it change depending on who you are
with?

4. Trait Theory - understand individuals by
breaking down behavior patterns into
observable traits
Psychodynamic Theory - emphasizes the
unconscious determinants of behavior
Humanistic Theory - emphasizes individual
growth and improvement
Integrative Approach - describes personality
as a composite of an individual’s
psychological processes

5. The Four Perspectives on Personality
Perspective Behavior Springs From Assessment Techniques Evaluation
Psychoanalytic Unconscious conflicts Projective tests aimed at A speculative, hard-to-test
between pleasure-seeking revealing unconscious theory with enormous cul-impulses
and social restraints motivations tural impact
Trait Expressing biologically (a)Personality inventories A descriptive approach crit-influenced
dispositions, such that assess the strengths icized as sometimes under-as
extraversion or introversion of different traits estimating the variability
(b)Peer ratings of behavior of behavior from situation
patterns to situation
Humanistic Processing conscious feelings (a)Questionnaire A humane theory that
about oneself in the light of assessments reinvigorated contemporary
one’s experiences (b)Empathic interviews interest in the self; criticized
as subjective and sometimes
naively self-centered and
optimistic
Social-cognitive Reciprocal influences between (a)Questionnaire assessments Art interactive theory that in-people
and their situation, of people’s feelings of control tegrates research on learning,
colored by perceptions of (b) Observations of people’s cognition, and social behavior,
control behavior in particular criticized as underestimating
situations the importance of emotions
and enduring traits

6. How much of personality
is based on genetics?
How much of your personality
was developed, learned,
strengthened over time?
Socialization trains us how to act
in relationship to others.
Parents are our first teachers.

7. 30
30
40
genetics
trained-permanent
trained-adjustable

8.  Heredity
 Environment
 Situation

9.  Challenging jobs
 Relevant Training
 Timely and consistent feedback
 Mentoring relationships
 Orientation programs
 Work group morale
 Socialization does have a long run impact, but
not on everything.

10. Extraversion Gregarious, assertive,
sociable
Agreeableness Cooperative, warm,
agreeable
Conscientiousness Hardworking, organized,
dependable
Emotional stability Calm, self-confidant, cool
Openness to
Creative, curious,
experience
cultured
Souces: P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae, The NEO-PI Personality Inventory (Odessa, Fla.: Psychological Assessment Resources, 1992); J. F. Salgado, “The
Factor Model of Personality and Job Performance in the European Community,” Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (1997): 30-43.

11. Core Self Evaluation Traits
 Self-Esteem
 Your belief as to your competence and your image
 High self-esteem – positive attitudes, feelings, and
satisfaction
 Locus of Control
 Generalized Self Efficacy
 Neuroticism (emotional stability)

12. Self-Esteem
Feelings of Self
Worth
Success tends
to increase
self-esteem
Failure tends
to decrease
self-esteem

13. Locus of Control
Internal External
I control what
happens to me!
People and
circumstances
control my fate!

14. LLeeaarrnneedd HHeellpplleessssnneessss
Uncontrollable
bad events
Perceived
lack of control
Generalized
helpless behavior
IImmppoorrttaanntt IIssssuuee
• Nursing Homes
• Prisons
•Colleges

15. Generalized Self-Efficacy - beliefs and expectations about
one’s ability to accomplish a specific task effectively
Sources of self-efficacy
 Prior experiences and prior success
 Behavior models (observing success)
 Persuasion
 Assessment of current physical & emotional
capabilities

16. Self-Monitoring
Behavior based on cues from people & situations
 High self monitors
 flexible: adjust
behavior according to
the situation and the
behavior of others
 can appear
unpredictable &
inconsistent
 Low self monitors
 act from internal states
rather than from
situational cues
 show consistency
 less likely to respond to
work group norms or
supervisory feedback

17. Low-self
monitors
High-self
monitors
Get promoted
Accomplish tasks, meet other’s 
expectations, seek out central
positions in social networks
Change employers
Make a job-related
geographic move
Self-promote 
Demonstrate higher levels of managerial 
self-awareness; base behavior on other’s
cues and the situation

18. Positive Affect - an individual’s tendency to
accentuate the positive aspects of oneself,
other people, and the world in general
Negative Affect - an individual’s tendency to
accentuate the negative aspects of oneself,
other people, and the world in general

19. A strong
situation can
overwhelm the effects
of individual personalities
by providing strong cues
for appropriate
behavior

20. Strong
personalities
will dominate
in a weak
situation

21. Type A Personality
 Extreme importance to time
 Meeting deadlines
 Highly ambitious
 Do lots of task at the same time
 Quick and fast in everything
 Always in sense of urgency

22. Type B personality
 Maintains low profile
 Do one thing at a time
 Enjoys leisure time
 Relaxed and calm

23. Projective Test - elicits an individual’s response to
abstract stimuli
Behavioral Measures - personality assessments that
involve observing an individual’s behavior in a
controlled situation
Self-Report Questionnaire - assessment involving an
individual’s responses to questions
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - instrument
measuring Jung’s theory of individual differences.

24.  Based on Carl Jung’s work
 People are fundamentally different
 People are fundamentally alike
 People have preference combinations for
extraversion/introversion, perception, judgment
 Briggs & Myers developed the MBTI to
understand individual differences

25. 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)
Score is a combination of all
four (e.g., ENTJ)
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)
Score is a combination of all
four (e.g., ENTJ)

26. A Meyers-Briggs score
 Can be a valuable too for self-awareness and career
guidance
BUT
 Should not be used as a selection tool because it has
not been related to job performance!!!

27. Preferences Represents
Extraversion Introversion How one
re-energizes
Sensing Intuiting How one gathers
information
Thinking Feeling How one makes
decisions
Judging Perceiving How one orients to the
outer world

28.  Big 5, MBTI
 Matter in:
 Certain jobs (sales, leadership)
 At certain times (e.g., status quo, crisis)
 More than performance?
 Honesty
 Theft
 Absenteeism
 Turnover
 Commitment/Satisfaction

29.  Do you feel organizations should hire people
based upon their personality characteristics?
 What are the issues with this?
 When people are hired into a job (e.g.,
engineering) do you think the personality is
attracted to the job, or the job shapes the
personality? Why?

30. Review Exercise: Personality
Pragati arrives to class aanndd rreeaalliizzeess tthhaatt sshhee’’ss
ffoorrggootttteenn hheerr hhoommeewwoorrkk ttoo ttuurrnn iinn.. SShhee ssaayyss ““OOhh
mmaann,, iitt’’ss jjuusstt nnoott mmyy lluucckkyy ddaayy ttooddaayy..”” PPrraaggaattii hhaass
____________________________..
Pragati has a high external locus of control. Pragati
believes that things outside of her control determine
what happens.
If Pragati works on a team with you, and you
have a very high internal locus of control, what
kinds of discussions do you think the two of you
might have? Discuss with a friend.
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights
reserved.

31. Review Exercise : Personality
Prerna is known for being a go-getter.
She never leaves a task incomplete, and
is involved in a number of activities.
Moreover, she’s at the top of her class.
She’s so busy that sometimes, she forgets
to stop and eat lunch. Prerna can be
easily characterized as someone that
has/is a Type ____ Personality.
A

32. Review Exercise : Personality
Prerna is also likely to not be
very
• Happy?
• Fun?
• Creative?
• Stressed?
In general, Type A’s are rarely creative because
they generally don’t allocate the necessary
time for new solution development; they
usually rely on past experiences to solve
problems in order to be speedy.

33. Personality Types
• Realistic
• Investigative
• Social
• Conventional
• Enterprising
• Artistic
Personality Types
• Realistic
• Investigative
• Social
• Conventional
• Enterprising
• Artistic
Personality-Job Fit
Theory (Holland)
Identifies six personality
types and proposes that
the fit between personality
type and occupational
environment determines
satisfaction and turnover.

35. Source: Reprinted by special permission of the publisher, Psychological
Assessment Resources, Inc., from Making Vocational Choices, copyright 1973,
1985, 1992 by Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. All rights reserved.