Ob Chap005 Personality And Attitudes

Personality and Attitudes

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

 How  Is

would you describe it?

it inherited?

• Are you more like your mom or dad?  Does

it change over time?

 Does

it change depending on who you are

with?

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

The Four Perspectives on Personality Perspective Psychoanalytic

Behavior Springs From

Assessment Techniques

Unconscious conflicts between pleasure-seeking impulses and social restraints

Evaluation

Projective tests aimed at revealing unconscious motivations

A speculative, hard-to-test theory with enormous cultural impact

Trait

Expressing biologically (a)Personality inventories influenced dispositions, such that assess the strengths as extraversion or introversion of different traits (b)Peer ratings of behavior patterns

A descriptive approach criticized as sometimes underestimating the variability of behavior from situation to situation

Humanistic

Processing conscious feelings about oneself in the light of one’s experiences

A humane theory that reinvigorated contemporary interest in the self; criticized as subjective and sometimes naively self-centered and optimistic

Social-cognitive

Reciprocal influences between people and their situation, colored by perceptions of control

(a)Questionnaire assessments (b)Empathic interviews

(a)Questionnaire assessments Art interactive theory that inof people’s feelings of control tegrates research on learning, (b) Observations of people’s cognition, and social behavior, behavior in particular criticized as underestimating situations the importance of emotions and enduring traits

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.

30 40

genetics trained-permanent trained-adjustable

30

Challenging

jobs Relevant Training Timely and consistent feedback Mentoring relationships Orientation programs Work group morale

Thousands

of “Traits” Significant Overlap Futile to Study Personality Barrick and Mount Propose the “Big 5” Big 5 now Widely Accepted and Used Other Personality Traits or “Individual Differences” Still Researched

Extraversion

Gregarious, assertive, sociable Agreeableness Cooperative, warm, agreeable Conscientiousness Hardworking, organized, dependable Emotional stability Calm, self-confidant, cool Openness to experience

Creative, curious, cultured

Sources: P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae, The NEO-PI Personality Inventory (Odessa, Fla.: Psychological Assessment Resources, 1992); J. F. Salgado, “The Five Factor Model of Personality and Job Performance in the European Community,” Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (1997): 30-43.

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)

Self-Esteem

Feelings of Self Worth

Success tends to increase self-esteem

Failure tends to decrease self-esteem

Locus of Control Internal

External

I control what happens to me!

People and circumstances control my fate!

Learned Helplessness Uncontrollable bad events

Perceived lack of control

Important Issue • Nursing Homes • Prisons •Colleges

Generalized helpless behavior

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

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

Low-self monitors

High-self monitors Get promoted

Accomplish tasks, meet other’s expectations, seek out central positions in social networks

Change employers Self-promote

Make a job-related geographic move

Demonstrate higher levels of managerial self-awareness; base behavior on other’s cues and the situation

  

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

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

Strong personalities will dominate in a weak situation

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) -

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

Preferences

Represents

Extraversion Introversion

How one re-energizes How one gathers information How one makes decisions How one orients to the outer world

Sensing

Intuiting

Thinking

Feeling

Judging

Perceiving

Big

5, CSET, MBTI Matter in: • Certain jobs (sales, QA, leadership) • At certain times (e.g., status quo, crisis) • More than performance? Honesty Theft Absenteeism Turnover Commitment/Satisfaction



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?



“I didn’t used to me this way until I started working here.”

Describe

the meaning of attitudes and their emotional, informational, and behavioral components.

Explain

the antecedents of workrelated attitudes, the functions they perform, and how they are changed.

“Attitudes”

• Persistent tendency to feel and behave in a

particular way towards some object

Characteristics

of Attitudes

• They tend to persist unless something is

done to change them. • They can fall anywhere along a continuum from very favorable to very unfavorable. • They are directed toward some object about which a person has feelings and beliefs.

genetics Informational/ Cognitive (i.e. beliefs) Attitude

socialization

Behavior

Affective (i.e. emotions) observable learning

Job Attitudes and Actual Behavior • The belief, attitude, intention sequence is presumably followed by actual behavior. • This traditional model suggests that behaviors (including job performance) are largely influenced by job attitudes. (e.g., absenteeism) • Recently, this traditional model has been questioned as being too simple and some more comprehensive alternatives have been developed.

Components

of Attitudes

• Emotional – feelings about an object • Informational – beliefs and information

about the object • Behavioral – tendencies to behave in a particular manner towards an object (usually behavioral intentions) Only behavioral can be directly observed

(Continued)

Antecedents

of Work-Related Attitudes: PA/NA • Positive affect – overall sense of well-being,

engaged, and experience positive attitudes • Negative affect – nervous, tense, anxious, and distressed

 Based

in history of Job Satisfaction  Formal research began in mid-1930’s • 1932 I/O textbooks had no mention of job

satisfaction or organizational commitment • By 1972 over 3000 articles published specifically exploring worker attitudes

 Why

interest developed

• Methodological breakthroughs

Survey methods • Statistical techniques

 Most

Americans like their jobs overall  People are relatively satisfied with the nature of the work itself: • How interesting it is • Having lots of contact with people  People

less happy with rewards

• Pay • Benefits • Chances for promotion

Determinants of Job Satisfaction

Copyright 1999 by Brent Smith, Ph.D.

Influences

on Job Satisfaction

• Mental challenge in the work itself • Pay • Promotions • Supervision • Work Group • Working Conditions

Cultural

interest

• Something most of us believe we are

entitled to or at least desire from our work Functional

(practical) reasons

• Link to important organizational outcomes

Performance Turnover Absenteeism Counterproductive behaviors

Outcomes

of Job Satisfaction

• Satisfaction and Performance • Satisfaction and Turnover • Satisfaction and Absenteeism • Other Effects and Ways to Enhance

Satisfaction

(Continued)

Is

a happy worker a productive worker? Correlations positive and low to moderate • .16 with overall satisfaction in individual

studies • .30 with overall satisfaction in metaanalytic studies • .10 with specific facets Why

is the association not larger?

The

Meaning of Organizational Commitment • Affective • Continuance • Normative

Organizational Commitment Organizational Commitment has been related to many different job outcomes

Organizational Commitment

Overall job satisfaction Performance

.53

Turnover

-.28

Conscientiousness

.67

Job involvement

.50

.11

Guidelines

to Enhance Organizational Commitment • People-first • Communication Mission • Org. Justice • Create a community • Support employee development

Organizational

(OCBs)

Citizenship Behaviors

Do

we care if employees are satisfied as long as they do their job well?

Describe

your current job: what steps could be taken to enhance job satisfaction?

Questions



What is personality?



What are some common personality traits?



Why should knowledge of personality matter to today’s managers?



Would you say it is better to train personality or to select for personality?



Describe Big 5, CSET, MBTI, Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment



What are the components of an attitude?



What is self monitoring and why is it important?