GSB MBA TM I

Organisational Behaviour
Unit II
Personality and emotions

What is Personality?
Personality - All our behaviour is somewhat
shaped by our personalities. a dynamic
concept describing the growth and
development of a persons whole
psychological system. It is the sum total of
ways in which an individual reacts and interacts
with others. Some aggregate whole that is
greater than the sum of its parts.
The dynamic organisation within an
individual of those psychological systems
that determine his unique adjustments to
42
his environment.

 Personality, according to Fred

Luthans, will mean how
people affect others and how
they understand and view
themselves, as well as their
pattern of inner and outer
measurable traits and the
person-situation interaction.
How people affect others
depends on external appearance
(height, weight, facial features,

Personality Determinants

An adults personality is generally considered to

be made up of both hereditary and environmental
factors, moderated by situational conditions.

Personality Traits
Enduring
characteristics
that describe an
individuals
behavior.

Heredity
Heredity
Environment
Environment
Situation
Situation
4

Heredity
Factors that were deter mined at
conception - physical stature, facial
attractiveness, gender, temperament,
muscle composition and reflexes, energy
level, and biological rhythms biological,
physiological and inherent psychological
make up of parents. the heredity
approach says that the ultimate
explanation of an individuals personality
is the molecular structure of the genes,
located in the chromosomes.
5

 Research among children support the hereditary

theory shyness, fear, and distress, height, hair
colour.
Research among twins separated at birth and
brought up separately one set of twins
separated 39 yrs ago and raised 45 miles apart
were found to drive the same model and color
car, chain-smoked the same brand of cigarette,
owned dogs with the same name, and regularly
vacationed within 3 blocks of each other in a
beach community 1500 miles away. Genetics
accounts for 50% of the personality differences
and more than 30% of the variation in
occupational and leisure interests.
6

 A report by the American

Psychological Association concludes,
Studies over the past 20 yrs on
twins and adopted children
have firmly established that
there is a genetic component to
just about every human trait
and behaviour, including
personality, general intelligence
and behaviour disorders.
7

 The report concludes:

Many genes are responsible for
various aspects of peoples
temperament, and those genes
appear to interact with each other
in complicated ways that influence
several traits at once- and then
likely only in very subtle ways, with
any one gene likely accounting for
only 1 or 2% of the variance in
trait.
8

 Individual job satisfaction is found to be

stable over time, according to research
Depends on the person and less on
external environmental factors.
If personality were completely dictated
by birth, no experience could change it.
But personality factors are not
completely dictated by heredity.
The debate should not be nature or
nurture, but nature and nurture that
contributes to ones personality.
9

Role of the brain

The genes also affect brain functions
that in turn affect how people
interact with their environment and
thus their personalities.
Some people, call the brain, the last
frontier because we still know very
little about it, may hold more
answers for personality
10

Environment
Culture in which one is raised, early
conditioning, the norms among our
family, friends, social groups, and other
influences we experience.
Both heredity and environment are
important. Heredity sets the parameters
or outer limits, but an individuals full
potential will be determined by how well
he or she adjusts tot eh demands and
requirements of the environment.
11

Situation
Influences the effects of environment
on personality, which changes in
different situations. Certain situations
are more significant than others.

12

4 Personality Theories
> Traits Theory
> Psychodynamic
Theory
> Humanistic theory
> Integrative approach
13

1. Traits Theory
Trait is an the sum of all enduring
characteristics that describe an individuals
behaviour.-observable patterns of behaviour
that last over time.
States that to understand individuals, we must
break down behaviour patterns into a series of
observable behaviour. Gordon Allport, saw traits
as broad , general guides that lend consistency to
behaviour. Raymond Cattell identified 16 traits
that formed the basis for differences in individual
behaviour. He described traits in bipolar adjective
combinations, such as self-assured/apprehensive,
reserved/outgoing, and submissive/dominant.
14

Diificulty because of large

number- one study identified
17953 traits. Impossible to
predict behaviour when such
a large number is to be taken
into account.
One researcher identified 171
traits but concluded that they
were superficial and lacked in
descriptive power.
15

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
assessment is a psychometric
questionnaire designed to measure
psychological preferences in how people
perceive the world and make decisions. A
personality test that taps four
characteristics and classifies people into 1
of 16 personality types - The worlds most
widely used personality assessment, with
as many as two million assessments
administered annually. Fundamental to the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is the theory of
416

Jung proposed the existence of two

dichotomous pairs of cognitive functions:
The "rational" (judging) functions: thinking
and
feeling
The "irrational" (perceiving) functions:
sensing and
intuition
Jung went on to suggest that these
functions are expressed in either an
introverted or extraverted form. From Jung's
original concepts, Briggs and Myers
developed their own theory of
psychological type,
17

Jung proposed the existence of two dichotomous

pairs of cognitive functions:
The "rational" (judging) functions: thinking and
feeling
The "irrational" (perceiving) functions: sensing
and intuition
Jung went on to suggest that these functions are
expressed in either an introverted or extraverted
form. From Jung's original concepts, Briggs and
Personality
Personality
Types
Myers
developed Types
their
own theory of
Extroverted
psychological
type,
vs.
Extroverted
vs. Introverted
Introverted (E
(E or
or I)I)
Sensing
Sensingvs.
vs.Intuitive
Intuitive(S
(Sor
orN)
N)
Thinking
Thinkingvs.
vs.Feeling
Feeling(T
(Tor
orF)
F)
Judging
Judgingvs.
vs.Perceiving
Perceiving(P
(P or
or J)J)
18

Type

The MBTI sorts some of these psychological

differences into four opposite pairs, or
dichotomies, with a resulting 16 possible
psychological types. None of these types
are better or worse; however, Briggs and
Myers theorized that individuals naturally
prefer one overall combination of type
differences. In the same way that writing
with the left hand is hard work for a righthander, so people tend to find using their
opposite psychological preferences more
difficult, even if they can become more
19

The 16 types are typically referred to by

an abbreviation of four lettersthe
initial letters of each of their four type
preferences (except in the case of
intuition, which uses the abbreviation N
to distinguish it from Introversion). For
instance:
ESTJ: extraversion (E), sensing (S),
thinking (T), judgment (J)
INFP: introversion (I), intuition (N),
feeling (F), perception (P)
And so on for all 16 possible type

20

Primary traits (Robert

Cattell)
1. Reserved vs outgoing
2. Less intelligent vs more intelligent
3. Affected by feelings 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
21

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 selfsufficient
15. Uncontrolled vs controlled
16. Relaxed vs tense
22

 It is a 100 question personality test that asks

people how they usually feel or act in
particular situations. Groups of EThe answers
help to classify them under the 4 groups,
ESTJ or INFP and further combined 16
personality types.
e.g., INTJs are visionaries have original
minds and great drive for their own ideas and
purposes skeptical, critical, independent,
determined, and often stubborn.
23

 ESTJs are organisers realistic, logical, analytical,

and decisive and have a natural head for
business or mechanics. They like to organise and
run activities.
ENTPs are conceptualisers innovative,
individualistic, versatile, and attracted to
entrepreneurial ideas. resourceful in solving
challenging problems but may neglect routine
assignments.
A recent book that profiled 13 contemporary
business people who created super successful
firms including Apple Computer, Federal Express,
Honda Motors, MS, and Sony found that all 13 are
intuitive thinkers (NTs). This result is particularly
interesting because intuitive thinkers represent
24
only about 5% of the population.

The Big Five Model of Personality Dimensions

The 5 basic dimensions underlie all others and encompass most of the
significant variations in human personality. The Big Five factors are:

Extroversion (extraversion)
Sociable, gregarious, and assertive

Agreeableness
Good-natured, cooperative, and
trusting.

Conscientiousness

Responsible, dependable, persistent,

and organized.
425

Emotional Stability
Calm, self-confident, secure
(positive) versus nervous,
depressed, and insecure (negative).

Openness to Experience
Imaginativeness, artistic,
sensitivity, and intellectualism,
curiosity.
26

Extroversion a personality
dimension describing someone who
is sociable, gregarious, and
assertive. ones comfort level with
relationships. Introverts tend to be
reserved, timid, and quiet.
Agreeableness describes
someone who is good natured,
cooperative, warm and trusting.
People who score low on
agreeableness are cold,
27

Conscientious - responsible,
hard-working, dependable,
persistent, and organised Those
who score low on this dimension
are easily distracted, lazy,
disorganised, and unreliable.
Emotional stability tests a
persons ability to withstand
stress. calm, self-confident,
cool, and secure (positive) versus
nervous, anxious, depressed,

28

Openness to experience
range of interests and fascination
with novelty., imagination, artistic
sensitivity, cultured, curiosity,
and creativity. Those at the other
end are conventional and find
comfort in the familiar.- practical
with narrow interests.
29

Criticism
> Some theorists argue that
simply identifying traits is not
enough. Personality is
dynamic and not completely
stable.
> Trait theories ignore the
influence of situations.
30

2. Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic
theory (the uncoscious
determinants of behaviour
Based on the work of Sigmund Freud, this theory
emphasises the unconscious determinants of
behaviour. Freud saw personality as the interaction
between 3 elements of personality, viz., the id, ego,
and superego. The id is the most primitive element,
the source of drives and impulses that operates in
an uncensored manner. The superego , similar to our
conscience, contains values and the shoulds and
should-nots of the personality ongoing conflict
between the id and the superego. The ego manages
the conflict between the Id and the superego.
31

In this role, the ego

compromises, and the result is
the individuals use of defense
mechanisms such as denial of
reality.
The contribution of this theory is
its focus on unconscious
influences on behaviour.
32

3. Humanistic theory
Carl Rogers believed that all people have a
basic drive toward self-actualisation,
(Abraham Maslow) which is the quest to be
all you can be. The theory focuses on
individual growth and improvement distinctly
people centred and also emphasises the
individuals view of the world- contributes an
understanding of the self to personality theory
and contends that the self-concept is the most
important part of an individuals personality.
33

4. Integrative Approach
Personality is described as a composite of the
individuals psychological processes.
Personality dispositions include emotions ,
cognitions, attitudes, expectancies, and
fantasies. Dispositions mean the tendencies
of individuals to respond to situations in
consistent ways. Influenced by both genetics
and experiences, dispositions can be
modified. The integrative approach
focuses on both permanent
(Dispositions) and situational variables
as combined predictors of behaviour. 34

 More importantly, it draws on

the self-concept including
nature (heredity and
physiological/biological
dimensions) and nurture
(environmental,
developmental dimensions),
dispositional traits, the social
cognitive interactions
between the person and the

35

Major Personality Attributes

Influencing OB
Locus of control
Machiavellianism
Narcissism
Self-esteem
Self-monitoring
Risk taking
Type A personality
36

Locus of Control
The degree to which people believe
they are masters of their own fate.

Internals
Individuals who believe that they
control what happens to them.

Externals
Individuals who believe that what
happens to them is controlled by
outside forces such as luck or

 Research shows that people who rate

high in externality are less satisfied
with their jobs, have high
absenteeism rates, are more
alienated from the work setting and
are less involved in their jobs than
are internals less likely initially to
get a job. In contrast to externals,
internals exhibit more motivation,
and willingness to take action in their
initial interviews,

38

 Externals are more dissatisfied , as they

perceive themselves as having little
control over the organisational
outcomes that are important to them.
Internals. Similarly placed attribute
organisational outcomes to their own
actions. If they are dissatisfied, they
will quit.
Absenteeism on account of sickness is
lower among internals as they assume
responsibility for personal health.
39

Overall, internals are better performers,

depending on the jobs search more
actively for information before making a
decision, more motivated to achieve,
make greater attempt to control their
environment more likely to assume
managerial positions and prefer
participative management. They show
higher motivation, hold stronger beliefs
that effort leads to performance,
receive higher salaries and display less
anxiety than externals.
40

Externals are more compliant, will

follow instructions succeed at well
structured and routine jobs.- reluctant
to participate in decision making.
Internals will do well on sophisticated
tasks, requiring complex information
processing and learning. More suited
to jobs requiring autonomy, e.g.,
sales job. They may not like close
supervision
41

Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism (Mach)
Degree to which an individual is pragmatic,
maintains emotional distance, and believes
that ends can justify means.

Conditions
ConditionsFavoring
FavoringHigh
HighMachs
Machs
Direct
Directinteraction
interaction
Minimal
Minimalrules
rulesand
andregulations
regulations
Emotions
Emotionsdistract
distractfor
forothers
others
442

Machiavellianism

Named after Niccolo Machiavalli 16th

century how to gain and use power. If
it works, use it consistent with highMach perspective. High-Machs
manipulate more, are persuaded less,
and persuade others. They flourish
- when they interact face-to-face with
others rather than indirectly,
- when there are minimum rules, and
- when emotional involvement with
details irrelevant to winning will distract
43

Narcissism
Likes to be the centre of attraction
looks into the mirror frequently
extravagant dreams - thinks he is
capable of many things
A person with a grandiose sense of
self-importance, requires excessive
admiration, has a sense of
entitlement, and is arrogant
supervisors rate them as worse
leaders.
44

 E.g., an ORACLE Co executive

described that Cos CEO Larry
Ellison as follows; The
difference between God and
Larry is that God does not
believe that he is Larry.
They tend to be selfish, treat
others as inferior, exploitative,
think others exist for their benefit.
45

Self-Esteem and SelfMonitoring

Self-concept is the peoples

attempts to understand
themselves. The self may be
viewed as the personality
viewed from within.
Self-Esteem (SE) - Individuals
degree of liking or disliking
themselves.- peoples self
perceived competence and self446

 Self esteem is directly related to

expectations of success high SEs believe
they have the ability to succeed at work.
take more risks at job, choose
unconventional jobs. High SEs are more
satisfied with their jobs.
Low SEs are more susceptible to external
influences- depend on positive evaluation
from others seek approval from others,
conform to beliefs and behaviours of those
they respect concerned with pleasing
others. They compliment individuals who
give them positive feedback and cut down
those who give negative feedback.
47

 High esteem can be a good thing, but only if

it is nurtured and channeled in constructive
and ethical ways. Otherwise it can become
antisocial and destructive. Others may treat
it as boasting as egotistical. OBSE,
Organisation Based Self Esteem is the
self-perceived value that individuals
have of themselves as organisation
members acting within an organisation
context. people with high OBSE view
themselves positively. And a meta analysis
found significant positive relationship with
performance and satisfaction on the job.
48

Self-Monitoring
A personality trait that measures an individuals
ability to adjust his or her behavior to external,
situational factors. It is the extent to which
people base their behaviour on cues from other
and
situations.
people
Individuals high in self monitoring show

adaptability highly sensitive to external

cues- can present contradictions between
their public persona and private self. Low
self monitors cannot disguise- display
their true dispositions and attitudes
high behavioural consistency .
49

 High self monitors pay more

attention the behaviour of others
and can conform more easily
more mobile in their careers,
receive more promotions and
occupy central positions needing
to play multiple and contradictory
roles.
50

Risk-Taking
High Risk-taking Managers
Make quicker decisions
Use less information to make decisions
Operate in smaller and more entrepreneurial
organizations

Low Risk-taking Managers

Are slower to make decisions
Require more information before making decisions
Exist in larger organizations with stable environments

Risk Propensity
Aligning managers risk-taking propensity to job
requirements should be beneficial to organizations.
451

Type A personality
Aggressive involvement in a chronic, incessant
struggle to achieve more and more in less and
less time, and, if necessary, against the
opposing efforts of other things or other
people.
Type As are
- always moving, walking, and eating rapidly,
sense of time urgency hurry sickness
- feel impatient with the rate at which most
events take place
- Status insecurity (feeling unsure of oneself
deep down inside)
52

- strive to think or do 2 or more things at a

time
- cannot cope with leisure time
- obsessed with numbers, measuring their
success in terms of how many or how much
of everything they acquire.
- competitiveness,
- aggression and hostility in response to
frustration and conflict
- a quest for achievement.
Has been referred to coronary-prone
behaviour
53

Type B
Rarely harried by he desire to obtain a widely
increasing number of things or participate in an
endless growing series of events in an ever
increasing amount of time.
- never suffer from a sense of time urgency with
its accompanying impatience;
- feel no need to display or discuss either their
achievements or accomplishments unless such
exposure is demanded by the situation;
- play for fun and relaxation, rather than to
exhibit their superiority at any cost;
- can relax without guilt
54
- less coronary-prone

As operate under moderate to high stress

levels work under continuous time pressure,
a life of deadlines fast workers,
competitiveness in long hrs, frequently make
poor decisions rarely creative because of
concern with quantity and speed, rely on past
experiences when faced with problems
easier to predict do better at job interviews
type Bs make it to the top. Type As are in
sales, Bs in senior positions promotions go
to those who are wise, tactful and creative
than to the hasty , hostile and merely agile.
55

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.

456

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.

457

Personality
PersonalityTypes
Types
Realistic
Realistic
Investigative
Investigative
Social
Social
Conventional
Conventional
Enterprising
Enterprising
Artistic
Artistic

Emotions- Why Emotions Were

Ignored in OB
The myth of rationality
Organizations are not emotion-free.

Emotions of any kind are disruptive

to organizations.
Original OB focus was solely on the
effects of strong negative emotions that
interfered with individual and
organizational efficiency.

458

What Are Emotions?

(contd)

Emotional Labor

A situation in which an employee expresses

organizationally desired emotions during
interpersonal transactions.
Emotional Dissonance
A situation in which an employee
must project one emotion while
simultaneously feeling another.

459

Felt versus Displayed

Emotions

Felt Emotions

An individuals actual
emotions.
Displayed Emotions
Emotions that are organizationally required
and considered appropriate in a given job.

460

Emotion Dimensions
Variety of emotions
Positive
Negative

Intensity of emotions
Personality
Job Requirements

Frequency and duration of emotions

How often emotions are exhibited.
How long emotions are displayed.
461

Gender and Emotions

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.
462

Affective Events Theory

(AET)

Emotions are negative or positive responses to a work

environment event.
Personality and mood determine the intensity of the emotional
response.
Emotions can influence a broad range of work performance
and job satisfaction variables.

Implications of the theory:

Individual response reflects emotions and mood cycles.
Current and past emotions affect job satisfaction.
Emotional fluctuations create variations in job satisfaction.
Emotions have only short-term effects on job performance.
Both negative and positive emotions can distract workers and
reduce job performance.
463

OB Applications of Understanding
Emotions
Ability and Selection
Emotions affect employee effectiveness.

Decision Making
Emotions are an important part of the decisionmaking process in organizations.

Motivation
Emotional commitment to work and high
motivation are strongly linked.

Leadership
Emotions are important to acceptance of messages
from organizational leaders.
464

OB Applications (contd)
Interpersonal Conflict
Conflict in the workplace and individual emotions are
strongly intertwined.

Customer Services
Emotions affect service quality delivered to customers
which, in turn, affects customer relationships.

Deviant Workplace Behaviors

Negative emotions lead to employee deviance (actions
that violate norms and threaten the organization).

Productivity failures
Property theft and destruction
Political actions
Personal aggression
465

Ability and Selection

Emotional
Intelligence
An assortment of
noncognitive skills,
capabilities, and
competencies that
influence a persons
ability to succeed in
coping with
environmental
demands and
pressures.

Emotional
EmotionalIntelligence
Intelligence(EI)
(EI)
Self-awareness
Self-awareness
Self-management
Self-management
Self-motivation
Self-motivation
Empathy
Empathy
Social
Socialskills
skills
Research
ResearchFindings
Findings
High
HighEI
EIscores,
scores,not
nothigh
high
IQ
IQscores,
scores,characterize
characterize
high
highperformers.
performers.

466