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Chapter 5: Personality and Values

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 Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Describe personality, the way it is measured, and the
factors that shape it.
Describe the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality
framework and its strengths and weaknesses.
Identify the key traits in the Big Five personality model.
Demonstrate how the Big Five traits predict behavior at
work.
Describe how the situation affects whether personality
predicts behavior.
Contrast terminal and instrumental values.
Compare generational differences in values.
Identify Hofstede’s five value dimensions of national
culture. 5-3

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LO 1 Describe Personality, the Way It Is
Measured, and the Factors that Shape It
Defining Personality
 Personality is a dynamic concept describing the
growth and development of a person’s whole
psychological system.
 The sum or total of how an individual reacts to and
interacts with others.

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LO 1 Describe Personality, the Way It Is
Measured, and the Factors that Shape It
Managers need to know how to measure
personality.
 Personality tests are useful in hiring decisions and
help managers forecast who is best for a job.
The most common means of measuring personality
is through self-report surveys.

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LO 1 Describe Personality, the Way It Is
Measured, and the Factors that Shape It
Personality Determinants
 Is personality the result of heredity or
environment?
 Heredity refers to those factors that were
determined at conception.
The heredity approach argues that the ultimate
explanation of an individual’s personality is the
molecular structure of the genes, located in the
chromosomes.
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LO 1 Describe Personality, the Way It Is
Measured, and the Factors that Shape It
Early research tried to identify and label enduring
personality characteristics.
 Shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal,
and timid.
These are personality traits.
 Early efforts to identify the primary traits that
govern behavior often resulted in long lists that
were difficult to generalize from and provided little
practical guidance to organizational decision
makers. 5-7

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LO 2 Describe the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Personality Framework and Its Strengths
and Weaknesses
One of the most widely used personality frameworks
is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
Individuals are classified as:
 Extroverted or Introverted (E or I)
 Sensing or Intuitive (S or N)
 Thinking or Feeling (T or F)
 Perceiving or Judging (P or J)
INTJs are visionaries.
ESTJs are organizers.
ENTPs are conceptualizers. 5-8

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 Drawback of MBTI
 One problem with the MBTI is that the model forces a person into
one type or another; that is, you’re either introverted or
extraverted. There is no in-between. Another problem is with the
reliability of the measure: When people retake the assessment,
they often receive different results. An additional problem is in
the difficulty of interpretation. There are levels of importance for
each of the MBTI facets, and there are separate meanings for
certain combinations of facets, all of which require trained
interpretation that can leave room for error. Finally, results from
the MBTI tend to be unrelated to job performance.
 The MBTI can thus be a valuable tool for increasing self-
awareness and providing career guidance, but because results
tend to be unrelated to job performance, managers should
consider using the Big Five Personality Model, discussed next, as
the personality selection test for job candidates instead.
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LO 3
Identify the Key Traits in the
Big Five Personality Model
1. Extraversion
2. Agreeableness
3. Conscientiousness
4. Emotional stability
5. Openness to experience

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LO 4 Demonstrate How The Big Five
Traits Predict Behavior At Work

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LO 4 Demonstrate How The Big Five
Traits Predict Behavior At Work

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LO 4 Demonstrate How The Big Five
Traits Predict Behavior At Work
The five factors appear in almost all cross-cultural
studies.
Generally, the findings validate

 Of the Big Five traits, conscientiousness is the best

predictor of job performance.

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LO 4 Demonstrate How The Big Five
Traits Predict Behavior At Work
The Dark Triad
1.Machiavellianism – the degree to which an individual
is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and
believes that ends can justify means.
2.Narcissism – the tendency to be arrogant, have a
grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive
admiration, and have a sense of entitlement.
3.Psychopathy – the tendency for a lack of concern for
others and a lack of guilt or remorse when their
actions cause harm.
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LO 4 Demonstrate How The Big Five
Traits Predict Behavior At Work
Approach-Avoidance
 The approach-avoidance framework – casts
personality traits as motivations.
Approach motivation is attraction to positive
stimuli.
Avoidance motivation is our aversion to
negative stimuli.

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LO 4 Demonstrate How The Big Five
Traits Predict Behavior At Work
Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB
 Core Self-Evaluation – bottom line conclusions
individuals have about their capabilities,
competence, and worth as a person.
 Self-Monitoring – measures an individual’s ability
to adjust his or her behavior to external,
situational factors.
 Proactive Personality – people who identify
opportunities, show initiative, take action, and
persevere until meaningful change occurs.
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LO 5
Personality and Situations

 Situation strength theory – indicates that the

way personality translates into behavior depends
on the strength of the situation.
The degree to which norms, cues, or standards
dictate appropriate behavior.
Clarity
Consistency
Constraints
Consequences
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 Personality and Situations
Trait Activation Theory

TAT predicts that some situations, events, or

interventions “activate” a trait more than others.
Using TAT, we can foresee which jobs suit certain
personalities.
For example, a commission-based compensation
plan would likely activate individual differences
because extraverts are more reward-sensitive,
than, say, open people.
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LO 5Describe How the Situation
Affects Whether Predicts Behavior

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LO 6 Contrast Terminal and
Instrumental Values
Values – basic convictions about what is right, good, or
desirable.
Value system – ranks values in terms of intensity.
The Importance and Organization of Values
 Values lay the foundation for understanding of
attitudes and motivation.
 Values generally influence attitudes and behaviors.
Terminal values – desirable end-states of existence.
Instrumental values – preferred modes of behavior or
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means of achieving terminal values.
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LO 7 Compare Generational
Differences in Values

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LO 7 Compare Generational
Differences in Values

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LO 7 Compare Generational
Differences in Values

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LO 7 Compare Generational
Differences in Values
Person-Organization Fit
 People high on extraversion fit well with
aggressive and team-oriented cultures.
 People high on agreeableness match up better
with a supportive organizational climate than one
focused on aggressiveness.
 People high on openness to experience fit better
in organizations that emphasize innovation rather
than standardization.
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LO 8 Identify Hofstede’s Five Value
Dimensions Of National Culture
Five value dimensions of national culture
1. Power distance
2. Individualism versus collectivism
3. Masculinity versus femininity
4. Uncertainty avoidance
5. Long-term versus short-term orientation

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LO 8 Identify Hofstede’s Five Value
Dimensions Of National Culture
Different cultural values by nation.
Enormously influential on OB research and
managers, but still criticized.
 Original work is more than 30 years old and based
on a single company (IBM).
 Important social and political changes since then.
 Methodology concerns.

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LO 8 Identify Hofstede’s Five Value
Dimensions Of National Culture
The GLOBE Framework for Assessing Culture
 The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Effectiveness (GLOBE) research program updated
Hofstede’s research.
Data from 825 organizations and 62 countries.
Used variables similar to Hofstede’s.
Added some news ones.

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 Implications for Managers
As a manager, you are more likely to appreciate,
evaluate positively, and allocate rewards to
employees who fit in, and your employees are more
likely to be satisfied if they perceive they do fit in.
Plan to objectively consider your employees’
performance accordingly.
Consider screening job candidates for high
conscientiousness, as well as the other Big Five traits,
depending on the criteria your organization finds
most important. Other traits, such as core self-
evaluation or narcissism, may be relevant in certain
situations. 5-28

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 Implications for Managers
You need to evaluate your employees’ jobs, their work
groups, and your organization to determine the optimal
personality fit.
Take into account employees' situational factors when
evaluating their observable personality traits, and lower
the situation strength to better ascertain personality
characteristics.
Although the MBTI has been widely criticized, it may have
a place in organizations. You may consider the results
helpful for training and development. The results can also
help employees better understand themselves, help team
members better understand each other, open up
communication in work groups, and possibly reduce
conflicts. 5-29

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photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
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