PERSONALITY, VALUES AND

PERCEPTION Dr. Pallavi Vyas

 CONTENT
Personality, Values and Perception

Personality – Meaning, contributing factors to personality, Theories of personality, Individual differences

arising out of Personality traits that influence Work Behavior, - Personality assessment- DISC profiling,
person – job and organization fit. Values- meaning, importance. Types of Values
Perception- Meaning, factors affecting perception, Perceptual Process, Importance of perception to
organization, Kelly’s Attribution theory, Wheel of Awareness, Common shortcuts in judging others. Practical
application of individual behavior concepts at workplace.
 RELEVANT INFORMATION
Activities –
1. Activity- Practical guide to MBTI/ Students will be asked to
take demo assessment
https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-personality-test
2. Activity– Values and Work
3. Short movie clip on perception – Eye of the beholder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYydIDlU2pc
4. Activity: Impression Management
 RELEVANT INFORMATION
Cases –
Case Study- An organizational behaviour moment Whatever Is
Necessary! page no 202, Source – OB- Hitt, Miller & Colella , 3rd
Edition ,Wiley Reading- BIG FIVE Model

Case Study- “It’s Just a Matter of Timing”

 PERSONALITY

Interview Questions
•What is the practical relevance of Personality – Job fit concept?
•What are the different types of personality traits ?
•Which are the most commonly used instruments to measure personality traits?
•How correctly do these instruments predict personality ?
 PERSONALITY
 Sum of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with
others
 Psychological characteristics
 Stable over time and across situations
 A set of characteristics, rather than one trait, measurable traits
a person exhibits
 Makes the person unique and different from others
 Fish can have individual personalities too, new study says
(zmescience.com)
PERSONALITY -MEANING

Latin word “Persona” meaning “Mask : to speak through”, implying the

characteristic pattern and behavior style revealed by people from their external
appearance

Organizational psychology : qualities, attributes, traits, factors and mannerisms

External and internal attributes

 PERSONALITY - DEFINITION
"Personality is the dynamic organization (arrangement) within the
individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his
characteristic behavior and thought“. (Gordon Allport)

Personality means how a person affects others and how he understands

and views himself as well as the pattern of inner and outer measurable
traits and the person-situation interaction. (Luthans)
One of the most successful Indian
skippers. Expected personality traits:
Extrovert,
Sociable, Gregarious, and assertive.
Quiet, Meticulous, and hardworking
person.
Observant, analytical
FACTORS AFFECTING PERSONALITY

https://equimanagement.com/articles/understanding-personalities-in-the-workplace
PERSONALITY
THE POWER OF INTROVERTS
The power of introverts | Susan Cain – YouTube
 PERSONALITY

Interview Questions
•What is the practical relevance of Personality – Job fit concept?
•What are the different types of personality traits ?
•Whish are the most commonly used instruments to measure personality traits?
•How correctly do these instruments predict personality ?
PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT
THE MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR
Myers Briggs (MBTI) is The World’s Most Popular Personality Profiling Tool for
Organizations Looking to:
 Improve Team Performance and Communication
 Understand how to Manage Individuals with Different Personalities
 Tackle Internal Communication Issues Not Being Addressed
 Position the Right People into the Right Jobs
 Build Leaders and Teams
 Screen and Interview Potential Employees
 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
•Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) : Most widely used instrument in the
world.
•A personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into 1
of 16 personality types.
Favourite world: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own
inner world? This is called Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I).

Personality Types Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do
• Extroverted vs. you prefer to interpret and add meaning? This is called Sensing (S) or Intuition
Introverted (E or I) (N).
Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and
• Sensing vs. Intuitive (S or consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances? This is
N) called Thinking (T) or Feeling (F).
• Thinking vs. Feeling (T or
F) Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things
decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options? This is
• Judging vs. Perceiving (P called Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).
or J)

https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-
basics/
The sixteen personality types is based upon the work of Carl Jung’s theory of
psychological type which describes an individual’s personality within four dimensions:

Where attention is focused: extraverted (E) versus introverted (I); the method
information is received: intuition (N) verses sensing (S); how decisions are made:
feeling (F) versus thinking (T); and how individuals interact with the world: judging (J)
verses perceiving (P).

From each of these pairs, a personality leans toward one side, demonstrating a
preference, creating a four letter code such as ISTJ (Myers, 1998).
 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Sociable Extroverted Introverted Quiet and

and (E) (I) Shy
Assertive
Practical Sensing Intuitive Unconscious
(S) (N) Processes
and
Orderly
Use Reason Thinking Feeling Uses Values
(T) (F) & Emotions
and Logic

Want Order Perceiving Flexible and

Judging (J) (P)
& Structure Spontaneous
BIG 5 MODEL

•The Big Five model of personality (first developed by Lewis

Goldberg) is widely considered to be the most robust way to
describe personality differences
•It is the basis of most modern personality research
•5 major dimensions of personality: Openness, Conscientiousness,
Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Neuroticism.
BIG 5 MODEL
Openness to Experience : This trait features
characteristics such as imagination and insight,
and those high in this trait also tend to have a
broad range of interests.
Conscientiousness : Common features of this
dimension include high levels of thoughtfulness,
with good impulse control and goal-directed
behaviors
How will these people behave at the workplace?
BIG 5 MODEL
Agreeableness :This personality dimension
includes attributes such as trust, kindness,
affection, and other prosocial behaviors.

Extroversion :This trait includes characteristics

such as excitability, sociability, talkativeness,
assertiveness, and high amounts of emotional
expressiveness.

How will these people behave at the workplace?

 BIG 5 MODEL
Neuroticism :Individuals high in this trait tend to
experience emotional instability, anxiety,
moodiness, irritability, and sadness.

How will these people behave at the workplace?

 DISC ASSESSMENT
Developed by psychologist William Moulton Marston, the DISC assessment examines
how an individual ranks in the four primary personality types – dominance, influence,
steadiness and conscientiousness. Everyone has these four characteristics, but the
strength of each varies depending on the person.

Dominance Influence
Direct. Results-oriented. Decisive. Charming. Enthusiastic. Optimistic.
Competitive. Problem solver. Persuasive. Inspiring.

Steadiness Conscientious
Understanding. Team player. Analytical. Diplomatic. Precise.
Patient. Stable. Sincere. Compliant. Objective.
PERSONALITY TESTS
https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-personality-test

https://www.truity.com/test/disc-personality-test
THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
▪ Biological Personality Theories:
▪Biological approaches suggest that genetics are primarily responsible for personality. Research
on heritability suggests that there is a link between genetics and personality traits.
▪One of the best-known biological theorists was Hans Eysenck, who linked aspects of personality
to biological processes. Eysenck argued that personality is influenced by the stress
hormone cortisol. According to his theory, introverts have high cortical arousal and avoid
stimulation, while extroverts have low cortical arousal and crave stimulation.
THEORIES OF PERSONALITY
▪Behavioral personality theories:
▪Behavioral theorists include B. F. Skinner and John B. Watson. Behavioral personality
theories suggest that personality is a result of interaction between the individual and the
environment. Behavioral theorists study observable and measurable behaviors, rejecting
theories that take internal thoughts, moods, and feelings play a part as these cannot be
measured.
 According to behavioral theorists, conditioning (predictable behavioral responses) occurs
through interactions with our environment which ultimately shapes our personalities.
▪ Psychodynamic Personality Theories:
▪Psychodynamic theories of personality are heavily influenced by the work of Sigmund
Freud and emphasize the influence of the unconscious mind and childhood experiences on
personality.
▪Freud believed the three components of personality were the id, ego, and superego. The id
is responsible for needs and urges, while the superego regulates ideals and morals. The ego,
in turn, moderates the demands of the id, superego, and reality.
▪Humanist Personality Theories:
▪Humanist theories emphasize the importance of free will and individual experience in
personality development.
▪Humanist theorists include Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Humanist theorists promote
the concept of self-actualization, which is the innate need for personal growth and how
personal growth motivates behavior. According to this approach, people are inherently good
and have a natural tendency to want to make themselves and the world better.
▪Trait Personality Theories:
▪The trait theory approach is one of the most prominent areas in personality psychology.
According to these theories, personality is made up of a number of broad traits. Some of the
best-known trait theories include Eysenck's three-dimension theory and the five-factor
theory of personality.
▪Eysenck concluded that there were three major dimensions of personality: extroversion,
neuroticism, and psychoticism. Eysenck added the third dimension known as psychoticism, which
related to things such as aggression, empathy, and sociability.
 PERSON – JOB FIT

Satisfaction is highest and turnover lowest when personality

and occupation are in agreement

John Holland’s Personality- Job Fit Theory (Vocational

Preference Inventory)

A realistic person in a realistic job is in a more congruent

situation than a realistic person in an investigating job.
PERSON – ORGANIZATION FIT

People are attracted to and selected by

organizations that match their values and they leave
organizations that are not compatible with their
personalities.
 People high on extraversion fit well with aggressive and team-
oriented cultures
 People high on agreeableness match up better with a supportive
org climate
 People high on openness to experience fit better in organizations
that emphasize innovation rather than standardization

https://acasestudy.com/case-study-on-personality-in-organizational-behaviour/
CASE STUDY
Case Study 3 - An organizational behavior moment Whatever Is Necessary! page
no 202, Source – OB- Hitt, Miller & Colella , 3rd Edition ,Wiley Reading- BIG
FIVE Model
Interview Questions:
How personality assessment helps in recruiting?
Is it possible to predict personality accurately?
Can you say something about your traits?
VALUES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlhM7vALtUM
VALUES

Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes
or actions.
Values contain a judgmental element because they carry an individual’s
ideas about what is right, good, or desirable.
They help us to determine what is important to us.
Values in a narrow sense is that which is good, desirable, or worthwhile.
Values are the motive behind purposeful action.
They are the ends to which we act and come in many forms.
Values have both content and intensity attributes.
✓The content attribute says a mode of conduct or end- state of existence is important.
✓The intensity attribute specifies how important it is.
✓When we rank values in terms of intensity, we obtain that person’s value system.
Values tend to be relatively stable and enduring.
Our values influence our attitudes and behaviors at work.
TYPES OF VALUES

Rokeach Value Survey is a values classification instrument. Developed by

social psychologist Milton Rokeach.

Terminal Values – goals that we work towards and view as most desirable.
They are goals that one would like to achieve during their lifetime.

Instrumental Values – deals with views of acceptable modes of conduct like

being ethical, ambitious. These are preferable modes of behaviour, or means
of achieving the terminal values.
TERMINAL VALUES

Inner National A comfortable An exciting life A sense of

harmony Mature love security life accomplishment

Pleasurable Salvation Self – A world at A world of Equality

respect peace beauty

Social True Wisdom

recognition friendship Family Security Freedom Happiness
INSTRUMENTAL VALUES

Imaginative Independent

Ambitious Broad – Capable

minded Intellectual Logical

Cheerful Clean Courageous

Loving Obedient

Forgiving Helpful Honest

Polite Responsible

Self-
controlled
IMPORTANCE OF VALUES
•Value is the foundation for understanding the level of motivation.
•It influences our perception.
•It implies that certain behaviors on outcomes are preferred over others.
•These allow the members of an organization to interact harmoniously.
•These make it easier to reach goals that would be impossible to achieve
individually.
•They are the guideposts of our lives, and they direct us to who we want to be.
ACTIVITY: "I WANT TO WORK HERE"
Identify at least six different companies for which you might conceivably be
interested in working. Use a search engine to locate their corporate web sites and
then visit each site. Assume the role of a potential employee seeking,
to learn more about the company and
to determine how to apply for employment
Thoroughly review the information on each site that directly relates to these two goals.
Follow-up: Describe the strengths and weaknesses of each web site as they relate to the specific goals
noted above. Finally, respond to the following instructions and/or questions:
1. Based on the web site information alone, rank the companies you studied in terms of their relative attractiveness as an
employer.
2. Next, rank the companies in terms of the ease with which an interested job seeker could apply for employment.
3. Now, identify the Core Organizational Values of each of these organizations.
4. Now rate the organizations in the order of your preference for their values that match with your individual values. Also
state which values of yours match with the organization’s value. Thus stating your preference to join these
organizations.
PERCEPTION
CASE DISCUSSION
Differing Perceptions at Clarkston Industries
https://college.cengage.com/business/moorhead/organizational/6e/students/cases/
ch04.html
“It’s Just a Matter of Timing”
Refer Page 161-162, Organizational Behavior, Hitt, Miller & Colella, 3rd Ed.
 What is meant by perception?

Interview Questions
How does perception influence our day- to- day decision making ?
THINKING AHEAD: THE COCA COLA COMPANY
CASE DISCUSSION
1. Differing Perceptions at Clarkston Industries
https://college.cengage.com/business/moorhead/organizational/6e/students/cases/
ch04.html
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND OB
Individual Behavior: The way in which factors such as skills, abilities,
personalities, perceptions, attitudes, values and ethics differ from one
individual to another.
The basis for understanding individual behavior stems from Lewin’s early
contention that behavior is a function of the person and the environment.
Kurt Lewin’s behavior equation is “B = f(P, E)”. It states that an individual’s
behavior (B) is a function (f) of the person (P), including their history, personality
and motivation, and their environment (E), which includes both their physical and
social surroundings.
 VARIABLES INFLUENCING INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR

The person
Skills and abilities
The Environment
Personality
Organization
Perception
Work Group
Attribution
Job
Attitudes
Personal life
Values
Ethics

Behavior
NATURE OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Individual Differences are personal attributes that vary from one person to
another:
 Physical
 Psychological
 Emotional
Individual differences are neither good nor bad
Whenever an organization attempts to assess or account for individual
differences among its employees, it must also be sure to consider the
situation in which behavior occurs

“ Identify your significant factors that cause indifferences with others”

WHAT IS PERCEPTION?
 WHAT IS PERCEPTION?

Describe what do you see in these pictures. Discuss what lead to

that thought process. Infer why the interpretation differs from
person to person?
WHAT IS PERCEPTION?
Perception involves the way we view the world around us.
It adds meaning to information gathered via the five senses of touch,
smell, hearing, vision and taste.
It is the primary vehicle through which we come to understand ourselves
and our surroundings.
Social Perception- the process of interpreting information about another
person.
 PERCEPTION- DEFINITION
According to Joseph Reitz; “Perception includes all
those processes by which an individual receives
information about his environment — seeing,
hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling.”

“Perception may be defined as a process by

which individuals organize and interpret their
sensory impressions in order to give meaning to
their environment.”- Stephen Robbins
 PERCEPTION
Uday Pareek said perception can be defined as “the process of
receiving, selecting, organizing, interpreting, checking, and
reacting to sensory stimuli or data.”

https://hbr.org/2007/04/managing-perceptions
 Perception
Perception
“A process by which individuals organize and
interpret their sensory impressions in order to give
meaning to their environment”.

Selective perception
The process of screening out
information that we are uncomfortable with or
that contradicts our beliefs.
PERCEPTION IN OB

•People’s behavior is based on their

perception of what reality is, not on
reality itself.
•The world as it is perceived is the world
that is behaviorally important.

•Video on Nature of Perception

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn4dwcO9yLA
FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION
OVERVIEW OF THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS
SUB PROCESS OF PERCEPTION
BRAIN JUGGLING!!
Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs. I cdnuol't blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty
uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch
at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a
wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in
the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it
wouthit a porbelm.
Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but
the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? And I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was
ipmorantt
KELLEY’S ATTRIBUTION THEORY

Harold Kelley in 1967

The theory says that people assign the cause of behavior
to the factors that covaries most closely with the behavior.
Attribution Theory tries to explain the ways in which we
judge people differently, depending on the meaning we
attribute to a given behavior.
According to theory, behavior can be attributed to
Dispositional (internal) or Situational (external) factors.
Internally caused behaviors are those we believe to be under the personal control
of the individual.
Externally caused behavior are those we imagine the situation forced the
individual to do.
The theory states that people are more likely to attribute behaviors to internal
factors if they have high consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness.
This is determined by Distinctiveness, Consensus, Consistency.
 Distinctiveness: Whether the behavior occurs in different situations
 Consensus: Whether others behave in the same way
 Consistency: Whether the behavior is consistent over time
KELLY’S ATTRIBUTION THEORY
 MANAGING THE OB WAY!!
Your company has no specific policy regarding facial hair. Nikhil is a pharmaceutical sales
representative with a little more than a year’s experience and an average (but declining)
sales record. He has grown a very long and ragged beard that detracts significantly from
his appearance. His hobby is playing bass in an amateur band, and he feels that a ragged
beard is an important part of the act. Nikhil says that his beard is a personal fashion
statement that has to do with his individual freedom.
There have been numerous complaints about Nikhil’s appearance from customers: both
doctors and pharmacists. The manager has talked to him on numerous occasions about
the impact his appearance could have on his sales. Nevertheless, Nikhil still has the beard.
The manager is concerned about Nikhil’s decreasing sales as well as the professional
image of the sales force in the medical community. Nikhil says that his sale decrease has
nothing to do with his beard. However, sales in the other territories in the district are
significantly better than they were last year.
What do you think are the concerns for the company regarding Nikhil’s facial hair? Should
they care about his appearance?
Let’s say, Nikhil told you that he thinks the beard is part of his personal religion that he is
following. Do you think this type of announcement from Nikhil would change how you talk to
him about the issue?
Short movie clip on perception – Eye of the beholder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYydIDlU2pc
ERRORS DISTORT ATTRIBUTIONS

The fundamental attribution error is the tendency for

observers to attribute other people’s behavior
to dispositional or internal causes and to
downplay situational or external causes.

The self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute our

successes to internal causes and our failures to
external causes. For example, if you pass an exam,
you will probably attribute your success to your
intelligence rather than to the exam being easy.
 COMMON SHORTCUTS IN JUDGING OTHERS
Selective Perception- It is a tendency to observe people selectively and accordingly interpret
based on our interest, background, experience and attitudes. The process of selecting information
that supports our individual viewpoints while discounting information that threatens our viewpoints.
For instance, we are more likely to notice the type of cars which are similar to ours.

Projection- overestimating the number of people who share our own beliefs, values and behaviors.
For example, a manager who loves challenging work might project that all others like challenging
work.

Self- fulfilling prophecy (Pygmalion Effect)-

the situation in which our expectations about people affect our
interaction with them in such a way that our expectations are fulfilled.

Interview Questions
State a few perceptions that may have negatively affected you during your growing up years.
Contrast Effect- It is the tendency to evaluate a person’s characteristics by just comparing
with other people who happened to acquire higher or lower position on the same
characteristics.

In interview situation, a job applicant is likely to receive a more favorable evaluation if

preceded by mediocre applicants and a less favorable evaluation if preceded by strong
applicant.
Stereotyping

 A stereotype is any thought widely adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of
behaving intended to represent the entire group of those individuals or behaviors as a whole. These
thoughts or beliefs may or may not accurately reflect reality.

 Stereotypes lead to social categorization, which is one of the reasons for prejudiced attitudes (i.e.
“them” and “us” mentality) which leads to in-groups and out-groups.

 One advantage of a stereotype is that it enables us to respond rapidly to situations because we

may have had a similar experience before.
EXAMPLES
Younger employees might believe that older employees are incapable of
keeping up with modern-day trends, while older workers can mistakenly believe
that their young co-workers are lazy.

Forbes' reports that common male/female stereotypes are that men are too
stoic and hold their feelings while women are too emotional at work.
 Halo effect
 human tendency in impression formation to assume that once a person
possesses some positive or negative characteristic, other as yet unknown
qualities will also be positive or negative, in other words, consistent with
the existing impression.

 Halo effects reflect the apparent belief that positive and negative
characteristics occur in consistent patterns.

 For example, if you have a positive impression of your colleague Coco

because she is always clean and well groomed, and somebody asks you
whether Coco would be the right person to organize the office party,
you are more likely to answer yes, not because you have any real
information about Coco’s organizational abilities but because you
already have an existing positive impression of her.

Interview Questions
Explain the disadvantages of stereotyping and Halo effect at the workplace.
Individual Behavior and Organizations
TYPES OF WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR
Performance Behaviors
 The total set of work-related behaviors that the
organization expects the individual to display
 They derive from the psychological contract.
 For some jobs performance behaviors can be
narrowly defined and easily measured (i.e. an
assembly line, worker who remains at the
workstation and attaches parts)
 For many other jobs, performance behavior is
more diverse and much more difficult to assess (a
researcher at a major pharmaceutical company)
 TYPES OF WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR

Withdrawal Behaviors
 Absenteeism occurs when an individual does not
show up for work.
 Turnover occurs when people quit their jobs.
Dysfunctional Behaviors
 Work-related behaviors that detract from
organizational performance.
Organizational Citizenship
 Extent to which the individual's behavior makes a
positive overall contribution to the organization
 PERSON-JOB FIT
Person-Job Fit
 The extent to which the individual’s contributions match the organization’s
inducements
 In theory, each employee has a specific set of needs that he or she wants
fulfilled and a set of job-related behaviors and abilities to contribute
 If the organization can take perfect advantage of those behaviors and
abilities and exactly fulfill the employee’s needs, it will have achieved a
perfect person-job fit

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoGy65EDZRU

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQZZUSNA3UQ
 APPLICATIONS IN
ORGANIZATIONS
Employment Interview
 Perceptual biases affect the accuracy of interviewers’
judgments of applicants
Performance Expectations
 Self-fulfilling prophecy (Pygmalion effect): The lower or
higher performance of employees reflects preconceived
leader expectations about employee capabilities
Performance Evaluations
 Appraisals are subjective perceptions of performance
Employee Effort
 Assessment of individual effort is a subjective judgment
subject to perceptual distortion and bias
Thank You!! ☺