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• Personality of an individual is unique, personal and a major determinant of her
behavior.
• Personality means how a person affects others and how he understands and views
himself. How a person affects others depends upon his physical appearance and
behavior. Thus, personality represents the whole person concept.
• A comprehensive definition of personality is given by Fred Luthans- “personality
means how a person affects others and how he understands and views himself as
well as the pattern of inner and outer measurable traits, and the person situation
interaction.”
Determinants of Personality-
Personality is determined by both Heredity and Environment.
1. Biological Factors:
a. Heredity- It means transmission of qualities from ancestor to descendant
through biological channels. Physical stature, sex, facial attractiveness,
reflexes etc are inherited from one’s parents.
b. Physical features- An Individual’s external appearance may have a
tremendous effect on his personality.
2. Family and social factors:
a. An infant also acquires behavior patterns of the family and society.
b. The status of the family in the society influences individual’s perception
about self, others, money etc.
3. Situational or Environmental factors:
a. An individual’s personality may change in different situations. The demands
of different situations may call for different aspects of one’s personality.
Therefore, we should not look at personality in isolation.
4. Temperament- the degree to which one responds emotionally to the environment
defines her personality
1 5. Schema- schema refers to an individual’s belief, frame of reference,
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perception and attitude which the individual possesses towards the management,
job, working conditions, pay, fringe benefits etc. All of them together influence
and drive a person’s behavior.
6. Motives- motives are inner drives of an individual. Behavior of an individual to
accomplish a goal varies because of his inner drives.
Development of personality:
There are two approaches to development of personality. First approach to
development of personality attempts to identify specific physiological and psychological
stages that occur in development of human personality. Second approach tends to
identify important determinants of personality. First approach is theoretical while
second approach is empirical in nature.
Freudian stages:
Sigmund Freud propounded psychoanalytic theory of personality, which is based on the
notion that man is motivated more by unseen forces than by rational thought. He gave
3 aspects to measure the unconscious framework that defines a person’s personality.
• The id- id is the source of psychic energy and seeks immediate gratification for
biological or mental needs. life and death instincts like hunger, thirst move an
individual according to freud. ID proceeds unchecked to satisfy human motives.
• The EGO- the conscious and logical part of human personality that keeps ID under
check. It is associated with the reality principle. Edo keeps id under check through
intellect and reason.
• The SUPER EGO- super ego represents societal and personal norms and
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serves as an ethical constraint on behavior. It can best be described as
conscience. Super ego provides norms to ego to determine what is right or
wrong.
According to Freud, there are 4 stages of psycho-sexual development which define a
person’s personality. These are:
• The Oral Stage- it extends from birth to first year of life. In this stage, the mouth is
used to satisfy biological drives.
• The Anal Stage- the anal stage takes over during second and third years of life. In
this stage, the focus shifts from mouth to the anal region. Young children derive
considerable pleasure from both retention and expulsion of faeces.
• The phallic stage- At about 4 years of age, focus on sexual gratification shifts to
another erogenous body zone, the sex organs. During this stage, children can be
observed obtaining gratification by examining and fondling their genitalia.
• The Genital stage- this stage runs from adolescence to adulthood. There is an
increased awareness of an interest in opposite sex. There is generation of aggressive
sexual impulses.
The Psychoanalytic theory of freud is based on a theoretical conception, rather than a
measurable item for scientific verification.
Erikson Stages:
Erikson focused more on social factors in his explanation on personality stages. He
criticized Freud for his over focus on sexual and biological factors in development of a
personality. Erikson identified 8 stages of life. According to Erikson, each stage is
confronted by a conflict that needs to be resolved successfully before a person can
move to the next stage.
The stages are:
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1. Infancy- the crisis resolved in infancy is trust vs. mistrust. An infant who is
loved and cared for learns to trust other people. Lack of love and affection
results in mistrust. Impact on an infant in this stage affects his development
for the remaining life.
2. Early childhood- the crisis resolved in early childhood is independence vs. self
doubt and shame. When a child is given control over aspects that he is capable
of controlling, he develops confident and autonomous. Lack of control results
in self doubt.
3. Play age- the four and five year old child comes under play age. Here, a child
likes to experiment and discover what she can do. The crisis resolved in this
stage is initiative or capability vs. guilt and lack of self confidence.
4. School age- from age 6 to 12. The crisis resolved in this age is enterprise vs.
inferiority. In this stage, if a child is allowed to develop his social and physical
abilities, she will develop a sense of enterprise. Control over her actions results
in a feeling of inferiority.
5. Adolescence- the crisis resolved in this stage is independent identity vs.
confusion. The above 4 developments- trust, autonomy, capability and
enterprise help an individual to resolve the crisis faced in adolescence by
developing a separate identity.
6. Early Adulthood- during twenties, the crisis faced is intimacy vs. isolation.
Deep relationships are developed after adolescence with creation of an
independent identity.
7. Adulthood- the crisis faced in this stage is generativity vs. self absorption.
Generative people are the ones who see the world as much bigger than
themselves. Productivity and societal advancement hold more importance to
them. On the other hand, self absorbed people are the ones who do not
develop the ability to look beyond themselves. They become absorbed in
career advancement and maintenance.
8. Mature adulthood- in this stage, a person develops as a highly mature
personality and guides others. The crisis resolved here is integrity vs. despair.
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Chris Argyris’ immaturity maturity theory-
According to Chris Argyris, Personality of an individual develops along a continuum
from immaturity as an infant to maturity as an adult. There are 7 basic characteristics
in the continuum:
IMMATURITY MATURITY CHARACTERISTICS
CHARACTERISTICS
Passivity Activity
Dependence Independence
Few ways of behaving Diverse behaviour
Shallow interests Deep interests
Short time perspective Long time perspective
Subordinate position Superordinate position
Lack of self awareness Self awareness is present
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Models of Personality:
MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR: It is a 100-question personality test that asks people
how they usually feel or act in particular situations. On the basis of answers,
individuals are classified differently. There are a total of 16 personality types according
to this classification.
• Extraverted or introverted- extraverts are outgoing, sociable. Introverts are quiet
and shy
• Sensing or intuitive- sensing types are practical and prefer routine and order.
Intuitives rely on unconscious processes and look at the big picture.
• Thinking or feeling- thinking types use reason and logic to handle problems. feeling
type rely on their personal values and emotions.
• Judging or perceiving- judging types want control and order and a structured world.
Perceiving are flexible and spontaneous.
Other Questionnaires-
• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
• Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PFQ)
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BIG FIVE PERSONALITY MODEL:
According to Big Five Model, five basic dimensions underlie all others and encompass
most of the significant variation in human personality. The following are the Big Five
Factors:
• Extraversion- It captures a person’s comfort level with relationships. Extraverts tend
to be Gregarious, Sociable and Assertive. Extraversion brings enhanced leadership.
• Agreeableness- An individual’s propensity to defer to others describes the level of
agreeableness. Highly agreeable people are cooperative, warm and trusting. People
who score low on agreeableness are cold, disagreeable and antagonistic. Agreeable
people show lower level of deviant behaviour.
• Conscientiousness- It is a measure of reliability. A highly conscientious person is
responsible, organized and dependable. Conscientiousness brings longevity and
higher performance.
• Emotional stability- The ability to withstand stress and remain calm, self- confident
defines an individual’s emotional stability. ES brings higher job and life satisfaction.
• Openness to Experience- Openness to experience addresses range of interests and
Fascination with novelty. Open people are Creative, curious and artistically sensitive.
They are also more adaptable to change.
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SELF CONCEPT THEORY:
The theory was given by Carl Rogers and Henry P. self concept has been defined as
perceptions and understanding of an individual about “I” and “ME”. I is described as
“personal self or one’s belief in oneself” and ME is described as “social self”. “I” is how
an individual appears to others and “ME” is the mirror image of what I believe others
expect from me.
According to the theory, the relationship between I and ME develops one’s
personality. A person who performs his duties without attachment gets strength and
is able to perform more efficiently. On the other hand, attachment reduces
performance.
SOCIALISATION THEORY: Person-Situation Interaction
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• Each situation is different and employees act or behave differently according to the
dominating situation. The differences may seem to be very small on the surface but
when filtered by the person’s cognitive process, they can lead to quite large
subjective differences and diverse behavioral outcomes.
• According the socialization theory, people are not static. They behave differently in
different situations. Therefore, social situation has an important impact on
personality.
• In organizations, it has been realized that socialization impacts behavior of
employees to a large extent. Therefore, specific techniques of socialization of new
employees is used by organizations. Some of these techniques are- use of mentors
or role models, orientation, training and development programs, career planning
etc.
OTHER PERSONALITY TRAITS THAT INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR:
• Core self evaluation/ self esteem- Core self-evaluation means how people think
about themselves. People with positive core self evaluation like themselves and see
themselves as effective, capable and in control of their environment. They also
perform better. Positive core self evaluation has a positive impact on job satisfaction
as well as job performance.
• Machiavellianism- An individual high in Machiavellianism is pragmatic, maintains
emotional distance, and believes that ends justify means. Machiavellists are high
performers in the following situations-
o When they get to interact face to face with others, they are able to impress
with their aggressive personality.
o When there are minimal number of rules and regulations
o When emotional involvement distracts low machs.
• Locus of control- It refers to an individual’s belief that events are either within one’s
control (internal) or are determined by forces beyond one’s control (external).
People who believe that they control their destinies are
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called internal and those who believe that their lives are being controlled by
outside forces are called externals. Internals are found to be more satisfied
with their job, have lower absenteeism, and are more socially active.
• Narcissism- Narcissism is an exaggerated sense of self-importance, excessive self
admiration, and arrogance. Narcissism is derived from greek myth of narcissus, who
was so proud of himself that he fell in love with his own image. Narcissists want to
gain admiration of others and receive affirmation of their superiority. They treat
others as inferior to themselves. They are also selfish and exploitative.
• Authoritarianism- An authoritarian personality believes in legitimacy of formal
authority, views obedience to authority as necessary and holds negative views about
people. He is also intellectually rigid. Authoritarian personalities are also oriented
towards rules and regulations.
• Type A and Type B personality- People who are aggressive, highly competitive are
called type A personalities. Laid back, non-competitive are considered type B. type B
do better on complex tasks and tasks requiring accuracy.
• Introverts and Extroverts- A person’s sociability and interpersonal orientation define
his or her being introvert or extrovert. Extroverts are gregarious and sociable
individuals while introverts are shy and quiet. Extroverts are more suitable in
environment requiring regular interaction while introverts are
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more suitable in analytical and thinking tasks.
Personality Revision-
• Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those
psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his
environment. — Gordon Allport
• Personality is the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and
interacts with others.
• Personality is partly genetic in origins.
• Personality reflects the whole psychological system of an individual.
• Personality reflects the whole person and includes perception,
motivation, learning and more.
• Luthans:
◦ Personality is the how a person affects others and how he
understands and views himself as well as the pattern of inner and
outer measurable traits, and the person-situation interaction.
◦ How a person affects others depends on his physical appearance,
behavior, etc.
Determinants of Personality
Factors that shape personality are:
• Biological Factors:
◦ Heredity
◦ Brain
◦ Physical Features
• Environment Factors:
◦ Family and social circle
◦ Friends
• Situational Factors:
◦ Group and culture
• Other factors:
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◦ Temperament (emotional response)
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◦ Character (honesty)
◦ Schema (belief, frame of reference, perception and attitude)
◦ Motives (inner drives)
Psychological Tests about Personality:
• Tests of intelligence, ability, interests, self-esteem & emotional stability
• Permit comparison between individuals
• Uniform, reliable and standardized
• Objective and interpretable
Use of personality tests:
• Hiring
• Promotions
• Identification of executive leadership and succession planning
• Career planning
• Team building
• Management development
Tests: MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator)
• This is the most widely used personality assessment instrument in the
world.
• Its a 100 questions based personality test that asks people how they feel
or act in particular situations.
Classifications:
1. Extraverted vs. Introverted
2. Sensing vs. Intuitive
3. Thinking vs. Feeling
4. Judging vs. Perceiving
The Big Five Personality Model or the Five Factor Model (FFM)
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Five basic dimensions underlie all others and encompass most of the significant
variation in human personality. These five big factors are:
1. Extraversion — outgoing, sociable, talkative, gregarious
2. Agreeableness — cooperative, warm, caring, good-natured
3. Conscientiousness — dependable, hardworking, organized, persistent
4. Emotional Stability — calm, secure, happy, unworried
5. Openness to Experience — curious, intellectual, creative, cultured
Other important personality traits relevant to OB
• Core self-evaluation — degree to which people like to dislike themselves.
• Self-monitoring — ability of an individual to adjust his or her behavior to
external, situational factors. People with high self-monitoring abilities
show considerable adaptability in adjusting their behavior to external
situational factors.
• Type A Personality — excessively competitive, aggressive, trying to do too
much in too little time
• Proactive Personality — people taking the initiative
Personality Traits influencing Behavior
• Self-Esteem — (self-concept is important in how a person behaves in the
world around himself)
• Locus of Control — (individual’s belief that events are either within one’s
control or are determined by forces beyond one’s control)..people
who believe that they control own destiny are known as internals and the
others are known as externals.
• Authoritarianism
• Machiavellianism — ends justify the means
• Introversion and Extroversion
• Type A and Type B
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