MODULE 2

PERSONALITY

The word personality is derived from a Greek word “persona” which means “to speak
through.” Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that forms a person’s
unique identity. It signifies the role which a person plays in public. Every individual has a
unique, personal and major determinant of his behavior that defines his/her personality.

Personality can be defined as those inner psychological characteristics that both determine
and reflect how a person think and act in an environment.
The inner characteristics of personality are specific qualities, attributes, traits, factors and
mannerism that distinguish one individual from other individuals. Personalities are likely to
influence the individual’s product and store choices. They also affect the way consumer
responds to a firm’s communication efforts.

Determinants of Personality

The determinants of personality can be grouped in five broad categories:

1. Biological Factors
2. Cultural Factors
3. Family Factors
4. Social Factors
5. Situational Factors

Biological Factors
The study of the biological contributions to personality may be studied under three heads:

Heredity
Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception. Physical stature, facial
attractiveness, sex, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy level, and
biological rhythms are characteristics that are considered to be inherent from one’s parents.
The heredity approach argues that the ultimate explanation of an individual’s personality is
the molecular structure of the genes, located in the chromosomes.

Brain
The second biological approach is to concentrate on the role that the brain plays in
personality. The psychologists are unable to prove empirically the contribution of the
human brain in influencing personality.

Preliminary results from the electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB) research give
an indication that a better understanding of human personality and behaviour might come
from the study of the brain.
Biofeedback
Until recently, physiologists and psychologists felt that certain biological functions such as
brainwave patterns, gastric and hormonal secretions, and fluctuations in blood pressure and
skin temperature were beyond conscious control.

Now some scientists believe that these involuntary functions can be consciously controlled
through biofeedback techniques. In BFT, the individual learns the internal rhythms of a
particular body process through electronic signals that are feedback from equipment that is
wired to the body.
Physical Features
A vital ingredient of the personality, an individual’s external appearance, is biologically
determined. The fact that a person is tall or short, fat or skinny, black or white will influence
the person’s effect on others and this in turn, will affect the self-concept.

Cultural Factors

Among the factors that influence personality formation is the culture in which we are raised,
early conditioning, norms prevailing within the family, friends and social groups and other
miscellaneous experiences that impact us.
The culture largely determines attitudes towards independence, aggression, competition,
cooperation and a host of other human responses.
According to Paul H Mussen, “each culture expects, and trains, its members to behave in
ways that are acceptable to the group. To a marked degree, the child’s cultural group
defines the range of experiences and situations he is likely to encounter and the values and
personality characteristics that will be reinforced and hence learned.”

Family Factors

Whereas the culture generally prescribes and limits what a person can be taught, it is the
family, and later the social group, which selects, interprets and dispenses the culture. Thus,
the family probably has the most significant impact on early personality development.

A substantial amount of empirical evidence indicates that the overall home environment
created by the parents, in addition to their direct influence, is critical to personality
development.
The parents play an especially important part in the identification process, which is
important to the person’s early development.

Social Factors
There is increasing recognition given to the role of other relevant persons, groups and
especially organisations, which greatly influence an individual’s personality. This is
commonly called the socialization process.

Socialization involves the process by which a person acquires, from the enormously wide
range of behavioural potentialities that are open to him or her, those that are ultimately
synthesized and absorbed.
Socialization starts with the initial contact between a mother and her new infant. After
infancy, other members of the immediate family – father, brothers, sisters and close
relatives or friends, then the social group: peers, school friends and members of the work
group – play influential roles.

Socialization process is especially relevant to organisational behaviour because the process

is not confined to early childhood, taking place rather throughout one’s life. In particular,
the evidence is accumulating that socialization may be one of the best explanations for why
employees behave the way they do in today’s organisations.

Situational Factors

Human personality is also influenced by situational factors. The effect of the environment is
quite strong. Knowledge, skill and language are obviously acquired and represent important
modifications of behavior.
An individual’s personality, while generally stable and consistent, does change in different
situations. The varying demands of different situations call forth different aspects of one’s
personality.

According to Milgram, “Situation exerts an important press on the individual. It exercises

constraints and may provide a push. In certain circumstances, it is not so much the kind of
person a man is, as the kind of situation in which he is placed that determines his actions”.
We should therefore not look at personality patterns in isolation

PERCEPTION

Perception is defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes and interprets
stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world.
It is a cognitive process by which people attend to incoming stimuli, organise and interpret
such stimuli into behaviour

Nature of perception
1. Perception is the process by which an individual gives meaning to the environment.
2. People‘s actions, emotions, thoughts and feelings are triggered by their perceptions of
their surroundings.
3. Perception has been defined in a variety of ways; it basically refers to the manner in
which a person experiences the world.
4. Perception is an almost automatic process and works in the same way within each
individual, yet it typically yields different perceptions.
FACTORS AFFECTING PERCEPTION

1. External Factors
These factors include the characteristics of perceived object. These are:

a) Intensity

The intensity states that more intense the situations, the more likely it is to be perceived.
For example, loud noises will be noticed more than a soft sound. Similarly, high intensity
increases the chances of selection. If sentences are underlined it gets more attention than in
normal case.

The greater the intensity of stimulus, the more likely it will be notices. An intense stimulus
has more power to push itself to our selection than does the weak stimulus.

b) Size

Size plays an important role in perception. The bigger the size of the perceived object,
higher is the probability that it is perceived. Size always attracts the attention of the
individuals. For example, we see hundreds and thousands of people on the road, but we
always remember the ones who are usually tall. In other words, size establishes dominance
and over-rides other things and thereby enhances perceptual selection. The bigger the size
of perceived stimulus, higher is the probability that it is perceived.

c) Frequency

A repeated external object/stimulus gets more attention than a single one does. Repetition
increases our sensitivity to the object. A situation that is repeated has a chance of catching
our attention. For example, we remember the advertisement that is repeated again and
again. In other simple words, a repeated external stimulus gets more attention than a single
one. A stimulus that is repeated has a chance of catching our attention. Repetition increases
our sensitivity and alertness to the stimulus. Thus, greater the frequency with which a
sensory stimulus is presented, the greater the chances we select it for attention. Repetition
is one of the most frequently used techniques in advertising and is the most common way of
receiving our attention. Repetition aids in increasing the awareness of the stimulus.

d) Order

The order in which the objects or stimuli are presented is an important factor in influencing
selective attention. Sometimes, the first piece of information among many pieces received,
receives the most attention, thus making the other pieces of information less significant.
Sometimes, the most important piece is left to the end in order to heighten the curiosity
and perceptive attention. For example, a writer of communication may intentionally build
up to a major point by proceeding through several similar and less important points.

e) Repetition

A repeated message is more likely to be perceived than a single message. Work instructions
that are repeated tend to be received better. Marketing managers and advertisers use this
principle in order to get the customer’s attention. Morgan and King stated that “a stimulus
that is repeated has a better chance of catching us during one of the periods when our
attention to a task is waning. In addition, repetition increases our sensitivity or alertness to
the stimulus.”

f) Novelty and Familiarity

The principle states that either the familiar or the novel factor can get attention easily. New
objects in a familiar setting or familiar objects in a new setting will draw attention. People
quickly notice an elephant walking along a city street. Similarly, among a group of people
walking towards us, we are most likely to perceive the face of friend in the crowd. People
with unusual clothing will be attention getters.

g) Movement

People pay more attention to moving things than that of the stationary ones. For example,
people are more attracted by flying aeroplanes than a stationary one in the airport. In other
words, moving objects are more likely to be perceived than stationery objects. Movement
increases our awareness of the object before we become aware of the stationary
surroundings. A flashing neon sign is more easily noticed. A moving car among parked cars
gets our attention faster.

h) Status

Perception is always influenced by the status of perceiver. People of higher status tend to
have more positive perception. Similarly, people with high status can influence the
perception of others more than the people of low status. High status people can export
more influence on perception of employees than low status people.
i) Contrast

Persons or objects of contrasting nature generally receive more attention and thereby
influence one’s perception. Stimuli that contrast with the surrounding environment are
more likely to be selected for attention than the stimuli that blend in. a contrasting effect
can be caused by color / size or any other factor that is unusual. The contrast principle
states that external stimuli that stand out against the background or which are not what are
expected will receive better attention. The contrast effect also explains why a male person
stands out in a crowd of females. For example, in a crowd of men, a woman is more
attracted and vice versa.

2. Internal Factors
These factors are related to the characteristics of the perceiver. These factors include:

a) Needs and Desires

An individual’s perception about something or somebody is influenced by his needs and

desires at a particular time. Similarly, perception varies depending on variation in desires
and needs. Perception of a frustrated individual is totally different from a satisfied person. It
is believed that socially oriented people pay attention to interpersonal factors in connection
with their perception. Similarly, the needs and motives of the people play a vital role in
perception. Perception of a frustrated person would be entirely different from that of a
happy going person. People at different levels of needs and desires perceive the same thing
differently. Power seekers more likely notice power related stimuli. Socially oriented people
pay attention to interpersonal stimuli. People are likely to notice stimuli relevant to
current active motives and major personality characteristics.

b) Experience

Experience and knowledge have a constant influence on perception. Successful and positive
experiences express one’s perception ability and failure and negative experiences affects
one’s self-confidence. In other words, experience and knowledge have a constant bearing
on perception. Successful experiences enhance and boost the perceptive ability and lead
to accuracy in perception of a person whereas failure erodes self-confidence.

c) Learning

Learning is an important factor in developing perceptual sets. A perceptual set is basically

what a person expects from the stimuli on the basis of his learning and experience relative
to same or similar stimuli. This is also known as cognitive awareness by which the mind
organizes information and forms images and compares them with previous exposures to
similar stimuli.
d) Personality

Personality is another important factor that has a profound influence on perceived

behavior. What is perceived in a given situation depends much on one’s personality type.
Personality is one area where individual differences are significant. Optimistic people always
perceive things favorable but pessimistic people always perceive things unfavorable.
Individuals having a sense of security perceive others as warm, self-accepted by others.
Research on the effects of individual personality on perception reveals many truths. These
are:
 Persons who accept themselves and have faith in their individuality perceive things
favorably.
 Thoughtful individuals do not expose by expressing extreme judgments of others.
 Secure individuals tends to perceive others as warm, not cold.

3. Symbolic Factors

Another important factor influencing perception is symbolic factor. As regards to emotional

or motivational factors, a condition of motivated tensions in the individual increases the
sensitivity to those stimuli which are relevant for the satisfaction of his motives and
determines the manner in which the individual perceives the ambiguous objects. The
hungry individuals tend not only to select objects which will pacify their hunger but also
interpret available objects in terms of their own tension.

LEARNING

Learning can be defined as the permanent change in behavior due to direct and indirect
experience. It means change in behavior, attitude due to education and training, practice
and experience. It is completed by acquisition of knowledge and skills, which are relatively
permanent.

Nature of Learning

Nature of learning means the characteristic features of learning. Learning involves change; it
may or may not guarantee improvement. It should be permanent in nature, that is learning
is for lifelong.
The change in behavior is the result of experience, practice and training. Learning is
reflected through behavior.

Factors Affecting Learning

Learning is based upon some key factors that decide what changes will be caused by this
experience. The key elements or the major factors that affect learning are motivation,
practice, environment, and mental group.
Coming back to these factors let us have a look on these factors −
 Motivation − The encouragement, the support one gets to complete a task, to
achieve a goal is known as motivation. It is a very important aspect of learning as it
acts gives us a positive energy to complete a task. Example − The coach motivated
the players to win the match.
 Practice − We all know that ”Practice makes us perfect”. In order to be a perfectionist
or at least complete the task, it is very important to practice what we have
learnt. Example − We can be a programmer only when we execute the codes we
have written.
 Environment − We learn from our surroundings, we learn from the people around us.
They are of two types of environment – internal and external. Example − A child
when at home learns from the family which is an internal environment, but when
sent to school it is an external environment.
 Mental group − It describes our thinking by the group of people we chose to hang
out with. In simple words, we make a group of those people with whom we connect.
It can be for a social cause where people with the same mentality work in the same
direction. Example − A group of readers, travelers, etc.
These are the main factors that influence what a person learns, these are the root level for
our behavior and everything we do is connected to what we learn.

How Learning Occurs?

Learning can be understood clearly with the help of some theories that will explain our
behavior. Some of the remarkable theories are −

 Classical Conditioning Theory

 Operant Conditioning Theory
 Social Learning Theory
 Cognitive Learning Theory

Classical Conditioning Theory

The classical conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus is coupled with an

unconditioned stimulus. Usually, the conditioned stimulus (CS) is an impartial stimulus like
the sound of a tuning fork, the unconditioned stimulus (US) is biologically effective like the
taste of food and the unconditioned response (UR) to the unconditioned stimulus is an
unlearned reflex response like salivation or sweating.
After this coupling process is repeated (for example, some learning may already occur after
a single coupling), an individual shows a conditioned response (CR) to the conditioned
stimulus, when the conditioned stimulus is presented alone. The conditioned response is
mostly similar to the unconditioned response, but unlike the unconditioned response, it
must be acquired through experience and is nearly impermanent.
Operant Conditioning Theory

Operant conditioning theory is also known as instrumental conditioning. This theory is a

learning process in which behavior is sensitive to, or controlled by its outcomes.
Let’s take an example of a child. A child may learn to open a box to get the candy inside, or
learn to avoid touching a hot stove. In comparison, the classical conditioning develops a
relationship between a stimulus and a behavior. The example can be further elaborated as
the child may learn to salivate at the sight of candy, or to tremble at the sight of an angry
parent.
In the 20th century, the study of animal learning was commanded by the analysis of these
two sorts of learning, and they are still at the core of behavior analysis.
Social Learning Theory

The key assumptions of social learning theory are as follows −

 Learning is not exactly behavioral, instead it is a cognitive process that takes place in
a social context.
 Learning can occur by observing a behavior and by observing the outcomes of the
behavior (known as vicarious reinforcement).
 Learning includes observation, extraction of information from those observations,
and making decisions regarding the performance of the behavior (known as
observational learning or modeling). Thus, learning can occur beyond an observable
change in behavior.
 Reinforcement plays an important role in learning but is not completely responsible
for learning.
 The learner is not a passive receiver of information. Understanding, environment,
and behavior all mutually influence each other.

Cognitive Learning Theory

Cognition defines a person’s ideas, thoughts, knowledge, interpretation, understanding

about himself and environment.
This theory considers learning as the outcome of deliberate thinking on a problem or
situation based upon known facts and responding in an objective and more oriented
manner. It perceives that a person learns the meaning of various objects and events and
also learns the response depending upon the meaning assigned to the stimuli.
This theory debates that the learner forms a cognitive structure in memory which stores
organized information about the various events that occurs.
Learning & Organizational Behavior
An individual’s behavior in an organization is directly or indirectly affected by learning.
Example − Employee skill, manager’s attitude are all learned.
Behavior can be improved by following the listed tips −
 Reducing absenteeism by rewarding employees for their fair attendance.
 Improving employee discipline by dealing with employee’s undesirable behavior,
drinking at workplace, stealing, coming late, etc. by taking appropriate actions like
oral reprimands, written warnings and suspension.
 Developing training programs more often so as to grab the trainees’ attention,
provide required motivational properties etc.