CHAPTER IV

CONCEPTS AND COMPONENTS OF PERSONALITY - A N ANALYSIS

From the organisational perspective, managers had,

for a long time, viewed their employees as rational beings
who were primarily motivated by money. They took the
economic man and the rational man, approach to understand
and predict human behaviour. The scientific management
movement, is based on the belief that by rationally
explaining need and to take out best out of the one, the
best way was to offer incentives to workers in the form of
price rates and bonuses, to increase organisational output.

Man is a social being, he wants to belong to a

group. The functional behaviours of workers emanate from
their social needs being met at the work place. The
Hawthorne studies clearly indicated the logic that economic
motives alone do not govern human behaviour. Social
interaction at work and recognition for their contributions
and along with treatment as special makes a big difference
in their productivity and work behaviour.

Sekaran Uma, Organisational Behaviour, Text and Cases,

Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co. Ltd. Delhi, 1989, p.27
 130

The social man approach was also considered some-

what simplistic. As time passed by, organisational
behaviour theorists such as Argyrls(1957), Llkert (1961,
1967) and Mcberger (1960), emphasised on the need of
opportunities to people so as to use their individual
creativity in organisations and their growth needs met in
order to function effectively, also they must get ample
opportunities and appropriate environment to grow to achieve
desired goals. However, not all workers want to develop ox
grow on the job or desire to self actualise at work. Hence,
in today's perspective it is desirable and beneficial for
organisation to take a complex man approach and recognise
that different individuals, differ personality predisposi-
tions which depends on individual's needs and job. For
positive and maximum output from an individual it is
necessary that there is a proper match between individual
traits and nature of work. By understanding the concept of
personality and its primary components as they influence
behaviour of individual at work, managers can try to create
an environment in which people can function most effectively
This will help managers to enhance their own functional
behaviour and .thus enhance their own development and the
productivity by the workers. Moreover, an understanding of
 130.1

personality will help managers to predict human behaviour at

work.
The term "personality" often figures out in
discussions on job prospects, achievements, marriage and
many other occasions. In all these events personality is
understood in its narrow sense as implying ones charm,
popularity^ dress and other physical attractiveness.
Perceiving personality in this narrow sense will
not help such an understanding of individual behaviour in an
organisation.
Personality is the fundamental and foremost
determinant of individual behaviour. It seeks to integrate
the physiological and psychological facets of an individual
to put them into action. Personality consists of an
individual's characteristics and distinctive ways of
behaviour.
The word personality in English is derived from
the Latin word "Persona". Originally, it denoted the
"masks" worn by theatrical players in ancient Greek dramas,
eventually, the term came to encompass the action role as
well. Thus, the initial conception of personality was that
of a superficial social image that an individual adopts in

Gupta, N.S., Organisation: Theory and behaviour: Himalayan

Publishing House, Bombay, 1992, p.296.
 130.2

playing different roles as a public personality. This view

is consonant with that of the contemporary layman who
equates personality with physical attractiveness. Such a
conception is not widely held in psychology.
In psychology, personality is interpreted in
different ways by different theorist. Carl Rogers views
personality in terms of self. An organised, permanent,
subjectively perceived entity which is at the very heart of
all our experiences. Gorden Allport defines personality as
what an individual really is. As an internal something that
guides and directs all human activity. Still another
conception is that of Freud, who describes the structure of
personality as composed of three elements-the id, ego and
super ego.
The Id is the reservoir of the basic drives called
the libido, which proceeds unchecked to satisfy motives.
2
Super ego roughly corresponds to the notion of conscience.
In addition, some personality theorists emphasised the need
to recognise the person-situation interaction that is, the
social learning aspects of personality.

Aswathappa, K., Organisational Behaviour, Himalaya Publi-

shing House, Bombay, 1991, p.16

Michael V.P. Organisational behaviour and Managerial effe-

ctiveness, S.Chand and Co. Ltd. Delhi, 1989, p.200
 130.3

Generally speaking, personality is the specific

system of ones characteristics that enables him to act and
behave in his environment in a specific manner which shapes
the given appearance as a unique individual in the society.
Pertinently personality includes both the person and his
rple in the social context. Floyd Ruch, in his definition
of personality, has included external appearance and
behaviour or social stimulus value, inner awareness of self,
as 3 permanent organising force, and the particular pattern
or organisation of measurable traits. Fred Luthans has,
therefore, believed that personality will mean how people
affect others, how they understand and view themselves, and
their, pattern of inner and outer measurable traits. Self
concept in which people attempt to understand themselves,
also makes part of personality theory.
Personality is a complex multidimensional
construct and there is no simple definition of what
personality is. We can examine personality in terms of a set
of relatively stable characteristics and tendencies that
determine our thoughts, feelings and behaviour and which
have some continuity and consistency over time.

•'• Michael V.P. Op.Cit., p.94

 130.4

We can also try to understand personality as

having characteristics common in all of us and a periphery of
characteristics that have become a part of us because of
what we have learned from our environment.
These different conceptions clearly indicate that
the meaning of personality in psychology extends far beyond
the original superficial social image concept. It refers to
something much more essential and enduring about a person.
Beyond this basic point of agreement, definition of
personality have other features in common like:
Most definitions depict personality as some kind
of hypothetical internal structure or organisation behaviour
In part. It is seen as being organised and integrated by
personality.
Most definitions emphasise on the role of
individual characteristics-traits influencing their
behaviour.
Most definitions stress on and the need to
understand the meaning of individual differences.
Personality is what makes individuals unique. It
is only through the study of personality that the relevant
differences among persons can be made clear (Ziegler and
Hjelle).
 130.5

McClelland defines personality, "as the most

adequate conceptualisation of an individual's behaviour in
all its details which the scientist can provide at a moment
of time."

Maddi (1980) defines personality as, "a stable set

of characteristics and tendencies that determine those
common qualities and differences in the psychological
behaviour of people that have continuity in time and that
may not be easily understood as the sole result of the
sQcial and biological pressures of the moment.

In the dictionary of Behavioural Science (ed. by

Benjamin B. Wolman) personality has been defined as the
pattern of traits characterising an individual person.

Gorden Allport, found more than fifty different

definitions of personality and categorised these definitions
into five major areas as follows:

Omnibus: These definitions view personality as the

. ^ » —

sum total, an aggregate or constellation of properties or

qualities.
Integrated and configurational: Under this point
of view personality, the organisation of personal attributes
is stressed.
 131

Hierarchical; This specifies the various levels of

integration or organisation of personality.

Adjustment: This view emphasises the adjustment

(adaptation, survival and evolution) of the person to the
environment.

Distinctiveness; The definitions of this category

stress the uniqueness of each personality.

After analysing all these definitions, Allport has

advanced an interesting and comprehensive definition where
he states, "personality is the dynamic organisation, within
the individual, of those psychological system that
determines his unique adjustment to his environment."

In spite of difference among the psychologists

about the definition of personality, the following defini-
tion is widely accepted; Personality iiay be defined as the
characteristics and distinctive traits of an individu£.l, the
stable and shifting pattern of relationship between these
traits and the ways the traits interact to help or hinder
the adjustment of a person to other people and situation.

Gupta, N.S. Organisation: Theory and Behaviour, Himalayan

Publishing House, Bombay, 1992, p.lA8.
 132

Few other definitions are;

Personality may be understood as the

characteristic patterns of behaviour and modes of thinking
that determines a person's adjustment to the environment
(Hilgard, Atkinson).

Personality can be described as how a person

affects others, how he understands and views himself, and
his pattern on inner and outer measurable traits. (Floyd
L.Ruch).

".... but we must also recognise and explain the

fact that development results in man acquiring a distinc-
tiveness or uniqueness which gives him identity and which
enables him and us to recognise him as apart from others.
These distinguishing characteristics are summarised by the
term personality (Theodare T. Herbert).

The analysis of these definitions gives the

following elements of the composition of personality;
a. Characteristics and distinctive traits.
b. Integrating and organising agent between physiological
and psychological facet of an individual.
c. It is unique in nature.
 133

d. It becomes habitual to the person.

e. It results finally into action behaviour in relation to a
person, organisation or situation.

Characteristics and Traits

Traits form an important components. of an
individual's personality, though they may change in a
situation. Some of the personality traits which reflect a
person's physiology and abilities, are important accompani-
ment of an individual and his behaviour pattern. Personality
is influenced by physiology and abilities and it also
manifests his interests and values.

Integrating and organising Agent

In an individual, stimulus is not responded into

action or behaviour unless his physiology moves in
accordance with the direction given by his psychology. So
physiology and psychology are integrated into action by the
self or the personality.

It is Unique
Personality consists of strong componentswhich are
relatively unique in nature. The personality of every
individual is unique like his fingerprints. This is the
accepted point of view by practically all psychologists
(Lewis).
 13A

Habitual to the person

For a personality only those responses are

relevant which are habitual to an individual. Only those
responses which are quite strong are relevant for considera-
tion of a personality. Personality, thus, consists of those
strong responses in behaviour pattern which are
differentiable.

Resulting into Action/Behavlouz

Every stimulus is responded through individual

personality. Same stimulus will result into different
actions according to the personality structure of two
different individuals.

Personality development is a continuous process

from childhood to adulthood. It starts in the early
formative years, especially within the family. The social
process, whereby the individual learns to interact with
others, starts in the family. Heredity also plays a vital
role in this respect.
Nature of Personality
Personality is the psychological growth and
development within the ambit of change. Hubert Bonner under-
lines six propositions to clarify the nature of personality.
These propositions are relevant to decision making by an
administrator.
 135

Human Behaviour consists of the totality of acts which

culminate into Action
In an organisation human behaviour is the point of
culmination which is preceded by a number of acts. It is
the totality of these acts in the form of responded
behaviour which is relevant to both individual and the
organisation. Isolated psychological or physiological aspect
of individual in personality is of no use for administrative
decision or action.

Personality and Environment

Personality and environment are two inter-
dependent variables of human behaviour. Personality gets
molded according to the environment, it is also a fact that
it is the environment which stimulates personality to
action.

Personality Depicts consistency

Normal personality is dynamic due to environmental
setting around him. Personality can be flexible to the
point of consistency in different environmental setting.
Personality is goal oriented behaviour
Every individual seeks to achieve a desired goal
through his personality. The process of goal selection is in
 136

itself a dynamic quality of personality which also forges

unity between personality and goal directed behaviour.

Time Integrating structure

Personality provides a synthesis of the retrospect
and the prospect because future is as much related to past
as past is to future. Human beings are a product of
conditioned responses and habits in the past which need be
adjusted in the paradigm of future challenges and
expectations. Planning in any organisation is based on the
existing human resources which carries with It the marks of
different environment in past. Quality of personality plays
a significant role in chalking out plans,policy formulation
and production programme in an organisation.
It is the environment which helps in actualisatlon
of individual personality. Though the organisation setting
is modified to provide a new value system to Industrial
Humanism, but the personality also gets adjusted to achieve
the desired results. Personality, therefore, is a process of
becoming a pace setter to initiate and implement the process
of organisational change and modification so as to achieve
the goal of self actualisation.
Thus one critical component of individual
difference is the Individual's personality. Personality is
 136.1

. - the set of distinctive traits and dimensions that can be

used to characterise individuals.

Personality Structure
Personality structure consists of three dimensions
- determinants, stages and traits.

Personality determinant
Determinants of personality ar& factors that
presumably play a role in shaping a person's personality.
Determinants of personality can be grouped into two broad
categories of factors which influence the formation and
development of personality. These are heredity factors and
environmental factors, both, jointly affect the personality
development. The full potential of a person may or may not
be achieved due to environmental constraints and
requirements, but the potential for development both
physically and psychologically is determined by the complex
set of genes.
Heredity
Heredity and biological factors, refers to those
factors that were determined at the time of conception.
According to the hereditary approach, the biological factors

Jits Chandan, Organisational Behaviour, Vikas Publishing

House, 1994, p.lA6.
 136.2

influence to the extent to which personality traits are

genetic, i.e. inherited from one's parents. Biological
factors can also affect personality indirectly. Research
suggests that genetics indeed may influence the promotion
and development of human personality.
Environment
If all personality characteristics were completely
dictated by heredity, they would be fixed at birth and no
amount of experience could alter them. Personality
development owes as much to environment as it does to
heredity. Environment is a broad term and includes such
factors as culture, family, social sanction process and
situational considerations. Culture helps in developing
norms, attitudes and values are passed from one generation
to the next and become part of an Individual's life as time
passes.
Culture has been defined by Hoebel as the sum
total of learned behaviour traits which are manifested and
shared by the members of the society. It is a unique system
of perceptions, beliefs, values,norms, patterns of behaviour
and a code of conduct that influences the behaviour of
individual in a given society.

Aswathappa, K., Op.Cit., p.20

 136.3

The person and his culture are so interwoven with

each other that it is difficult to distinguish the
individual from his cultural context. On the basis of
cultural upbringing the attitudes will differ concerning
different issues. Hence no linear relationship between
personality and culture can be established. This is partly
due to the existence of subcultures within the culture.
Differences are also based upon socio-economic classes, age,
education, professions and geographic regions. Each
individual has some experiences that are unique and he
reacts in his own way to the situation. Biological factor
causes differences in behaviour. Management must recognise
these differences while dealing with people in the
organisational context.
The family also has considerable influence on
personality development. The nature of such influences
depend upon the socio-economic level of the family - family
size, birth order, race, religion, parents educational
level, geographic location, etc. Parents usually serve as
role models with which the children strongly identify. The
overall home environment created by the parents, in addition
to their direct influence is critical to personality

^ Jits Chandan, Op.Cit, p.lA8

 136.A

development. Siblings also contribute to personality,Sibling

position represents a part of the significant social
experiences of adolescence and adulthood.
The contribution of family and social group in
combination with the culture is known as socialisation.
Social influences relate to a person's interaction with
other people throughout his life, starting with playmates
during childhood.
While the interaction with environment in the
earlier years has a more lasting influence on the pattern of
behaviour and personality, the social contact and group
belonging in later years continue to have considerable
impact on the person's life. In addition to family members,
friends, peers at work, associates, groups to which an
individual belongs, all influence a person's behaviour. Much
of the behaviour is an outcome of respect for norms and laws
of the society in which the individual exists. These norms
are useful in standardising behaviour of all people in a
particular environment, a person's personality is reflected
by such behaviour. Social influences,both within the work
environment as well as outside, continue to influence

Gangadar Rao, Rao V.S.P. Narayan P.S. Organisational

Behaviour, Text and Cases, Konark Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
Delhi, 1987, p.44.
 136.5

people's personalities, perceptions and behaviour throughout

their lives (Latham, Baldes).
Situational factors affect personality often in
unpredictable or little understood ways. These factors may
shape personality or bring out hidden characteristics. It is
the immediate situation which may predominate finally. While
it seems logical to suppose that a situation will influence
an individual's personality, a neat classification scheme
that would tell us the impact of various types of situations
has so far eluded us. However, we do know that certain
situations are more relevant than others in influencing
personality. (Robbins, P.Stephen). What is of interest
taxonomically, wrote Lee Sechrest, is that situations seem
to differ substantially in the constraints they imposed on
behaviour with some situations (Hjelle and Ziegler).

Personality is a complex concept that reflects

many influences both within and outside the individual.
Personality progress is through identifiable stages and
never really stops developing.

Robbins P. Stephen, Organisational Behaviour - Concepts

Controversies and Applications, Prentice Hall of India
Pvt. Ltd. Delhi, 1993, p.109.
 137

Personality - Stages/Traits
A second major approach to personality structure
suggests that personalities develop in stages. Personality
stages are phases of development through which an
Individual's personality is presumed to pass. The major
proponents of stage approaches are Slgmund Freud, Erlck
Eclkson, and Jean Piager.
Freud, the pioneer of psycho-analytic theory,
argued that behaviour is caused primarily by unconscious
motives. These motives are shaped by variety of stages of
personality development, each of which has sexual
undertones. According to Freud, the four stages of persona-
lity develoment are dependent, compulsive, oedlpal and
mature. These stages however, are not generally accepted by
contemporary theorists.
Erlck Erlkson accepted the Freudian concept of
personality stages but rejected Freud stages as being two
heavily slanted towards biological and sexual factors.
Instead, Erikson focused on the social adaptations people
must make as they grow older. He argued that we progress
through eight basic stages of development, including mouth

Moorhead Gregary and Griffin W. Ricky, Organisational

Behaviour - Managing People and Organisations,Jaico Publi-
shing House, Bombay, 1994, p.99.
 138

and senses (stage 1) latency (stage A ) , early adulthood

(stage 6) and mature adulthood (stage 8).
The progression from one stage to the next is
marked by a crisis. Healthy personality development is said
to depend on the effectiveness with which the individual
copes with each crisis. In organisational settings,
parallels to Eriksons stages may appear in the form of the
crisis a person passes through while moving from new comer
status to being a mature and then a senior member of the
organisation.
Like Freud, Jean Piaget spggested that we pass
through stages of personality development. Piaget believed
that the stages and the progressions between them are
conscious activities. The precise stages Piaget suggested
are not specifically relevant to organisational settings.
His more important contribution is the argument
that the conscious elements of personality formation are as
significant as the unconscious elements of the three stage
approach. The work of Piaget is perhaps best supported by
empirical research (Mischel).
Traits theory visualise personality as a reflec-
tion of certain traits of the individual. Eventhough there
are many traits that are common to most people, there are
 139

many other traits that are unique to a person and are not
shared by other individuals. Traits are the basic elements
of personality and can be used to summarise behaviour.
In terms of organisational behaviour, the main
thing to be learned from these perspectives is the notion of
development. People change with the passage of time, and In
ways that are at least somewhat predictable rather than
purely random and unstable. Furthermore, change generally
is healthy and desirable for both the person and the social
system in which he or she functions.

Traits
In the Dictionary of Behavioural science (Ed. by
Benjamin B.Wolman) personality has been defined as the
pattern of traits characterising an individual person. Trait
here means any psychological characteristic of a person
including dispositions to perceive different situations
similarly and to react consistently despite changing
stimulus conditions, values, abilities, motives, defenses,
identity and personal style.
Traits refer to an individual's acquired
propensity to respond as he has responded successfully in
the past in similar situations or to respond in an
equivalent manner to various kinds of stimuli when similarly
motivated. Trait theory Interprets repetitive responses and
 140

consistencies in human behaviour. The definition indicates

that the traits are the function of heredity, learning,
similar situations and similar motivation (the traits are
classified as expressive or habitual, motive responses and
performance). Trait in facf; are psychological entities that
render many stimuli as well as many responses equivalent to
stimuli. Many stimuli may evoke the same response, or many
responses have the same functional meaning in terms of the
traits. An individual's personality, therefore, is the
combination of large number of psychological traits.

Various attempts have been made to isolate traits,

but the effort have been hindered because there are so many
of them. In one study 17953 individual traits were
identified. However, it is virtually impossible to predict
behaviour when such a large number of traits require to be
considered. In fact approaches to study personality forma-
tion, try to identify a configuration of traits that best
reflect personality. Gorden Allport, a noted psychologist,
suggested that everyone has a common set of personality
traits but individuals also have and can be differentiated
by a set of unique traits called personal dispositions. By
definition, personal dispositions vary from one person to
the next.

Divedi, R.S. Human Relations and Organisational Behaviour

IBM Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., Delhi, p.149
 141

Raymond Caltell, another pioneering psychologist,

also advocated a trait framework for understanding
personality. According to him, all people can be described
and characterised along two specific sets of personality
traits, or dimensions. Surface traits reflect people
observable and consistent behaviour (honest or dishonest,
warm or cold). Source traits (trusting or suspicious, mature
or immature, dominant or submissive) are most difficult to
discern because people often keep them hidden.

One researcher isolated 171 traits but concluded

that they were superficial and lacking in descriptive power
(Caltell) • What he sought was a reduced set of traits that
would identify underlying patterns. The result was the
identification of sixteen personality factors, which he
called the source or primary traits. These sixteen traits,
have been found to be generally steady and constant sources
of behaviour, allowing prediction of an individual's
behaviour in specific situations by weighing the
characteristics for their situational relevance.
Traits can additionally be grouped to form
personality types instead of looking at specific
characteristics. We can group those qualities that go
together into a single category, thus making a personality a
 142

set of relatively stable characteristics or dimensions of

people that account for consistency in their behaviour in
various situations.

Personality and Jobs

The historical theory and research on personality
already discussed are important as it highlights the
complexities involved in understanding individual difference
as well as various approaches of understanding how they
occur. The most direct application of personality theory for
the field of organisational behaviour have been through the
identification and description of traits that have direct
relevance to organisation.
Organisations are collections of individual human
beings who have united to accomplish certain goals and
objectives. Individuals are complex; their abilities and
interests and attitudes are many and differ from each other.
Success of an individual in his job depends greatly on
his/her personality characteristics. Most failures in job,
however, are not only attributable to a person's amount of
intelligence alone but also to certain personality
characteristics.

Personality is an important determinant of

employee's behaviour. The -explanation for behaviour of an
employee in different situation, depends on the individual's
 142.1

personality, which predisposes an individual to certain

behavioural patterns. A thoughtful application of
personality concepts, though subjective, helps us to
understand unique beings and groups with similar personality
characteristics. Personality characteristics influence
selection of individuals to occupy various positions in an
organisation. Various psychologists have devised a series of
tests which would help selection of right individual for
right job.
Personality factors are extremely important in
organisational setting often the wrong kind of personality
proves disastrous and causes undesirable tensions and
worries In organisation. The cost of such tension and
worries are enormous when we interpret them from the point
of view of employee-employer relation, peer-relations and
superior-subordinate relations. Sometimes, the personality
differences are the root cause of poor turnover and job
dissatisfaction.
A consideration of personality differences of
local persons is important for three reasons.

^ Divedi, R.S. Op.cit., p.149

 1A2.2

1. Some people arouse hostility and aggression in their

associates, while others invoke sympathy and supportive
responses because of their personality features. Likewise
some people encourage and others discourage free and open
communication in view of their personality traits as
perceived by their subordinates.

2. Personality characteristics tend to produce different

emotional reactions to stress.
3. Individual personalities lead to individual differences
in styles of coping with stress.
Personality plays a major role in how a person
perceive his or her work environment, evaluates it and
responds to it. ftnterfactional psychology suggests that
individual behaviour is a function of continuous interaction
between the person and the situation. Characteristics of the
person - such as manifestation of personality - influence
are influenced by various factors in the work place.
Individual personalities differ so too, to do jobs.
Following this logic, efforts have been made to match the
proper personalities with the proper job.
The requirement of the job is a relationship
between possession of the personality characteristic and job
performance. This concerns with matching the job requirement
with personality characteristics which has recently received
 142.3

attention. It is best articulated in John Hollands persona-

lity-job fit theory. The theory is based on the notion of
fit between a person's personality characteristics and his
or her occupational environment. Holland presents six
personality types and proposes that satisfaction and the
propensity to leave a job depends on the degree to which
individuals successfully match their personalities to a
congruent occupational environment.
Each one of the six personality types have a
congruent occupational environment. The theory argues that
satisfaction is highest and turnover lowest where
personality and occupation are in agreement. , Social
individual should be in social jobs, conventional people in
conventional jobs and so forth. The key point of this model
2
are that:
1. There do appear to be intrinsic differences in persona-
lity among individuals.
2. There are different types of jobs and
3. People in job environments congruent with their person-
ality types should be more satisfied and less likely to
voluntarily resign than should people in incongruent jobs

Robbins P.Stephen, Op.Cit., p.109

^ Ibid., p.110
 142.A

It can thus be concluded that people with person-

ality types congruent with their chosen vocations should
find that they have the right talents and abilities to meet
the demands of their jobs and are thus, more It^elly to be
successful on those jobs; and, because of this success, have
a greater probability of achieving high satisfaction from
their work. Studies to replicate Hollands conclusions have
been almost universally supportive, as he suggests that an
employee's satisfaction with and propensities to leave his
or her job depends on the degree to which the individual's
personality matches with his or her occupational
environment. Satisfaction thus may lie more in the
employees personality than in the job.

Rbbbins P. Stephen, Essentials of Organisational Behaviour

Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd. Delhi, 1994.