© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Chapter 3 Personality, Perception, and Attribution 1...

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Chapter 3Personality, Perception, and

Attribution

1 Describe individual differences and their importance in understanding behavior.

2 Explain how personality influences behavior in organizations.

3 Discuss the practical application of personality theories in organizations.

4 Define social perception and explain the factors that affect it.

5 Identify five common barriers to social perception.

6 Explain the attribution process and how attributions affect managerial behavior.L

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Describe individual differences and their importance in understanding behavior.

1 Learning Outcome


The environmentOrganizationWork groupJobPersonal life

Variables Influencing Individual Behavior

The personSkills and abilitiesPersonalityPerceptionsAttitudesValuesEthics

Behavior


Propositions of

• Behavior

• Person

• Variety

• Situational interpretations

Interactional Psychology

function of a continuous, multi-directional interaction between person and situation

active in process– Changed by situations – Changes situations

people vary in many characteristics

2– The objective situation– Person’s subjective view of the

situation


Explain how personality influences behavior in organizations.

2 Learning Outcome


Definition of Personality

A relatively stable set of

characteristics that influences an

individual’s behavior


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 individual’s psychological processes


Big Five Personality Traits

Extraversion Gregarious, assertive, sociable

Agreeableness Cooperative, warm, agreeable

Conscientiousness Hardworking, organized, dependable

Emotional stability Calm, self-confident, cool

Openness to experience

Creative, curious, cultured

SOURCES: P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae, The NEO-PI Personality Inventory (Odessa, Fla.: Psychological Assessment Resources, 1992); J. F. Salgado, “The Five Factor Model of Personality and Job Performance in the European Community,” Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (1997): 30-43.


Personality Characteristics in Organizations

Locus of Control

Internal External

I control what happens to me!

People and circumstances control my fate!


Choose A or B for each item:

1. a. Becoming a success is a matter of hard work; luck has little or nothing to do with it. b. Getting a good job depends mainly on being in the right place at the right time.

2. a. The average citizen can have an influence in government decisions.

b. This world is run by the few people in power, and there is not much the little guy can do about it.

Beyond the Book:What’s Your Locus of Control?


Choose A or B for each item:

3. a. As far as world affairs are concerned, most of us are the victims of forces we can neither understand nor control. b. By taking an active part in political and social affairs, people can control world events.

4. a. With enough effort we can wipe out political corruption. b. It is difficult for people to have much control over the things politicians do in office.



Scoring Key:The internal locus of control answers are: 1a, 2a, 3b, 4aThe external locus of control answers are: 1b, 2b, 3a, 4b

Which category did you select more answers from?


SOURCES: T. Adeyemi-Bello, “Validating Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale with a Sample of Not-for-Profit Leaders,” Management Research News 24 (2001): 25–35; J. B. Rotter, “Generalized Expectancies for Internal vs. External Locus of Control of Reinforcement,” Psychological Monographs 80, whole No. 609 (1966).


Definition of Self-Efficacy

Beliefs and expectations about one’s

ability to accomplish a specific task

effectively



Sources of self-efficacyPrior experiences and prior successBehavior models (observing success)PersuasionAssessment of current physical and

emotional capabilities


Self-Esteem

Self-EsteemFeelings of Self Worth

Success tendsto increaseself-esteem

Failure tendsto decreaseself-esteem


Self-Monitoring

Self-MonitoringBehavior based on cues

High self monitors– flexible: adjust

behavior according to the situation and the behavior of others

– can appear unpredictable and 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


MOST LIKELY TO. . .

Low self monitors

High self monitors

Get promoted

Change employers

Make a job-related geographic move

Accomplish tasks, meet other’s expectations, seek out central

positions in social networks

Self-promote

Demonstrate higher levels of managerial self-awareness;

base behavior on other’s cues and the situation


The Role of Affect

Positive Affect – an individual’s tendency to accentuate the positive aspects of oneself, other people, and the world in general

Negative Affect – an individual’s tendency to accentuate the negative aspects of oneself, other people, and the world in general



A strong situation can

overwhelm the effectsof individual personalitiesby providing strong cuesfor appropriate behavior


Strong personalitieswill dominate

in a weaksituation

Personality Characteristics

in Organizations


Discuss the practical application of personality theories in organizations.

3 Learning Outcome


[Projective Test] elicits an individual’s response to abstract stimuli

[Behavioral Measures] personality assessments that involve observing an individual’s behavior in a controlled situation

Four Measures of Personality


[Self-Report Questionnaire]assessment involving an individual’s responses to questions

[Myers-Briggs Type Indicator MBTI)]instrument measuring Jung’s theory of individual differences

Four Measures of Personality


Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

[Based on Carl Jung’s theories]– People are fundamentally different– People are fundamentally alike– People have preference combinations

for extraversion/introversion, perception, judgment


[Based on Carl Jung’s theories]– Human similarities/differences

understood by combining preferences• Ways of doing things• Extraversion or introversion

– No preferences better than others– Understand, celebrate, and

appreciate differences




Briggs & Myers developed the MBTI to understand individual differences by analyzing the combinations of preferences.


MBTI Preferences

Preferences Represents

Extraversion Introversion How one re-energizes

Sensing Intuiting How one gathers information

Thinking Feeling How one makes decisions

Judging Perceiving How one orients to the outer world

MBTI Scales

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ

ISTP ISFP INFP INTP

ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP

ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ

Introverts

Extraverts

Sensing Types Intuitive TypesSOURCE: Modified and reproduced by special permission of the Publisher. Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. Palo Alto, CA 94303 from Introduction to Type, Sixth Edition by Isabel Briggs Myers. Copyright 1998 by Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Further reproduction is prohibited without the Publisher’s written consent.


Uses of MBTI

• Identify learning and teaching styles

• Decide on careers (Example: many managers are ESTJs)

• Determine decision-making style

• Determine management style

• Build teams


Define social perception and explain the factors that affect it.

4 Learning Outcome

Social Perception

Model

Social Perception

Target Characteristics• Physical appearance• Verbal communication• Nonverbal cues• Intentions

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

Situational Characteristics• Interaction context• Strength of situational cues

Barriers • Selective perception• Stereotyping• First-impression error• Projection• Self-fulfilling prophecies


How quickly can you spot the 2’s in the picture to the right?

The task is effortless for “synesthetes,” who perceive the 2’s as a different color from the 5’s.

Synesthesia is a rare perceptual condition in which one sensory perception triggers another—for example, music evokes colors or smells.

Beyond the Book:Synesthesia: Unusual Perception


Identify the common barriers to social perception.

5 Learning Outcome


• Optimists and pessimists’ clashing personalities can generate workplace friction

• Optimists’ ambition motivates success, but can overreach itself if unchecked

• Pessimists provide contingency planning, more accurate estimates of success/failure odds

Beyond the Book:Optimists, Pessimists, and Office Culture


Impression Management

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


When promising results, is it better to err on the side of conservatism? Managing expectations downward ensures that there are only good surprises for one’s clients and employers, suggests career-issues columnist Jared Sandberg of the Wall Street Journal. The penalty for missing expectations may be greater than the benefit for exceeding them.

Beyond the Book:Adjusting Others’ Expectations


Explain the attribution process and how attributions affect managerial behavior.

6 Learning Outcome


Attribution Theory

explains how individuals pinpoint the

causes of their own behavior or that of

others


Information CuesFor attribution information

gathering– consensus– distinctiveness– consistency


Attribution Biases

Fundamental Attribution Error – tendency to make attributions to internal causes when focusing on someone else’s behavior

Self-Serving Bias – tendency to attribute one’s own successes to internal causes and one’s failures to external causes


• Researchers at MIT and the University of Chicago mailed 5000 résumés to potential employers, using “white-sounding” and “black-sounding” names

• Callback rates on identical résumés were substantially higher for white-sounding names than for black-sounding names

• Conclusion: stereotypes and false attributions can lead to discrimination in hiring.

Beyond the Book:What’s in a Name?

© 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Chapter 3 Personality, Perception, and Attribution 1...

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Transcript of © 2009 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Chapter 3 Personality, Perception, and Attribution 1...