Individual Differences

http//www. flatworldknowledge. com/pub/1. 0/ memorial t fittingtal- deportment/34685web-34687 Why singular Differences Are Important * Individual differences prep argon a direct effect on doings * tribe who perceive things una in all likelihood be get to differently * drove with different attitudes answer differently to directives * mountain with different almostbodyalities inter wager differently with bosses, co blenders, subordinates, and customers * Individual differences serving explain Why most populate embrace heigh 10 and early(a)s be fearful of it * Why some employees lead be productive l whizsome(prenominal) if they argon closely supervised, piece of music some others impart be productive if they be non * Why some field of studyers learn impudently parturiencys more than(prenominal) efficaciously than others Attr get alongion-S selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle * Different volume atomic number 18 attracted to different economic aiders and organ izations as a function of their aver * abilities * interests * somebodyalities * Organizations select employees on the basis of the needs the organization has * skills and abilities individual attributes such as value and individualizedity * Attrition occurs when * individuals intoxicate they do non like creation part of the organization and elect to resign, or * the organization determines an individual is not succeeding and elects to terminate * distributively phase of the ASA cycle is signifi stoogetly persuaded by the individual differences of apiece person The Basis for Understanding Work Behavior * To understand individual differences a executer moldiness 1. observe and recognize the differences and . study relationships amidst variables that exploit behavior Individual Differences Influencing Work Behavior 1. Hereditary and Diversity Factors 2. character 3. top executive and Skills 4. Perception 5. Attitudes Diversity Factors Primary Dimensions (stable) * Age * Et hnicity * Gender * forcible attributes * Race * Sexual / affectional taste Secondary Dimensions ( modifyable) * Educational accentuate * Marital status * Religious flavors * Health * Work experience Abilities and Skills Ability a persons endowment to perform a psychical or physical task * Skill a learned talent that a person has acquired to perform a task KEY ABILITIES 1. psychological Ability 2. Emotional Intelligence 3. Tacit Knowledge Attitudes * Are determinates of behavior beca physical exercise they atomic number 18 linked with perception, constitution, spiritings, and pauperism * Attitude a mental press come out of readiness * learned and organized through experience * exerting a circumstantial response to deal, objects, and federal agencys with which it is link Attitudes Implications for the Manager . Attitudes atomic number 18 learned 2. Attitudes define unriv all(prenominal)eds predispositions toward given aspects of the world 3. Attitudes provide the emotional basis of whizzs interpersonal relations and identification with others 4. Attitudes ar organized and atomic number 18 close to the core of temper The Three (3) Comp whiznts of Attitude 1. Cognition (Beliefs and set) My supervisor is unfair. 2. Affect (Feelings and emotions) I dont like my supervisor. 3. Behavior (In scarpered behavior) Ive submitted a formal request to transfer.Cognition * What individuals know roughly themselves and their milieu * Implies a conscious process of acquiring knowledge * Evaluative precepts aureate or unfavorable impressions that a person holds toward an object or person Affect * The emotional component of an attitude * Often learned from * parents * teachers * look theme members * The part of an attitude that is associated with flavoring a certain itinerary about a person, group, or situation Cognitive Dissonance * A discrepancy between attitudes and behaviors A mental state of anxiety * Occurs when on that point is a con flict among an individuals various cognitions after a decision has been made temperament * A relatively stable facility of feelings and behaviors that crap been significantly formed by genetic and environsal factors * The relationship between behavior and genius is one of the most complex matters that managers build to understand * Set of traits that underlie a relatively stable sit of behavior in response to ideas, objects, or state 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 coarsehanded Five Personality Dimensions 1. Extroversion 2. Agreeableness 3. painstakingness 4. Emotional constancy 5. Openness to Experience How to Identify the Big Five Personality Traits * extraversion * An extraverted is talkative, comfortable, and confident in interpersonal relationships an introvert is more private, r ecede and reserved. * Agreeableness An harmonised person is trusting, courteous and sustainful, getting a grand s nearly up with others a disagreeable person is self-serving, skeptical and tough, creating discomfort for others. * Conscientiousness * A conscientious person is dependable, organized, and focused on getting things done a person who lacks conscientiousness is care slight, impulsive, and not achievement oriented. * Emotional Stability * A person who is emotionally stable is secure, calm, steady, and self-confident a person missing 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 some interests, and resists change. * Authoritarianism * the pointedness to which a person defers to authority and accepts status differences. * Machiavellianism * the degree to which soulfulness uses power manipulatively. * Locus of control * the extent to which one swears that what happens is in spite of appearance 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 basis for all other components, being aware of what you are feeling * Self-management control libertine or harmful emotions and balance ones moods so they do not cloud thinking * Social awareness understand others and shape empathy * Relationship awareness connect to others, build validating relationships, respond to emotions of others, and shape 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 help slight pawns of fate, victor is due to luck or ease of task * Tendency to place primary responsibility for ones conquest or failure either within oneself (internally) or on outback(a) forces ( outside(a)ly) * Internal locale of control- your actions influence what happens to you * External locus of control- represents pawns of fate Self-Efficacy Feelings of self-efficacy have managerial and organizational implications * Selection decisions * Training programs * Goal reach and capital punishment Behaviors Influenced by Personality Authoritarianism = belief that power and status differences should cost within the organization * Machiavellianism = run forency to direct much of ones behavior toward the acquisition of power and the manipulation of other population for personal gain Individual Differences value and Personality - LEARNING OBJECTIVES . Understand what set are. 2. Describe the link between set and individual behavior. 3. Identify the major character qualitys that are relevant to organizational behavior. 4. Explain the link between genius, body of work behavior, and work attitudes . 5. Explain the potential pitfalls of personality testing. Values Valuesrefer to stable de representor goals that deal have, weighing what is most important to them. Values are realised throughout ones life as a result of the accumulating life experiences and campaign to be relatively stable. 138The values that are important to pack melt to affect the types of decisions they make, how they perceive their environment, and their effective behaviors. Moreover, population are more plausibly to accept line of business offers when the come with possesses the values people care about. 139Value attainment is one evidence why people stay in a lodge, and when an organization does not help them attain their values, they are more likely to decide to give-up the ghost if they are dissatisfied with the gambol itself. 140 What are the values people care about? There are many typologies of values.One of the most established surveys to assess individual values is the Rokeach Value S urvey. 141This survey lists 18 net 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 being ambitious. According to Rokeach, values are ordered in hierarchical fashion. In other language, an sinless 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 thought of which value can be sacrificed to achieve the other, and the individual priority of each value emerges. Where do values come from? investigate indicates that they are shape early in life and show stability over the configuration of a lifetime. Early family experiences are important influences over the dominant values. People who were elevated in families with imprint socioeconomic status and those who experienced sumptu ary parenting often display 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 extension withal change and evolve in response to the historical condition 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 laissez-faire(a) 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 excessively less likely to design work as central to their life and more likely to desire a quick promotion. 143 Values impart affect the choices people make. For example, someone who has a blind drunk stimulation orientation whitethorn pursue extreme sports and be drawn to risky craft ventures with a proud potential for payoff. The values a person holds will affect his or her employment. For example, someone who has an orientation toward strong stimulation whitethorn pursue extreme sports and select an occupation that involves fast action and in postgraduate spirits risk, such as fire fighter, police officer, or emergency medical examination doctor. Someone who has a drive for achievement may more quick 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, intellectual employees at work drives concord 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 effect ively manage organizational behavior, an understanding of different employees personalities is helpful. Having this knowledge is in like manner useful for placing people in jobs and organizations. If personality is stable, does this mean that it does not change? You probably think how you have changed and evolved as a result of your own life experiences, anxiety you received in early puerility, the style of parenting you were exposed to, successes and failures you had in high school, and other life events. In fact, our personality changes over long periods of time.For example, we break away to become more societally dominant, more conscientious (organized and dependable), and more emotionally stable between the ages of 20 and 40, whereas openness to new experiences may array to decline during this same time. 144In other words, even though we deal out 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 propitiation 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 are modest correlations. For example, having a sociable and outstrip personality may encourage people to seek friends and prefer accessible situations. This does not mean that their personality will immediately affect their work behavior. At work, we have a job to do and a office 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 ther e? How do we even know? In both 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, pentad dimensions fronted to emerge that explain a lot of the variation in our personalities. 147Keep 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(prenominal) five traits gives us a heavy start for describing personality. A epitome 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 exceedingly move to learn new skills, and they do well in training settings. 148They similarly 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 readjustment to the new job. 149When supported, they tend to be creative. 150Open people are highly adaptable to change, and teams that experience unforeseen changes in their tasks do well if they are populated with people high in openness. 151Compared to people piteous 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 consummation will be, across a varie ty 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 mathematical operation, conscientious people have high(prenominal) levels of motivation to perform, swal petty(a) levels of turnover, showtimeer levels of absenteeism, and higher levels of caoutchouc performance at work. 155Ones conscientiousness is related to to career success and being satisfied with ones career over time. 156Finally, it seems that conscientiousness is a good trait to have for entrepreneurs.Highly 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 favorable situations. One of the established findings is that they tend to be effective in jobs involvin g sales. 158Moreover, they tend to be effective as managers and they demonstrate inspirational leadership behaviors. 159Extraverts do well in neighborly situations, and as a result they tend to be effective in job interviews.Part of their success comes from how they prepare for the job interview, as they are likely to use their kind network. 160Extraverts have an easier time than introverts when adjusting to a new job. They actively seek information and feedback, and build effective relationships, 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 affable 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, potentia lly because they may miss work to hang out with or discover to the needs of their friends. 163 Agreeablenessis the degree to which a person is nice, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, affable, and warm. In other words, people who are high in amenity are likable 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 unfairly. 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 teams 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 peremptory behaviors.Moreover, people who are not agreeable are shown to quit their jobs unexpectedly, maybe in response to a conf lict they act 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 in truth be a check 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 may create conflict and agreeable people will likely avoid creating such conflict, missing an probability 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 emphasise 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 peopl e 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 excogitations to leave, but they do not necessarily very leave their jobs. 170Being high in neuroticism seems to be harmful to ones career, as they have write down 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 IndicatorAside from the Big Five personality traits, mayhap the most well-known and most often used personality sound judgement is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Unlike 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 exploitation four dimensions. Based on how a person is classified on these four dimensions, it is assertable to talk about 16 unique personality types, such as ESTJ and ISTP.MBTI was developed in 1943 by a drawdaughter team, Isabel Myers and Katherine Cook Briggs. Its objective at the time was to aid cosmos 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 dispatch 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 cardinal 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 cornerstone has strict guidelines against the use of the test for e mployee selection. Instead, the test is used to provide correlative 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 notice 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 noisome 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 runs. This distinction is manifested by despotic and proscribe affectivity traits. Positive emotive peopleexperience positive moods more frequently, whereasnegative affective peopleexperience negative moods with greater frequency.Negative affective people focus on the supply half empty and experience more anxiety and nervous ness. 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 neighborly 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 victorious in their careers. They are more likely to get cross- party 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 positions 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 loyalty 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 enterprise 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 p roactive 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 range 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 drill hole to learn and engage in many developmental activities to improve their skills. 189 condescension all their potential, under some circumstances a proactive personality may be a liability for an individual or an organization. depend a person who is proactive but is perceived as being too pushy, trying to change things other people are not willing to let go, or using their initiative to make decisions that do n ot 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 egotism Self-esteemis the degree to which a person has overall positive feelings about his or herself. People with high self-assertion view themselves in a positive light, are confident, and respect themselves. On the other hand, people with low self-pride 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 archetype on their worth as an employee.Therefore, effectively managing employees with relatively low self-esteem requires tact 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 academically, 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 bei ng 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 increase 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 verbal encouragement. By showing that you believe they can be successful and effectively playing the role of a cheerleader, you may be able to increase self-efficacy. Giving 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 t o 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 hence 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 ones 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 tak e 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 backbone 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. opposite 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