Chapter 3…Individual Differences and Perception

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Talya Bauer and Berrin Erdogan

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Learning Objectives

 Understand the role of values in determining work behaviors

 Define personality and how it affects work behaviors

 Explain the process of perception and how it affects work behaviors

 Understand how individual differences affect ethics

 Understand cross-cultural influences on individual differences and

perception

Chapter 3 Individual Differences and Perception

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Fit Fit

***When hiring employees, companies care about

two types of “fit”…

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• How can a company assess person-job fit before hiring employees? What are the methods you think would be helpful?

• How can a company determine person-organization fit before hiring employees? Which methods do you think would be helpful?

• What can organizations do to increase person-job and person-organization fit after they hire employees?

Discussion

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Values Values

Values refer to stable life goals that people have, reflecting what is most important to them.

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Values

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Personality Personality

Personality encompasses the relatively stable feelings,

thoughts, and behavioral patterns a person has.

Personality encompasses the relatively stable feelings,

thoughts, and behavioral patterns a person has.

…the various aspects of a person’s character that combine to make them different from other people.

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Big Five Personality Traits Big Five Personality Traits

Trait Description

O^penness Curious, original, intellectual, creative, and open to new ideas.

Conscientiousness Organized, systematic, punctual,

achievement-oriented, and dependable.

Extraversion Outgoing, talkative, sociable, and enjoys being in social situations.

Agreeableness Nice, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind, and warm.

N^euroticism Anxious, irritable, aggressive, temperamental, and moody.

…a matter of degrees

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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Dimension Explanation

EI Extraversion: Those who

derive their energy from other people and objects.

Introversion: Those who derive their energy from inside.

SN Sensing: Those who rely on their five senses to perceive the external environment.

Intuition: Those who rely on their intuition and hunches to perceive the external environment.

TF Thinking: Those who use their

logic to arrive at solutions. Feeling: Those who use their values and ideas about what is right and wrong to arrive at solutions.

JP Judgment: Those who are organized, systematic, and would like to have clarity and closure.

Perception: Those who are

curious, open minded, and prefer to have some ambiguity.

…classifies people as one of 16 types.

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OB Toolbox

Help, I work with a negative person!

OB Toolbox

Help, I work with a negative person!

…focus on behavior, not personality.

…they could be right, listen to their feedback.

…limit conversations with those that constantly complain.

…have them think of ways to change the situation

and get back to you.

…ask for specific examples.

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Other Personality Traits Other Personality Traits

…capable of monitoring his or her own actions

or appearance.

…person’s inclination to fix what is wrong, change the status quo, and use initiative

to solve problems.

…person has overall positive feelings about

oneself.

…a belief that one can perform

a specific task successfully.

…the degree to which people feel accountable

for their own behaviors.

…positive affective people vs.

negative affective people.

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OB Toolbox

Ways to Build Your Self-Confidence OB Toolbox

Ways to Build Your Self-Confidence

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Personality Testing in Employee Selection

Companies such as Kronos and Hogan Assessments conduct pre-employment

personality tests.

Companies such as Kronos and Hogan Assessments conduct pre-employment

personality tests.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Kronos-incorporated.jpg

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• Think about the personality traits covered in this section. Can you think of jobs or occupations that seem particularly suited to each trait? Which traits would be universally desirable across all jobs?

• What are the unique challenges of managing employees who have low self-efficacy and low self-esteem? How would you deal with this situation?

• What are some methods that companies can use to assess employee personality?

• Have you ever held a job where your personality did not match the demands of the job? How did you react to this situation? How were your attitudes and behaviors affected?

• Can you think of any limitations of developing an “ideal

employee” profile and looking for employees who fit that profile while hiring?

Discussion

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Perception is how individuals detect and interpret

environmental stimuli.

Perception is how individuals detect and interpret

environmental stimuli.

Perception Perception

…individuals pay selective attention to some aspects of the environment, and ignore other elements that

may be immediately apparent to other people.

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Self Perception Self Perception

…Humans are prone to errors and

biases when perceiving themselves. …type of bias depends on their personality.

…tendency to overestimate our performance and capabilities, and to see our-

selves in a more positive light than others see us.

…the tendency to under- estimate our performance and capabilities, and to see events that put ourselves in

a more negative light.

…when we as humans overestimate how similar

we are to other people.

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Social Perception Social Perception

…How we perceive other people in our environment

(Our perceptions of the environment) is influenced by our values, emotions, feelings, and

personalities, which in turn influence our

actions.

…How we perceive other people in our environment

(Our perceptions of the environment) is influenced by our values, emotions, feelings, and

personalities, which in turn influence our

actions.

…Moreover, how we perceive others will shape our behavior, which in turn will shape the behavior

of the person we are interacting with.

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Social Perception Social Perception

…generalizations based on a perceived

group characteristic.

***One of the factors biasing our perception is:

…may be positive, negative, or neutral.

…when we pay selective attention to parts of the

environment while ignoring other parts.

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Social Perception Social Perception

First impressions are initial thoughts and perceptions we form about people,

which tend to be stable and salient to contrary

information.

First impressions are initial thoughts and perceptions we form about people,

which tend to be stable and salient to contrary

information.

…tend to have a lasting impact.

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OB Toolbox

How Can I Make a Great First Impression in the Job Interview?

OB Toolbox

How Can I Make a Great First Impression in the Job Interview?

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Attributions Attributions

Internal or External Attribution Internal or External Attribution

Attribution – the causal explanation

we give for an observed

behavior.

***Three factors are

the key to understand-

ing what kind of attribution we make.

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Attributions Attributions

Consensus Distinctiveness Consistency Attribution High

consensus

Everyone else behaves the same way.

High

distinctiveness This person does not usually behave this way in different situations.

Low consistency This person

usually does not behave this way in this situation.

External

Low

consensus No one else behaves the same way.

Low

distinctiveness

This person usually behaves this way in different situations.

High consistency Every time this person is in this situation, he/she acts the same way.

Internal

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• What are the implications of perceptual error for interpersonal interactions?

• What are the problems of false consensus error? How can managers deal with this tendency?

• Is there such a thing as a “good” stereotype? Is a “good” stereotype useful or still problematic?

• How do we manage the fact that human beings develop stereotypes?

How would you prevent stereotypes from creating unfairness in decision- making?

• Is it possible to manage the attributions other people make about our behavior? Let’s assume that you have completed a project successfully.

How would you maximize the chances that your manager will make an internal attribution? How would you increase the chances of an external attribution when you fail in a task?

Discussion

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Individual Differences and Ethics Individual Differences and Ethics

Ethics

Personality Personal

Values

Culture

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Personality Around the Globe – Self-Reported Self-Esteem

Source: Adapted from information in Denissen, J.J.A., Penke, L., & Schmitt, D.P. (July 2008). Self-Esteem reactions to social interactions: Evidence for sociometer mechanisms across days, people, and nations. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 95, 181-196; Hitti, M. (2005). Who’s No. 1 in Self-esteem? Serbia is tops, Japan ranks lowest, U.S. is No. 6 in global survey. WebMD, http://www.webmd.com/skin-beauty/news/20050927/whos-number-1-in-self-esteem; Schmitt, D.P., & Allik, J. (2005). The simultaneous administration of the Rosenberg self-esteem scale in 53 nationals: Culture-specific features of global self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 623-642.

Highest

1. Serbia 2. Chile 3. Israel 4. Peru 5. Estonia 6. USA 7. Turkey 8. Mexico 9. Croatia 10. Austria

Lowest

1. South Korea 2. Switzerland 3. Morocco 4. Slovakia 5. Fiji

6. Taiwan

7. Czech Republic 8. Bangladesh 9. Hong Kong 10. Japan

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• If ethical decision making depends partially on personality, what can organizations do to increase the frequency of ethical behaviors?

• Do you think personality tests used in Western cultures in employee selection can be used in other cultures?