Personality-Time Management Skills

Relationship
Bharati Rao Pothukuchi*

The paper examines the differences in personality between the good and poor groups
in time management skills. Data on eight secondary order personality factors and
time management skills was obtained from 40 students of a business school, using
16 Personality Factors Test and Thomas Personal Profile Analysis respectively.
The sample was divided into two groups, depending on the level of time management
skills being poor or good (based on training needs report generated as a result
of Thomas Personal Profile Analysis). t test on means was performed for each
secondary order personality factor to detect significant differences between the two
groups. It was found that the group poor in time management had higher anxiety
and was more creative.

Introduction
Globalization and liberalization of the economy has resulted in drastic changes in the
working environment. There is an ever increasing demand to perform at higher and higher
levels resulting in greater pressure on time. In this scenario the importance of time
management cannot be overemphasized. With good time management a person can be
in control of his/her life. One can make better progress at work and achieve balance
between work and non-work life. This may lead to lesser stress which in turn maybe
beneficial not only to the individual but also to the society.
Fortunately, time management skills are trainable. Better time management
means reduction in the time spent on tasks that are less important. Douglass and
Douglass (1992) have pointed out that personality influences the way in which time
is managed. The present study examines the relationship between time management
skills and personality.
According to Maddi (1989), personality comprises stable tendencies and characteristics
that determine the differences and commonalities of human behavior.There are several
th eories of personality. These can be grouped under type or trait theories that focus
on the peoples characteristics and how these characteristics are organized.
Cattells Factor Theory (Cattell, 1946) is a prominent trait theory. It views personality
as a complex structure of traits. Cattell factor-analyzed traits of personality derived a much
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* Student Counselor, Icfai Business School, Bangalore, India. Email:raobharati_59@yahoo.com

2008 The Icfai University

Personality-Time Press. All
M anagement Rights
Skills Reserved.
Relationship 57
smaller number of secondary factors like Introversion-Extroversion, Low Anxiety-High
Anxiety, etc., from a very large number of primary factors.

16PF Personality Test

A useful tool based on the Cattells Factor theory of personality is the 16 Personality
Factor (16PF) Test-(refer Administrators Manual for 16 PF test,1991).This instrument
has been validated and used extensively in scientific research. It measures primary
factors which are primary characteristics or dimensions of personality plotted
on a bipolar scale. From the primary factors are derived the second order factors.
The primary factors are as follows:

Warmth: reserved versus warm

Reasoning: concrete versus abstract

Emotional Stability: reactive versus emotionally stable

Dominance: deferential versus dominant

Openness to change: traditional versus open to change

Rule-conscious: expedient versus rule conscious

Social boldness :shy versus socially bold

Sensitivity: utilitarian versus sensitive

Vigilance: trusting versus vigilant

Abstractedness: grounded versus abstracted

Privateness: forthright versus private

Apprehension: self assured versus apprehensive

Liveliness: serious versus lively

Self-reliance: group oriented versus self reliant

Perfectionism: tolerates disorder versus is a perfectionist

Tension: relaxed versus tense

The secondary factors are as follows: Extraversion, Anxiety, Tough poise,

Independence, Control, Adjustment, Leadership, and Creativity. The secondary factors
provide interpretative information about important criteria such as potential for success
in particular occupation, likelihood for successful treatment outcome and so on.
The second-order factors provide information at a broader level of understanding.

The 16 PF test has forms A, B, C and D. Choice of forms depends on the educational
level of the sample, and the time required for administration. When time allows only one

58 The Icfai Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. VII, No. 1, 2008

form to be used, form A is used. The form A which was used for this sample has 187
items and the questions are forced choice .Provision is made to take care of faking.

Personal Profile Analysis

The Thomas Personal Profile Analysis (TPPA) draws on the seminal work of Jung (1967)
on personality (refer Administrators Manual for Thomas Profile,1993). The instrument
comprises 24 sets of adjectives. Each set contains four adjectives. The respondent
is required to select the adjective most suitable and least suitable for each set.
Then based on the analysis of the adjectives selected as above by the respondent,
a respondent profile is generated on the following four dimensions:

Dominance: active positive movement in antagonist environment.

Influence: active positive movement in favorable environment.

Submission: passive agreeableness in favorable environment.

Compliance: causative tentative response to an antagonistic environment.

The TPPA generates 16 different types of reports including the one on the Training
Needs Analysis (TNA).TNA covers several training needs, one of which is related to time
management skills. TNA report generated by TPPA can be used to identify respondents
whose time management skills are inadequate (poor) or adequate (or good).

Hypothesis
Relationship exists between personality and time management skills.

Methodology
A prominent business school was selected for the study. Forty first year students were
selected on a random basis. 16 PF test and TPPA were administered. Eight dimensions
of personality (secondary personality factors) were measured by 16 PF test. The rating
in each of the secondary order factors was on a 10 point scale. TPA was administered
to identify those respondents who are poor and those who are good in time management
skills. Students requiring training in time management skills as per the TPPA were classified
as a group poor in time management skills. Similarly, students not recommended training
in time management skills were classified as being good in time management skills.
t test was done on means for each factor to detect statistically significant differences
among students in the two groups.

Results
Table 1 furnishes the results of the t-test along with descriptive statistics (mean and
standard deviation) for each personality factor for the group good in time management
as well as the group poor in time management.

Personality-Time M anagement Skills Relationship 59

 Table 1: Descriptive Statistics and t test Results

Good in Time Poor in Time t-test results

Personality Management Management
Factors
Mean SD Mean SD t value p value

Extraversion 5.825 1.2892 5.815 2.1216 0.1780 0.4920

Anxiety 4.920 1.3995 5.510 2.0707 1.0290 0.0155*

Tough Poise 5.805 1.8010 5.790 1.6547 0.0260 0.4890

Independence 5.690 1.6074 6.120 1.4376 0.8692 0.1950

Control 7.200 1.8892 6.640 1.1631 0.9770 0.1670

Adjustment 5.735 1.4694 5.455 2.2256 0.4570 0.3240

Leadership 6.485 1.1132 6.245 1.5240 0.5540 0.2910

Creativity 5.280 1.3265 5.410 1.5212 0.2850 0.0390*

* Note: p<=0.05.1

The group poor in time management skills has higher anxiety as compared
to the group good in time management.
The group poor in time management skills is more creative as compared
to the group that is good in time management.
No significant differences exist between the two groups for Extroversion, Tough
Poise, Independence, Control, Adjustment and Leadership.

Discussion
People high on extroversion may spend time interacting with a lot of people and
so may find time management difficult. Introverts may spend time ruminating and
so they may not be able to manage time. Hence the findings were inconclusive
about time management with respect to extroversion.
Eyesenck (1967) found that extroverts and introverts respond differently
to a sudden decrease in work load level. McLean and Pasupathi (2006) found
that extroverts feel more comfortable to share than introverts.
People with high anxiety are usually dissatisfied with the degree to which they
are able to meet the demands of life. Very high anxiety produces physical
disturbances. This explains why people high on anxiety are poor in time
management.

60 The Icfai Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. VII, No. 1, 2008

 Highly independent group may end up doing much more than the group low
on independence. Such people end up taking more work thereby jeopardizing their
time management skills. People from low independence group depend on others
for everything. This may lead to poor time management. Hence the inconclusive
relationship.
People high in creativity are people who prefer time in thought rather than
in action. Sometimes high scorers are so imaginative that they cannot see the
practical limitations of implementing a creative idea. So, they are poor in time
management skills.
Further investigation is necessary to find out why there is no significant difference
between the good and poor time management groups for Tough Poise, Adjustment,
Leadership, and Control.

Conclusion
Findings of the study show that people exhibiting differences in time management skills
differ in their personality. This finding has implications for counseling as one can understand
and help students better, keeping in mind the differences in their personality.

References
1. Administrators Manual for 16PF (1991) Test edition.
2. Administrators Manual for Thomas Profile Analysis (1993), International Management
Systems, Europe Ltd.
3. Cattell R B (1946), Description and Measurement of Personality, World Book Co.,
New York.
4. Douglass D N and Douglass M E (1992), Time Management for Teams, AMACOM
(a division of American Management Association), New York.
5. Eyesenck (1967), Extraversion and Task Performance: A Fresh Look Through the
Workload History Lens, Journal of Research in Personality, Vol. 40, No. 4,
pp. 432-439, August 2006.
6. Jung C G (1967), The Development of Personality, Routledge, London.
7. Maddi S R (1989), Personality Theories: A Comparative Analysis, 5th Edition,
Homewood, Illinois: Dorsey, p.10.
8. Mclean and Pasupathi (2006), Journal of Research in Personality, Vol. 40, No.6,
pp. 1219-1231.

Reference # 06J-2008-01-05-01

Personality-Time M anagement Skills Relationship 61