UNIT II INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY

PART A: INDIVIDUAL
Introduction for individual behavior:
Individual behavior can be defined as a mix of responses to external and internal
stimuli. It is the way a person reacts in different situations and the way someone expresses
different emotions like anger, happiness, love, etc.

Individual Behavior Framework

On the basis of these elements, psychologist Kurt Lewin stated the Field theory and outlined the
behavior framework. This psychological theory studies the patterns of interaction between an
individual and the environment. The theory is expressed using the formula
B = F(P,E)
where, B – Behavior, F - Behavior Function, P – Person, and E - Environment around the
person.
Say for example, a well payed person who loses his job in recession may behave differently
when unemployed.

Causes of Individual Behavior

Certain individual characteristics are responsible for the way a person behaves in daily life
situations as well as reacts to any emergency situations. These characteristics are categorized as
−

 Inherited characteristics
 Learned characteristics

Inherited Characteristics
The features individuals acquire from their parents or from our forefathers are the inherited
characteristics. In other words, the gifted features an individual possesses by birth is considered
as inherited characteristics.
Following features are considered as inherited characteristics −
  Color of a person’s eye
 Religion/Race of a person
 Shape of the nose
 Shape of earlobes

Learned Characteristics
Nobody learns everything by birth. First our school is our home, then our society followed by
our educational institutions. The characteristics an individual acquires by observing, practicing
and learning from others and the surroundings is known as learned characteristics.
It consists of the following features −
 Perception − Result of different senses like feeling, hearing etc.
 Values − Influences perception of a situation, decision making process.
 Personality − Patterns of thinking, feeling, understanding and behaving.
 Attitude − Positive or negative attitude like expressing one’s thought.
Role of Brain and Mind in Individual Behavior:
Science has made huge strides in understanding the human brain and how it functions.
For example, we know that the frontal lobes are the center of rational thinking and of self
control. ... Lesions or damage to the frontal lobes and to other parts of the brain can and affect
impulses and impulsive behaviors.

The brain receives information and internal and external influences that enable the
most appropriate behaviors to be triggered at any time. In addition, our behavior has
environmental consequences, which can be experienced as positive or negative for us.
 According to Freud (1915), the unconscious mind is the primary source of human
behavior. Like an iceberg, the most important part of the mind is the part you cannot see. Our
feelings, motives and decisions are actually powerfully influenced by our past experiences,
and stored in the unconscious.

Similarities and dissimilarities in individuals:

The five models of organizational behavior are the:
 autocratic model,
 custodial model,
 supportive model,
 collegial model and.
 system model.
Autocratic model
Autocratic model is the model that depends upon strength, power and formal authority.
In an autocratic organisation, the people (management/owners) who manage the tasks in an
organisation have formal authority for controlling the employees who work under them. These
lower-level employees have little control over the work function. Their ideas and innovations are
not generally welcomed, as the key decisions are made at the top management level.
One of the more significant problems associated with the autocratic model is that the
management team is required to micromanage the staff – where they have to watch all the details
and make every single decision. Clearly, in a more modern-day organisation, where highly paid
specialists are employed an autocratic system becomes impractical and highly inefficient.
The autocratic model is also a detractor to job satisfaction and employee morale. This is because
employees do not feel valued and part of the overall team. This leads to a low-level of work
performance. While the autocratic model might be appropriate for some very automated factory
situations, it has become outdated for most modern-day organisations.
Custodial model
The custodial model is based around the concept of providing economic security for employees –
through wages and other benefits – that will create employee loyalty and motivation.
In some countries, many professional companies provide health benefits, corporate cars,
financial packaging of salary, and so on – these are incentives designed to attract and retain
quality staff.
The underlying theory for the organisation is that they will have a greater skilled workforce,
more motivated employees, and have a competitive advantage through employee knowledge and
expertise.
One of the downsides with the custodial model is that it also attracts and retains low performance
staff as well. Or perhaps even deliver a lower level of motivation from some staff who feel that
they are “trapped” in an organisation because the benefits are too good to leave.
Supportive model
Unlike the two earlier approaches, the supportive model is focused around aspiring leadership.
It is not based upon control and authority (the autocratic model) or upon incentives (the custodial
model), but instead tries to motivate staff through the manager-employee relationship and how
employees are treated on a day-to-day basis.
Quite opposite to the autocratic model, this approach states that employees are self-motivated
and have value and insight to contribute to the organisation, beyond just their day-to-day role.
The intent of this model is to motivate employees through a positive workplace where their ideas
are encouraged and often adapted. Therefore, the employees have some form of “buy-in” to the
organisation and its direction.
Collegial model
The collegial model is based around teamwork – everybody working as colleagues (hence the
name of the model).
The overall environment and corporate culture need to be aligned to this model, where
everybody is actively participating – is not about status and job titles – everybody is encouraged
to work together to build a better organisation.
The role of the manager is to foster this teamwork and create positive and energetic workplaces.
In much regard, the manager can be considered to be the “coach” of the team. And as coach, the
goal is to make the team perform well overall, rather than focus on their own performance, or the
performance of key individuals.
 The collegial model is quite effective in organisations that need to find new approaches –
marketing teams, research and development, technology/software – indeed anywhere the
competitive landscape is constantly changing and ideas and innovation are key competitive
success factors.

System model

The final organisational model is referred to as the system model.This is the most
contemporary model of the five models discussed in this article. In the system model, the
organisation looks at the overall structure and team environment, and considers that individuals
have different goals, talents and potential.
The intent of the system model is to try and balance the goals of the individual with the
goals of the organisation.
Individuals obviously want good remuneration, job security, but also want to work in a
positive work environment where the organisation adds value to the community and/or its
customers.
The system of model should be an overall partnership of managers and employees with a
common goal, and where everybody feels that they have a stake in the organisation.

Reasons for individual differences:

Individual differences are the ways in which people differ from each other. Every member of an
organization has its own way of behavior. It is important for managers to understand individual
differences because they influence the feelings, thoughts, and behavior of employees.
Causes of Individual Differences:
 Heredity: One of the most significant and chief causes of individual differences is heredity. ...
 Environment: ...
 Influence of caste, race and nation: ...
 Sex differences: ...
 Age and intelligence: ...
 Temperament and emotional stability: ...
 Other Causes: ...
 Economic condition and education:


Individual differences have traditionally been studied as three broad domains: intellectual,
personality, and conative. It is important to note that, although these are often treated as separate
aspects for the purpose of investigation, they are intertwined to some degree.

Physical Difference:
Man differs in his physical developments structurally and functionally. These differences are
seen in height, weight size of the body, structure of different parts of the body, color of hair,
skin, physical strength and precision.
Mental Differences:
Mental difference are noticed in the form of perception, concept formation, imagination,
formation of imaging, memory and attention.
Difference in Intelligence:
Difference in intelligence level is seen in individuals into different categories such as genius,
gifted, superior, bright, averages, imbeciles and idiots on the basis of their intelligence level.
Difference in Interests:
Interest differs from individual, to individual, man to woman, adolescent to adult, society to
society and culture to culture. Every man has his own interest. Boys and girls greatly differ in
their interests in choosing courses, books, pictures, games and dresses.
Difference in Attitudes:
As far as attitudes are concerned man differs from other. A person has different attitude towards
people, institution, customers and traditions, religions, and social phenomena. A man tells/ thinks
the laws of society as good and bad depending on his attitude. Attitude forms in environment.
Different persons have different attitudes towards casteism, religion, regionalism, linguism,
political parties and administration.
Difference in Aptitude:
An aptitude is any special ability that is possessed by an individual. Men differ their aptitude
related to musical, poetic, mechanical, artistic, games and sports etc.
Difference in Achievement:
Individual differs from others due to his achievement in various fields of life related to academic,
social, mental, emotional, moral, spiritual and intellectual. This depends on previous
experiences. Sometimes it is seen that one can achieve much more than what is expected from
them on the basis of their intelligence level.
Personality Difference:
Person differs from other person due to his personality traits, temperaments, qualities and
behaviour. It is exhibited that some persons are extroverts and some are introverts which are
manifested by their activities.
Emotional Differences:
In case of emotions, one differs from other. Some persons loose their emotions and some persons
do not loose their emotions. It is observed that someone controls his emotions and others get
irritate very quickly. On the other hand one has the ability to control the emotions with patience
and tolerance. In some cases listening the serious facts one may start shading tears.
Social Differences:
Some social factors like co-operation, sacrifices, leadership, marriage ceremony, any social
function one individual differs from others in performing the social functions. Someone feel
hesitate to mix with others where as some are shy and fail to mix with strangers.
Racial and Cultural Differences:
It is seen that race and culture also bring about differences among the individuals. It depends in
geophysical and geo-hydrological influences. So German people are brave and Russian people
are tall. Besides this one differs from others in case of food habits, dress habits, speech and in
other social traditions.
Nature and Models of Man in Organizations:
 Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity (mentally, physically, and
socially) of human I ndividuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout
their life. ... Human behavior is studied by the social sciences, which include psychology,
sociology, economics, and anthropology.
Organizational Behaviour applies humanistic approach towards people working in the
organization. It, deals with the thinking and feeling of human beings. O.B. is based on the belief
that people have an innate desire to be independent, creative and productive.
Work behavior is one of the significant aspects of Human Behavior. It is an individual's
communication towards the rest of the members of the work place. A positive and good work
behavior of an individual leads to higher performance, productivity and great outputs by the team
or an individual.
The nature of an employee's work is best defined as the type of work that he does. This
can refer to the basic daily tasks carried out as part of a job and can refer to other non-routine
tasks that may be required. Added together, the characteristics of these tasks comprise the nature
of an employee's work.
Examples of positive workplace behaviors include:
 Championing company values.
 Cooperating with and collaborating with others.
 Welcoming new ideas.
 Being respectful of colleagues.
 Promoting healthy work/life balance

Models of Man: Social and Rational combines multiple perspectives, primarily

philosophical, economic and psychological, to create a model for rational human behaviour in a
social setting.
This article throws light on the five important models of individual behavior, i.e, (1)
Rational Economic Man, (2) Social Man, (3) Organizational Man, (4) The Self Actuating Man,
and (5) Complex Man.
1. Rational Economic Man:
From the organizational perspective, managers had, for a long time, viewed their
employees as rational beings who are primarily motivated by money. They took the
‘ECONOMIC MAN’ and ‘RATIONAL MAN’ approach to understand and predict the human
behaviour. This model is based on classical organisation theory.
The Scientific Management Movement was based on the belief that by rationally
explaining the one best way to do things and offering incentives to workers in the form of piece
rates and bonuses, organisational output can be increased. Psychologists have also studied this
model for predicting human behaviour. For example, McGregor’s assumptions of Theory X
reflect this model.
The basic assumptions of the concept of ‘Rational Economic Man’ are as follows:
(i) People are motivated primarily by economic incentives. They will do things which get
them the greatest economic gain.
(ii) As the organisation controls the economic incentives, human beings are essentially
passive agents, who are manipulated, motivated and controlled by the organisation.
(iii) The feelings of the people are essentially irrational and must be controlled to achieve
rationality and self interest.
(iv) Organisations can and must be designed in such a way so as to neutralize and control
people’s feelings and therefore their unpredictable traits.
In this model, people are induced to produce more by providing them with economic
incentives. In this case, there is no organisation-employees conflict because both are satisfying
their needs simultaneously. Management is getting more production and people are getting more
money.
Drawbacks:
(i) As this model is based on the classical organisation theory, it suffers from the
shortcomings inherent in that theory and do not suit the present day organisation.
(ii) The economic incentives can work till the man is not reasonably satisfied by the need
of money.
Though, the need of money is inexhaustible and the man will never have enough, but
after a certain stage, only money will not be sufficient for him. He will have some psychological
needs also, which cannot be fulfilled by the organisation in this case. Therefore, it can be stated
that the whole assumption of Rational Economic man are not sufficient in understanding and
predicting human behaviour.
2. Social Man:
With the passage of time, the advocates of human relations school recognized that there
is a lot more to human behaviour than just being social man economic and rational. Advocates of
this school considered the worker as a social man. They recognized that man is a part of the
social group he is influenced by the social forces and seeks satisfaction of the needs which are
related to the maintenance of his social relationships. Eltan Mayo conceived the concept of the
social man when he carried out Hawthorne studies during 1927-32.
From the reports of Hawthorne experiments the following assumptions about human
beings can be drawn:
(i) Human beings are basically motivated by social needs and all their efforts are directed
towards getting this satisfaction by maintaining relationships with others.
 (ii) A human being is more responsive to the pressures and sanctions of his social group
than to the incentives and controls of the management. The reason is that he values social
relationship higher than his economic motives which are directly under the control of
management.
(iii) The amount of work to be done by a worker is not determined by his physical
capacity or by the management but by the social norms.
(iv) Generally people do not act or react as individuals but as members of a group.
(v) Informal leaders play an important role in setting and enforcing the group norms.
(vi) Management should change and organize work in such a way that it provides more
belongingness not only in terms of interpersonal and group relationships, but also man’s
relationship with his job.
The type of managerial strategy that is to be applied in the case of social man is quite
different as compared to the strategy to be applied in case of Economic-Rational man. The total
system of social man is directed towards people.
The following changes were required in the managerial strategy.
(i) Earlier the management was conceived only with the output given by the workers. In
this approach, the management had to pay attention to the workers also as human beings.
(ii) Earlier, the only concern of die management was to provide economic incentives to
the workers or in other words to look after their economic needs, but under this concept, the
psychological needs were also to be considered.
(iii) Another required change was to analyze and motivate human behaviour in terms of
groups rather than on individual basis.
(iv) Another change which was required was in the behaviour of the manager instead of
being the controller of behaviour he was supposed to act as the supporter of workers.
The social man approach was also considered somewhat simplistic.
As time passed by, organisational behaviour theorists such as Argyris (1957), Likert
(1961, 1967) and McGregor (1960) argued that people in organisations need opportunities to use
their individual creativity and must have their growth needs met in order to function effectively.
3. Organisational Man:
Organisation man is an extension of social man. The concept of organisation man was
introduced by William Whyte. He believed that it is very important for a person to be loyal to the
organisation and cooperative with the fellow workers. Any person who believes in this value
system and acts in this way is an organisation man. The basis of this concept is and that every
individual should sacrifice his individuality for the sake of the group and the organisation.
 This idea was initially suggested by Henry Fayol, when he suggested that individual
interest should be subordinated to the general interest. Whyte had explained three major
propositions, on which this concept of organisation man is based.
These propositions are as follows:
(i) The first proposition is that individual by himself is isolated and meaningless. The
group is the source of activity. Individuals create only when they move in a group. A group helps
to produce a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
(ii) The ultimate need of every individual is belongingness. He wants to belong to his
families, friends, relatives, colleagues and other members of the society as a whole. Whyte says
that there should be no conflict between man and society.
(iii) The goal of belongingness is achieved with the help of science. Whenever there is a
conflict between the needs of the society and the needs of the individual, an equilibrium can be
created by applying the methods of science. Science can help in removing all the obstacles to
consensus.
The organisation man concept emphasis, that there is no conflict between the individual
interest and the interest of the organisation. Even if there is any conflict, individual interest will
be sacrificed in favour of the group interest to remove the conflict. However, there is a basic
assumption behind this concept.
The assumption is that management will take care of the individual interests. It would be
the duty of the management to satisfy the needs of the individuals. People will be willing to
sacrifice their interests for the organization only if they are positive that the organization would
take care of them.
4. The Self Actuating Man:
The concept of self-actuating man is a further extension of social man and the
organization man models. The social man concept assumes that the formation of social groups is
the basis of satisfaction for the individuals. But as against this the self-actuating man assumes
that man’s inherent need is to use his capabilities and skills in such a way that he should have the
satisfaction of creating certain things. The earlier models do not allow him to satisfy his self-
actuating needs.
Following are the main assumptions about the self-actuating man:
(i) The basic assumption about this concept is that the various needs of a man can be put
in the order of priority. For example, MASLOW has put various needs in a hierarchy: Every
unsatisfied need is a motivational factor for him. Self-actualization according to this diagram is
the ultimate goal, because it is last in the hierarchy and by the time his goal is achieved, all the
other needs of the man are also satisfied.
 (ii) In the process of self-actualization, there are various changes in the behaviour of the
individual and he moves from immaturity to maturity.
(iii) Another assumption is that a man is primarily self-motivated and self-controlled.
Any incentives given by the management cannot motivate him after a certain level and any
control imposed on him cannot threaten him.
(iv) The earlier models were based on the assumption that a man has got immature
personality. However, the reality is that if a man is left free, he will put in his maximum efforts.
These assumptions are generally based upon McGregor’s theory Y and Argyris’s
immaturity-maturity theory. To satisfy a self-actuating man what are required are all the
managerial actions meant to satisfy the social man with some additional features.
5. Complex Man:
Complex man presents the real picture of human picture of human behavior. All the
previous models make very simplistic assumptions about people and their behaviour.
Researchers have proved that these assumptions are not correct as explained below:
(i) The earlier models assume that man will always behave according to certain set patterns. But
research has indicated that there are many complex variables, which determine the human
behaviour. These variables are quite unpredictable. So the human behaviour which is based on
these variables cannot follow a set pattern.
(ii) The behaviour of man can be understood and predicted in the given conditions, depending
upon the assumptions made. But research has indicated that even if cause-effect relationship is
established between the variables and behaviour, it is not easy to understand and predict the
individual behaviour because of the individual differences. It is not necessary that everyone will
behave accordingly. Most behaviour in the organisation can be understood by taking
assumptions of complex man.
Following are a few assumptions about the complex man:
(i) People are not only complex but are also highly variable. Though their needs can be arranged
in a hierarchy, but this hierarchy is also not universal. Different people may have different
hierarchies.
(ii) People are capable of learning new motives through their organisational experiences.

(iii) People’s motives in different organisations or different sub parts of the same organisation

may be different.

(iv) People can respond to many different kinds of management strategies.

Though this model is quite complex, it indicates the real situation and lays emphasis on the fact

that human behaviour is not as simple as assumed in the previous models. Hence current thinking
on the subject is to take a ‘complex man’ approach and recognize that different individuals have

different needs and personality traits and if there is a proper match between these and the

environment they operate in, functional behaviour will emerge.

Values:

Values defined in Organizational Behavior as the collective conceptions of what is considered

good, desirable, and proper or bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture. ... Thus, values

are collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper or bad, undesirable,

and improper in a culture.

Meaning and Definition of Values:

A value system is viewed as a relatively permanent perceptual frame work which influences the
nature of an individual’s behaviour. The values are the attributes possessed by an individual and
thought desirable. Values are similar to attitudes but are more permanent and well built in nature.
A value may be defined as a “concept of the desirable, an internalized criterion or standard of
evaluation a person possesses. Such concepts and standards are relatively few and determine or
guide an individual’s evaluations of the many objects encountered in everyday life.”

According to Milton Rokeach, a noted psychologist “Values are global beliefs that guide actions

and judgments across a variety of situations.” Values represent basic convictions that a specific

mode of conduct (or end state of existence) is personality or socially preferable to an opposite

mode of conduct (or end state of existence)”.

Characteristic of Values:

Values are generally, tinged with moral flavor and they contain a judgmental element, involving

an individual’s idea as to what is right, good, and desirable.

The characteristics of values are:

(i) Values provide standards of competence and morality.

(ii) Values are fewer in number than attitudes.

(iii) Values transcend specific objects, situations or persons.

(iv) Values are relatively permanent and resistant to change.

(v) Values are most central to the core of a person.

(vi) Values have two attributes-content and intensity. The content attribute stresses that a

particular code of conduct is important. The intensity attribute specifies how important that

particulars code of conduct is.

(vii) When we rank an individual’s values in terms of their intensity. We obtain the value system

of that person.

(viii) In the value system, all of us have a hierarchy of values; which is identified by the relative

importance we assign to different values such as freedom, self respect, honesty, self respect, and

so on.
Importance of Values:

Values are important to the study of organisational behaviour because of the following

points signifying their importance:

(i) Values lay the foundations for the understanding of attitudes and motivation.

(ii) Personal value system influences the perception of individuals.

(iii) Value system influences the manager’s perception of the different situations.

(iv) Personal value system influences the way in which a manager views the other individuals

and the groups of individuals in the organisation.

(v) Value system also influences a manager’s decisions and his solutions to the various

problems.

(vi) Values influence the attitudes and behaviours. An individual will get more job satisfaction if

his values align with the organisation’s policies. If the organisation’s policies are different from

his views and values, he will be disappointed; the disappointment will lead to job dissatisfaction

and decline in performance.

(vii) The challenge and reexamination of established work values constitute important corner

stone’s of the current management revolution all over the world. Hence, an understanding of the

values becomes a necessity.

Types of Values:

Milton Rokeach Classification:

An extensive research conducted by the noted psychologist Milton Rokeach, identifies two basic

types of values.

1. Terminal Values:

A terminal value is an ultimate goal in a desired status or outcome. These lead to the ends to be

achieved.

Examples of terminal values are:

Instrumental values relate to means for achieving desired ends. It is a tool for acquiring a

terminal value.

The instrumental values given in this study are:

The combination of terminal and instrumental values an individual has, create an enduring

cluster of values which is his value system. Thus, according to this survey, our values and value

system are primarily the determinants of who and what we are as individuals.

G.W. Allport, P.E. Vernon and G. Lindzey have categorized values into six major types as

follows:

1. Theoretical:

Interest in the discovery of truth through reasoning and systematic thinking. The ideal theoretical

man values the discovery of truth.

2. Economic:

Interest in usefulness and practicality, including the accumulation of wealth. The ideal economic

man values what is useful and concerned with practical affairs.

3. Aesthetic:

Interest in beauty, form and artistic harmony. The ideal aesthetic man values artistic and

aesthetic experiences in life, though he himself may not be creative.

4. Social:

Interest in people and human relationships. The ideal social man places great values on

affiliation and love. He tends to be kind and sympathetic to other individuals.

5. Political:

Interest in gaining power and influencing other people. The ideal political man places great value

on power.

6. Religious:

Interest in unity and understanding the cosmos as a whole. The highest value for the ideal

religious man may be called unit. Different people give different importance to the above

mentioned six values. Every individuals gives ranking to the values from one to six. This is very

important for understanding the behaviour of the people.

Sources of Values:

1. Family Factor:
The most important factor which influences the value system of an individual is his immediate

family. Some values are inculcated in A person learn and develops values from the following

sources the individuals from the childhood and remain in his mind throughout his life. The child

rearing practices the parents adopt shape the personality of the human being. Family is the most

influential factor in the individual’s learning of social behaviour, values and norms.

2. Social Factors:

Out of all the social factors school plays the most important role in developing the value system

of an individual. The child learns the basic discipline from the school. Moreover, the interactions

with the teachers, classmates and other staff members in the schools and colleges make the child

inculcate values important to the teaching-learning process. Other social factors which may

affect values are religious economic and political institutional in the society.

3. Personal Factors:

Personal traits such as intelligence, ability, appearance and educational level of the person

determine his development of values. For example, if a person is highly intelligent, he will

understand the values faster. If he is highly educated, high values will be inculcated in him by his

school and college.

4. Cultural Factors:

Cultural factors include everything that is learned and passed on from generation to generation.

Culture includes certain beliefs and other patterns of behaviour. An individual is a participant in

social culture, group culture and organisational culture. Thus, he is known as a composite of

many cultural elements. Culture is based on certain implicit and explicit values. For example,

whether a person is co-operative, friendly or hostile depends upon to which culture he belongs to

Individual relationships are different in different cultures and within certain groups of society

also. Whether, the individual values money making or doing service to the mankind again

depends upon his cultural background.

5. Religious Factors:
Individuals, generally, receive strength and comfort from their religion. Religion comprises of a

formal set of values which are passed on from generation to generation. Advancement in

technology has under viewed faith in traditional religious beliefs and values.

6. Life Experiences:

A man learns the most from his own personal life experience. Sometimes man can learn from the

experience of others also. In the long run, most of the values which influence our behaviour are

validated by the satisfaction we have experienced in pursuing them. Individuals work out their

values on the basis of what seems most logical to them.

Values carry importance in direct proportion to how much faith the individual has in them. He

should have those values which can stand the test of reality. He should not have rigid values but

flexible system which can change with the changes in the individual himself, his life situation

and the socio-economic environment.

7. Role Demands:

The role demand refers to the behaviour associated with a particular position in the organisation.

All organisations have some formal and some informal code of behaviour. Role demand can

create problems when there is a role conflict. Thus, the managers will have to quickly learn the

value system prevalent in the organisation.

If they want to move up the ladder of success. For example, if the informal code of behaviour

says that the manager must mix up socially with the subordinates, he should learn to do so even

though, his personal value system conflicts with his role as a manager.

8. Halo Effect:

The halo effect refers to the tendency of judging people on the’ basis of a single trait, which may

be good or bad, favourable or un-favourable. Sometimes, we judge a person by one first

impression about him or her. For example, if a person is kind, he will also be perceived as good,

able, helpful, cheerful, nice, and intelligent and so on.

On the other hand, if a person is abrasive, he shall also be perceived as bad, awful, unkind,

aggressive, harmful and wicked. Thus, what one sees in the universe depends partly on one’s
inner needs. Thus, with the help of halo effect, we see certain values in others which are actually

not there, but we perceive them to be there.

Attitudes:
An attitude describes persons’ enduring favorable or unfavorable cognitive evaluations, feelings,
and action tendencies toward some object or idea. People have attitudes regarding almost
everything such as religion, politics, cloth, music, food.

A person’s attitudes settle into a coherent pattern and to change one may require difficult
adjustment in many others. Thus, a company would be well advised to fit its product into
existing attitudes rather than to try changing people’s attitude.

Attitude can be defined as learnt predispositions to respond to an object or class of objects in a

consistently favorable or unfavourable way.

Attitude Definition
Attitudes are evaluation statements either favourable or unfavourable or unfavourable concerning
objects, people or events. They reflect how one feels about something. Robbins

Attitude is a mental and neutral state of readiness organized through experience, exerting a
directive or dynamic influence upon individual’s response to all objects and situations with
which it is related.
G.W. Allport
Attitude as an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual and cognitive
processes with respect to some aspect of the individual’s world.

Krech and Crutchfield

Attitude is a tendency or predisposition to evaluate an object or symbol of that object in a certain
way.

Katz and Scotland

Attitude Meaning
In simple words, an “attitude” is an individual’s way of looking or an individual’s point of
view at something.
To be more specific, an “attitude” may be defined as the mental state of an individual, which
prepares him to react or make him behave in a particular pre-determined way. It is actually an
acquired feeling.
Attitude is the mixture of beliefs and feelings that people have about situations, specific ideas or
other people.

Components of Attitude
1. Cognitive component
2. Affective component
3. Behavioral component
Components of Attitude
Cognitive component
Beliefs are the cognitive components of consumer attitude. Cognitive component of attitude is
associated with the value statement. It consists of values, belief, ideas and other information
that a person may have faith in.
Positive brand associations enhance brand equity and are achieved through a number of
positioning strategies. Through brand associations, marketers establish and influence favorable
beliefs about a brand and unfavorable beliefs about competitors.

Example: Quality of sincere hard is a faith or value statement that a manager may have.
Affective component
Affective is the emotive component of consumer attitude. Affective component of attitude is
associated with individual feelings about another person, which may be positive, neutral or
negative.
Three research models describe the determinants of affective response.

 Functional theory of attitude explains that consumers buy as a result of one of four
psychological functions: adjustment, ego defense, value expression, and application of prior
knowledge.

 Fishbein model relates consumer beliefs and evaluations to affective response: if beliefs are
strong and desirable, affective responses are positive.

 Belief importance model analyses affective responses across competing brands.

Example: I don’t like Sam because he is not honest, or I like Sam because he is sincere. It is an
expression of feelings about a person, object or a situation.
Behavioral component
Intention is the behavioral component of consumer attitude. Behavioral component of attitude is
associated with the impact of various condition or situations that lead to person
behavior based on cognitive and affective components.
Two research models demonstrate the relationship between intention to purchase and actual
purchase and consumption.
 The theories of reasoned action explain purchasing behavior as a direct result of intention,
influenced by attitude toward purchase and by subjective norms.

 The theory of trying to consume explains actual consumption behavior of purchasers. It

provides insight into the establishment and maintenance of long-term relationship with
consumers.
Example: I don’t like Sam because he is not honest is an affective component, I, therefore,
would like to disassociate myself with him, is a behavioural component and therefore I would
avoid Sam.
Cognitive and affective components are bases for such behaviour. Former two components
cannot be seen, only the behaviour component can be seen. Former is important because it is a
base for the formation of attitude.

Characteristics of Attitude
Characteristics of attitude are discussed below:
1. Attitude are predispositions
2. Attitude are different from values
3. Attitude are evaluative statement
4. Attitude influence human behavior
5. Attitude have intensity
6. Attitude are learnt
Characteristics of Attitude
Attitude are predispositions
Attitude are predispositions of purpose, interest or opinion of the person to assess some objects
in a favourable or an unfavourable manner.
Attitude are different from values
Attitude are different from values: Values are the ideals, whereas attitudes are narrow, they are
our feelings.
Attitude are evaluative statement
Attitude are evaluative statements: either favourable or unfavourable concerning the objects,
people or events.
Attitude influence human behavior
A positive attitude towards a thing will influence human behavior towards the thing favorably
and vice-versa.

Attitude have intensity

It refers to the strength of the effective component. For example, we may dislike an individual
but the extent of our disliking would determine the intensity of our attitude towards the person.

Attitude are learnt

Attitude is not inborn phenomenon. Attitude are learnt through social interaction and experience.
 Functions of Attitude
Four important functions of attitude which are crucial in organizational behavior viewpoint are:
1. Adjustment Function
2. Ego-Defensive Function
3. Value-Expressive Function
4. Knowledge Function
Functions of Attitude
Adjustment Function
Attitudes often help individuals to adjust to their work environment.

Consumers hold certain brand attitudes partly because of the brand utility. If a product has
helped us in the past even in a small way, our attitude towards it tends to be favorable. One way
of changing attitude in favor of a product is by showing people that it can solve utilitarian goals.
They may not have considered some advertisement which stresses the utilitarian benefits of a
product.

Example: Well-treated employees tend to develop a positive attitude towards their management
or job.
Ego-Defensive Function
Consumers want to protect their self concept from inner feelings of doubt. Cosmetic and
personal hygiene products, by acknowledging this need, increase their relevance to the consumer
and have the possibility of a favorable attitude by offering reassurance to the consumers self
concept.

Example: Older faculty might feel somewhat threatened by a young and new faculty member
who is full of fresh ideas and enthusiasm
Value-Expressive Function
Attitudes are one expression of general values, lifestyles, and outlook. If a consumer segment
generally holds a positive attitude towards being in a fashion segment, consumer may treat high
fashion clothing and accessories as symbols of that lifestyle.

Example, a manager who values honest and sincere work will be more vocal against an
employee who is having a very casual approach towards work.
Knowledge Function
Attitudes provide frames of reference or standard that allow individuals to understand and
perceive the world around him. Individuals have a strong need to know and understand the
people and things with whom they come in contact, especially if they think they might influence
their behavior.

Example, If a student has a strong negative attitude towards the college, whatever the college
does, the student will be perceived as something ‘bad’ and as actually against them.
Types of Attitude
There are broadly three types of attitude in term of organisational behavior
1. Job satisfaction
2. Job involvement
3. Organizational commitment
Types of Attitude
Job satisfaction
A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that an individual holds toward his or her job.

A person will hold a positive attitude if had a high level of satisfaction, while dissatisfied people
will generally display a negative attitude towards life.

When we talk about attitude, we generally speak about job satisfaction because they are inter-
related in organizational behaviour.

Job involvement
Job involvement refers to the degree to which a person identifies himself (psychologically) with
his job, actively participates and considers his perceived performance level important to self-
worth. (Robbins)
Higher job satisfaction leads to low absenteeism & employee turnover and indicates that the
individual cares for his job.

Organizational commitment
Organizational commitment refers to a degree to which an employee identifies himself with the
organizational goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization.

Resigning from the job or absenting versus job satisfaction is a predictor of organizational
commitment. Organizational commitment depends upon the degree of autonomy & freedom job
and job enrichment factor.

Emotions, Moods and Job Satisfaction:

Emotions were thought to be disruptive of organizational activity and decreased

productivity. ... This includes both emotions and moods. Emotions are intense feelings that are
directed at someone or something. Moods are the feelings that tend to be less intense than
emotions and that lack a contextual stimulus.

Emotions in the Workplace

Emotions and mood can affect temperament, personality, disposition, and motivation. They can
affect a person's physical well-being, judgment, and perception. Emotions play a critical role in
how individuals behave and react to external stimuli; they are often internalized enough for
people to fail to notice when they are at work. Emotions and mood can cloud judgment and
reduce rationality in decision-making.

Emotion
Emotions are reciprocal with mood, temperament, personality, disposition, and motivation.
Emotions can be influenced by hormones and neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and
serotonin. Dopamine can affect a person's energy level and mood, while serotonin can affect
critical-thinking skills. As emotion is largely a chemical balance (or imbalance) in the mind,
emotions can quickly cloud judgment and complicate social interactions without the individual
being consciously aware that it is happening.

The implication for behavior is important for both managers and subordinates to understand.
Workers must try to identify objectively when an emotional predisposition is influencing their
behavior and judgment and ensure that the repercussions of the emotion are either positive or
neutralized. Positive emotions can be a great thing, producing extroversion, energy, and job
satisfaction. However, both positive and negative emotions can distort the validity of a decision.
Being overconfident, for example, can be just as dangerous as being under-confident.

Mood
All moods can affect judgment, perception, and physical and emotional well-being. Long-term
exposure to negative moods or stressful environments can lead to illnesses such as heart disease,
diabetes, and ulcers. The decision-making effects of any kind of bad mood can hinder a person's
job performance and lead to poor decisions that affect the company. In contrast, a positive mood
can enhance creativity and problem-solving. However, positive moods can also create false
optimism and negatively influence decision making.

Organizational Implications

By encouraging positive employee-management relationships and employee dynamics, an

organization may be able to balance a person's mood and emotions. Improving the level of job
satisfaction for employees is another way that a company can influence an employee's mood. If a
person is satisfied at work, that condition may reduce levels of stress and help influence
motivation and disposition. Job satisfaction can affect a person's mood and emotional state.
Providing organizational benefits, such as a company gym, meditation classes, or company
retreats, can likewise influence a person's emotions. An active lifestyle has been shown to
produce an increased level of dopamine, which can enhance energy and mood.

Managers are tasked not only with monitoring and controlling their own moods and emotions but
also with recognizing emotional issues in their subordinates. Managers should strive to balance
the emotions of their subordinates, ensuring nothing negatively affects their mental well-being.
This can be a difficult role for management, as many people display their emotions in different
ways (and most tend to hide them, particularly at work). Managers must be both perceptive and
strategic in ensuring a mental balance at work.

The study of emotions has been a relatively small part of the field of organizational behaviour.
The scientific management movement focused on the rational workplace, believing that
rationality and emotion were mutually exclusive. In addition, there was a belief that emotions
had only negative impacts on performance.
Affect is a general term that includes both moods and emotions. While emotions can be defined
as intense feelings that are directed at someone or something, moods are less intense and often
lack a contextual stimulus. Emotions are more likely to be caused while a specific event, while
moods may be more cognitive, causing individuals to think or brood for longer periods of time.
In addition, emotions and moods mutually influence each other.

There have been many attempts to classify or categorize emotions. Researchers have agreed on
six essentially universal emotions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, and surprise.
Emotions may also be understood in terms of their biology, intensity, frequency and duration,
irrationality, and functions.

While many consider emotions to be a limit on rationality, other studies show that emotions are
critical to rational thinking. Finally, there is disagreement about the extent to which emotions
serve a function or purpose. The field of evolutionary psychology hypothesizes that emotions are
useful. For example, researchers have attempted to demonstrate that jealousy is a positive
emotion, increasing the chances that ones’ genes will be passed onto a successive generation.

One way to classify emotions is by whether they are positive or negative. Positive affect is a
mood dimension consisting of positive emotions such as excitement, self-assurance, and
cheerfulness at the high end, and boredom, sluggishness, and tiredness at the low end. Negative
affect is a mood dimension consisting of nervousness, stress, and anxiety at the high end, and
relaxation, tranquility, and poise at the low end.

Moods and emotions may emanate from personality, from contextual factors such as the day of
the week, time of the day, or weather, from stress, from social activities, from sleep, from
exercise, from age, and from gender.

Emotional labour refers to an employee’s expression of organizationally desired emotions

during interpersonal transactions at work. While the study of emotional labour was initially
associated with service jobs, it is relevant to all types of work settings. When an employee is
asked to express one set of feelings, for example, friendliness and courtesy, while experiencing
other feelings, such as anger, emotional dissonance results. Left unresolved, emotional
dissonance can result in emotional exhaustion and burnout. At the heart of emotional labour is
the distinction between felt emotions and expressed emotions. While felt emotions are an
individual’s action emotions, displayed emotions are those that the organization requires workers
to show and considers appropriate in a given job. Individuals may modify their expressed
emotions through surface or deep acting. Through surface acting, an individual hides inner
feelings by modifying facial expressions. In contrast, deep acting involves actually modifying
inner feelings through a conscious and deliberate effort. When examining the relationship
between the emotional demands of a job a pay, there is not a direct positive link. In jobs that are
cognitively demanding, emotional demands tend to lead to better pay. However, for jobs that are
cognitively demanding, research shows that emotional demands actually are associated with
worse pay.

Affective events theory attempts to explain the relationship between emotions and moods and
job performance and satisfaction. The theory begins by recognizing that emotions are a response
to an event in the work environment. These work events trigger positive or negative emotional
reactions. The personality and mood predisposes individuals to respond with greater or lesser
intensity to the event and will affect a number of performance and satisfaction variables.

The concept of multiple intelligences includes an understanding of emotional

intelligence. Emotional intelligence is one’s ability to detect and manage emotional cues and
information. People who know their own emotions and are good at reading others’ emotions may
be more effective in their jobs. EI is composed of three dimensions:

 Self-awareness – being aware of what you are feeling

 Detecting emotions in others
 Managing emotional cues and information

Several studies suggest that emotional intelligence plays and important role in job performance,
although this belief is not universally shared among organizational behaviour researchers.

An understanding of emotions and moods can improve the ability of managers to explain and
predict the selection process, decision making, creativity, motivation, leadership, interpersonal
conflict, negotiation, customer service, job attitudes, and deviant workplace behaviours.
Evidence suggests that emotional intelligence should be a factor in hiring decisions, particularly
in jobs that demand a high degree of social interaction. The Air Force found that turnover was
reduced by ninety percent when recruiters were selected on the basis of emotional intelligence
scores.

When attempting to understand decision making, it is important to incorporate emotions and

moods in the process. People in good moods or those experiencing positive emotions are more
likely to use heuristics, or rules of thumb, to help them make good decisions quickly. However,
these shortcuts can result in incorrect stereotypes and decisions.

The effect of mood on creativity is unclear. While some studies have shown that people in good
moods produce more ideas and develop more creative solutions to problems, other studies have
shown that negative moods tend to produce more critical thinking and result in more creativity.

In studying the effects of mood on motivation, several relationships are apparent. First,
individuals in a good mood tend to have higher expectations about their ability to meet a
challenge or solve a difficult problem, when compared to those with more negative moods.
Second, positive feedback about performance tends to positively influence mood and positive
mood may be associated with creativity and performance.

Effective leaders have discovered that emotions are critical to leadership. Particularly when
attempting to implement significant change, evoking and mobilizing emotions is critical. By
arousing emotions and linking them to an appealing vision, leaders increase the likelihood that
managers and employees will accept the change.

Emotion and mood also plays a significant role in the negotiation process. Negative emotions
may limit the ability of the manager to be an effective negotiator. However, creating the
appearance of negative mood, while maintaining a positive affect, may actually create an
advantage in negotiations.

Moods and emotions are particularly significant for those in customer service jobs. While
quality customer service is associated with positive moods and emotional states, the actual
demands of dealing with the public can create emotional dissonance. In addition, negative
emotions tend to have negative effects on customers.

In terms of job attitudes, research has shown that negative moods from a person’s experience at
work tend to persist when the employee arrives home after work. However, it is unusual for a
negative mood resulting from a bad day at work to carry over to the next day.

Negative emotions can lead to a number of deviant workplace behaviours. Because of these
and other negative consequences of negative emotions, managers should endeavour to improve
the mood of employees. Managers can use humour and give their employees small tokens of
appreciation for work well done. Research indicates that when leaders are in good moods, group
members are more positive, and, as a result, the members cooperate more. Finally, selecting
positive team members can have a contagion effect as positive moods transmit from team
member to team member.

Job Satisfaction:

Job satisfaction is one of the most researched phenomena in the domain of human resource
management and organizational behavior. It is commonly defined as a “pleasurable or positive
emotional state resulting from the appraisal of oneś job or job experiences” (Schneider and
Snyder, 1975; Locke, 1976).

Job satisfaction or employee satisfaction is a measure of workers' contentedness with their job,
whether or not they like the job or individual aspects or facets of jobs, such as nature of work or
supervision. Job satisfaction can be measured in cognitive (evaluative), affective (or emotional),
and behavioral components. Researchers have also noted that job satisfaction measures vary in
the extent to which they measure feelings about the job (affective job satisfaction). or cognitions
about the job (cognitive job satisfaction).

What are types of job satisfaction? : The JDI is broken down into five facets of satisfaction:
work, pay, promotion, supervision and co-workers. The most significant research study that
shows the importance of job satisfaction is the Hawthorne studies (Muchinsky, 1985)

Causes of Job Dissatisfaction are;

 Underpaid.
 Limited Career Growth.
 Lack of Interest.
 Poor Management.
 Unsupportive Boss.
 Lack of Meaningful Work.
  Opportunities for growth or incentives for meaningful work.
 Work and Life Balance.

What are the five components of job satisfaction?

A survey from the Chopra Center also included five components of job satisfaction:
engagement; respect, praise and recognition; fair compensation; motivation and life satisfaction.

Job Satisfaction

How can you increase your job satisfaction?

Only 48% of people are satisfied with their jobs. (Conference Board) With worker dissatisfaction
so high, how can you avoid it? Or, if you are working and dissatisfied, what can you do about it?

There are different kinds of job satisfaction.

Overall job satisfaction is actually a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction:

 Intrinsic job satisfaction is when workers consider only the kind of work they do, the
tasks that make up the job.
 Extrinsic job satisfaction is when workers consider work conditions, such as their pay,
coworkers, and supervisor.

It helps to look at jobs from both points of view. For example, if you are dissatisfied with your
current job, ask yourself, "Am I dissatisfied because of the kind of work I am doing (intrinsic) or
is it related to my work conditions (extrinsic)?"

Job satisfaction is also influenced by job expectations. What do you look for in a job? Security,
pay, prestige, independence? For ideas, read these ten most popular job expectations.

1. Know yourself.

Write down what you like and don't like about working. What values are important to you? Write
down what you expect from a job. Then, you will know what to look for when choosing among
jobs or careers.

Rank the "ten job expectations" most frequently mentioned by workers. Are there others, not
mentioned, like autonomy or prestige, that are important to you?

2. Research jobs that meet your expectations.

There are lots of career options out there. To help focus your choices, use Career Key Discovery
to find jobs that match your personality and the rewards (intrinsic and extrinsic) they offer.

3. Consult a professional career counselor.

Sometimes you need extra support and an expert's perspective to help you decide what to do
next. Learn how to choose a professional career counselor in your area.

4. Don't ignore job dissatisfaction for too long.

Your level of job satisfaction predicts how adjusted you are to work. Dissatisfaction may lead to
something worse – job loss, accidents, even mental illness. Depression, anxiety, worry, tension,
and interpersonal problems can result from, or be made worse by job dissatisfaction. In fact, job
satisfaction was found to be the best predictor of how long you live... better than a doctor's rating
of physical functioning, use of tobacco, or genetic inheritance. So, it is important to work out a
solution if your job makes you unhappy.

5. Have realistic job expectations.

Like many things in life, overall job satisfaction is a trade-off. People experience dissatisfaction
even in the best jobs. And, in today's work world you cannot expect your company to look out
for you; you have to take the initiative yourself (see Free Agent Worker).

6. Separate dissatisfaction with the kind of work you do from the conditions of work.

If you are increasingly dissatisfied with the kind of work you are doing, you should consider a
career change. If you are dissatisfied with the conditions of work, you may be able to solve the
problem by changing employers or negotiating with your current employer to make changes.

7. Is your dissatisfaction temporary?

Look down the road at your possible career progress. Present dissatisfactions might be worth
bearing if you see your career progressing.

8. Examine your values.

You have to answer this question honestly: How important is your job, your career to you? Only
when this question is answered can you put your job satisfaction or dissatisfaction in proper
perspective.

PART B: PERSONALITY

INTRODUCTION:

Personality can be defined as those inner psychological characteristics that both

determine and reflect how a person think and act in an environment.

The inner characteristics of personality are specific qualities, attributes, traits, factors and
mannerism that distinguish one individual from other individuals. Personalities are likely to
influence the individual’s product and store choices. They also affect the way consumer responds
to a firm’s communication efforts.
 Personality is a pattern of stable states and characteristics of a person that influences his or her
behaviour toward goal achievement. Each person has unique ways of protecting these states.

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.
Probably the most meaningful approach would be to include both the person and the role as
Floyd L Ruch does in his definition. He states that:

Human personality includes:

 External appearance and behaviour or social stimulus value.
 Inner awareness of self as a permanent organising force.
 The particular pattern or organisation of measurable traits, both “inner and “outer”.

Personality Meaning
The word personality is derived from a Greek word “persona” which means “to speak
through”. Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that forms a person’s
unique identity.
It signifies the role which a person plays in public. Every individual has a unique, personal and
major determinant of his behavior that defines his/her personality.

Personality Definition
Personality Definition by Authors: No common definition of personality has so far been
arrived at. Every individual defines personality in a different way which includes trait factors and
physical appearance.
The dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine
his unique adjustments to his environmentGordon Allport

Personality is a broad, amorphous designation relating to fundamental approaches of persons to

others and themselves. To most psychologists and students of behaviour, this term refers to the
study of the characteristic traits of an individual, relationships between these traits and the way in
which a person adjusts to other people and situationsJ.B Kolasa

Personality is a very diverse and complex psychological concept. The word ‘personality’ may
mean something like outgoing, invigorating interpersonal abilities … but we must also recognize
and explain the fact that development results in man acquiring a distinctiveness or uniqueness
which gives him identity which enables him and us to recognize him as apart from others. These
distinguishing characteristics are summarized by the term ‘personality James D Thompson and
Donald Van Houten

Personality is how people affect others and how they understand and view themselves, as well as
their pattern of inner and outer measurable traits and the person situation interaction
Fred Luthans

as the most adequate conceptualisation of an individual’s behaviour in all its details which the
scientist can provide at a moment of time McClelland

Traits of Personality

Personality traits are the enduring features that define an individual’s behavior. A personality
trait is a unique feature in an individual. Psychologists resolved that there are five major
personality traits and every individual can be categorized into at least one of them. These five
personality traits are –
The personality traits which affect the organizational behaviour of a person are
(1) Authoritarianism, (2) Bureaucratic Personality, (3) Machiavellianism, (4) Introversion and
Extroversion, (5) Problem Solving Style, (6) Achievement Orientation, (7) Locus of Control,
(8) Self Esteem, (9) Self-Monitoring, (10) Risk ...
1. Authoritarianism: It was developed by the psychologist Adorno to measure susceptibility to
autocratic, fascistic, or anti-democratic appeals. It was later extended to human personality.
Authoritarians are oriented towards conformity of rules and regulation. They prefer stable and
structured work environment. They believe obedience and respect for authority and blind
acceptance of authority. They are conservatives. They are concerned with toughness and power,
close minded and less educated. They make good followers, work better under directive
supervision and are more productive within authoritarian organizational structure.

2. Bureaucratic Personality: The personality of a bureaucratic person is based upon respect for
organisational rules and regulations. He is different from an authoritarian person in respect that
his acceptance of authority is not total and blind. A person who is bureaucratic in nature values
subordination, conformity to rules, impersonal and formal relationships. These people become
better supervisors when the type of work is routine, repetitive and proceduralised because these
people are not innovative, they do not like taking risks and feel more at ease in following
established directions.

3. Machiavellianism (Mach): Niccolo Machiavelli wrote in the 16th century on how to gain and
use power. This personality trait named after Machiavelli are: (i) A Mach man is pragmatic,
maintain emotional distance and believes that ends can justify means. (ii) High Mach people
flourish when they interact face to face with others. (iii) They have high self-confidence and high
self-esteem. (iv) They are especially successful in exploiting structured situations and vulnerable
people. We cannot conclude whether high Machs make good employees or not. The answer will
depend upon the type of the job and whether moral and ethical values are considered in
evaluating the performance of a person.

4. Introversion and Extroversion: These two terms are associated with the interpersonal
behaviour of an individual and his sociability. Extroverts are gregarious and sociable individuals
while introverts are shy, quiet and retiring. Extroverts are more suitable for positions that require
considerable interaction with others. Managerial positions are dominated by extroverts. An
introvert works best alone in a quiet office without external interruption or influence.

5. Problem Solving Style: Individuals have their own style of solving their problems and making
their decisions and this style of their affects their personality in certain ways.

6. Achievement Orientation: The people with very high achievement orientation strive to do
things in a better way. They feel that their success or failure is due to their actions. These people
do not like to perform easy tasks or tasks where the failure rate is more. These people like to the
acts with moderate difficulties. The high achievers will do better in sports, management and
sales.

7. Locus of Control: It refers to an individual's belief that events are either with one's control
(internal locus of control) or are determined by forces beyond one's control. Some people believe
that they are the masters of their own fate. They are labelled as internals. Other people see
themselves as pawns of fate. This type is called externals. A person's perception of the source of
his or her fate is termed locus of control.

8. Self Esteem: “Self Esteem refers to the feeling of like or dislike for oneself.” “Self Esteem is
the degree of respect a person has for himself.” This trait varies from person to person as people
differ in the degree to which they like or dislike each other.

9. Self-Monitoring: “Self-monitoring is a personality trait that measures an individual’s ability

to adjust his or her behaviour to external situational factors”.

10. Risk Taking: An impulsive person is a high risk taking manager. He will make rapid
decision. A very conscious and low risk taking manger will be slow in taking decision. The job
of a broker in a brokerage firm demands high risk taking person. The job of an accountant may
be filled up with low risk taking trait. 11. ‘Type A’ and ‘Type B’ Personality: People who are
impatient, aggressive and highly com

petitive are termed as ‘Type A’ personality. But those who are easy going, laid back and non-
competitive are termed as ‘Type B’ personality. Type ‘A’ people tend to be very productive as
they work very hard. Their negative side is that they are very impatient, good team players, more
irritable and have poor judgment. Type ‘B’ people do better on complex tasks involving
judgment and accuracy rather than speed and hard work.

12. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): The personality theory proposed by Carl Jung
identified the way people preferred to perceive their environment. Almost Twenty years later,
Briggs and Myers developed the Myers – Briggs type indicator (MBTI) a personality test that
measured each of the traits in Carl Jung’s model. MBTI is in-fact, one of the most widely used
personality tests. It is used by many organisations to select people for a particular position.

Determinants of Personality:

There are 4 major determinants of personality which include the physical environment,
heredity, experiences and culture.

The determinants of personality can be grouped in five broad categories:

1. Biological Factors
2. Cultural Factors
3. Family Factors
4. Social Factors
5. Situational Factors

Biological Factors
The study of the biological contributions to personality may be studied under three heads:

Heredity
Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception. Physical stature, facial
attractiveness, sex, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy level, and biological
rhythms are characteristics that are considered to be inherent from one’s parents.
The heredity approach argues that the ultimate explanation of an individual’s personality is the
molecular structure of the genes, located in the chromosomes.

Brain
The second biological approach is to concentrate on the role that the brain plays in personality.
The psychologists are unable to prove empirically the contribution of the human brain in
influencing personality.

Preliminary results from the electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB) research give an indication
that a better understanding of human personality and behaviour might come from the study of the
brain.
Biofeedback
Until recently, physiologists and psychologists felt that certain biological functions such as
brainwave patterns, gastric and hormonal secretions, and fluctuations in blood pressure and skin
temperature were beyond conscious control.

Now some scientists believe that these involuntary functions can be consciously controlled
through biofeedback techniques. In BFT, the individual learns the internal rhythms of a
particular body process through electronic signals that are feedback from equipment that is wired
to the body.
Physical Features
A vital ingredient of the personality, an individual’s external appearance, is biologically
determined. The fact that a person is tall or short, fat or skinny, black or white will influence the
person’s effect on others and this in turn, will affect the self-concept.

Cultural Factors
Among the factors that influence personality formation is the culture in which we are
raised, early conditioning, norms prevailing within the family, friends and social groups and
other miscellaneous experiences that impact us.
The culture largely determines attitudes towards independence, aggression, competition,
cooperation and a host of other human responses.
According to Paul H Mussen, “each culture expects, and trains, its members to behave in ways
that are acceptable to the group. To a marked degree, the child’s cultural group defines the range
of experiences and situations he is likely to encounter and the values and personality
characteristics that will be reinforced and hence learned.”
Family Factors
Whereas the culture generally prescribes and limits what a person can be taught, it is the
family, and later the social group, which selects, interprets and dispenses the culture. Thus, the
family probably has the most significant impact on early personality development.

A substantial amount of empirical evidence indicates that the overall home environment
created by the parents, in addition to their direct influence, is critical to personality
development.
The parents play an especially important part in the identification process, which is important to
the person’s early development.

According to Mischel, the process can be examined from three different perspectives.
 Identification can be viewed as the similarity of behaviour including feelings and attitudes
between child and model.

 Identification can be looked at as the child’s motives or desires to be like the model.

 It can be viewed as the process through which the child actually takes on the attributes of the
model.
From all three perspectives, the identification process is fundamental to the understanding of
personality development. The home environment also influences the personality of an individual.
Siblings (brothers and sisters) also contribute to personality.

Social Factors
There is increasing recognition given to the role of other relevant persons, groups and
especially organisations, which greatly influence an individual’s personality. This is commonly
called the socialization process.

Socialization involves the process by which a person acquires, from the enormously wide
range of behavioural potentialities that are open to him or her, those that are ultimately
synthesized and absorbed.
Socialization starts with the initial contact between a mother and her new infant. After infancy,
other members of the immediate family – father, brothers, sisters and close relatives or friends,
then the social group: peers, school friends and members of the work group – play influential
roles.

Socialization process is especially relevant to organisational behaviour because the process is not
confined to early childhood, taking place rather throughout one’s life. In particular, the evidence
is accumulating that socialization may be one of the best explanations for why employees
behave the way they do in today’s organisations.
Situational Factors
Human personality is also influenced by situational factors. The effect of the environment is
quite strong. Knowledge, skill and language are obviously acquired and represent important
modifications of behavior.
An individual’s personality, while generally stable and consistent, does change in different
situations. The varying demands of different situations call forth different aspects of one’s
personality.

According to Milgram, “Situation exerts an important press on the individual. It exercises

constraints and may provide a push. In certain circumstances, it is not so much the kind of person
a man is, as the kind of situation in which he is placed that determines his actions”. We should
therefore not look at personality patterns in isolation.
Personality Theories:
Theories of Personality
Over time, researchers have developed a number of personality theories and no theory is
complete in itself.

The theories of personality can be conveniently grouped under four types:

1. Psychoanalytic Theory
2. Type Theories
3. Trait Theories
4. Self-theory

Psychoanalytic Theory
The Psychoanalytic Theory of personality has held the interest of psychologists and
psychiatrists for a long time. Sigmund Freud, its formulator, was quite an influence.
It attends to emphasizes three main issues i.e. the id, the ego and the superego. Psychoanalysts
say that all human personality is comprised of these closely integrated functions.
Type Theories
The type theories represent an attempt to put some degree of order into the chaos of personality
theory. The type theory represents an attempt to scientifically describe personality by classifying
individuals into convenient categories.
Two categories of type theories are explained below:
Sheldon’s Physiognomy Theory: William Sheldon has presented a unique body-type
temperamental model that represents a link between certain anatomical features and
psychological traits with distinguishing characteristics of an individual and his behaviour.
Carl Jung’s Extrovert-introvert Theory: The way to type personality is in terms of behavior
or psychological factors. Jung’s introvert and extrovert types are an example.
Trait Theories
Some early personality researchers believed that to understand individuals, we must break down
behaviour patterns into a series of observable traits.

According to trait theory, combining these traits into a group forms an individual’s personality.
A personality trait can be defined as an “enduring attribute of a person that appears consistently
in a variety of situations”. In combination, such traits distinguish one personality from another.
Gordon Allport’s Personality Traits: Claims that personality traits are real entities, physically
located somewhere in the brain. We each inherit our own unique set of raw material for given
traits, which are then shaped by our experiences.
Raymond Cattell’s 16 Personality Factors: Raymond Cattell considered personality to be a
pattern of traits providing the key to understanding and predicting a person’s behaviour.
Cattell identified two types:

 Surface Traits
 Source Traits
Self-theory
The psychoanalytic, type and trait theories represent the more traditional approach to explaining
the complex human personality.

Carl Rogers is most closely associated with his approach of self-theory. Rogers and his
associates have developed this personality theory that places emphasis on the individual as an
initiating, creating, influential determinant of behaviour within the environmental framework.
According to Rogers basic ingredients of personality:
 Self Actualization: Carl Rogers believed that humans have one basic motive that is the
tendency to self-actualize – i.e. to fulfil one’s potential and achieve the highest level of
‘human-beingness’ we can.

 Self-concept: Self-concept is defined as “the organized, consistent set of perceptions and

beliefs about oneself”.