Managing Individual

Differences and
Behaviors
Chapter 11

Personality

Consists of the stable psychological traits and

behavioral attributes that give a person his or
her identity

Big Five Personality

Dimensions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Extroversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Emotional Stability
Openness to Experience

Extroversion

How outgoing, talkative, sociable, and

assertive a person is

Agreeableness

How trusting, good-natured, cooperative, and

soft-hearted one is

Conscientiousness

How dependable, responsible, achievementoriented, and persistent one is

Proactive Personality

Someone who is more apt to take initiative

and persevere to influence the environment

Associated with success, individual, team,

organization, and entrepreneurship

Self-efficacy

Belief in ones ability to do a task

I can/cant do this task

Learned Helplessness

The debilitating lack of faith in ones ability to

control ones environment.

Locus of control

Indicates how much people believe they

control their fate through their own efforts.

I am/am not the captain of my fate

Emotional Stability

How relaxed, secure, and unworried one is

Emotional intelligence EI

The ability to cope, empathize with others,

and be self-motivated.

Developing higher EI is
associated with:

Better social relations for children and adults

Better family and intimate relationships
Being perceived more positively by others
Better academic achievement
Better psychological well-being

Traits of emotional
intelligence

Self-awareness the ability to read your own emotions and

gauge your moods accurately, so you will know how youre affecting
others.

Self-management- the ability to control your emotions and

act with honesty and integrity in reliable and adaptable ways.

Self-awareness Empathy allows you to show others

that you care

Relationship management the ability to

communicate clearly and convincingly, disarm conflicts, and build
strong personal bonds.

Organizational Behavior

Trying to explain and predict workplace

behavior.

Individual behavior
Group behavior

Values

Abstract ideals that guide ones thinking and

behavior across all situations.

Attitude

A learned predisposition toward a given

object.

Three components of attitude

Affective
Cognitive
behavioral

Cognitive Dissonance

The psychological discomfort a person

experiences between his or her cognitive
attitude and incompatible behavior.

Perception

The process of interpreting and

understanding ones environment.

Four distortions in
perception

Selective perception
Stereotyping
The halo effect
Casual attribution

Selective Perception

The tendency to filter out information that is

discomforting, that seems irrelevant, or that
contradicts ones beliefs.

Stereotyping

The tendency to attribute to an individual the

characteristics one believes are typical of the
group to which the individual belongs.

By sex
By age
By race/nationality

Absenteeism

When an employee does not show up for

work.

Halo Effect

Form an impression of an individual based on

a single trait.

Casual Attributions

The activity of inferring causes for observed

behaviors.

Fundamental Attribution Bias

People attribute another persons behavior to

his or her personal characteristics rather than
to situational factors.

Self-serving Bias

People tend to take more personal

responsibility for success than for failure.

Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Pygmalion Effect

The phenomenon in which peoples

expectations of themselves or others lead
them to behave in ways that make those
expectations come true.

Employee Engagement

An individuals involvement, satisfaction, and

enthusiasm for work.

Organizational Commitment

Reflects the extent to which an employee

identifies with an organization and is
committed to its goals.

Important Workplace
Behaviors

Performance and productivity

Absenteeism and turnover
Organizational citizenship behaviors
Counterproductive work behaviors

Performance and
Productivity

The method of evaluating performance must

match the job being done.

Absenteeism and Turnover

Absenteeism when an employee doesnt

show up for work.
Absenteeism is related to job satisfaction.
Turnover when employees leave their jobs.

Onboarding Programs

Help employees to integrate and transition to

new jobs by making them familiar with
corporate policies, procedures, culture, and
politics by clarifying work-role expectations
and responsibilities.

Organizational Citizenship
Behaviors

Those employee behaviors that are not

directly part of employees job descriptions
that exceed their work-role requirements.

Counterproductive Work
Behaviors (CWB)

Types of behavior that harm employees and

the organization as a whole.

Diversity

Represents all the ways people are unlike

and alike the differences and similarities in
age, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual
orientation, capabilities, and socioeconomic
background.

Four Layers of Diversity

Personality
Internal Dimensions those human
differences that exert a powerful, sustained
effect throughout every stage of our lives.
External Dimensions include an element of
choice they consist of the personal
characteristics that people acquire, discard, or
modify throughout their lives.
Organizational Dimensions

Glass Ceiling

The metaphor for an invisible barrier

preventing women and minorities from being
promoted to top executive jobs.

Americans with Disabilities

Act

Prohibits discrimination against the disabled.

Required organizations to reasonably
accommodate an individuals disabilities.

Underemployed

Working at jobs that require less education

than they have

Ethnocentrism

The belief that ones native country, culture,

language, abilities, or behavior is superior to
those of another culture.

Stress

The tension people feel when they are facing

or enduring demands, constraints, or
opportunities and are uncertain about their
ability to handle them effectively.
It is the feeling of tension and pressure.
The source of stress is called a stressor.

Sources of job related stress

Demands created by individual differences

Stress created by the job itself
Stress created by others expectations of you

Roles: sets of behaviors that people expect of occupants

of a position.

Stress created by co-workers and managers

Stress created by the environment and culture
(asbestos removal, coal mining, fire fighting, EMSs,
police, etc.)
Stresses created by forces outside the organization

Money problems, family situations, divorce, etc.

Consequence of Stress

Burnout a state of emotional, mental, and

even physical exhaustion.

Burnout is a physical, mental and emotional

response to constant levels of high stress combined
with a feeling of not being in control. It usually
results in physical and mental fatigue and can
include feelings of hopelessness, powerlessness
and failure. Burnout often begins when you feel
unable to meet competing demands and become
frustrated, pessimistic and dissatisfied. Some
demands are self-imposed (such as having very
high expectations of yourself) and some are otherimposed (from family, job or society).

Some stressors most associated

with burnout:

feeling overworked and under-appreciated

confusion about expectations and priorities
too much responsibility at work
insecurity about layoffs
Over-commitment at home and work

Buffers

Administrative changes
Changes that managers can make to reduce
the stressors that lead to employee burnout.

Employee Assistance
Programs (EAPs)

A host of programs aimed at helping

employees to cope with stress, burnout,
substance abuse, health-related problems,
family and marital issues, and any general
problem that negatively influences job
performance.

Holistic Wellness Program

Focuses on self-responsibility, nutritional

awareness, relaxation techniques, physical
fitness, and environmental awareness.

Openness to Experience

How intellectual, imaginative, curious, and

broad-minded one is

Five traits important to

organizations

Locus of control
Self-efficacy
Self-esteem
Self-monitoring
Emotional intelligence

Self-esteem

The extent to which people like or dislike

themselves, their overall self-evaluation.

High self-esteem
Low self-esteem
I like/dislike myself

Self-monitoring

The extent to which people are able to

observe their own behavior and adapt it to
external situations.

Im fairly able/unable to adapt my behavior to

others

Affective Component

I feel
Consists of the feelings or emotions one has
about a situation.

Cognitive Component

I believe
Consists of the beliefs and knowledge one
has about a situation.

Behavioral Component

I intend
Intentional component
Refers to how one intends or expects to
behave toward a situation.

Values and attitudes influence peoples

workplace behavior.
Behavior: their actions and judgments

Work-related attitudes

Job satisfaction
Job involvement
Organizational
Commitment

Job Satisfaction

How much do you like or dislike your job?

The extent to which you feel positively or
negatively about various aspects of your
work.

Work
Pay
Promotions
Co-workers
Supervision

Job Involvement

How much do you identify with your work?

Job Involvement is the extent to which you
identify or are personally involved with your
job.
Job involvement correlates with job
satisfaction

Organizational Commitment

Reflects the extend to which an employee

identifies with an organization and is
committed to its goals.
Managers are advised to increase job
satisfaction to elicit higher levels of
commitment. Higher commitment can
facilitate higher performance.

Organizational Citizenship
Behaviors

Those employee behaviors that are not directly part

of employees job descriptions that exceed their
work-role requirements.

Constructive statements about the business

Expression of personal interest in the work of others
Suggestions for improvement
Training new people
Care for organizational property, and punctuality and
attendance well beyond standard or enforceable levels

Counterproductive Work
Behaviors

Types of behavior that harm employees and

the organizations as a whole.

Absenteeism
Tardiness
Drug and alcohol abuse
Disciplinary problems
Sexual harassment
sabotage

Four steps in the Perceptual

Process

Perception the process of interpreting and

understanding ones environment

Selective attention (did I notice something?)

Interpretation and evaluation (what was it I noticed
and what does it mean?
Storing in memory (remember it as an event,
concept, person, or all three)
Retrieving from memory to make judgments and
decisions (what do I recall about that?)

Self-fulfilling Prophesy or
Pygmalion Effect

Describes the
phenomenon in which
peoples expectations
of themselves or others
lead them to behave in
ways that make those
expectations come
true.

Reducing stressors in the

organization

Buffers (administrative changes) that managers

can make to reduce the stressors that lead to
employee burnout.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Holistic wellness program focuses on self-responsibility,
nutritional awareness, relaxation techniques, physical
fitness, and environmental awareness.

Create as supportive work environment

Make jobs interesting
Make career counseling available