Chapter 2 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: PERSONALITY AND ABILITY

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22INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: PERSONALITY AND ABILITY

CHAPTER 2 Individual Differences: Personality and Ability

Copyright © 2002 Prentice-Hall

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Personality• PersonalityPersonality: The pattern of relatively

enduring ways in which a person feels, thinks, and behaves.– Develops over a person’s lifetime– Generally stable in the context of work– Can influence career choice, job satisfaction,

stress, leadership, and even performance

• TraitTrait: A specific component of personality that describes particular tendencies a person has to feel, think, and act in certain ways.



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Insert Figure 2.1 here



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Advice to Managers• Acknowledge and appreciate that workers’ feelings, thoughts,

attitudes, and behaviors are partly determined by their personalities, which are difficult to change. Realize that you might need to adjust your own feelings and actions to work effectively with others.

• When you are trying to understand why workers have certain attitudes and behave in certain ways, remember that attitudes and behaviors are determined by the interaction of an individual’s personality and the situation in which the individual works.

• When feasible, structure an individual’s work situation to fit his or her personality. A good match is likely to result in positive attitudes and behaviors.

• Encourage an acceptance and appreciation of the diverse personalities in your organization.



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The Big Five Model of Personality• Extroversion: The tendency to experience positive

emotional states and feel good about oneself and the world around.

• Neuroticism: The tendency to experience negative emotional states and view oneself and the world around negatively.

• Agreeableness: The tendency to get along well with others.

• Conscientiousness: The extent to which a person is careful, scrupulous, and persevering.

• Openness to Experience: The extent to which a person is original, has broad interests, and is willing to take risks.



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Locus of Control

Internal Locus of Control: Describes people who believe that ability, effort, or their own actions determine what happens to them.

External Locus of Control: Describes people who believe that fate, luck, or outside forces are responsible for what happens to them.



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Self-Monitoring

The extent to which people try to control the way they present themselves to others.– Can be high or low



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Self-Esteem

The extent to which people have pride in themselves and their capabilities.– Can be high or low

– Not situation specific



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Type A vs. Type B Personality

Type B: A person who tends to be easygoing and relaxed.

Type A: A person who has an intense desire to achieve, is extremely competitive, and has a strong sense of urgency.



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McClelland’s NeedsNeed for Achievement: The desire to perform challenging tasks well and to meet one’s own high standards.

Need for Affiliation: The desire to establish and maintain good relations with others.

Need for Power: The desire to exert emotional and behavioral control or influence over others.



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Advice to Managers• Realize and accept that some workers are more likely than others to

be positive and enthusiastic because of their personalities. Similarly, realize and accept that some workers are more likely than others to complain and experience stress because of their personalities.

• Provide an extra measure of direct supervision to workers who don’t take the initiative to solve problems on their own and always seem to blame someone or something else when things go wrong.

• Provide additional encouragement and support to workers with low self-esteem who tend to belittle themselves and question their abilities.

• Realize and accept that Type A individuals can be difficult to get along with and sometimes have a hard time working in teams.

• Let subordinates who seem overly concerned about other people liking them know that sometimes it is necessary to give honest feedback and be constructively critical (such as when supervising others).



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Ability

• The mental or physical capacity to do something.

• Types of ability– Cognitive ability– Physical ability

• Motor skill

• Physical skill

– Emotional intelligence



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Managing Ability in Organizations• Selection

– Identify tasks to be accomplished

– Identify abilities needed to accomplish tasks

– Develop accurate measures of abilities

• Placement– Match workers to jobs to capitalize

on their abilities

• Training

Documents

Chapter 2 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: PERSONALITY AND ABILITY