Personality

What is Personality?
Those relatively stable and enduring aspects of individuals which distinguish him/her from other people and at the same time form the basis of our predictions concerning his / her future behaviorWright et al., 1970)

 The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others. The collection of psychological characteristics or traits that determines a persons preferences and individual style of behavior.
- Personality refers to the stable underlying causes of individual behaviour (Cloninger 2004) - Personality denotes the relatively enduring traits or characteristics of a person (Ewen 1994) -Traits are usually observable (e.g. aggressiveness or shyness).

 Persona (Greek word) means mask Personality (literally means) likeable mask Origin of the word implies personality is the public self (our presentation of the self to the outside world)

Pitfalls in assessing personality

Making hasty judgments about personalities. Having the tendency to see only behaviors that affirm judgments.

Determinants of Personality
Nature (heredity)
The assumption that part of personality is biologically- based and predetermined.

Nurture (environment)
The assumption that personality is shaped primarily by life experiences, especially those of early childhood. Culture, family, group membership and life experiences.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) A personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types.

Personality Types
Extroverted vs. Introverted (E or I) Sensing vs. Intuitive (S or N) Thinking vs. Feeling (T or F) Judging vs. Perceiving (P or J)

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 (positive) versus nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative).

Openness to Experience
Imaginativeness, artistic, sensitivity, and intellectualism.

Dimensions of personality and its relevance in work settings

Locus of control

Problem solving style

Machiavellianism Type A Type B

Locus of Control
It measures the internal and external orientation of a person, that is the extent to which a person feels able to affect his or her life.

Internals
Individuals who believe that they control what happens to them.

Externals
Individuals who believe that what happens to them is controlled by outside forces such as luck or chance.

Problem solving style

The way in which person goes about gathering information in solving problems and making decisions. Styles of information gathering: Sensation to Intuitive Styles of evaluation or making judgments:

Feeling to Thinking

Machiavellianism
Based on the writings of Niccolo Machiavelli who advocated a psychologically detached and unemotional behavioral approach by individuals to organizational participation in meeting their personal objectives. The belief that it is appropriate to behave in any manner that will meet ones own needs.
The primary focus is on obtaining and using power as a means to further ones own ends, regardless of its impact on others.

Degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means.

Conditions Favoring High Machs Direct interaction Minimal rules and regulations Emotions distract for others

Type A-Type B

Self-esteem (self-concept)
How individuals perceive themselves in terms of their abilities, competencies, and effectiveness.
Low
Incapable Incompetent Insignificant Unworthy

Self Esteem

High
Capable Competent Significant Worthy

Risk-Taking
High Risk-taking Managers Make quicker decisions Use less information to make decisions Operate in smaller and more entrepreneurial organizations Low Risk-taking Managers Are slower to make decisions Require more information before making decisions Exist in larger organizations with stable environments Risk Propensity Aligning managers risk-taking propensity to job requirements should be beneficial to organizations.

Other Dimensions of Personality (contd)

The Big Five personality theory
The view that all personality traits can be distilled into five big ones:
Extroversionoutgoing/withdrawn Adjustmentflexible/rigid Agreeablenesscooperative/uncooperative Conscientiousnessthorough/sloppy Inquisitivenesscurious/disinterested

Achieving Person-Job Fit

Personality-Job Fit Theory (Holland) Identifies six personality types and proposes that the fit between personality type and occupational environment determines satisfaction and turnover.

Personality Types
Realistic Investigative

Social
Conventional Enterprising

Artistic

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

Theories of Personalities
Type Theory :
Classified personalities on the basis of body structures( given by william sheldon) and on the basis of psychological factors (by Carl jung)

Trait Theory:
The trait theory is a multiple model of type theory. rather than classifying a person by just one feature the trait theory classifies peoples personality by set of features. Cattells 16 PF Psychoanalytic Theory :

Theory of Personality given by Sigmund Freud which divides the mind into ID EGO and SUPER EGO SOCIAL LEARNING :

This theory focuses on behavior patterns and cognitive activities in relation to the specific conditions that evoke, maintain or modify them SELF CONCEPT THEORY Carl Roger and Abraham Maslow stress a mans positive nature,his push towards growth and self actualization

William Sheldon classified personality according to body type. He called this a persons somatotype.

Sheldon's Somatotype

Character

Shape

Picture

Endomorph

relaxed, sociable, tolerant, comfortloving, peaceful

plump, buxom, developed visceral structure

Mesomorph

active, assertive, vigorous, combative

muscular

Ectomorph

quiet, fragile, restrained, nonassertive, sensitive

lean, delicate, poor muscles

Extroverts vs. Introverts Extroverts are directed towards the objective world whereas Introverts are directed towards the subjective world. The most common differences between Extroverts and Introverts are shown below:

Extroverts are interested in what is happening around them are open and often talkative compare their own opinions with the opinions of others like action and initiative easily make new friends or adapt to a new group say what they think are interested in new people easily break unwanted relations

Introverts are interested in their own thoughts and feelings need to have own territory often appear reserved, quiet and thoughtful usually do not have many friends have difficulties in making new contacts like concentration and quiet do not like unexpected visits and therefore do not make them
work well alone

Personality Trait Theory

Traitstendencies to behave, think, or feel in certain ways in certain situations collections of similar thoughts, feelings, and behaviors traits are the constructs of personality Traits are dimensionala structure that recurs in the same qualitative form in different people, but at different quantitative levels (e.g., high or low on a trait)

Psychoanalytical Theory of Personality

Determinism
Freuds perspective Behavior is determined by Irrational forces Unconscious motivations Biological and instinctual drives as they evolve through the six psychosexual stages of life

The Structure of Personality

THE ID The Demanding Child
Ruled by the pleasure principle

THE EGO The Traffic Cop

Ruled by the reality principle

THE SUPEREGO The Judge

Ruled by the moral principle

Ego-Defense Mechanisms
Ego-defense mechanisms: Are normal behaviors which operate on an unconscious level and tend to deny or distort reality Help the individual cope with anxiety and prevent the ego from being overwhelmed Have adaptive value if they do not become a style of life to avoid facing reality

Defense Mechanisms
To protect the ego against the painful and threatening impulses arising from the id we distort the reality The processes that distort the reality for the ego are called defense mechanisms

Types of Defense Mechanisms

Repression Reaction Formation Denial Projection Displacement Sublimation Regression Rationalization

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