Chapter 3 Personality, Perception,

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Chapter 3 Personality, Perception, Attribution
Nelson Quick
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Variables Influencing Individual Behavior
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Variables Influencing Individual Behavior
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Variables Influencing Individual Behavior
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Interactional Psychology Approach
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Definition of Personality

• Personality - A relatively stable set of
  characteristics that influences an individuals
  behavior

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Personality Theories

• 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 individuals psychological
  processes

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Big Five Personality Traits
Sources P.T. Costa and R. R. McCrae, The NEO_PI
Personality Inventory (Odessa, FL Psychological
Assessment Resources, 1992) and J.F. Salgado,
The Five Factor Model of Personality and Job
Performance in the European Community, Journal
of Applied Psychology, 82 (1997) 30-43.)
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Personality Characteristics in Organizations
Locus of Control
External
Internal
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Personality Characteristics in Organizations

• Self-Efficacy - belief and expectations about
  ones ability to accomplish a specific task
  effectively
• Sources of self-efficacy
• Prior experiences
• Behavior models (observing success)
• Persuasion
• Assessment of current physical emotional
  capabilities

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Personality Characteristics in Organizations
Self - Esteem
Feelings of Self Worth
Success tends to increase self-esteem
Failure tends to decrease self-esteem
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Personality Characteristics in Organizations
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 feedback

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Personality Characteristics in Organizations

• Positive Affect - An individuals tendency to
  accentuate the positive aspects of oneself, other
  people, and the world in general
• Negative Affect - An individuals tendency to
  accentuate the negative aspects of oneself, other
  people, and the world in general

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Personality Characteristics in Organizations
A strong situation can overwhelm the effects of
individual personalities by providing strong
cues for appropriate behavior
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Personality Characteristics in Organizations
Strong personalities will dominate in a
weak situation
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How is Personality Measured?

• Projective Test - elicits an individuals
  response to abstract stimuli
• Behavioral Measures - personality assessments
  that involve observing an individuals behavior
  in a controlled situation
• Self-Report Questionnaire - assessment involving
  an individuals responses to questions
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - instrument
  measuring Jungs theory of individual
  differences.

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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• Based on Carl Jungs 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

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MBTI Preferences
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Social Perception
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Social Perception
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Social Perception
Social Perception - interpreting information
about another person

• Perceiver Characteristics
• Familiarity with target
• Attitudes/Mood
• Self-Concept
• Cognitive structure

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Social Perception
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Barriers to Social Perception

• Selective perception
• Stereotyping
• First-impression error
• Implicit personality theory
• Self-fulfilling prophecies

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Impression Management

• Impression Management - individuals try to
  control the impression others have of them
• Name dropping
• Appearance
• Self-description
• Flattery
• Favors
• Agreement with opinion

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Attribution Theory

• Attribution - explains how individuals pinpoint
  the causes of the behavior of themselves or
  others
• Information cues for attribution information
  gathering consensus
• consensus
• distinctiveness
• consistency