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DEPARTMENT OF MBA
NOTES FOR UNIT 5

SUBJECT: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

SUBJECT CODE: 18MBA11

SEMESTER: 1ST SEMESTER

FACULTY NAME: Ms. CHANDRIKA KRISHNAN

UNIT5: FOUNDATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR

SYLLABUS: Meaning, formation, determinants, traits of personality, big
five and MBTI, personality attributes influencing OB.
 PERSONALITY
MEANING:
Almost every day we describe and assess the personalities of the people around us. "She has such a
great personality," you might say about a friend. "He gets his personality from his dad," you might say
about your rambunctious son. While we spend a lot of time talking about personality, many people are
not quite sure exactly how and what personality psychology is really all about.
Whether we realize it or not, these daily musings on how and why people behave as they do are similar
to what personality psychologists do. While our informal assessments of personality tend to focus more
on individuals, personality psychologists instead use conceptions of personality that can apply to
everyone. Personality research has led to the development of a number of theories that help explain
how and why certain personality traits develop.

DEFINITION:
Let's take a closer look at exactly what psychologists mean when they talk about personality, how they
study human personality and some of the key theories of personality.
While there are many theories of personality, the first step is to understand exactly what is meant by the
term personality. The word personality itself stems from the Latin word persona, which referred to a
theatrical mask worn by performers in order to either project different roles or disguise their identities.
While there are many theories of personality, the first step is to understand exactly what is meant by the
term personality. The word personality itself stems from the Latin word persona, which referred to a
theatrical mask worn by performers in order to either project different roles or disguise their identities.
A brief definition is that personality is made up of the characteristic patterns of thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors that make a person unique. In addition to this, personality arises from
within the individual and remains fairly consistent throughout life.
The following are just a few of the definitions that have been put forth by some different psychologists:
"That which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation." -Raymond B.
Cattell
“Personality refers to individuals' characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior,
together with the psychological mechanisms -- hidden or not -- behind those patterns." –Funder
While there are many different definitions of personality, most focus on the pattern of behaviours and
characteristics that can help predict and explain a person's behavior. Explanations for personality can
focus on a variety of influences, ranging from genetic explanations for personality traits to the role of
the environment and experience in shaping an individual's personality.

Environmental factors that can play a role in the development and expression of personality include
such things as parenting and culture. How children are raised can depend on the individual personalities
and parenting styles of caregivers as well as the norms and expectations of different cultures.

So what exactly makes up a personality? (Formation of Personality)

As described in the definitions above, you would expect that traits and patterns of thought and emotion
play important roles. Some of the other fundamental characteristics of personality include:
Consistency: There is generally a recognizable order and regularity to behaviors. Essentially, people
act in the same ways or similar ways in a variety of situations.
Psychological and physiological: Personality is a psychological construct, but research suggests that it
is also influenced by biological processes and needs.
It impacts behaviors and actions: Personality does not just influence how we move and respond in
our environment; it also causes us to act in certain ways.
Multiple expressions: Personality is displayed in more than just behavior. It can also be seen in our
thoughts, feelings, close relationships, and other social interactions.

Theories of Personality:
There are a number of theories about how personality develops. Different schools of thought in
psychology influence many of these theories. Some of these major perspectives on personality include:
 Type theories are the early perspectives on personality. These theories suggested that there are
a limited number of "personality types" which are related to biological influences.
 Trait theories tend to view personality as the result of internal characteristics that are
genetically based.
 Psychodynamic theories of personality are heavily emphasize on the influence of the
unconscious mind on personality.
 Behavioral theories suggest that personality is a result of interaction between the individual
and the environment. Behavioral theorists study observable and measurable behaviors, often
ignoring the role of internal thoughts and feelings.
 Humanist theories emphasize the importance of free will and individual experience in
developing a personality.

Determinants of Personality
Personality is a result of the combination of four factors, i.e., physical environment, heredity, culture,
and particular experiences. Here we discuss each factor determining personality separately.
Personality and Environment:
Above we described the influence of physical environment on culture and pointed out that geographical
environment sometimes determines cultural variability. That the Eskimos have a culture different from
that of the Indians is due to the fact that the former have a geography different from the latter.
Man comes to form ideas and attitudes according to the physical environment he lives in.
To the extent that the physical environment determines cultural development and to the extent, that
culture in turn determines personality, a relationship between personality and environment becomes
clear. Some two thousand years ago, Aristotle claimed that people living in Northern Europe were
owing to a cold climate, full of spirit but lacking in intelligence and skill. The natives of Asia, on the
other hand, are intelligent and inventive but lack in spirit, and are, therefore, slaves.
Montesquieu, in the eighteenth century, claimed that the bravery of those blessed by a cold climate
enables them to maintain their liberties. Great heat enervates courage while cold causes a certain vigour
of body and mind. At high temperatures, it is said there is disinclination to work and so civilizations
have grown up where the temperatures have been average near or below the optimum.
The people of mountains as well as deserts are usually bold, hard and powerful. Huntington’s
discussion of the effects of physical environment on man’s attitudes and mental make-up is very
exhaustive. However, as told previously, the physical conditions are more permissive and limiting
factors than causative factors. They set the limits within which personality can develop.
Thus, climate and topography determine to a great extent the physical and mental traits of a people, but
it cannot be said that they alone determine human behaviour. Most kinds of personality are found in
every kind of culture. The fact remains that civilizations have appeared in regions of widely different
climate and topography. Christianity knows no climate belts.
Peoples are monogamous in high altitudes and flat lands, under tropical temperate and arctic
conditions. Men’s attitudes and ideas change even when no conceivable geographic change has
occurred. Proponents of geographic determinism oversimplify the human personality and so their
interpretations are to be accepted only after close scrutiny.
Heredity and Personality:
Heredity is another factor determining human personality. Some of the similarities in man’s personality
are said to be due to his common heredity. Every human group inherits the same general set of
biological needs and capacities. These common needs and capacities explain some of our similarities in
personality. Man originates from the union of male and female germ cells into a single cell which is
formed at the moment of conception.
He tends to resemble his parents in physical appearance and intelligence. The nervous system, the
organic drives and the duchess glands have a great bearing upon personality. They determine whether
an individual will be vigorous or feeble, energetic or lethargic, idiot of intelligent, coward or
courageous.
A man with a good physical structure and health generally possess an attractive personality. A man of
poor health, pigmy size and ugly physical features develops inferiority complex. The growth of his
personality is checked. Rejected and hated by the society he may turn out to be a thief, dacoit, or
drunkard. It is also probable that he may become a leader, or a genius like Socrates and Napoleon.
Likewise the nervous system and glandular system may affect the personality of an individual.
The nervous system affects the intelligence and talent of the individual. The hormones affect the
growth of personality. Too many or too less of hormones are harmful. Some men are over-patient,
overzealous, overactive and overexcited while others are lazy, inactive, and weak. The reason may be
secretion of more hormones in the first case and less hormones in the latter case. For a normal
personality there should be a balanced secretion of hormones.
Heredity may affect personality in another way, i.e., indirectly. If boys in a society prefers slim girls as
their companion, such girls will receive greater attention of the society providing them thereby more
opportunities to develop their personality. According to Allport, Gordon, W. no feature of personality
is devoid of hereditary influence.
However, heredity does not mould human personality alone and unaided. “For the present, we can only
assume that there are -genes for normal personality traits just as there are genes for other aspects of
human make-up and functioning. Where in members of the same family, in a similar environment, we
can see great differences in personality, we may ascribe these in part at least to differences in gene
contributions.
We can also guess that some of the family similarities in personality are genetically influenced. But we
are still a long way from identifying specific ‘personality’ genes, gauging their effects or hazarding
predictions as to what the personality of a given child will be on the basis of what we know about its
parents.”
In short, heredity can never be considered as charting a fixed and definite course of anyone’s
personality. At the best, what anyone inherits are the potentialities for a wide range of personalities, the
precise form into which a personality will “jell” being determined by circumstances. Ogburn and
Nimkoff write, “It would be an error to hold, as’ endocrine enthusiasts do, that the glands determine the
whole personality, include rich things, as one’s opinions, one’s habits, and one’s skills.” it is possible to
over-activate or under-activate some of these kinds by injecting certain kinds of hormones and thereby
affect human personality. In other words, it may be said that the available evidence does not support the
dogmatic view that personality is biologically transmitted.
Of course, there are some traits which seem to be more directly affected by heredity than others.
Manual skills, intelligence and sensory discriminations are some of the abilities which appear more
highly developed in some family lines than others. But other traits such as one’s beliefs, loyalties,
prejudices and manners are for the most part the result of training and experience.
Heredity only furnishes the materials out of which experience will mould the personality. Experience
determines the way these materials will be used. An individual may be energetic because of his
heredity, but whether he is active on his own belief or on behalf of others is a matter of his training.
Whether he exerts himself in making money or in scholarly activity is also dependent upon his
bringing. If personality is a direct consequence of heredity tendencies or traits then all the sons and
daughters of the same parents brought up in the same environment should have identical personalities
or at least personalities that are very much alike.
But investigation shows that even at the tender age of three or four years they show quite distinct
personalities. The new born human being is, to use the phrase of Koenig, Hopper and Gross, a
“candidate for personality.” It is, therefore, clear that an individual’s heredity alone would not enable
us to predict his traits and values.
Personality and Culture:
There can be little doubt that culture largely determines the types of personality that will predominate
in the particular group. According to some thinkers, personality is the subjective aspect of culture. They
regard personality and culture as two sides of the same coin.
Spiro has observed, ‘The development of personality and the acquisition of culture are not different
processes, but one and the same learning process.” Personality is an individual aspect of culture, while
culture is a collective aspect of personality.” Each culture produces its special type or types of
personality.
In 1937 the anthropologist Ralph Linton and the psychoanalyst Abram Kardinar began a series of joint
explorations of the relationship between culture and personality by subjecting to minute study reports
of several primitive societies and one modern American village. Their studies have demonstrated that
each culture tends to create and is supported by a “basic personality type.” A given cultural
environment sets its participant members off from other human beings operating under different
cultural environments.
According to Frank, ‘culture is a coercive influence dominating the individual and moulding his
personality by virtue of the ideas, conceptions and beliefs which had brought to bear on him through
communal life.” The culture provides the raw material of which the individual makes his life. The
traditions, customs, mores, religion, institutions, moral and social standards of a group affect the
personality of the group members. From the moment of birth, the child is treated in ways which shape
his personality. Every culture exerts a series of general influences upon the individuals who grow up
under it.
Ogburn as we noted above, divided culture into “material” and “non-material.” According to him, both
material and non-material culture have a bearing on personality. As for the termer he provides
examples of the influence of plumbing on the formation of habits and attitudes favourable to
cleanliness and the relation of time-pieces to punctuality. The American Indians who have no clocks or
watches in their culture have little notion of keeping appointments with any exactness.
According to him, they have no sense of time. The personality of an American Indian differs from that
of a white man in the matter of punctuality and this is because of differences in their culture. Similarly,
some cultures greedy value cleanliness as witnessed by the saying: “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”
This trait of cleanliness is greatly encouraged by the technology of plumbing and other inventions that
are found with it.
The Eskimos are dirty because they have to hang a bag of snow down their backs to melt it in order to
get water. A man who has just to turn on a tap of water will naturally be more clean than an Eskimo.
Cleanliness, therefore, is a matter not of heredity but of the type of culture. As for the connection
between the non-material culture and personality, language affords an instructive example. We know
that one of the principal differences between man and animals is that he alone possesses speech.
Language can be learnt only in society. People who cannot speak exhibit warped personality. Since
language is the essential medium through which the individual obtains his information and his attitudes,
therefore, it is the principal vehicle for the development of personality. Moreover, speech itself
becomes a trait of personality. The coarse voice of woodcutter can be readily distinguished from the
hushed tones of a man.
The short, crisp, guttural speech of the German seems to be part of his personality, as does the fluid,
flowing voluble speech of the Spaniard. Movements of the hands and shoulders in speech are regarded
as part of the very core of the personalities of Italians and Jews. The Jews use their gestures for
emphasis only, while Italians depend upon them to convey part of the meaning.
Another illustration of the influence of culture on personality is the relationship of men and women. In
the earlier period when farming was the principal business, women generally had no occupations
outside the home, and naturally, therefore, they were economically dependent upon their fathers or
husbands. Obedience was a natural consequence of such conditions. But today hundreds of women
work outside the homes and earn salaries.
They enjoy equal rights with men and are not so dependent upon them as they were in the past. Attitude
of independence instead of obedience has today become a trait of women’s personality. With the
growing realisation of the importance of culture for personality, sociologists have recently made
attempts to identify the factors in particular cultures which give a distinctive stamp to the individuals
within the group. Ruth Benedict analyzed the cultures of three primitive tribes and found that cultures
may be divided into two major types—The Apollonian and the Dionysian.
The Apollonian type is characterised by restraint, even temperances, moderation and co- operativeness,
whereas the Dionysian type is marked by emotionalism, excess, pursuit of prestige, individualism and
competitiveness. The Zuni culture is classified as Appollonian, while the Kwakiuti and Dobuans as
Dionysian.
The personality of the Hindus in India differs greatly from that of Englishmen. Why ? The answer is ‘a
different Hindu culture’. The Hindu culture lays emphasis not on material and worldly things, but on
things spiritual and religious. In every Hindu family there is a religious environment. The mother gets
up early in the morning, takes bath and spends an hour in meditation. When the children get up, they go
and touch the feet of their parents and bow before the family gods or goddesses. The Hindu child from
the very birth begins to acquire a religious and philosophical personality built on the “inner life.”
From the various illustrations cited so far it is thus clear that culture greatly moulds personality. The
individual ideas and behaviour are largely the results of cultural conditioning. There is a great
difference of ideas between the Hindu devotee immersed in religion and the Russian Communist who
thoroughly rejects it.
However, it should not be concluded that culture is a massive die that shapes all who come under it
with an identical pattern. All the people of a given culture are not of one cast. Personality traits differ
within any culture, some people in any culture are more aggressive than others, some are more
submissive, kind and competitive. Personality is not totally determined by culture, even though no
personality escapes its influence. It is only one determinant among others. Ruth Benedict writes, “No
anthropologist with a background of experiences of other cultures has ever believed that individuals
were automatons, mechanically carrying out the decrees of their civilizations.
No culture yet observed has been able to eradicate the difference in the temperaments of the persons
who compose it. It is always a give and take affair.” Linton classified cultural influence into the
universals, specialities and alternatives and came to the conclusion that culture makes for uniformity of
personality only through the universals and since universals are few in number as compared with
specialities and alternatives, the effect of culture is to make for variety as well as uniformity.
Personality and Particular Experiences:
Personality is also determined by another factor, namely, the particular and unique experiences. There
are two types of experiences one, those that stem from continuous association with one’s group,
second, those that arise suddenly and are not likely to recur. The type of people who meet the child
daily has a major influence on his personality. The personality of parents does more to affect a child’s
personality.
If the parents are kind, tolerant of boyish pranks, interested in athletics and anxious to encourage their
child’s separate interests the child will have a different experience and there shall be different influence
on his personality than the one when the parents are unkind, quick tempered and arbitrary. In the home
is fashioned the style of personality that will by and large characterise the individual throughout his
life.
Social rituals,’ ranging from table manners to getting along with others, are consciously inculcated in
the child by parents. The child picks up the language of his parents. Problems of psychological and
emotional adjustments arise and are solved appropriately by each child in terms of the cultural values
and standards of the family. The family set up tends to bring the child into contact with his play-mates
and teachers. What his play-game members are, and his school teachers are will also determine his
personality development.
Group influences are relatively greater in early childhood. This is the period when the relationships of
the child with his mother, father and siblings affect profoundly the organisation of his drives and
emotions, the deeper and unconscious aspects of his personality.
A certain degree of maturation is needed before the child can understand the adult norms. The basic
personality structure that is formed during this period is difficult to change. Whether a person becomes
a leader, a coward, an imitator? whether he feels inferior or superior, whether he becomes altruistic or
egoistic depends upon the kind of interaction he has with others. Group interaction moulds his
personality.
Away from the group he may become insane or develop queer attitudes. As a child grows he develops
wish for response and wish for recognition. To his organic needs are added what are called ‘sociogenic’
needs which are highly important motivating forces in personality. How the idea of self develops in the
child is an important study. The self does not exist at birth but begins to arise as the child learns
something of the world of sensation about him.
He comes to learn of what belongs to him and takes pride in his possessions. He learns that parts of his
body belong to him. He becomes acquainted with his name and paternity and comes to distinguish
himself from others. The praise and blame he receives from others account in large measure for his
conduct. The development of self leads to the growth of conscience and ego.
Our view of self conception is usually based on the opinion of others about us. It does not. however,
mean that we value all opinions about our conduct equally. We attach importance only to the opinions
of those whom we consider for one reason or the other significant than others.
Our parents are usually most significant than others since they are the ones who are intimately related
to us and have greatest power than others over us especially during the early years of life. In short, our
early experiences are very important in the formation of our personality. It is in early life that the
foundations of personality are laid.
Why are the children brought up in the same family differ from one another in their personality, even
though they have had the same experiences? The point is that they have not had the same experiences.
Some experiences are similar while others are different. Each child enters a different family unit.
One is the first born, he is the only child until the arrival of the second. The parents do not treat all their
children exactly alike. The children enter different play groups, have different teachers and meet
different incidents. They do not share all incidents and experiences. Each person’s experience is unique
as no body else perfectly duplicates it. Thus, each child has unique experiences exactly duplicated by
no one and, therefore, grows a different personality.
Sometimes a sudden experience leaves an abiding influence upon the personality of an individual. Thus
a small child may get frightened at the view of a bloody accident, and even after the accident he may be
obsessed of the horror of fear. Sometimes a girl’s experience with a rapist may condemn her to a life of
sexual maladjustment.
A book may not uneaten challenge a man to renounce the world and seek God. If a man meets an
accident which cripples or weakens him, he may come to entertain the feelings of inadequacy. Lord
Buddha is said to have been led to renunciation by the sight of a funeral procession. In this way
experiences also determine one’s personality.
However, it may be noted that one’s own personality that one has acquired at any moment will in part
determine how the experiences influence his pre-acquired personality. Thus a child who is robust,
outgoing, athletic would find his parents in the first case a model for behaviour, a model that would
deepen the already apparent personality traits. But if the child is shy, retiring and bookish he may find
such parents’ personality distasteful and intensify the opposed personality trends already apparent.
It may also be referred that personality is a matter of social situations. It has been shown by social
researchers that a person may show honesty in one situation and not in another. The same is true for
other personality traits also. Personality traits tend to be specific responses to particular situations rather
than general behaviour patterns. It is a dynamic unity with a creative potential.
Heredity, physical environment, culture and particular experiences are thus the four factors that explain
personality—its formation, development and maintenance. Beyond the joint influence of these factors,
however, the relative contribution of each factor to personality varies with the characteristic or
personality process involved and, perhaps, with the individual concerned.
Genetic or hereditary factors may be more critical for some personality characteristics, while
environmental factors, (cultural, financial), may be more important for others. Furthermore, for any one
characteristic, the relative contribution of one or another factor may vary from person to person.
Also there is no way yet known to measure the effect of each factor or to state how the factors combine
to produce a given result. The behaviour of a juvenile delinquent is affected by his heredity and by his
home life. But how much is contributed by each factor, cannot be measured in exact terms.

Big Five Personality Traits (OCEAN Model)

What makes someone who they are? Each person has an idea of their own personality type — if they
are bubbly or reserved, sensitive or thick-skinned. Psychologists who try to tease out the science of
who we are define personality as individual differences in the way people tend to think, feel and
behave.
There are many ways to measure personality, but psychologists have mostly given up on trying to
divide humanity neatly into types. Instead, they focus on personality traits.
The most widely accepted of these traits are the Big Five:

 Openness
 Conscientiousness
 Extraversion
 Agreeableness
 Neuroticism
History:
The Big Five were developed in the 1970s by two research teams. These teams were led by Paul Costa
and Robert R. McCrae of the National Institutes of Health and Warren Norman and Lewis Goldberg of
the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the University of Oregon, according to Scientific
American.
The Big Five are the ingredients that make up each individual's personality. A person might have a
dash of openness, a lot of conscientiousness, an average amount of extraversion, plenty of
agreeableness and almost no neuroticism at all. Or someone could be disagreeable, neurotic,
introverted, conscientious and hardly open at all. Here's what each trait entails:
Openness
Openness is shorthand for "openness to experience." People who are high in openness enjoy adventure.
They're curious and appreciate art, imagination and new things. The motto of the open individual might
be "Variety is the spice of life."
People low in openness are just the opposite: They prefer to stick to their habits, avoid new experiences
and probably aren't the most adventurous eaters. Changing personality is usually considered a tough
process, but openness is a personality trait that's been shown to be subject to change in adulthood.
Conscientiousness
People who are conscientious are organized and have a strong sense of duty. They're dependable,
disciplined and achievement-focused. You won't find conscientious types jetting off on round-the-
world journeys with only a backpack; they're planners.
People low in conscientiousness are more spontaneous and freewheeling. They may tend toward
carelessness. Conscientiousness is a helpful trait to have, as it has been linked to achievement in school
and on the job.
Extraversion
Extraversion versus introversion is possibly the most recognizable personality trait of the Big Five. The
more of an extravert someone is, the more of a social butterfly they are. Extraverts are chatty, sociable
and draw energy from crowds. They tend to be assertive and cheerful in their social interactions.
Introverts, on the other hand, need plenty of alone time, perhaps because their brains process social
interaction differently. Introversion is often confused with shyness, but the two aren't the same.
Shyness implies a fear of social interactions or an inability to function socially. Introverts can be
perfectly charming at parties — they just prefer solo or small-group activities.
Agreeableness
Agreeableness measures the extent of a person's warmth and kindness. The more agreeable someone is,
the more likely they are to be trusting, helpful and compassionate. Disagreeable people are cold and
suspicious of others, and they're less likely to cooperate.
Men who are high in agreeableness are judged to be better dancers by women, suggesting that body
movement can signal personality. (Conscientiousness also makes for good dancers, according to the
same 2011 study.) But in the workplace, disagreeable men actually earn more than agreeable guys.
Disagreeable women didn't show the same salary advantage, suggesting that a no-nonsense demeanor is
uniquely beneficial to men.
Being envious, which can lead to people being perceived as not agreeable, was found to be the most
common personality type out of the four studies by a report published in August 2016 in the journal
Science Advances. Envious people feel threatened when someone else is more successful than they are.
Neuroticism
To understand neuroticism, look no further than George Costanza of the long-running sitcom
"Seinfeld." George is famous for his neuroses, which the show blames on his dysfunctional parents. He
worries about everything, obsesses over germs and disease and once quits a job because his anxiety
over not having access to a private bathroom is too overwhelming.
George may be high on the neuroticism scale, but the personality trait is real. People high in
neuroticism worry frequently and easily slip into anxiety and depression. If all is going well, neurotic
people tend to find things to worry about. One 2012 study found that when neurotic people with good
salaries earned raises, the extra income actually made them less happy.
In contrast, people who are low in neuroticism tend to be emotionally stable and even-keeled.
Unsurprisingly, neuroticism is linked with plenty of bad health outcomes. Neurotic people die younger
than the emotionally stable, possibly because they turn to tobacco and alcohol to ease their nerves.
Possibly the creepiest fact about neuroticism, though, is that parasites can make you feel that way. And
we're not talking about the natural anxiety that might come with knowing that a tapeworm has made a
home in your gut. Undetected infection by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii may make people more
prone to neuroticism, a 2006 study found.
MBTI
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to
measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. These
preferences were extrapolated from the typological theories proposed by Carl Gustav Jung and first
published in his 1921 book Psychological Types. Carl Jung theorized that there are four principal
psychological functions by which we experience the world: sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking.
One of these four functions is dominant most of the time.
The original developers of the MBTI were Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs
Myers. Both of them studied extensively the work of Jung, turned their interest of human behavior into
a devotion of turning the theory of psychological types to practical use. They began creating the
indicator during World War II, believing that knowledge of personality preferences would help women
who were entering the industrial workforce for the first time to identify the sort of war- time jobs that
would be "most comfortable and effective"
Today, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most widely used personality assessment
instrument in the world. It is a 100-question personality test that asks people how they usually feel or
act in particular situations. Respondents are classified as extraverted or introverted (E or I), sensing or
intuitive (S or N), thinking or feeling (T or F), and judging or perceiving (J or P). These terms are
defined as follows:
 Extraverted (E) versus Introverted (I).Extraverted individuals are outgoing, sociable, and
assertive. Introverts are quiet and shy.
 Sensing (S) versus Intuitive (N).Sensing types are practical and prefer routine and order. They
focus on details. Intuitives rely on unconscious processes and look at the “big picture.”
 Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F).Thinking types use reason and logic to handle problems.
Feeling types rely on their personal values and emotions.
 Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P).Judging types want control and prefer their world to be
ordered and structured. Perceiving types are flexible and spontaneous.
Extroverts (E) are energized by interaction with others. They are people of action. They are pulled into
social life and find it difficult to settle down, read, or concentrate on homework. They may find college
tasks, such as reading, research, and writing challenging because they are solitary endeavours. They
learn best by talking and physically engaging in the environment. Extroverts learn better in small
classroom settings where students can actively engage in conversations with peers and professors as
opposed to large lecture style classrooms where listening is the primary activity. Extroverts enjoy oral
feedback from professors, as well as conversations before/after class or during office hours.
Additionally, extraverts benefit from study groups where they can learn through speaking with others.
Introverts (I) are energized by the inner world of reflection, thought, and contemplation. They need
space and time alone. Introverts like reading, lectures, and written work. Therefore, they generally do
well in traditional classroom settings. Introverts may hesitate to speak up in class but may benefit from
one-on one conversations with a professor or written feedback. Online courses may work well for
introverts as many often engage more in chat rooms or via email than contributing orally to a class
discussion. Introverts may need time alone to reflect, process, and reenergize before joining a group or
study group.
Sensing (S) people rely heavily on their five senses to take in information. They may be good listeners
or visually oriented learners. They also enjoy hands-on learning experiences. They like concrete facts,
organization, and structure. They learn well from organized lectures or presentations. They are good at
memorization. Sensing people usually like outlines, clear guidelines, and specifics. A syllabus is an
important learning tool for Sensing types. As Sensing types often have difficulty with theory, they may
struggle in classes where theoretical concepts are commonplace such as psychology or philosophy.
Intuitive (N) people see the world through intuition. They learn by hunches. Intuitive students may not
read a test question all the way through, sometimes missing a key part. Intuitive types want to know the
theory before deciding that facts are important and will always ask "why". They are creative and
innovative and may struggle following strict sets of instructions or on multiple choice tests. Ns also
work with bursts of energy. Ns will write their term paper and then finish the required outline.
Thinking (T) people decide on the basis of logic, analysis, and reason. They may be great at figuring
out logical problems and analyzing problems. They may voice their strong opinions in the classroom.
They expect fairness in grading, equal treatment of all students and adherence to fair classroom
policies.
Feeling (F) persons decide on the basis of their feelings, personal likes and dislikes. Feeling types
value harmony and are distressed by interpersonal friction. Harmony in the classroom, with classmates
and with the professor will be of ultimate importance for Feeling types.
Judging (J) types try to order and control their world. They are decisive, may be closed-minded, and
are usually well organized. They meet deadlines, like planning, and prefer to work on only one thing at
a time. Judging types will usually have very well organized notebooks, and will structure their time to
complete assignments promptly. Judging types will struggle if changes occur and they need to adapt, or
if they are required to work with a group that is not as well organized, or if they need to cram for an
exam.
Perceiving (P) types are spontaneous and don't like to be boxed in by deadlines or plans. They want to
gather more information before making a decision. They work at many things at once. Ps are flexible
and often good in emergencies when plans are disrupted. Their biggest problem is procrastination. Ps
may have trouble getting assignments in on time or budgeting their time. They may, however, actually
do well cramming for an exam or rushing to get a project finished as they thrive on last-minute
pressure.
These classifications together describe 16 personality types, identifying every person by one trait from
each of the four pairs. For example, Introverted/ Intuitive/Thinking/Judging people (INTJs) are
visionaries with original minds and great drive. They are sceptical, critical, independent, determined,
and often stubborn. ESTJs are organizers. They are realistic, logical, analytical, and decisive and have a
natural head for business or mechanics. The ENTP type is a conceptualizer, innovative, individualistic,
versatile, and attracted to entrepreneurial ideas. This person tends to be resourceful in solving
challenging problems but may neglect routine assignments. The MBTI has been widely used by
organizations including Apple Computer, AT&T, Citigroup, GE, 3M Co.
The 16 personality types are:
Personality attributes influencing OB
Following are major Personality attributes influencing OB:
 Core Self-Evaluation
 Self-Esteem
 Locus of Control
 Machiavellianism
 Narcissism
 Self-Monitoring Risk Taking
 Type A vs. Type B Personality
 Proactive Personality

Core Self-Evaluation
People who have positive core self-evaluations like themselves and see themselves as effective,
capable, and in control of their environment. Those with negative core self-evaluations tend to dislike
themselves, question their capabilities, and view themselves as powerless over their environment.
People with positive core self-evaluations perform better than others because they set more ambitious
goals, are more committed to their goals, and persist longer in attempting to reach these goals. Core
self-evaluations has two main components: Self-Esteem and Locus of Control.
Self-Esteem means people differ in the degree to which they like or dislike, themselves. This trait is
called self esteem. High self esteem believes that they process the ability they need to succeed at work.
Locus of Control means the degree to which people believe they are masters of their own fate.A
person’s perception of the source of his or her fate is called as locus of control. It is of two types:
a)Internals (Internal locus of control) -
Individuals who believe that they control what happens to them.
b)Externals (External locus of control)-
Individuals who believe that what happens to them is controlled by outside forces such as luck or
chance
Machiavellianism
Kuzi is a young bank manager in Taiwan. He’s had three promotions in the past 4 years and makes no
apologies for the aggressive tactics he’s used to propel his career upward. “I’m prepared to do whatever
I have to do to get ahead,” he says. Kuzi would properly be called Machiavellian. The personality
characteristic of Machiavellianism (often abbreviated Mach ) is named after Niccolo Machiavelli, who
wrote in the sixteenth century on how to gain and use power. An individual high in Machiavellianism is
pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes ends can justify means. “If it works, use it” is
consistent with a high-Mach perspective. A considerable amount of research has found high Machs
manipulate more, win more, are persuaded less, and persuade others more than do low Machs. They
like their jobs less, are more stressed by their work, and engage in more deviant work behaviors. Yet
high-Mach outcomes are moderated by situational factors. High Machs flourish
(1) when they interact face to face with others rather than indirectly;
(2)when the situation has minimal rules and regulations, allowing latitude for improvisation;
and
(3)when emotional involvement with details irrelevant to winning distracts low Machs. Thus, in jobs
that require bargaining skills (such as labor negotiation) or that offer substantial rewards for winning
(such as commissioned sales), high Machs will be productive. But if ends can’t justify the means, there
are absolute standards of behavior, or the three situational factors we noted are not in evidence, our
ability to predict a high Mach’s performance will be severely curtailed.
Narcissism
Hans likes to be the center of attention. He looks at himself in the mirror a lot, has extravagant dreams,
and considers himself a person of many talents. Hans is a narcissist. The term is from the Greek myth
of Narcissus, a man so vain and proud he fell in love with his own image. In psychology, narcissism
describes a person who has a grandiose sense of self-importance, requires excessive admiration, has a
sense of entitlement, and is arrogant. Evidence suggests that narcissists are more charismatic and thus
more likely to emerge as leaders, and they may even display better psychological health (at least as
they self-report). Despite having some advantages, most evidence suggests that narcissism is
undesirable. A study found that while narcissists thought they were better leaders than their colleagues,
their supervisors actually rated them as worse .As narcissists often want to gain the admiration of others
and receive affirmation of their superiority, they tend to “talk down” to those who threaten them,
treating others as if they were inferior. Narcissists also tend to be selfish and exploitive and believe
others exist for their benefit. Their bosses rate them as less effective at their jobs than others,
particularly when it comes to helping people. Subsequent research using data compiled over 100 years
has shown that narcissistic CEOs of baseball organizations tend to generate higher levels of manager
turnover, although curiously, members of external organizations see them as more influential.
Self-Monitoring
Joyce McIntyre is always in trouble at work. Though she’s competent, hardworking, and productive, in
performance reviews, she is rated no better than average, and she seems to have made a career of
irritating bosses. Joyce’s problem is that she’s politically inept. She’s unable to adjust her behavior to
fit changing situations.
As she puts it, “I’m true to myself. I don’t remake myself to please others.” We would describe Joyce
as a low self-monitor Self-monitoring refers to an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to
internal situational factors. Individuals high in self-monitoring show considerable adaptability in
adjusting their behavior to external situation factors. They are highly sensitive to external cues and can
behave differently in different situations, sometimes presenting striking contradictions between their
public persona and their private self. Low self-monitors, like Joyce, can’t disguise themselves in that
way. They tend to display their true dispositions and attitudes in every situation; hence, there is high
behavioral consistency between who they are and what they do.
Risk Taking
People differ in their willingness to take chances, a quality that affects how much time and information
they need to make a decision. Although previous studies have shown managers in large organizations
to be more risk averse than growth-oriented entrepreneurs who actively manage small businesses,
recent findings suggest managers in large organizations may actually be more willing to take risks than
entrepreneurs. The work population as a whole also differs in risk propensity. It makes sense to
recognize these differences and even consider aligning them with specific job demands. A high risk-
taking propensity may lead to more effective performance for a stock trader in a brokerage firm
because that type of job demands rapid decision making. On the other hand, a willingness to take risks
might prove a major obstacle to an accountant who performs auditing activities.
In short we can say that:
 High Risk-Taking Managers
– Make quicker decisions
– Use less information to make decisions
– Operate in smaller and more entrepreneurial organizations
 Low Risk-Taking Managers
– Are slower to make decisions
– Require more information before making decisions
– Exist in larger organizations with stable environments

Type A vs. Type B Personality

Type A Personality people –
 Have competitiveness, time urgency, social status insecurity, aggression, hostility and a quest
for achievements.
 Are always moving, walking, and eating rapidly.
 Feel impatient with the rate at which most events take place.
 Strive to think or do two or more things at once.
 Cannot cope with leisure time.
 Are obsessed with numbers, measuring their success in terms of how many or how much of
everything they acquire.
 Are labelled as Coronary-prone behavior or prone to heart attacks.

Type B Personality people-

 Are relatively free of the type A behaviours and characteristics.
  Never suffer from a sense of time urgency with its accompanying impatience.
 Feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements or accomplishments.
 Play for fun and relaxation, rather than to exhibit their superiority at any cost.
 Can relax without guilt.
 Are less prone to heart attacks.
Proactive Personality
People with this personality identify opportunities, shows initiative, takes action, and perseveres until
meaningful change occurs. They create positive change in the environment, regardless or even in spite
of constraints or obstacles.Not surprisingly, they have many desirable behaviour that organization
Covet. They are more likely than others to be seen as leaders and to act as change agents. Proactive
individuals are more likely to be satisfied with work and help others more with their tasks, largely
because they build more relationships with others. Proactive are also more likely to challenge the status
quo or voice their displeasure when situations aren’t to their liking. If an organization requires people
with entrepreneurial initiative, proactives make good candidates; however, they’re also more likely to
leave an organization to start their own business. As individuals, proactives are more likely than others
to achieve career success. They select, create, and influence work situations in their favour. They seek
out job and organizational information, develop contacts in high places, engage in career planning, and
demonstrate persistence in the face of career obstacles.

FOUNDATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR

Individual behaviour-Foundations.

According to Kurt Lewin, behavior is a function of the person and environment. Lewin
expressed this idea in an equation: B= f (P, E) where B= Behavior, P = Person and E=
Environment. This idea has been developed by the interactional psychology approach.

Intellectual abilities.
Number aptitude: It is an ability to do speedy and accurate arithmetic.

Verbal comprehension: It is the ability to understand what is read and understand the
relationship of words with each other.

Perceptual speed: It is the ability to identify visual similarities and differences quickly and
accurately.

Inductive reasoning: It is the ability to identify a logical sequence in a problem and then solve
the problem.
Deductive reasoning: It is the ability to see logic and assesses the implication of an argument.

Spatial visualization: It is the ability to imagine how an object would look like in different
position in space.

Memory: It is the ability to retain and recall past experience.

Physical abilities.

Though the changing nature of work suggests intellectual abilities are increasingly important for
many jobs, physical abilities have been and will remain valuable. Research on hundreds of jobs
has identified nine basic abilities needed in the performance of physical tasks. These are
described in following exhibit. Individuals differ in the extent to which they have each of these
abilities. Not surprisingly, there is also little relationship among them: a high score on one is no
assurance of a high score on others. High employee performance is likely to be achieved when
management has ascertained the extent to which a job requires each of the nine abilities and then
ensures that employees in that job have those abilities.
Role of disabilities.
The importance of ability at work obviously creates problems when we attempt to formulate
workplace policies that recognize diversity in terms of disability status. As we have noted,
recognizing that individuals have different abilities that can be taken into account when making
hiring decisions is not problematic. However, it is discriminatory to make blanket assumptions
about people on the basis of a disability. It is also possible to make accommodations for
disabilities.

In the US, with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, the
representation of individuals with disabilities in the U.S. workforce rapidly increased. According
to the ADA, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations so their workplaces
will be accessible to individuals with physical or mental disabilities. Making inferences about the
relationship between disability and employment outcomes is difficult because the term disability
is so broad. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission classifies a person as
disabled who has any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major
life activities. Examples include missing limbs, seizure disorder, Down Syndrome, deafness,
schizophrenia, alcoholism, diabetes, and chronic back pain. These conditions share almost no
common features, so there’s no generalization about how each condition is related to
employment. Some jobs obviously cannot be accommodated to some disabilities—the law and
common sense recognize that a blind person could not be a bus driver, a person with severe
cerebral palsy could not be a surgeon, and a person with profound mobility constraints probably
could not be a police patrol officer. However, the increasing presence of computer technology
and other adaptive devices is shattering many traditional barriers to employment. One of the
most controversial aspects of the ADA is the provision that requires employers to make
reasonable accommodations for people with psychiatric disabilities. Most people have very
strong biases against those with mental illnesses, who are therefore reluctant to disclose this
information to employers. Many who do, report negative consequences. The impact of
disabilities on employment outcomes has been explored from a variety of perspectives. On the
one hand, a review of the evidence suggests workers with disabilities receive higher performance
evaluations. However, this same review found that despite their higher performance, individuals
with disabilities tend to encounter lower performance expectations and are less likely to be hired.
These negative effects are much stronger for individuals with mental disabilities, and there is
some evidence to suggest mental disabilities may impair performance more than physical
disabilities: Individuals with such common mental health issues as depression and anxiety are
significantly more likely to be absent from work.

Attitude- Meaning & Formation.

An attitude is a psychological tendency expressed when we evaluate a particular entity with

some degree of favor or disfavor. In other words, Attitudes are evaluative statements—either
favorable or unfavorable—about objects, people, or events. They reflect how we feel about
something. When I say “I like my job,” I am expressing my attitude about work.
Two major influences in the formation of attitude are:

Direct Experience
Direct experience with something strongly influences attitude towards it. How do you know that
you like biology or dislike math? You have probably formed these attitudes from experience in
studying the subjects. Research has shown that attitudes derived from direct experience are
stronger, held more confidently and more resistant to change than attitudes formed through
indirect experience.

Social Learning

In social learning the family, peer groups, religious organizations and culture shape an
individual’s attitudes indirectly. Children adopt certain attitudes when their parents reinforce
attitudes they approve. Substantial social learning occurs through modeling in which individuals
acquire attitudes by observing others. According to social learning theory, people engage in
crime because of their association with others who engage in crime. Their criminal behavior is
reinforced and they learn beliefs that are favorable to crime. They essentially have criminal
models that they associate with. As a consequence, these individuals come to view crime as
something that is desirable, or at least justifiable in certain situations. Culture also plays a
definite role in attitude development.
Components of Attitude
The three main components of attitude are:
o Affective component: this involves a person’s feelings / emotions about the attitude
object. For example: “I am scared of spiders”.
o Behavioral component: the way the attitude we have influences how we act or behave.
For example: “I will avoid spiders and scream if I see one”.
o Cognitive component: this involves a person’s belief / knowledge about an
attitude object. For example: “I believe spiders are dangerous”.

This model is known as the ABC model of attitudes. The three components are usually linked.

Whenever a tension is produced by a conflict between attitudes and behavior, it is termed as

“Cognitive Dissonance. “Suppose for example, a salesman is required to sell damaged TV sets for
the full retail price, without revealing the damage to the customers. He believes however that, this
is unethical. This creates a conflict between his attitude (Concealing information from customers is
unethical) and his behavior (selling defective TVs to uninformed customers.)
Relation between attitude and behaviour.
Early research on attitudes assumed they were causally related to behavior— that is, the attitudes
people hold determine what they do. Common sense, too, suggests a relationship. Isn’t it logical
that people watch television programs they like, or that employees try to avoid assignments they
find distasteful? However, in the late 1960s, a review of the research challenged this assumed
effect of attitudes on behavior. One researcher—Leon Festinger—argued that attitudes follow
behavior. Did you ever notice how people change what they say so it doesn’t contradict what
they do? Perhaps a friend of yours has consistently argued that the quality of Indian cars isn’t up
to that of imports and that he’d never own anything but a Japanese or German car. But his dad
gives him a Tata Safari, and suddenly he says Indian cars aren’t so bad. Festinger proposed that
cases of attitude following behavior illustrate the effects of cognitive dissonance i.e. any
incompatibility an individual might perceive between two or more attitudes or between behavior
and attitudes. Festinger argued that any form of inconsistency is uncomfortable and that
individuals will therefore attempt to reduce it. They will seek a stable state, which is a minimum
of dissonance. Research has generally concluded that people do seek consistency among their
attitudes and between their attitudes and their behavior. They either alter the attitudes or the
behavior, or they develop a rationalization for the discrepancy.

Perception
Meaning
Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in
order to give meaning to their environment. However, what we perceive can be substantially
different from objective reality. For example, all employees in a firm may view it as a great place
to work—favorable working conditions, interesting job assignments, good pay, excellent
benefits, understanding and responsible management—but, as most of us know, it’s very unusual
to find such agreement.

Perception Process:
The perception process has six different phrases i.e receiving, selecting, organizing, interpreting,
checking and reacting to the stimuli or data. The process is influenced by the perceiver as well as
the situation. The process is as follows-

Receiving: The perception process starts with the receipt of stimuli or data from various sources.
The data are received through the sensory organs. The sensory organs are vision, hearing, smell,
touch and taste. Sensory organs not only receives physical object but also receives data regarding
non-physical objects
Selection: After receiving data, some of them are selected for further processing because it is not
possible to select all of them. There are two types of factors, which govern the selection of data:
 o External Factors: These factors influencing the selection of data are location,
intensity, size, contrast, repetition, motion etc.
o Internal Factors: -These factors influencing the selection of data are learning, age
difference, psychological needs, interest etc.

Organizing: After selection of data they are organized systematically to make it meaningful. In
simple words, the aspect of forming bit of information into meaningful wholes is called
organizing. There are three dimensions of perceptual organizing

Figure ground: It is a principle, which states that the relationship of a target to its background
influences perception. In other words, according to this principle, the object stands out separately
from their background.
Perceptual Grouping: The principle of grouping includes the similarity, proximity, closure and
continuity.
Similarity means objects of similar shape, size and color should be grouped together Proximity
means to perceive the factors together which are near to each other
Closure means to perceive the whole part when nothing exists. It means to close the gap, which
are unfilled by sensory organs.
 Perceptual Constancy: It refers to a person’s ability to perceive certain characteristics of an
object as remaining constant, despite of variations in the stimuli (data) that provide us conflicting
/ contradicting information. Constancy gives a person the sense of stability in a changing world.

Interpreting: After the data is received and organized, the perceiver interprets or assigns
meaning to the information. Interpretation of stimuli (data) is affected by the characteristics of
the situation, perceiver and the target itself. It is an important phase of perception because only
after interpretation, perception is about to take place. There are several factors that affect the
interpretation of data like attribution, stereo typing, halo effect etc.

Checking: After the data is received and interpreted, the perceiver checks whether his
interpretations are right or wrong. To test the reliability of the interpretation, a person may put up
a series of questions to himself and also answers them to confirm whether his perception about
an individual or object is correct or not. This was one of the ways to check the interpretation of
perception. Another way to check the result of interpretation may be done by putting up such
questions to other and confirm with their answers.

Reacting: The last phase in perception is reacting. The perceiver may take some action in
relation to his perception. The action of a perceiver depends upon the perception whether it is
favorable or unfavorable. The action will be positive if perception is favorable and the action will
be negative if perception is unfavorable.

Factors influencing Perception in Organizational behaviour

A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors reside.
i. In the perceiver
ii. In the object or target being perceived or
iii. In the context of the situation in which the perception is made.

Characteristics of Perception in Organisational Behaviour

Characteristics of the Perceiver

Several characteristics of the perceiver can affect perception. When an individual

looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she, that interpretation is
heavily influenced by personal characteristics of individual perceiver. The major
characteristics of the perceiver influencing perception are:
A. Attitudes: The perceiver's attitudes affect perception. For example, suppose Mr. X is interviewing
candidates for a very important position in his organization –a position that requires negotiating
contracts with suppliers, most of whom are male. Mr X may feel that women are not capable of
holding their own in tough negotiations. This attitude will doubtless affect his perceptions of the
female candidates he interviews.
B. Moods: Moods can have a strong influence on the way we perceive someone. We think differently
when we are happy than we do when we are depressed.
In addition, we remember information that is consistent with our mood state better than information
that is inconsistent with our mood state. When in a positive mood, we form more positive
impression of others. When in a negative mood, we tend to evaluate others unfavourably.
C. Motives: Unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate individuals and may exert a strong influence on
their perceptions. For example, in an organizational context, a boss who is insecure perceives a
subordinate's efforts to do an outstanding job as a threat to his or her own position. Personal
insecurity can be transferred into the perception that others are out to "get my job", regardless of the
intention of the subordinates.
D. Self-Concept: Another factor that can affect social perception is the perceivers' self-concept. An
individual with a positive self-concept tends to notice positive attributes in another person. In
contrast, a negative self-concept can lead a perceiver to pick out negative traits in another person.
Greater understanding of self allows us to have more accurate perceptions of others.
E. Interest: The focus of our attention appears to be influenced by our interests. Because our individual
interests differ considerably, what one person notices in a situation can differ from what others
perceive. For example, the supervisor who has just been reprimanded by his boss for coming late is
more likely to notice his colleagues coming late tomorrow than he did last week. If you are
preoccupied with a personal problem, you may find it hard to be attentive in class.
F. Cognitive Structure: Cognitive structure, an individual's pattern of thinking, also affects perception.
Some people have a tendency to perceive physical traits, such as height, weight, and appearance,
more readily. Others tend to focus more on central traits, or personality dispositions. Cognitive
complexity allows a person to perceive multiple characteristics of another person rather than
attending to just a few traits.
G. Expectations: Finally, expectations can distort your perceptions in that you will see what you expect
to see. The research findings of the study conducted by Sheldon S Zalkind and Timothy W Costello
on some specific characteristics of the perceiver reveal.
 Knowing oneself makes it easier to see others accurately.
 One's own characteristics affect the characteristics one is likely to see inothers.
 People who accept themselves are more likely to be able to see favourable aspects of other people.
 Accuracy in perceiving others is not a single skill.

These four characteristics greatly influence how a person perceives others in the
environmental situation.
Characteristics of the Target

Characteristics in the target that is being observed can affect what is perceived.
Physical appearance plays a big role in our perception of others. Extremely attractive
or unattractive individuals are more likely to be noticed in a group than ordinary
liking individuals. Motion, sound, size and other attributes of a target shape the way
we see it. Physical appearance plays a big role in our perception of others. The
perceiver will notice the target's physical features like height, weight, estimated age,
race and gender.

Perceivers tend to notice physical appearance characteristics that contrast with the
norm, that are intense, or that are new or unusual. Physical attractiveness often
colour our entire impression of another person.

Interviewers rate attractive candidates more favourably and attractive candidates are
awarded higher starting salaries. Verbal communication from targets also affects our
perception of them. We listen to the topics they speak about, their voice tone, and
their accent and make judgements based on this input.
Non-verbal communication conveys a great deal of information about the target. The
perceiver deciphers eye contact, facial expressions, body movements, and posture all
in an attempt to form an impression of the target.

The perceiver, who observes the target's behaviour, infers the intentions of the
target. For example, if our manager comes to our office door way, we think "oh no!
He is going to give me more work to do". Or we may perceive that his intention is to
congratulate us on a recent success. In any case, the perceiver's interpretation of the
target's intentions affects the way the perceiver views the target.

Targets are not looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to its background
influences perception because of our tendency to group close things and similar
things together. Objects that are close to each other will tend to be perceived
together rather than separately. As a result of physical or time proximity, we often
put together objects or events that are unrelated. For examples, employees in a
particular department are seen as a group. If two employees of a department
suddenly resign, we tend to assume their departures were related when in fact, they
might be totally unrelated.

People, objects or events that are similar to each other also tend to be grouped
together. The greater the similarity, the greater the probability we will tend to
perceive them as a group.

Characteristics of the Situation

The situation in which the interaction between the perceiver and the target takes
place has an influence on the perceiver's impression of the target. For example, a
professor may not notice his student in a casual wear at a restaurant. Yet the
professor will notice the same girl if she comes to his organizational behaviour class
in casual wear. In the same way, meeting a manager in his or her office affects your
impression in a certain way that may contrast with the impression you would form
had you met the manager in a restaurant.
The strength of the situational cues also affects social perception. Some situations
provide strong cues as to appropriate behaviour.

In these situations, we assume that the individual's behaviour can be accounted for
by the situation, and that it may not reflect the individual's disposition. This is the
discounting principle in social perception.

For example, you may encounter an automobile sales person who has a warm and
personable manner, asks you about your work and hobbies, and seems genuinely
interested in your taste in cars. Can you assume that this behaviour reflects the sales
person's personality? You probably cannot, because of the influence of the situation.
This person is trying to sell you a car, and in this particular situation he probably
treats all customers in this manner.

Barriers To Perception
Frequently Used Shortcuts in judging others: Perceiving and interpreting what others do is burdensome.
As a result, individuals develop techniques for making the task more manageable. These techniques are
not fool proof. Several factors lead us to form inaccurate impressions of others. These barriers to
perception are inaccurate impressions of others. These barriers to perception are:

Selective Perception: We receive a vast amount of information. Therefore, it is impossible for us to

assimilate everything we see - on eye certain stimuli can betaken. That is why their boss may
reprimand some employees for doing something that when done by another employee goes unnoticed.
Since, we can't observe everything going on about us, we engage in selective perception. Selective
perception is also out tendency to choose information that supports our view points; Individuals often
ignore information that makes them feel uncomfortable or threatens their view points. Selective
perception allows us to "speed-read" others, but not without the risk of drawing an inaccurate picture.
Because we see what we want to see, we can draw unwarranted conclusions from an ambiguous,
perception tends to be influenced more by an individual's attitudes, interests, and background than by
the stimulus itself.

Stereotype: A stereotype is a generalization about a group of people. When we judge someone on the
basis of our perception of the group to which he or she belongs, we are using the shortcut called stereo
typing. Stereo types reduce information about other people to a workable level, and they are efficient
for compiling and using information. It is a means of simplifying a complex world and it permits us to
maintain consistency. It is less difficult to deal with an unmanageable number of stimuli if we use
stereo types. Stereo types can be accurate, and when they are accurate, they can be useful perceptual
guidelines. However, most of the times stereotypes are inaccurate.
Attractiveness is a powerful stereo type. We assume that attractive individuals are also warm, kind,
sensitive, poised, sociable, outgoing, independent, and strong. Are attractive people sociable, outgoing,
independent, and strong? Are attractive peoplereally like this? Certainly all of them are not. In
organizations, we frequently hear comments that represent stereo types based on gender, age,
nationality etc. From a perceptual stand point, if people expect tosee this stereo type, that is what they
will perceive, whether it's accurate or not.

Halo Effect: The halo error in perception is very similar to stereo typing. Where as in stereo typing the
person is perceived according to a single category, under the halo effect the person is perceived on the
basis of one trait. When we draw a general impression about an individual based on a single
characteristic, such as intelligence, sociability or appearance, a halo effect is operating. The propensity
for the halo effect to operate is not random. Research suggests it is likely to be most extreme when the
traits to be perceived are ambiguous in behavioural terms, when the traits have moral over tones, and
when the perceiver is judging traits with which he or she has limited experience. Example of halo effect
is the extremely attractive women secretary who is perceived by her male boss as being an intelligent,
good performer, when, in fact, she is a poor typist.

First-impression error: Individuals place a good deal of importance on first impressions. First
impressions are lasting impressions. We tend to remember what we perceive first about a person, and
some times we are quite reluctant to change our initial impressions.

First - impression error means the tendency to form lasting opinions about an individual based on initial
perceptions. Primacy effects can be particularly dangerous in interviews, given that we form first
impressions quickly and that these impressions may be the basis for long-term employment
relationships.

Contrast Effect: Stimuli that contrast with the surrounding environment are more likely to be selected
for attention than the stimuli that blends in. A contrasting effect can be caused by colour, size or any
other factor that is unusual (any factor that distinguishes one stimulus from others at present). For
example, a man walking down the street with a pair of crutches is more attention getting than a
common man. A contrast effect is the evaluation of a person's characteristics that are affected by
comparisons with other people recently encountered that rank higher or lower on the same
characteristics. The "contrast" principle essentially states that external stimuli that stands out against the
background or which are not what are expecting well receive their attention. The contrast effect also
explains why a male students tands out in a crowd of female students. There is nothing unusual about
the male students but, when surrounded by females, he stands out.

An illustration of how contrast effects operate in an interview situation in which one sees a pool of job
applicants. Distortions in any given candidate's evaluation can occur as a result of his or her place in the
interview schedule. The candidate is likely to receive a more favourable evaluation if preceded by
mediocre applicants, and a less favourable evaluation if preceded by strong applicants.

Projection: It is easy to judge others if we assume they are similar to us. This tendency to attribute
one's own characteristics to other people is called projection. Projection can distort perceptions made
about others. People who engage inprojection tend to perceive others. According to what they they are
like rather than according to what the person being observed is really like. When managers engage in
projection, they compromise their ability to respond to individual differences. They tend to see people
as more homogeneous than they really are.

Implicit Personality Theories: We tend to have our own mini-theories about how people look and
behave. These theories help us organize our perceptions and take shortcuts instead of integrating new
information all the time. Implicit-personality theory is opinions formed about other people that are
based on our own mini theories about how people behave. For example we believe that girls dressed in
fashionable clothes will like modern music and girls dressed in traditional dress like saree will like
Indian classical music. These implicit personality theories are barriers because they limit out ability to
take in new information when it is available.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Self-fulfilling prophecies are the situation in which our expectations about
people affect our interaction with them in such a way that our expectations are fulfilled. Self -fulfilling
prophecy is also known as the Pygmalion effect, named after a sculptor in Greek mythology who
carved a statue of a girl that came to life when he prayed for this wish and it was granted.

The Pygmalion effect has been observed in work organizations as well. A manager's expectations of an
individual affect both the manager's behaviour toward the individual and the individual's response. For
example, suppose a manager has an initial impression of an employee as having the potential to move
up within the organization. Chances are that the manager will spend a great deal of time coaching and
counselling the employee, providing challenging assignments and grooming the individual for success .

Link between perception and individual decision making.

Individuals in organizations make decisions, choices from among two or more alternatives. Top
managers determine their organization’s goals, what products or services to offer, how best to
finance operations, or where to locate a new manufacturing plant. Middle- and lower-level
managers set production schedules, select new employees, and decide how to allocate pay raises.
Non managerial employees decide how much effort to put forth at work and whether to comply
with a boss’s request. Organizations have begun empowering their non-managerial employees
with decision-making authority historically reserved for managers alone. Individual decision
making is thus an important part of organizational behavior. But the way individuals make
decisions and the quality of their choices are largely influenced by their perceptions. Decision
making occurs as a reaction to a problem. That is, a discrepancy exists between the current state
of affairs and some desired state, requiring us to consider alternative courses of action. If your
car breaks down and heat, or any number of situational factors. At a nightclub on Saturday night,
you may not notice a young guest “dressed to the nines.” Yet that same person so attired for your
Monday morning management class would certainly catch your attention (and that of the rest of
the class). Neither the perceiver nor the target has changed between Saturday night and Monday
morning, but the situation is different.
you rely on it to get to work; you have a problem that requires a decision on your part.
Unfortunately, most problems don’t come neatly labeled as a “problem.” One person’s
problem is another person’s satisfactory state of affairs. One manager may view his
division’s 2 percent decline in quarterly sales to be a serious problem requiring
immediate action on his part. In contrast, his counterpart in another division, who also
had a 2 percent sales decrease, might consider that quite acceptable. So awareness that
a problem exists and that a decision might or might not be needed is a perceptual issue.
Every decision requires us to interpret and evaluate information. We typically receive
data from multiple sources and need to screen, process, and interpret them. Which data
are relevant to the decision, and which are not? Our perceptions will answer that
question. We also need to develop alternatives and evaluate their strengths and
weaknesses. Again, our perceptual process will affect the final outcome. Finally,
throughout the entire decision making process, perceptual distortions often surface
which can bias one’s analysis and conclusions.