Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Individual Behaviour,

Personality, and Values

Values, Personality, and Self-Concept at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has

excelled as North America’s

largest luxury hotel operator by

hiring people such as

Yasmeen Youssef (shown

here) with the right values and

personality and then nurturing

their self-concept.

Yasmeen YoussefFairmont Hotels & Resorts

MARS Model of Individual Behaviour

Individual Individual behaviour and behaviour and

resultsresults

Individual Individual behaviour and behaviour and

resultsresults

SituationalSituationalfactorsfactors

SituationalSituationalfactorsfactors

Values

Personality

Perceptions

Emotions

Attitudes

Stress

Values

Personality

Perceptions

Emotions

Attitudes

Stress Role Role perceptionsperceptions

Role Role perceptionsperceptions

MotivationMotivationMotivationMotivation

AbilityAbilityAbilityAbility

Employee Motivation

Internal forces that affect a person’s voluntary choice of behaviour• direction• intensity• persistence

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Employee Ability

Natural aptitudes and learned capabilities required to successfully complete a task

Competencies personal characteristics that lead to superior performance

Person job matching• selecting• developing• redesigning

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Role Perceptions

Beliefs about what behaviour is required to achieve the desired results:• understanding what tasks to perform• understanding relative importance of tasks• understanding preferred

behaviours to accomplish tasks

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Situational Factors

Environmental conditions beyond the individual’s short-term control that constrain or facilitate behaviour• time• people• budget• work facilities

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Defining Personality

Relatively enduring pattern of thoughts, emotions, and behaviours that characterize a person, along with the psychological processes behind those characteristics• External traits – observable behaviours• Internal states – thoughts, values, etc inferred from

behaviours• Some variability, adjust to suit the situation

Nature vs Nurture of Personality

Heredity explains about half of behavioural tendencies and 30% of temperament preferences

Minnesota studies of twins, including those separated at birth, very similar behaviour patterns

Nurture also counts -- socialization, life experiences, learning

Personality stabilizes over time -- executive function

Five-Factor Personality Model (CANOE)

Outgoing, talkative

Sensitive, flexible

Careful, dependable

Courteous, caring

Anxious, hostile

ConscientiousnessConscientiousnessConscientiousnessConscientiousness

AgreeablenessAgreeablenessAgreeablenessAgreeableness

NeuroticismNeuroticismNeuroticismNeuroticism

Openness to ExperienceOpenness to ExperienceOpenness to ExperienceOpenness to Experience

ExtroversionExtroversionExtroversionExtroversion

Five-Factor Personality and Organizational Behaviour

Conscientiousness and emotional stability• Motivational components of personality• Strongest personality predictors of performance

Extroversion• Linked to sales and mgt performance• Related to social interaction and persuasion

Agreeableness• Effective in jobs requiring cooperation and helpfulness

Openness to experience• Linked to higher creativity and adaptability to change

Jungian Personality Theory

Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung Identifies preferences for perceiving the

environment and obtaining/processing information

Commonly measured by Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Extroversion versus introversion• similar to five-factor dimension

Sensing versus intuition• collecting information through senses versus through

intuition, inspiration or subjective sources Thinking versus feeling

• processing and evaluating information• using rational logic versus personal values

Judging versus perceiving• orient themselves to the outer world• order and structure or flexibility and spontaneity

Feeling Valued at Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is one of the most respected employers because it recognizes the value of supporting each employee’s self-concept

Self-Concept Defined

An individual’s self-beliefs and self-evaluations “Who am I?” and “How do I feel about myself?” Guides individual decisions and behaviour

Three “C’s” of Self-Concept

Complexity• People have multiple self-concepts

Consistency• Improved wellbeing when multiple self-concepts

require similar personality traits and values

Clarity• Clearly and confidently described, internally

consistent, and stable across time. • Self-concept clarity requires self-concept

consistency

Three “Selves” of Self-Concept

Self-enhancement• Promoting and protecting our positive self-view

Self-verification• Affirming our existing self-concept (good and bad

elements)

Self-evaluation• Evaluating ourselves through self-esteem, self-

efficacy, and locus of control

Self-Concept: Self-Enhancement

Drive to promote/protect a positive self-view • competent, attractive, lucky, ethical, valued

Strongest in common/important situations Positive self-concept outcomes:

• better personal adjustment and mental/physical health

• inflates personal causation and probability of success

Self-Concept: Self-Verification

Motivation to verify and maintain our existing self-concept

Stabilizes our self-concept People prefer feedback consistent with their

self-concept Self-verification outcomes:

• We ignore or reject info inconsistent with self-concept

• We interact more with those who affirm/reflect self-concept

Self-Concept: Self-Evaluation

Defined mainly by three dimensions:

1. Self-esteem• Global self-evaluation• High self-esteem -- less influenced, more persistent/logical

2. Self-efficacy• Belief in one’s ability, motivation, role perceptions, and

situation to complete a task successfully (i.e. MARS)• General vs task-specific self-efficacy

3. Locus of control• General belief about personal control over life events• Higher self-evaluation with internal locus of control

The Social Self

Social identity -- defining ourselves in terms of groups to which we belong or have an emotional attachment

We identify with groups that have high status -- aids self-enhancement

Employees at Employees at other firmsother firms

People living in People living in other countriesother countries

Graduates of other Graduates of other schoolsschools

An individual’s

social identity

An individual’s

social identity

Great West Life Great West Life EmployeeEmployee

Live in Live in CanadaCanada

University of University of Manitoba GraduateManitoba Graduate

Contrasting Groups

Values in the Workplace

Stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our preferences

Define right or wrong, good or bad Value system -- hierarchy of values Espoused vs. enacted values:

• Espoused -- the values we say and often think we use

• Enacted -- values we actually rely on to guide our decisions and actions

Schwartz’s Values Model

Schwartz’s Values Model

Openness to change – motivation to pursue innovative ways

Conservation -- motivation to preserve the status quo

Self-enhancement -- motivated by self-interest

Self-transcendence -- motivation to promote welfare of others and nature

Values and Behaviour

Habitual behaviour usually consistent with values, but conscious behaviour less so because values are abstract constructs

Decisions and behaviours linked to values when:• Mindful of our values• Have logical reasons to apply values in that

situation• Situation does not interfere

In Search of Congruent Values

Chad Hunt chose Husky

Injection Molding Systems Ltd.

as an employer because of

values congruence. “I need to

work for a company that shares

my values, and that includes

caring about our impact on the

environment,” says Hunt.

Values Congruence

Where two or more entities have similar value systems

Problems with incongruence• Incompatible decisions• Lower satisfaction/loyalty• Higher stress and turnover

Benefits of incongruence• Better decision making

(diverse perspectives)• Avoids “corporate cults”

Values Across Cultures: Individualism and Collectivism

Degree that people value duty to their group (collectivism) versus independence and person uniqueness (individualism)

Previously considered opposites, but unrelated -- i.e. possible to value high individualism and high collectivism

Individualism

The degree to which people value personal freedom, self-sufficiency, control over themselves, being appreciated for unique qualitiesDenmarkDenmark

TaiwanTaiwan

ItalyItaly

High IndividualismCanada.Canada.

Low Individualism

IndiaIndia

Collectivism

The degree to which people value their group membership and harmonious relationships within the group

IndiaIndia

CanadaCanada

TaiwanTaiwan

High Collectivism

ItalyItaly

Low Collectivism

DenmarkDenmark

Power Distance

High power distance• Value obedience to authority• Comfortable receiving

commands from superiors • Prefer formal rules and authority

to resolve conflicts Low power distance

• expect relatively equal power sharing

• view relationship with boss as interdependence, not dependence

JapanJapan

IsraelIsraelDenmarkDenmark

VenezuelaVenezuela

High Power DistanceMalaysiaMalaysia

Low Power Distance

CanadaCanada

Uncertainty Avoidance

High uncertainty avoidance• feel threatened by ambiguity

and uncertainty• value structured situations and

direct communication

Low uncertainty avoidance• tolerate ambiguity and

uncertainty

High U. A.

Low U. A.

JapanJapanGreeceGreece

CanadaCanada

ItalyItaly

SingaporeSingapore

Achievement-Nurturing

High achievement orientation• assertiveness• competitiveness• materialism

High nurturing orientation• relationships• others’ well-being

Achievement

Nurturing

JapanJapan

CanadaCanada

SwedenSweden

ChinaChina

ChileChile

FranceFrance

Diversity of Canadian Values

Francophone vs Anglophone values• More liberal and permissive than Anglophones –

reverse of a few decades ago

First Nations Values• high collectivism• low power distance• low uncertainty avoidance• moderately nurturing orientation

Canadian vs American Values

Subtle, but important differences:

Question authority

More liberal

More egalitarian

More collective rights

More multicultural values

More deference to authority

More conservative/ideological

More patriarchal authority

More individual rights

More melting pot values

UtilitarianismUtilitarianism

Individual Individual RightsRights

Greatest good for the greatest number of people

Fundamental entitlementsin society

Distributive Distributive JusticeJustice

People who are similar should receive similar benefits

Three Ethical Principles

Influences on Ethical Conduct

Moral intensity• degree that issue demands ethical principles

Ethical sensitivity• ability to recognize the presence and determine the

relative importance of an ethical issue Situational influences

• competitive pressures and other conditions affect ethical behaviour

Supporting Ethical behaviour

Ethical code of conduct Ethics training Ethics officers Ethical leadership and culture

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Individual Behaviour,

Personality, and Values