Individual Differences

4QQMB100 Introduction to Management

Dr Wiebke Doden
[email protected]

1
Learning outcomes
• Understand individual differences and why they matter
• Understand the Big 5 model
• Understand Cognitive Abilities
• Understand self-concepts
• Understand how behaviours are influenced by individual
characteristics
How do individuals
differ?
Individual Differences
• Sex/gender ● Visible?
• Race/ethnicity Visible characteristics are features that a person
• Age cannot hide – such as sex, race/ethnicity and some
• Disability forms of disability. Others, such as intelligence, can be
•
hidden.
Sexual orientation
• Religious belief ● Stable?
• Class / social group Stable characteristics are features such as race and sex
• Personality (with the exception of the tiny minority of people that
• Intelligence undergo gender reassignment). In contrast, a person’s
• Beliefs and values age differs throughout their life and also beliefs,
• attitudes and emotions are likely to change
Attitudes
• Abilities
• Experience
• …
Personality
• Personality theory is concerned with the pattern of dispositions
and behaviours unique to the individual

• Personality can be defined as “the psychological qualities that

influence an individual’s characteristic behaviour patterns, in a
stable and distinctive manner” (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2017, p.178)

 helps to identify unique characters and to understand

differences between individuals
• Stability: relatively stable over time and across different situations
• Distinctiveness: unique to the individual
Big 5:
Consistent trait clusters that capture the main dimensions of
personality (Goldberg, 1990)

Personality Dimensions: Neuroticism

Openness to experiences Openness Extraversion

Conscientiousness PERSONALITY

Extraversion
Agreeableness Conscientiousness Agreeableness

Neuroticism
Big 5:
Consistent trait clusters that capture the main dimensions of
personality (Goldberg, 1990)

Personality Dimensions: Neuroticism

Openness to experiences Openness Extraversion

Conscientiousness PERSONALITY

Extraversion
Agreeableness Conscientiousness Agreeableness

Neuroticism
Openness for experience
• …. refers to one’s willingness to try new things as well as
engage in imaginative and intellectual activities. range of
interests and fascination with novelty
• Imaginative, cultured, curious, original, broad-minded, fantasy,
aesthetic,
High feelings, actions, ideas, values Low
Explorer Openness Preserver
Creative, curious, open- Rigidity of beliefs and Conventional,
minded range of interest unimaginative, narrow
minded
Conscientiousness

…. describes a person as being systematic, dutiful, high on

achievement striving, and hard-working.
High Low
Focused Conscientiousness Flexible
Organized, self- Desire to impose order Disorganized, careless,
disciplined, and precision irresponsible,
achievement-oriented,
responsible, planful,
preserving
Extraversion
• …. reflects the tendency and intensity to which someone seeks
interaction with their social environment
• sociable, gregarious, assertive, talkative, activity, ambition,
warmth, excitement-seeking, positive emotions

High Low
Extravert Extraversion Introvert
Outgoing, sociable, Level of comfort with Reserved, quiet,
talkative, assertive relationships introverted
Agreeableness
• … is an individual’s propensity to defer to others (likability)

• Courteous, flexible, trusting, cooperative, forgiving, tolerant,

altruism, compliance, modesty, tender-mindedness
High Low
Adapter Agreeableness Challenger
Good-natured, trusting, The ability to get along Rude, quarrelsome,
compliant, soft-hearted with others uncaring, irritable,
uncooperative
Neuroticism
• … is a person’s inability to withstand stress (emotional stability is
the other end opf the continuum)
• Anxious, depressed, angry, embarrassed, emotional, worried,
discouragement, self-consciousness, impulsive, vulnerable
High Low
Reactive Agreeableness Resilient
Anxious, depressed, Tendency to maintain a Calm, secure, self-
self-conscious, insecure balanced emotional assured
state
Big 5 and Performance
Which one does matter the most?
Universal (or Generalizable) Predictors
• Conscientiousness and Neuroticism: Valid predictors of overall
work performance over all studies examined (Anderson & Viswesvaran,
1998; Barrick & Mount, 1991; Tett, Rothstein, & Jackson, 1991; Salgado, 1997).

Contingent (Niche) Predictors

• Extraversion: Valid predictor for some occupational groups and
specific criteria.
• Agreeableness: Valid predictor for teamwork
• Openness to Experience: Valid predictor for training performance
Nature vs. Nurture
• The ”nature” argument
• Personality is inherited, determined by genetics and the
biochemistry and physiology of the brain.

• The “nurture” argument

• Personality is shaped by environment, culture and social
factors, and that our feelings and behavioral patterns are
learned.

 What do you think? And how would you

find out?
Discuss in small groups!
Gene-environment interactions?
Environmental differences moderate the influence of
genes on traits (or genetic differences may moderate the
influence of environments on development of traits).

Environment

Genes Personality trait

Cognitive abilities
• Intelligence
• Intelligence G
• Emotional intelligence
• Mental Abilities (GMA)
• General mental ability
• Abilities unique to task at hand
Cognitive abilities
• Intelligence
• Intelligence G
• Emotional intelligence
• Mental Abilities (GMA)
• General mental ability
• Abilities unique to task at hand
General Intelligence ‘G’
• Ability of people to carry out various mental operations
(e.g., problem solving, reasoning, constructive thinking,
interpret information)

• General intelligence ‘g’ has been linked to performance

across a range of work-related tasks

• Critics:
• Does not only measure pure underlying intelligence
• Test-taking motivation influence results
Selection Methods related to performance
Selection method Predictive validity Added value
beyond general
mental ability
General mental ability .51
Work sample test .54 +24%
Personality test .31 +18%
Interview (structured) .51 +24%
Interview (unstructured) .38 +8%
Job knowledge test .48 +14%
Job preview test .44 +14%
References .26 +12%
Biodata .35 +2%
Assessment centre .37 +4%
Graphology .02 0%

Linked to future job performance; From Schmidt & Hunter (1998) 19

Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence concerns the ability to carry out accurate reasoning about
emotions and the ability to use emotions and emotional knowledge to enhance
thought.

• … is distinct from but positively related to other intelligences

• ... develops over a person‘s life span and can be enhanced through training
• … is a person’s ability to:
• be self-aware (recognizing own emotions when experienced)
• detect emotions in others
• manage emotional cues and information

 implications for selection and performance management of employees in

organisations
20
Emotional intelligence is a controversial
concept

Case for EI: Case against EI:

• Intuitive appeal • too vague: definitions are
• Predicts criteria that constantly changing
matter • emotions based on beliefs
• is biologically based and values and are not an
assessment of the reality
• more a habit or skill rather
an “intelligence”

21
Core Self-Evaluations (Chang et al., 2012)

• Core self-evaluations (CSE) refer to fundamental

appraisals that people make of their own self-worth,
competence, and capabilities.
• Conceptualized as a higher order construct composed of
broad and evaluative traits (e.g., locus of control, self-
efficacy, self-esteem, emotional stability)
• CSE positively affects various outcomes, including job
and life satisfaction, in-role and extra-role job
performance, and perceptions of the work environment
(e.g., job characteristics and fairness).
Core Self-Evaluations Traits
• Self-esteem is an overall appraisal of one’s self-worth
(Rosenberg, 1965).

• Generalized self-efficacy is an estimate of one’s ability

to perform and cope successfully within an extensive
range of situations (Chen, Gully, & Eden, 2001).
• Emotional stability is the propensity to feel calm and
secure (Eysenck, 1990).
• Locus of control is the belief that desired effects result
from one’s own behaviour rather than by fate or
powerful others (Rotter, 1966).
 Internal locus of control: People can control their behavior and actions
 External locus of control: Chance, fate, or other people control
Test Your Knowledge
Joe was terminated from his job and believed the reason was his boss
did not like him and his hard work was not appreciated. Joe likely has:

A. High emotional stability

B. An internal locus of control
C. Low self-efficacy
D. An external locus of control
E. Low self-esteem
Person vs. situation
Personal and situational factors can interact to determine
behaviour

Person Situation

Behaviour
Person-Job Fit

Person Job?
?
Person-Job Fit

Person Job?
?
 Person-Environment Fit
How can a company improve person-organization fit and person-job fit
before and after hiring employees?

Person-
Person-Job fit (PJ
Organization Fit
fit)
(PO fit) The extent to
The extent to
which a person’s
which a person’s
personality,
personality,
skills, knowledge,
values, goals,
abilities, and
and other
other
characteristics
characteristics
match those of
match the job
the organization.
demands.
Psychometrics & Assessment

• W&O psychologists seek to measure people’s “characteristics”

• Usually with numbers
• Some easier to measure than others
• Self-report vs. other-report
• If we can get good psychometric data, we can make predictions
• A big part of organisational assessment and selection processes

29
Assessment
• Validity
• The extent to which you measure what
you really want to measure

• Reliability
• The extent to which the measurement is
consistent under varying conditions /
free of unsystematic error
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
• Emphasizes that we have a fundamental personality type that shapes
and influences how we understand the world, process information,
and socialize
• A personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people
into 1 of 16 personality type
• MBTI identifies individuals’ preferences for
• Energy: Introversion vs. Extroversion
• Information gathering: Sensing vs. Intuition
• Decision making: Thinking vs. Feeling
• Lifestyle: Judging vs. Perceiving valuable tool for understanding
communication styles and the
ways people prefer to interact
 ISTJ - The Duty Fulfillers
ESTJ - The Guardians
MBTI ISFJ - The Nurturers
ESFJ - The Caregivers
ISTP - The Mechanics
ESTP - The Doers
ESFP - The Performers
ISFP - The Artists
ENTJ - The Executives
INTJ - The Scientists
ENTP - The Visionaries
INTP - The Thinkers
ENFJ - The Givers
INFJ - The Protectors
ENFP - The Inspirers
INFP - The Idealists
Usefulness of MBTI at Work
• An estimated 2 million people take MBTI test annually.

HOWEVER …
• None of this came out of controlled experiments or data – it was all theoretical!
• Even the theory is wholly unproven.
• Analysis shows the test is totally ineffective at predicting people’s success at
various jobs.  Validity!
• As much as 50 percent of people arrive at a different result the second time they
make the test.  Reliability!
• To be honest, MBTI is now largely disregarded by the psychologists.
• Virtually no major psychology journals have published on the test.
Selectivity and Organization
• Selective attention
• The ability, often exercised unconsciously, to choose from the stream of sensory
data, to concentrate on particular elements, and to ignore others

• Perceptual filters
• Individual characteristics, predispositions and preoccupations that interfere with
the effective transmission and receipt of messages

• Perceptual organization
• The process through which incoming stimuli are organized or patterned in
systematic and meaningful ways
What Do You See?
Cognitive Bias
• Halo effect
• An overall assessment of a person which influences our judgement of their
other specific characteristics
Cognitive Bias
Cognitive Bias
• Halo effect
• An overall assessment of a person which influences our judgement of their
other specific characteristics

• Primacy effect / Recency effect

• Tendency to more easily recall information that we encounter first/last
 Topic: Work Motivation

Next week…
Please prepare the tutorial
assignment before you come to
class!