Kelli J.

Schutte
William Jewell College
Robbins & Judge
Organizational Behavior
14th Edition

Personality and Values
Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
5-0
Chapter Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Define personality, describe how it is measured, and explain the
factors that determine an individuals personality.
Describe the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality framework
and assess its strengths and weaknesses.
Identify the key traits in the Big Five personality model.
Demonstrate how the Big Five traits predict behavior at work.
Identify other personality traits relevant to OB.
Define values, demonstrate their importance, and contrast terminal
and instrumental values.
Compare generational differences in values, and identify the
dominant values in todays workforce.
Identify Hofstedes five value dimensions of national culture.
Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
5-1
What is Personality?
The dynamic organization within the individual of those
psychophysical systems that determine his unique
adjustments to his environment. - Gordon Allport
The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and
interacts with others, the measurable traits a person exhibits
Measuring Personality
Helpful in hiring decisions
Most common method: self-reporting surveys
Observer-ratings surveys provide an independent assessment
of personality often better predictors
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Personality Determinants
Heredity
Factors determined at conception: physical stature, facial
attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle composition
and reflexes, energy level, and bio-rhythms
This Heredity Approach argues that genes are the source
of personality
Twin studies: raised apart but very similar personalities
There is some personality change over long time periods

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Personality Traits
Enduring characteristics that describe an individuals
behavior
The more consistent the characteristic and the more
frequently it occurs in diverse situations, the more important
the trait.
Two dominant frameworks used to describe
personality:
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI

)
Big Five Model
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The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Most widely used instrument in the world.
Participants are classified on four axes to determine one of
16 possible personality types, such as ENTJ.
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Extroverted
(E)
Introverted
(I)
Sensing
(S)
Intuitive
(N)
Thinking
(T)
Feeling
(F)
Judging (J)
Perceiving
(P)
Flexible and
Spontaneous
Sociable and
Assertive
Quiet and
Shy
Unconscious
Processes
Uses Values
& Emotions
Practical and
Orderly
Use Reason
and Logic
Want Order
& Structure
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The Types and Their Uses
Each of the sixteen possible combinations has a name,
for instance:
Visionaries (INTJ) original, stubborn, and driven
Organizers (ESTJ) realistic, logical, analytical, and
businesslike
Conceptualizer (ENTP) entrepreneurial, innovative,
individualistic, and resourceful
Research results on validity mixed
MBTI

is a good tool for self-awareness and counseling.

Should not be used as a selection test for job candidates.
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The Big Five Model of Personality Dimensions
Extroversion
Sociable, gregarious, and assertive
Agreeableness
Good-natured, cooperative, and trusting
Conscientiousness
Responsible, dependable,
persistent, and organized
Emotional Stability
Calm, self-confident, secure under stress
(positive), versus nervous, depressed, and
insecure under stress (negative)
Openness to
Experience
Curious, imaginative, artistic, and
sensitive
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How Do the Big Five Traits Predict Behavior?
Research has shown this to be a better framework.
Certain traits have been shown to strongly relate to
higher job performance:
Highly conscientious people develop more job knowledge,
exert greater effort, and have better performance.
Other Big Five Traits also have implications for work.
Emotional stability is related to job satisfaction.
Extroverts tend to be happier in their jobs and have good social
skills.
Open people are more creative and can be good leaders.
Agreeable people are good in social settings.
Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
See E X H I B I T 51
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Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB
Core Self-Evaluation
The degree to which people like or dislike themselves
Positive self-evaluation leads to higher job performance
Machiavellianism
A pragmatic, emotionally distant power-player who believes that
ends justify the means
High Machs are manipulative, win more often, and persuade more
than they are persuaded. Flourish when:
Have direct interaction
Work with minimal rules and regulations
Emotions distract others
Narcissism
An arrogant, entitled, self-important person who needs excessive
admiration
Less effective in their jobs
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Self-Monitoring
The ability to adjust behavior to meet external, situational
factors.
High monitors conform more and are more likely to become
leaders.



Risk Taking
The willingness to take chances.
May be best to align propensities with job requirements.
Risk takers make faster decisions with less information.
More Relevant Personality Traits
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Even More Relevant Personality Traits
Type A Personality
Aggressively involved in a chronic, incessant struggle to
achieve more in less time
Impatient: always moving, walking, and eating rapidly
Strive to think or do two or more things at once
Cannot cope with leisure time
Obsessed with achievement numbers
Prized in North America but quality of the work is low
Type B people are the complete opposite
Proactive Personality
Identifies opportunities, shows initiative, takes action, and
perseveres to completion
Creates positive change in the environment
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Values
Basic convictions on how to conduct yourself or how to
live your life that is personally or socially preferable
How To live life properly.

Attributes of Values:
Content Attribute that the mode of conduct or end-state is
important
Intensity Attribute just how important that content is
Value System
A persons values rank ordered by intensity
Tends to be relatively constant and consistent
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Importance of Values
Provide understanding of the attitudes, motivation, and
behaviors
Influence our perception of the world around us
Represent interpretations of right and wrong
Imply that some behaviors or outcomes are preferred
over others

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Classifying Values Rokeach Value Survey
Terminal Values
Desirable end-states of existence; the goals that a person
would like to achieve during his or her lifetime
Instrumental Values
Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving ones
terminal values
People in same occupations or categories tend to hold
similar values
But values vary between groups
Value differences make it difficult for groups to negotiate
and may create conflict
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Value Differences Between Groups
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Source: Based on W. C. Frederick and J. Weber, The Values of Corporate Managers and Their Critics: An Empirical Description and Normative Implications, in
W. C. Frederick and L. E. Preston (eds.) Business Ethics: Research Issues and Empirical Studies (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1990), pp. 12344.
E X H I B I T 5-4
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Generational Values
Cohort
Entered
Workforce
Approximate
Current Age
Dominant Work Values
Veterans 1950-1964 65+ Hard working, conservative,
conforming; loyalty to the
organization
Boomers 1965-1985 40-60s Success, achievement, ambition,
dislike of authority; loyalty to
career
Xers 1985-2000 20-40s Work/life balance, team-oriented,
dislike of rules; loyalty to
relationships
Nexters

2000-Present Under 30 Confident, financial success,
self-reliant but team-oriented;
loyalty to both self and
relationships
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E X H I B I T 5-5
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Linking Personality and Values to the Workplace
Managers are less interested in someones ability to do a
specific job than in that persons flexibility.
Person-Job Fit:
John Hollands Personality-Job Fit Theory
Six personality types
Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI)
Key Points of the Model:
There appear to be intrinsic differences in personality between
people
There are different types of jobs
People in jobs congruent with their personality should be more
satisfied and have lower turnover
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Relationships Among Personality Types
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The closer the
occupational
fields, the more
compatible.
The further
apart the fields,
the more
dissimilar.
E X H I B I T 5-7
Need to match personality
type with occupation.
Source: Reprinted by special permission of the publisher, Psychological
Assessment Resources, Inc., from Making Vocational Choices, copyright 1973,
1985, 1992 by Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Still Linking Personality to the Workplace
In addition to matching the individuals personality to the
job, managers are also concerned with:
Person-Organization Fit:
The employees personality must fit with the organizational
culture.
People are attracted to organizations that match their values.
Those who match are most likely to be selected.
Mismatches will result in turnover.
Can use the Big Five personality types to match to the
organizational culture.
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Global Implications
Personality
Do frameworks like Big Five transfer across cultures?
Yes, but the frequency of type in the culture may vary.
Better in individualistic than collectivist cultures.
Values
Values differ across cultures.
Hofstedes Framework for assessing culture five value
dimensions:
Power Distance
Individualism vs. Collectivism
Masculinity vs. Femininity
Uncertainty Avoidance
Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation
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Hofstedes Framework: Power Distance
The extent to which a society accepts that power in
institutions and organizations is distributed unequally.

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Low distance
Relatively equal power
between those with
status/wealth and those
without status/wealth
High distance
Extremely unequal power
distribution between those
with status/wealth and those
without status/wealth


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Hofstedes Framework: Individualism
Individualism
The degree to which people prefer to act as individuals
rather than as member of groups
Collectivism
A tight social framework in which people expect others in
groups of which they are a part to look after them and
protect them


Versus
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Hofstedes Framework: Masculinity
Masculinity
The extent to which the society values work roles of
achievement, power, and control, and where assertiveness
and materialism are also valued
Femininity
The extent to which there is little differentiation between
roles for men and women


Versus
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Hofstedes Framework: Uncertainty Avoidance
The extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain
and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them


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High Uncertainty Avoidance:
Society does not like ambiguous
situations and tries to avoid them.
Low Uncertainty Avoidance:
Society does not mind ambiguous
situations and embraces them.
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Long-term Orientation
A national culture attribute that emphasizes the future, thrift,
and persistence
Short-term Orientation
A national culture attribute that emphasizes the present and
the here and now

Hofstedes Framework: Time Orientation
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Hofstedes Framework: An Assessment
There are regional differences within countries
The original data is old and based on only one company
Hofstede had to make many judgment calls while doing
the research
Some results dont match what is believed to be true
about given countries
Despite these problems it remains a very popular
framework
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GLOBE Framework for Assessing Cultures

Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Effectiveness (GLOBE) research program
Nine dimensions of national culture

Similar to Hofstedes framework with these additional
dimensions:
Humane Orientation: how much society rewards people for
being altruistic, generous, and kind
Performance Orientation: how much society encourages and
rewards performance improvement and excellence

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Summary and Managerial Implications

Personality
Screen for the Big Five trait of conscientiousness
Take into account the situational factors as well
MBTI

can help with training and development

Values
Often explain attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions
Higher performance and satisfaction achieved when the
individuals values match those of the organization

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United States of America.

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education,
Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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