Nelson & Quick: Personality, Perception, and Attribution

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!
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
in Organizations
Self-Esteem
Feelings of Self Worth
Success tends Failure tends

to increase to decrease
self-esteem self-esteem
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
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
in Organizations
A strong
situation can
overwhelm the effects
of individual personalities
by providing strong cues
for appropriate
behavior
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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Chapter 3

Nelson & Quick

 People vary in many characteristics

 Person’s subjective view of the situation

Personality - A relatively stable set of

Trait Theory - understand individuals by breaking

Extraversion Gregarious, assertive,

 Behavior models (observing success)

 Assessment of current physical & emotional

Success tends Failure tends

 High self monitors  Low self monitors

according to the rather than from

Negative Affect - an individual’s tendency to

Projective Test - elicits an individual’s response to

 Based on Carl Jung’s work

 People are fundamentally alike

 People have preference combinations for

extraversion/introversion, perception, judgment

Extraversion Introversion How one

Impression Management – process by which

 Agreement with opinion

Attribution theory - explains how individuals pinpoint

Information cues for attribution information gathering

Fundamental Attribution Error - tendency

Self-serving Bias - tendency to attribute one’s

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