Individual Differences

http//www. fla twainrldknowledge. com/pub/1. 0/ arrangingal-behavior/34685web-34687 Why Individual Differences Are Important * Individual differences render got a direct lay out on behavior * mint who perceive things differently be restrain differently * People with different attitudes respond differently to directives * People with different somebodyalities interact differently with stumpes, co springers, subordinates, and customers * Individual differences foster explain Why some mountain embrace change and others argon fearful of it * Why some employees will be cultivatable only if they argon closely supervised, while others will be productive if they atomic number 18 non * Why some workers learn novel tasks more mapfully than others Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle * Different pile atomic number 18 attracted to different lifes and make-ups as a g everyplacenment agency of their birth * abilities * interests * personalities * Organizations select em ployees on the basis of the inevitably the organization has * skills and abilities soulfulness attributes such as value and nature * Attrition occurs when * individuals discover they do not like be vocalism of the organization and elect to resign, or * the organization determines an individual is not succeeding and elects to terminate * Each phase of the ASA cycle is significantly fermentd by the individual differences of each(prenominal) person The Basis for Understanding mesh way * To understand individual differences a monitorr must 1. ob practice and recognize the differences and . study relationships surrounded by variables that influence behavior Individual Differences Influencing Work Behavior 1. Hereditary and Diversity Factors 2. genius 3. Ability and Skills 4. Perception 5. Attitudes Diversity Factors Primary Dimensions (stable) * Age * Ethnicity * Gender * Physical attributes * Race * Sexual / mintional orientation subaltern Dimensions (changeable) * Educati onal background * Marital posture * Religious beliefs * Health * Work pose Abilities and Skills Ability a persons talent to perform a mental or physical task * Skill a learned talent that a person has acquired to perform a task KEY ABILITIES 1. affable Ability 2. delirious Intelligence 3. Tacit Knowledge Attitudes * Are determinates of behavior because they are linked with perception, temper, feelings, and motivation * Attitude a mental state of deftness * learned and organized through experience * exerting a specific response to people, bearings, and situations with which it is related Attitudes Implications for the Manager . Attitudes are learned 2. Attitudes define hotshots predispositions toward apt(p) aspects of the world 3. Attitudes provide the emotional basis of ones interpersonal relations and identification with others 4. Attitudes are organized and are close to the core of temperament The Three (3) Components of Attitude 1. science (Beliefs and determine) My supervisor is un pretty. 2. Affect (Feelings and emotions) I dont like my supervisor. 3. Behavior (In tiped behavior) Ive submitted a formal request to transfer.Cognition * What individuals know about themselves and their environment * Implies a conscious process of acquiring knowledge * Evaluative beliefs favorable or unfavorable impressions that a person holds toward an object or person Affect * The emotional component of an attitude * Often learned from * parents * teachers * peer group members * The part of an attitude that is associated with feeling a real way about a person, group, or situation Cognitive Dissonance * A discrepancy amid attitudes and behaviors A mental state of anxiety * Occurs when there is a conflict among an individuals various cognitions after a decision has been made Personality * A comparatively stable set of feelings and behaviors that have been significantly formed by genetic and environmental factors * The relationship between behavior and per sonality is one of the around complex matters that managers have to understand * make up ones mind of characteristics that underlie a comparatively stable pattern of behavior in response to ideas, objects, or people in the environment *Some Major Forces influencing Personality 1. Cultural forces 2. Social class/group membership forces 3. Hereditary forces 4. Family relationship forces PERSONALITY AND BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATIONS The risky flipper Personality Dimensions 1. Extroversion 2. amenity 3. scrupulousness 4. Emotional St capability 5. Openness to Experience How to Identify the Big Five Personality Traits * Extraversion * An extravert is talkative, comfortable, and confident in interpersonal relationships an introvert is more private, withdrawn and reserved. * Agreeableness An agreeable person is trusting, courteous and helpful, formulateting along well with others a disagreeable person is self-serving, skeptical and tough, creating discomfort for others. * Conscientiousn ess * A conscientious person is dependable, organized, and focused on getting things done a person who lacks conscientiousness is careless, impulsive, and not deed oriented. * Emotional Stability * A person who is emotionally stable is secure, calm, steady, and self-confident a person lacking emotional stability is excitable, anxious, nervous, and tense. Openness to Experience * A person open to experience is broad-minded, imaginative, and open to new ideas a person who lacks openness is narrow-minded, has few interests, and resists change. * Authoritarianism * the degree to which a person defers to authority and accepts status differences. * Machiavellianism * the degree to which someone uses forcefulness manipulatively. * venue of hear * the extent to which one banks that what happens is within ones control. * Self-monitoring * the degree to which someone is able to adjust behavior in response to xternal factors. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) Basic Components * Self-awareness b asis for all other components, being aware of what you are feeling * Self-management control disruptive or harmful emotions and balance ones moods so they do not cloud thinking * Social awareness understand others and practice empathy * Relationship awareness connect to others, build dictatorial relationships, respond to emotions of others, and influence others Locus of Control * Locus of control of individuals Determines the degree to which they believe their behaviors influence what happens to them * Internals believe they are masters of their own fate * Externals believe they are helpless pawns of fate, achievement is due to luck or ease of task * Tendency to place primary certificate of indebtedness for ones mastery or failure either within oneself (internally) or on outside forces (externally) * Internal locus of control- your actions influence what happens to you * External locus of control- represents pawns of fate Self-Efficacy Feelings of self-efficacy have manageria l and organizational implications * Selection decisions * Training programs * Goal setting and performance Behaviors Influenced by Personality Authoritarianism = belief that power and status differences should exist within the organization * Machiavellianism = ladderency to direct much of ones behavior toward the acquisition of power and the manipulation of other people for personal gain Individual Differences determine and Personality - LEARNING OBJECTIVES . Understand what determine are. 2. Describe the link between value and individual behavior. 3. Identify the major personality traits that are relevant to organizational behavior. 4. Explain the link between personality, work behavior, and work attitudes. 5. Explain the potential pitfalls of personality testing. Values Valuesrefer to stable purport goals that people have, reflecting what is most important to them. Values are established throughout ones life as a result of the accumulating life experiences and list to be rel atively stable. 138The values that are important to people tend to affect the types of decisions they make, how they perceive their environment, and their actual behaviors. Moreover, people are more liable(predicate) to accept job offers when the telephoner possesses the values people care about. 139Value attainment is one reason why people stay in a company, and when an organization does not help them attain their values, they are more likely to decide to leave if they are dissatisfied with the job itself. 140 What are the values people care about? thither are many typologies of values.One of the most established keep ups to assess individual values is the Rokeach Value Survey. 141This survey lists 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values in alphabetical order. Terminal valuesrefer to end states people desire in life, such as leading a prosperous life and a world at peace. Instrumental valuesdeal with views on acceptable modes of conduct, such as being honest and ethical, and bein g ambitious. According to Rokeach, values are arranged in hierarchical fashion. In other words, an accurate way of assessing someones values is to ask them to rank the 36 values in order of importance.By comparing these values, people develop a sense of which value can be sacrificed to achieve the other, and the individual priority of each value emerges. Where do values come from? Research indicates that they are shaped early in life and charge stability over the course of a lifetime. Early family experiences are important influences over the dominant values. People who were raised in families with commencement socioeconomic status and those who experienced restrictive parenting often showing conformity values when they are adults, while those who were raised by parents who were cold toward their children would likely alue and desire security. 142 Values of a generation also change and rise in response to the historical context that the generation grows up in. Research comparing the values of different generations resulted in interesting findings. For example, Generation Xers (those born between the mid-1960s and 1980s) are more individualistic and are interested in working toward organizational goals so long as they coincide with their personal goals. This group, compared to the baby boomers (born between the 1940s and 1960s), is also less likely to see work as central to their life and more likely to desire a quick promotion. 143 Values will affect the choices people make. For example, someone who has a square stimulation orientation may chase extreme sports and be drawn to risky railway line ventures with a juicy potential for payoff. The values a person holds will affect his or her employment. For example, someone who has an orientation toward strong stimulation may pursue extreme sports and select an occupation that involves fast action and high risk, such as fire fighter, police officer, or emergency medical doctor. Someone who has a drive for a chievement may more readily act as an entrepreneur.Moreover, whether individuals will be satisfied at a given job may depend on whether the job provides a way to satisfy their dominant values. Therefore, understanding employees at work entreats understanding the value orientations of employees. Personality Personalityencompasses the relatively stable feelings, thoughts, and behavioral patterns a person has. Our personality differentiates us from other people, and understanding someones personality gives us clues about how that person is likely to act and feel in a variety of situations.In order to effectively manage organizational behavior, an understanding of different employees personalities is helpful. Having this knowledge is also serviceable for placing people in jobs and organizations. If personality is stable, does this mean that it does not change? You probably remember how you have changed and evolved as a result of your own life experiences, upkeep you received in early childhood, the style of parenting you were exposed to, successes and failures you had in high school, and other life planets. In fact, our personality changes over long periods of time.For example, we tend to find more socially dominant, more conscientious (organized and dependable), and more emotionally stable between the ages of 20 and 40, whereas openness to new experiences may begin to decline during this alike time. 144In other words, even though we treat personality as relatively stable, changes occur. Moreover, even in childhood, our personality shapes who we are and has lasting consequences for us. For example, studies show that part of our career success and job satisfaction later in life can be explained by our childhood personality. 145 Is our behavior in organizations dependent on our personality? To some extent, yes, and to some extent, no. While we will discuss the effects of personality for employee behavior, you must remember that the relationships we describe ar e modest correlations. For example, having a sociable and outgoing personality may encourage people to seek friends and prefer social situations. This does not mean that their personality will immediately affect their work behavior. At work, we have a job to do and a role to perform.Therefore, our behavior may be more strongly affected by what is expected of us, as opposed to how we want to behave. When people have a lot of freedom at work, their personality will become a stronger influence over their behavior. 146 Big Five Personality Traits How many personality traits are there? How do we even know? In every language, there are many words describing a persons personality. In fact, in the English language, more than 15,000 words describing personality have been identified.When researchers analyzed the terms describing personality characteristics, they realized that there were many words that were pointing to each dimension of personality. When these words were grouped, five dimensi ons come outed to emerge that explain a lot of the variation in our personalities. 147 grasp in mind that these five are not necessarily the only traits out there. There are other, specific traits that represent dimensions not captured by the Big Five. Still, understanding the main five traits gives us a good start for describing personality. A summary of the Big Five traits is presented inFigure3. , Big Five Personality Traits. Opennessis the degree to which a person is curious, original, intellectual, creative, and open to new ideas. People high in openness seem to thrive in situations that require being flexible and learning new things. They are highly motivated to learn new skills, and they do well in training settings. 148They also have an advantage when they enter into a new organization. Their open-mindedness leads them to seek a lot of information and feedback about how they are doing and to build relationships, which leads to quicker adjustment to the new job. 149When supp orted, they tend to be creative. 150Open people are highly adaptable to change, and aggroups that experience unforeseen changes in their tasks do well if they are populated with people high in openness. 151Compared to people low in openness, they are also more likely to start their own business. 152 Conscientiousnessrefers to the degree to which a person is organized, systematic, punctual, achievement oriented, and dependable. Conscientiousness is the one personality trait that uniformly predicts how high a persons performance will be, across a variety of occupations and jobs. 153In fact, conscientiousness is the trait most desired by recruiters and results in the most success in interviews. 154This is not a surprise, because in addition to their high performance, conscientious people have high directs of motivation to perform, move levels of turnover, lower levels of absenteeism, and higher levels of safety performance at work. 155Ones conscientiousness is related to career suc cess and being satisfied with ones career over time. 156Finally, it seems that conscientiousness is a good trait to have for entrepreneurs. gamely conscientious people are more likely to start their own business compared to those who are not conscientious, and their firms have longer survival rates. 157 Extraversionis the degree to which a person is outgoing, talkative, and sociable, and enjoys being in social situations. One of the established findings is that they tend to be effective in jobs involving sales. 158Moreover, they tend to be effective as managers and they demonstrate inspirational lead behaviors. 159Extraverts do well in social situations, and as a result they tend to be effective in job interviews.Part of their success comes from how they set for the job interview, as they are likely to use their social network. 160Extraverts have an easier time than introverts when adjusting to a new job. They actively seek information and feedback, and build effective relationshi ps, which helps with their adjustment. 161Interestingly, extraverts are also found to be happier at work, which may be because of the relationships they build with the people around them and their relative ease in adjusting to a new job. 162However, they do not necessarily perform well in all jobs, and jobs depriving them of social interaction may be a poor fit. Moreover, they are not necessarily model employees. For example, they tend to have higher levels of absenteeism at work, potentially because they may miss work to hang out with or attend to the needs of their friends. 163 Agreeablenessis the degree to which a person is nice, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind, and warm. In other words, people who are high in agreeableness are likeable people who get along with others.Not surprisingly, agreeable people help others at work consistently, and this helping behavior is not dependent on being in a good mood. 164They are also less likely to retaliate when other people treat them un fairly. 165This may reflect their ability to show empathy and give people the benefit of the doubt. Agreeable people may be a valuable addition to their team ups and may be effective leaders because they create a fair environment when they are in leadership positions. 166At the other end of the spectrum, people low in agreeableness are less likely to show these exacting behaviors.Moreover, people who are not agreeable are shown to quit their jobs unexpectedly, perhaps in response to a conflict they engage with a boss or a peer. 167If agreeable people are so nice, does this mean that we should only look for agreeable people when hiring? Some jobs may actually be a better fit for someone with a low level of agreeableness. Think about it When hiring a lawyer, would you prefer a kind and gentle person, or a pit bull? Also, high agreeableness has a downside Agreeable people are less likely to engage in constructive and change-oriented communication. 168Disagreeing with the status quo m ay create conflict and agreeable people will likely stay off creating such conflict, missing an opportunity for constructive change. Neuroticismrefers to the degree to which a person is anxious, irritable, aggressive, temperamental, and moody. These people have a tendency to have emotional adjustment problems and experience stress and depression on a habitual basis. People very high in neuroticism experience a number of problems at work. For example, they are less likely to be someone people go to for advice and friendship. 169In other words, they may experience relationship difficulties. They tend to be habitually unhappy in their jobs and report high roles to leave, but they do not necessarily actually leave their jobs. 170Being high in neuroticism seems to be harmful to ones career, as they have lower levels of career success (measured with income and occupational status achieved in ones career). Finally, if they achieve managerial jobs, they tend to create an unfair climate at work. 171 Myers-Briggs Type powerAside from the Big Five personality traits, perhaps the most well-known and most often used personality assessment is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). dissimilar the Big Five, which assesses traits, MBTI measures types. Assessments of the Big Five do not classify people as neurotic or extravert It is all a matter of degrees. MBTI on the other hand, classifies people as one of 16 types. 172In MBTI, people are grouped victimization four dimensions. Based on how a person is classified on these four dimensions, it is possible to talk about 16 unique personality types, such as ESTJ and ISTP.MBTI was developed in 1943 by a motherdaughter team, Isabel Myers and Katherine Cook Briggs. Its objective at the time was to aid World War II veterans in identifying the occupation that would suit their personalities. Since that time, MBTI has become vastly popular, and according to one estimate, around 2. 5 million people take the test annually. The survey is criticized because it relies on types as opposed to traits, but organizations who use the survey find it very useful for training and team-building purposes. More than eighty of theFortune100 companies used Myers-Briggs tests in some form.One distinguishing characteristic of this test is that it is explicitly designed for learning, not for employee selection purposes. In fact, the Myers & Briggs Foundation has strict guidelines against the use of the test for employee selection. Instead, the test is used to provide mutual understanding within the team and to gain a better understanding of the working styles of team members. 173 Positive and Negative Affectivity You may have noticed that behavior is also a function of moods. When people are in a good mood, they may be more cooperative, smile more, and act friendly.When these same people are in a bad mood, they may have a tendency to be picky, irritable, and less tolerant of different opinions. Yet, some people seem to be in a good mood most of the time, and others seem to be in a bad mood most of the time regardless of what is actually going on in their lives. This distinction is manifested by positive and detrimental affectivity traits. Positive affective peopleexperience positive moods more frequently, whereasnegative affective peopleexperience negative moods with great frequency.Negative affective people focus on the glass half empty and experience more anxiety and nervousness. 174Positive affective people tend to be happier at work,175and their happiness spreads to the rest of the work environment. As may be expected, this personality trait sets the tone in the work atmosphere. When a team comprises mostly negative affective people, there tend to be fewer instances of helping and cooperation. Teams dominated by positive affective people experience lower levels of absenteeism. 176When people with a lot of power are also high in positive affectivity, the work environment is affected in a positive manner and can lead to greater levels of cooperation and finding mutually agreeable solutions to problems. 177 Self-Monitoring Self-monitoringrefers to the extent to which a person is capable of monitoring his or her actions and appearance in social situations. In other words, people who are social monitors are social chameleons who understand what the situation demands and act accordingly, while low social monitors tend to act the way they feel. 178High social monitors are sensitive to the types of behaviors the social environment expects from them. Their greater ability to modify their behavior according to the demands of the situation and to manage their impressions effectively is a great advantage for them. 179In general, they tend to be more successful in their careers. They are more likely to get cross-company promotions, and even when they stay with one company, they are more likely to advance. 180Social monitors also become the go to person in their company and they enjoy central p ositions in their social networks. 181They are rated as higher performers, and emerge as leaders. 182While they are effective in influencing other people and get things done by managing their impressions, this personality trait has some challenges that need to be addressed. First, when evaluating the performance of other employees, they tend to be less accurate. It seems that while trying to manage their impressions, they may avoid giving accurate feedback to their subordinates to avoid confrontations. 183This tendency may create problems for them if they are managers. Second, high social monitors tend to experience higher levels of tress, probably caused by behaving in ways that conflict with their true feelings. In situations that demand positive emotions, they may act happy although they are not feeling happy, which puts an emotional burden on them. Finally, high social monitors tend to be less committed to their companies. They may see their jobs as a stepping-stone for greater things, which may prevent them from forming strong attachments and fealty to their current employer. 184 Proactive Personality Proactive personalityrefers to a persons inclination to fix what is perceived as wrong, change the status quo, and use initiative to solve problems.Instead of waiting to be told what to do, proactive people take action to initiate meaningful change and remove the obstacles they face along the way. In general, having a proactive personality has a number of advantages for these people. For example, they tend to be more successful in their job searches. 185They are also more successful over the course of their careers, because they use initiative and acquire greater understanding of the politics within the organization. 186Proactive people are valuable assets to their companies because they may have higher levels of performance. 187They adjust to their new jobs quickly because they understand the political environment better and often make friends more quickly . 188Proactive people are eager to learn and engage in many developmental activities to improve their skills. 189Despite all their potential, under some circumstances a proactive personality may be a liability for an individual or an organization. Imagine a person who is proactive but is perceived as being in any case pushy, trying to change things other people are not willing to let go, or using their initiative to make decisions that do not serve a companys best interests.Research shows that the success of proactive people depends on their understanding of a companys core values, their ability and skills to perform their jobs, and their ability to assess situational demands correctly. 190 Self-Esteem Self-esteemis the degree to which a person has overall positive feelings about his or herself. People with high egotism view themselves in a positive light, are confident, and respect themselves. On the other hand, people with low self-esteem experience high levels of self-doubt and uestion their self-worth. High self-esteem is related to higher levels of satisfaction with ones job and higher levels of performance on the job. 191People with low self-esteem are attracted to situations in which they will be relatively invisible, such as large companies. 192Managing employees with low self-esteem may be challenging at times, because negative feedback given with the intention to improve performance may be viewed as a judgment on their worth as an employee.Therefore, effectively managing employees with relatively low self-esteem requires discretion and providing lots of positive feedback when discussing performance incidents. Self-Efficacy Self-efficacyis a belief that one can perform a specific task successfully. Research shows that the belief that we can do something is a good predictor of whether we can actually do it. Self-efficacy is different from other personality traits in that it is job specific. You may have high self-efficacy in being successful academi cally, but low self-efficacy in relation to your ability to fix your car.At the same time, people have a certain level of generalized self-efficacy and they have the belief that whatever task or hobby they tackle, they are likely to be successful in it. Research shows that self-efficacy at work is related to job performance. 193This relationship is probably a result of people with high self-efficacy setting higher goals for themselves and being more committed to these goals, whereas people with low self-efficacy tend to procrastinate. 194Academic self-efficacy is a good predictor of your GPA, whether you persist in your studies, or drop out of college. 195 Is there a way of increasing employees self-efficacy? Hiring people who are capable of performing their tasks and training people to increase their self-efficacy may be effective. Some people may also respond well to oral encouragement. By showing that you believe they can be successful and effectively playing the role of a cheer leader, you may be able to increase self-efficacy. good-looking people opportunities to test their skills so that they can see what they are capable of doing (or empowering them) is also a good way of increasing self-efficacy. 196 Locus of Control Locus of control deals with the degree to which people feel accountable for their own behaviors. Individuals with highinternal locus of controlbelieve that they control their own destiny and what happens to them is their own doing, while those with highexternal locus of controlfeel that things happen to them because of other people, luck, or a powerful being. Internals feel greater control over their own lives and therefore they act in ways that will increase their chances of success.For example, they take the initiative to start mentor-protege relationships. They are more involved with their jobs. They demonstrate higher levels of motivation and have more positive experiences at work. 197Interestingly, internal locus is also related to o nes subjective well-being and happiness in life, while being high in external locus is related to a higher rate of depression. 198The connection between internal locus of control and health is interesting, but perhaps not surprising.In fact, one study showed that having internal locus of control at the age of ten was related to a number of health outcomes, such as lower obesity and lower blood pressure later in life. 199It is possible that internals take more responsibility for their health and adopt healthier habits, while externals may see less of a connection between how they live and their health. Internals thrive in contexts in which they have the ability to influence their own behavior. Successful entrepreneurs tend to have high levels of internal locus of control. 200 Key pointValues and personality traits are two dimensions on which people differ. Values are stable life goals. When seeking jobs, employees are more likely to accept a job that provides opportunities for value attainment, and they are more likely to remain in situations that satisfy their values. Personality comprises the stable feelings, thoughts, and behavioral patterns people have. The Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) are important traits that seem to be stable and can be generalized to other cultures.Other important traits for work behavior include self-efficacy, self-esteem, social monitoring, proactive personality, positive and negative affectivity, and locus of control. It is important to remember that a persons behavior depends on the match between the person and the situation. While personality is a strong influence on job attitudes, its relation to job performance is weaker. Some companies use personality testing to screen out candidates. This method has certain limitations, and companies using personality tests