1 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR



1 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

The way individual differences affect behavior is an important topic in the discipline of interactional psychology. It vies behavior as a function of two main variables: the person and the environment: B=f(P,E).

Interactional psychology argues that in order to understand the person and his behavior we must be able to assess the person itself and the situation in which his behavior is engaged.

There four fundamental propositions in this analysis:

1 Behavior is a result of interaction between the person and the situation

2The person is both affected by and at the same time affects the situation

3 People vary in their characteristics (cognitive, emotional, motivational)

4 The objective (outside) and the subjective (from the person’s viewpoint) should both be considered when evaluating the situation

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2SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Two types of abilities are considered best predictors of performance and behavior:

Cognitive abilities, or General Mental Ability (GMA)

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

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3PERSONALITY

Personality makes an individual behave in a consistent way in different situations

Determinants of personality:

Heredity

Environment (bringing up, culture etc)

5-Trait Model

When analyzing behavior, various personality theories break down behavioral patterns in major observable traits. One such widely used personality model is the 5-Trait model which associate behavior with 5 basic traits:

|1 Extraversion Introversion |2 Agreeable Disagreeable |

|assertive reserved |warm cold |

|sociable timid |cooperative antagonistic |

|communicative quiet | |

|3 Conscientiousness Non- |5 Openness Resistance |

|organized lazy |creative narrow |

|hardworking disorganized |curious practical |

|dependable unreliable | |

|4 Emotional stability Emotional instability |

|calm anxious |

|self-confident depressed |

Another approach to understanding and explaining behavior is the integrative approach. It views personality as a composite of individual psychological processes, particularly dispositions.

Disposition is the tendency of a person to respond in a particular way to a situation. Types of dispositions include emotions, expectations, congitions. The integrative approach takes into account dispositions and situational variables.

Personality Characteristics in Organizations

Many personality characteristics determine a person’s behavior in organizations. Among them, three core personality characteristics include 1 core self-evaluations, 2 self-monitoring, and 2 positive–negative affect.

1 core self-evaluation is a set of personality traits that define a person’s self-concept

Three such traits are locus of control, self-esteem, and self-efficacy

❑ Locus types include: the internal (believe that control over a situation resides within a person); and external locus of control (control is outside the person) .

Internal: like to control work environment; want part in decision-making; do not like close supervision

External: like structured work environment; relctant to participate in decision-making

❑ Self-efficacy reflects a person’s view of him/herself as being able to perform a certain task

High self-efficacy types: confident, influence over others; attempt difficult tasks, value the opportunity to participate

Low self-efficacy types: timid, feel ineffective

Previous success and performance is a major determinant of self-efficacy

❑ Self-esteem: reflects a person’s general feeling of self-worth

High: have positive feeling about themselves; believe strengths are more important than weaknesses; perform better; seek out higher status jobs; may brag inappropriately when in difficult situations; may be overconfident; may engage in conflict with others

Los: strongly affected by the opinion of others; complement those who give them positive feedback and cut down people who give them negative feedback

The self-esteem indicator can predict to a great extent behavior and performance in organizations

---What is the effect of success and failure on self-esteem?

---How does the opinion of others affect our self-esteem? What is better being liked ”for who you are” or “for achievement”?

---What should managers do to encourage high self-esteem among employees?

❑ Self Monitoring: the extent to which people base their responses and behavior on cues from other people

High self-monitors: pay attention to what is appropriate in specific situations; pay attention to other people’s reactions and adjust their behavior accordingly; considered unpredictable, less consistent; accomplish tasks by fulfilling the expectations of others; seek central positions in social networks; more likely to get promoted; point to others their skills and accomplishments; flexibility may not be suited to every job; tendency to move may not fit every organization; because of their ability to take cues from other, high-self monitors demonstrate higher levels of managerial self-awareness; as managers, they assess the workplace behavior accurately; as managers, they read and assess accurately employee needs; adjust their interaction with employees depending on the situations; respond more readily to work norms, organizational culture and supervisory feedback; can participate in different work-teams; can assume flexible roles

Low self-monitors: act from internal state rather than paying attention to the situation; consistent across situations; considered more predictable, consistent; respond in a more reserved way to organizational culture, norms and feedback; follows internal guidelines of behavior

---Would you define yourself as a high or low self monitor?

---Organize a pro and con chart for high and low self-monitors (from your perspective)

❑ Positive-Negative Effect: trait that reflects focusing on the positive/negative aspects of oneself

Positive: focus on the positive aspects of themselves; more often in a positive mood; more willing to help others; less absent from work; engage in organizational citizenship more often

Negative: Report more work stress;

When discussing a situation within wich behavior is engages, we should also consider if this is a strong situation or weak situation.

Strong situation is a situation that overrides the effects of individual personality traits and tend to be interpreted in a similar way by different individuals; provides clear cues to appropriate behavior and obvious rewards to certain types of behavior

Weak situation is a situation may be open to many different interpretations: provides few cues to appropriate behavior and no obvious rewards for one type of behavior or another

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2 APPLICATIONS OF PERSONALITY THEORY. THE MAYER-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR

One personality and behavior model was developed

This personality and behavior model is used extensively in a research that studies and attempts to understand behavior. It is based on 4 scale dichotomies :

|Extraversion |Introversion |Thinking |Feeling |

|Outgoing |Quiet |Analytical |Subjective |

|Publicly expressive |Reserved |Clarity |Harmony focused |

|Interacting |Concentrating |Head and reason |Heart and feeling |

|Speaks, then thinks |Thinks, then speaks |Justice |Mercy |

|Gregarious |Reflective |Rules | |

|Sensing |Intuition |Judging |Perceiving |

|Practical |General |Structures |Flexible |

|Specific |Abstract |Time oriented |Open minded |

|Feet on ground |Head in clouds |Decisive |Exploring |

|Details |Possibilities |Makes lists/uses them |Makes lists/loses them |

|Concrete |Theoretical |Organized |Spontaneous |

Extraversion/introversion:

Pro situations:

Con situations:

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Sensing/intuition:

Pro situations:

Con situations:

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Thinking/feeling:

Pro situations:

Con situations:

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Judging/Perceiving:

Pro situations:

Con situations:

The Sixteen Types

ESTJ-type style ST-type NT-type

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IIFP-type style I-type F-type

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3SOCIAL PERCEPTION

Social perception is the process of interpreting the information about another person. Perception is a key factor in management activities, particularly appraising and selection.

Question for discussion

Interview situation: what kind of information is included in perception

From the interviewer’s point of view

From the interviewee’s point of view

What affects the process of perception?

Perceiver

Familiarity:

Attitude

Mood

Self-concept (positive/negative)

Cognitive patterns

Target

Appearance (clothing, height etc)

Verbal signs

Non-verbal signs

Inferred intentions

Situation

Strong situations

Weak situations

Discounting principle

Barriers

Selective perception

Stereotypes: accurate and inaccurate, validated and shared; contrast of stereotypes

Projection

Self-fulfilling prophesy

Impression (Perception) Management

Name-dropping

Self-enhancing

Other-enhancing

Discussion Question:

Describe a situation in which impression management can be effective

Describe a situation in which impression management can be ineffective

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4ATTRIBUTION

Attribution is the psychological pattern that attributes (pinpoints) the causes to one’s own behavior and that of others. Attribution theory is the theory how we pinpoint to the causes of behavior.

Attribution is concerned with our inference of explaining the types of behavior we observe, identify the reasons for performance, good or poor.

Attribution patters:

External

Internal

Internal attribution as a motivator

External attribution as a non-motivator

Attribution Biases (US strictly)

The fundamental attribution error

The Self-serving bias

Affect of culture on attribution

Chinese and Indian perceptions

Discussion Question

How does your culture affect your pattern of attribution at home/the workplace?

What may be some negative consequences of a serious mis-attribution on the part of management? From an ethical viewpoint, how do manager’s attribution errors affect employees’ performance and motivation?

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Person

Skills ability; Personality

Perception; Attribution;

Attitudes; Values; Ethics

Environment

Organization

Work groups

Jobs, Personal Life

Behavior

Perceiver

-Familiarity

-Attitudes

- Mood

-Self-concept

-Cognitive structure

Target

-Appearance

-Verbal communication

-Nonverbal signs

-Intentions

Characteristics of the situation

-Context of interaction

-Strength of situation cues

PERCEPTION

Barrier: Selective perception, self-fulfilling prophesy

Barrier: Stereotyping

First-impression error

Attribution is so important because the way we explain our behavior directly affects our motivation. Attribution theory also explains how judgment on performance results in different patters of evaluation, praise and reward.

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