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Nelson & Quick: Personality, Perception, and Attribution

This document discusses personality, perception, and attribution. It covers key topics such as the Big Five personality traits, locus of control, self-monitoring, social perception, impression management, and attribution theory. The main idea is that behavior is influenced by both personal characteristics and environmental factors, and people interpret each other's behavior through social perception and attribution processes.

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182 views22 pages

Nelson & Quick: Personality, Perception, and Attribution

This document discusses personality, perception, and attribution. It covers key topics such as the Big Five personality traits, locus of control, self-monitoring, social perception, impression management, and attribution theory. The main idea is that behavior is influenced by both personal characteristics and environmental factors, and people interpret each other's behavior through social perception and attribution processes.

Uploaded by

pragati
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 3

Nelson & Quick


Personality, Perception,
and Attribution
Variables Influencing
Individual Behavior
P
The Person
• Skills & abilities E
The Environment
• Personality • Organization
• Perceptions • Work group
• Attitudes • Job
•Values • Personal life
• Ethics

B
Behavior
B = f(P,E)
Propositions of
Interactional Psychology
 Behavior—function of a continuous, multi-directional
interaction between person and situation
 Person—active in process
 Changed by situations

 Changes situations

 People vary in many characteristics


 Two situational interpretations
 The objective situation

 Person’s subjective view of the situation


Definition of Personality

Personality - A relatively stable set of


characteristics that influences an individual’s
behavior
Personality Theories

Trait Theory - understand individuals by breaking


down behavior patterns into observable traits
Psychodynamic Theory - emphasizes the
unconscious determinants of behavior
Humanistic Theory - emphasizes individual growth
and improvement
Integrative Approach - describes personality as a
composite of an individual’s psychological
processes
Big Five Personality Traits

Extraversion Gregarious, assertive,


sociable
Agreeableness Cooperative, warm,
agreeable
Conscientiousness Hardworking, organized,
dependable
Emotional stability Calm, self-confidant, cool
Openness to Creative, curious,
experience cultured

Sources: P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae, The NEO-PI Personality Inventory (Odessa, Fla.: Psychological Assessment Resources, 1992); J. F. Salgado,
“The Five Factor Model of Personality and Job Performance in the European Community,” Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (1997): 30-43.
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations

Locus of Control
Internal External
I control what People and
happens to me! circumstances
control my fate!
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Self-Efficacy - beliefs and expectations about one’s ability to
accomplish a specific task effectively

Sources of self-efficacy
 Prior experiences and prior success

 Behavior models (observing success)

 Persuasion

 Assessment of current physical & emotional

capabilities
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations

Self-Esteem
Feelings of Self Worth

Success tends Failure tends


to increase to decrease
self-esteem self-esteem
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Self-Monitoring
Behavior based on cues from people & situations

 High self monitors  Low self monitors


 flexible: adjust behavior  act from internal states

according to the rather than from


situation and the situational cues
behavior of others  show consistency
 can appear  less likely to respond to
unpredictable & work group norms or
inconsistent supervisory feedback
Who Is Most Likely to . . .

Low-self High-self
monitors monitors
Get promoted
Accomplish tasks, meet other’s
expectations, seek out central 
positions in social networks

Change employers 
Self-promote
Make a job-related
geographic move
Demonstrate higher levels of managerial 
self-awareness; base behavior on other’s
cues and the situation
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations
Positive Affect - an individual’s tendency to
accentuate the positive aspects of oneself, other
people, and the world in general

Negative Affect - an individual’s tendency to


accentuate the negative aspects of oneself, other
people, and the world in general
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations

A strong
situation can
overwhelm the effects
of individual personalities
by providing strong cues
for appropriate
behavior
Personality Characteristics
in Organizations

Strong
personalities
will dominate
in a weak
situation
How is Personality Measured?

Projective Test - elicits an individual’s response to


abstract stimuli
Behavioral Measures - personality assessments that
involve observing an individual’s behavior in a
controlled situation
Self-Report Questionnaire - assessment involving an
individual’s responses to questions
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - instrument
measuring Jung’s theory of individual differences.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

 Based on Carl Jung’s work


 People are fundamentally different

 People are fundamentally alike

 People have preference combinations for

extraversion/introversion, perception, judgment


 Briggs & Myers developed the MBTI to understand
individual differences
MBTI Preferences

Preferences Represents

Extraversion Introversion How one


re-energizes
Sensing Intuiting How one gathers
information
Thinking Feeling How one makes
decisions
Judging Perceiving How one orients to the
outer world
Social Perception

Barriers
• Selective perception • Projection
• Stereotyping • Self-fulfilling prophecies
• First-impression error

Social Perception -
interpreting information
about another person
Social Perception
Perceiver Characteristics Target Characteristics
• Familiarity with target • Physical appearance
• Attitudes/Mood • Verbal communication
• Self-Concept • Nonverbal cues
• Cognitive structure • Intentions

Social Perception -
interpreting information
about another person
Barriers

Situational Characteristics
• Interaction context
• Strength of situational cues
Impression Management

Impression Management – process by which


individuals try to control the impression others
have of them
 Name dropping

 Appearance

 Self-description

 Flattery

 Favors

 Agreement with opinion


Attribution Theory

Attribution theory - explains how individuals pinpoint


the causes of their own behavior or that of others

Information cues for attribution information gathering


 consensus

 distinctiveness

 consistency
Attribution Biases

Fundamental Attribution Error - tendency


to make attributions to internal causes when
focusing on someone else’s behavior

Self-serving Bias - tendency to attribute one’s


own successes to internal causes and one’s
failures to external causes

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