Chapter 2: Understanding Individual Differences

1 | Chapter 2: Understanding Individual Differences

Chapter 2

Understanding Individual Differences

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

In this chapter, we focus first on the individual to help you develop an understanding of organizational behavior. Individual differences may be physical, psychological, or emotional. The individual differences that characterize you make you unique. Perhaps you have a dynamic personality and enjoy being the center of attention, whereas others you know avoid crowds and do not have the same energy level as you. Whenever you attempt to understand individual differences, you must also analyze the situation in which the behavior occurs. A good starting point in developing this understanding is to appreciate the role of personality in organizations. In this chapter, we discuss individual differences in personality attitudes and emotions. We begin by addressing the concept of personality. Later in the chapter, we explore the role of attitudes and emotions in organizational behavior.

LEARNING GOALS

Upon completion of this chapter, the students should be able to:

• Explain the basic sources of personality determinants.
• Identify a set of personality characteristics that affect behavior.
• Describe how attitudes influence performance.
• Explain how emotions impact performance.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

I.Learning from Experience: Richard Branson, CEO, Virgin Group, Ltd.

Chapter 2: Understanding Individual Differences | 1

II.Personality Determinants

A.Heredity

B.Environment

III.Personality and Behavior

1. Big Five Personality Factors
2. Self-Esteem

C.Locus of Control

D.Introversion and Extroversion

E. Emotional Intelligence

F.Role of Personality in Organizations

G.Teams Competency: Why Personality is Important at Starbucks

H.Managerial Guidelines

IV.Work Attitudes and Behavior

A.Components of Attitudes

B.Key Work Related Attitudes: Hope, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment

C. Communications Competency: Creating Positive Attitudes atThe Container Store

V.Managing Emotions at Work

1. A Model of Emotions
2. Across Cultures Competency— Emotions in Japan
3. Managerial Guidelines

VI.Chapter Summary

A.Key Terms and Concepts

B.Discussion Questions

VIII.Experiential Exercises

A.Experiential Exercise: Self Competency––What Are Your Cultural Values?

B.Experiential Exercise: Self Competency ––What’s Your Emotional IQ

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

Thirty-one key terms and concepts are developed in Chapter 2. The key terms and concepts, along with definitions or appropriate descriptions, are as follows:

Agreeableness: a person’s ability to get along with others.

Anticipatory emotions: the emotions that individuals believe they will feel after achievement or failure of reaching their goal.

Attitudes: relatively lasting feelings, beliefs, and behavioral tendencies aimed at specific people, groups, ideas, issues, or objects.

Collectivism: the tendency of people to emphasize their belonging to groups and to look after each other in exchange for loyalty.

Conscientiousness: concerned with self-discipline, acting responsibly, and directing our behavior.

Culture: the distinctive ways in which people in different societies organize and live their lives.

Emotional intelligence: how well an individual handles oneself and others rather than how smart or how capable the individual is in terms of technical skills.

Emotional stability: the degree to which a person is calm, secure, and free from persistent negative feelings.

Emotions: the complex pattern of feelings toward an object or person.

External locus of control: (externals) believe that chance, fate, or other people primarily determine what happens to them.

Extraversion: the degree to which a person seeks the company of others.

Gender role orientation: the extent to which a society reinforces, or does not reinforce, traditional notions of masculinity versus femininity.

Goal: what an individual is trying to accomplish.

Hope: a person’s mental willpower (determination) and waypower (road map) to achieve goals.

Individual differences: the personal attributes that vary from one person to another.

Individualism: the tendency of people to look after themselves and their immediate families.

Internal locus of control: (internals) believe that their own behavior and actions primarily, but not necessarily totally, determine many of the events in their lives.

Job satisfaction: the extent to which people find fulfillment in their work.

Locus of control: the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events affecting them.

Long-term orientation: the extent to which the society embraces the virtues oriented toward future rewards.

Openness: describes imagination and creativity.

Organizational commitment: the strength of an employee’s involvement in the organization.

and identification with it.

Personality: the overall profile or combination of psychological attributes that capture the unique nature of a person.

Personality trait: the basic components of personality.

Power distance: the extent to which people in a society accept status and power inequalities as a normal and functional aspect of life.

Self-awareness: recognizing one’s emotions, strengths and limitations, and capabilities and how these affect others.

Self-esteem: the extent to which a person believes that he or she is a worthwhile and deserving individual.

Self-motivation: being results oriented and pursuing goals beyond what’s required.

Social empathy: sensing what others need in order for them to develop.

Social skills: the ability of a person to influence others.

Uncertainty avoidance: the extent to which people rely on procedures, and organizations (including government) to avoid ambiguity, unpredictability, and risk.

LECTURE NOTES

CHAPTER 2: POWER POINT 2.0
Understanding Individual Differences

I.Part I of the text promotes understanding of individuals in organizations. Chapter 2 initiates this understanding by exploring personality and attitudes––two major individual differences variables (i.e., the ways in which people differ from each other). Power Point 2.1 identifies the learning goals to be addressed in understanding individual differences.

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES:______

______

A.Explain the basic sources of personality determinants.

B.Identify a set of personality characteristics that affect behavior.

C.Describehow attitudes affect behavior.

D.Explain how emotions impactperformance.

CHAPTER 2: POWER POINT 2.1
Learning Goals for Understanding Individual Differences

II.PERSONALITY DETERMINANTS

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES:______

______

A.Learning goal: Explain the basic sources of personality determinants.

B.The concept of personality.

1. Behavior involves a complex interaction of the person and the situation.

2.Personality represents personal characteristics that lead to consistent patterns of behavior.

3.Personality is the overall profile or combination of stable characteristics that capture the unique nature of a person.

4.Two important ideas are embedded in the above definition of personality.

a. Personality describes people’s commonalities and differences.

b. Personality is relatively stable over time.

C.How is an individual’s personality determined?

1.Power Point 2.2–which reproduces Figure 2.1 in the textbook—shows that heredity and environment interact with each other in shaping each individual’s personality.

CHAPTER 2: POWER POINT 2.2 (Figure 2.1)
Sources of Personality Differences

2.Both heredity and environment are important determinants of personality.

CHAPTER 2: POWER POINT 2.3
Leader Insight
Personality is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
Robert Eccles, Founder, Perception Partners

3.Heredity as a source of personality differences.

a.Heredity may set limits in the range of personality development and within this range environmental forces determine specific characteristics.

b.Research on twins raised apart indicates that heredity may play a larger role in personality formation than many experts had thought.

c.As much as 50 to 55 percent of personality traits have been attributed to heredity.

4.Environment as a source of personality differences.

a.Four environmental components––culture, family, group membership, and life experiences––contribute to personality differences.

1. Culture.

(1)Culture refers to the distinctive ways that people in different societies organize and live their lives.

(2)Culture determines societal values and norms as well as defining how various roles are to be performed.

(3)Culture helps determine broad patterns of behavioral similarity among people.

(4) Even though cultures are distinctive, they are not

homogenous. All members of a culture do not respond to cultural characteristics in the same way.

(5) Managers should not assume that subordinates are like

themselves in terms of societal values, personality, or other

individual characteristics.

(6) Power Point 2.4–which reproduces Figure 2.2 in the

textbook— shows a framework of six work-related values.

CHAPTER 2: POWER POINT 2.4 (Figure 2.2)
Influence of Culturally Based Work-Related Values

(7) Individualism versus collectivism is a fundamental work-related value as shown in Power Point 2.5.

(8) Individualismis the tendency of people to look after themselves and their immediate families.

(9) A culture high on individualism emphasizes individual initiative, decision making, and achievement.

(10) Collectivismis the tendency of people to emphasize their belonging to groups and to look after each other in exchange for loyalty.

(11) Collectivism involves emotional dependence of the individual on groups, organizations, and institutions.

CHAPTER 2: POWER POINT 2.5
Three Characteristics of Collectivism-Individualism

(12) Power distance is the extent to which people in a society

accept status and power inequalities as a normal and functional aspect of life.

(13) Power Point 2.6 shows that countries “high in power distance” have citizens who accept status and power inequalities; those “low in power distance” have citizens who do not.

CHAPTER 2: POWER POINT 2.6
Three Characteristics of Power Distance

ENRICHMENT MODULE

Power Distance Index

Hofstede’s Power distance Index measures the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. This represents inequality (more versus less), but defined from below, not from above. It suggests that a society’s level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders. For example, Germany has a (35) on the cultural scale of Hofstede’s analysis. Compared to Arab countries where the power distance is very high (80) and Austria where it very low (11), Germany is somewhat in the middle. Germany does not have a large gap between the wealthy and the poor, but have a strong belief in equality for each citizen. Germans have the opportunity to rise in society. On the other hand, the power distance in the United States scores a (40) on the cultural scale. The United States exhibits a more unequal distribution of wealth compared to German society. As the years go by it seems that the distance between the ‘have’ and ‘have-nots’ grows larger and larger.

This enrichment module is adapted from Power Distance Index retrieved on July 9, 2007 from

(14) Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which people rely on procedures, and organizations (including government) to avoid ambiguity, unpredictability, and risk.

(15) Power Point 2.7 shows three characteristics of uncertainty avoidance.

(16) With “high” uncertainty avoidance, individuals seek orderliness, consistency, structure, and laws. With “low” uncertainty avoidance, there is tolerance of ambiguity and uncertainty.

CHAPTER 2: POWER POINT 2.7
Three Characteristics of Uncertainty Avoidance

(17) Gender role orientation is the extent to which a society reinforces, or does not reinforce, traditional notions of masculinity versus femininity. A society is called masculine when gender roles are clearly distinct.

(18) Power Point 2.8 shows three characteristics of long-term versus short-term orientation.

(19) Long-term orientation is the extent to which the society embraces the virtues oriented toward future rewards.

(20) A short-term orientation stands for fostering respect for tradition, preservation of “face,” concern with status and social obligations, and the belief that efforts should produce quick results.

CHAPTER 2: POWER POINT 2.8
Three Characteristics of Short Versus Long-Term Orientation

1. Family.

(1)One’s immediate family is the primary means for socializing an individual into a particular culture. The family influences personality formation.

(2)Members of an extended family also influence personality formation.

(3)Family-related variables influence personality development, such as socioeconomic status, family size, birth order, race, religion, geographic location, parents’ educational level, etc.

1. Group membership.

(1)The roles assumed by people and their experiences as members of various groups contribute to personality differences.

(2)Personality differences may result from the influence of membership in many different groups, both past and present.

1. Life experiences.

(1) Each individual’s life is unique in terms of specific events and experiences, which in turn, can have an important impact on the development of one’s personality.

Self Competency: David Neeleman of JetBlue

During his junior year in college, Neeleman returned to Brazil and lived in the slums. He was struck by a few things. First, most wealthy people have a sense of entitlement. They thought that they were better than the people in the slums. Second, most of the poor people were happier than the rich people and shared what little they had.These experiences had a tremendous impact on the formation of his personality and his drive to manage JetBlue differently. When he travels on a business trip, he flies coach class. There is no Lincoln town car waiting for him at the airport. At JetBlue, there are no reserved parking places. The coffee in the kitchen down the hall from his work space is the same as that in the employee lounge at J. F. Kennedy airport. There is only one class on JetBlue planes.Employees and customers like the “touchy-feely” aspect of JetBlue. JetBlue is generous with travel vouchers when passengers are inconvenienced. Neeleman himself once drove an elderly couple from JFK to Connecticut, where he lives and they were headed, rather then let them spend $200 on a taxi.
For more information on JetBlue, visit the organization’s home page at

III.PERSONALITY AND BEHAVIOR

INSTRUCTOR’S NOTES:______

______

A.Learning goal: Identify a set of personality characteristics that affect behavior.

B.An individual’s personality may be described in terms of specific personality traits, which are the basic components of personality.

C.While thousands of personality traits exist, recent research has identified a set of general factors that can be used to describe an individual’s personality. Five major personality factors––called the “Big Five” personality factors––describe an individual’s personality in terms of adjustment, sociability, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and intellectual openness (see Power Point 2.9––which is based on Figure 2.2 of the textbook). Ask students to complete the assessment in the text.

CHAPTER 2: POWER POINT 2.9
The “Big Five” Personality Factors (Figure 2.3)

1.Each factor is a collection of related personality traits.

2.Each factor is represented on a continuum, with the endpoints of the continuum reflecting polar opposites on the personality factor. One end of the continuum has a positive connotation while the other has a negative connotation.

3.The linkage between a “Big Five” personality factor and specific behavior often is clearest when focusing on a single trait.

1. Emotional stability is the degree to which a person is calm, secure, and free from persistent negative feelings.

1. Agreeableness is a person’s ability to get along with others.

1.Agreeable individuals’ value getting along with others.

2.Highly agreeable people are better at developing and maintaining close relationships with others at work, whereas less agreeable people do not.

F.Extraversion and introversion.

1. Extraversion is the degree to which a person seeks the company of others.

Extroverts tend to be sociable, lively, impulsive, andemotionally expressive (see Power Point 2.10).

2. Introversion is the tendency to be less sociable. Introverts tend to be low-key, quiet, and deliberate.

CHAPTER 2: POWER POINT 2.10
Personality Traits: Introversion and Extroversion

3.Introversion and extroversion are part of the sociability factor of personality.

4.Research has shown that sociable people tend to be higher performing managers than less sociable people and that they are more likely to be attracted to managerial positions that require good interpersonal skills.

G. Conscientiousness is concerned with self-discipline, acting responsibly, and directing our behavior.

1. People who focus on a few key goals are more organized, reliable, responsible, and self-disciplined and doa few things well.

1. Unconscientious people focus on a wider array of goals, and are more disorganized.

1. Openness describes imagination and creativity.

1. People with high levels of openness listen to new ideas, have vivid imaginations, prefer variety to routine, and change ideas in response to new information.

1. People who demonstrate low openness tend to be less receptive to new ideas and less willing to change their minds.

I. Organizational Effectiveness and the Big Five.

1. The link between personality and specific behaviors often is most clear when we focus on a single trait rather than all five factors.

1. Organizations are using the Big Five for screening new employees as part of their interviewing process.

1. Some individuals feel that one’s personality traits can undergo change.

J. Self-esteem.

1.Self-esteemis like the emotional stability factor of the Big Five

personality.

2. It is the result of the continuing evaluation people make of themselves in terms of their own behavior, abilities, appearance, and worth.

3. Self-esteem most likely would be part of the emotional stability factor of personality.

4.People with high self-esteem, as compared to those with low self-esteem, will take more risks in job selection, may be more attracted to high-status occupations, are more likely to choose unconventional or nontraditional jobs, have more positive experiences in the job search process, are less easily influenced by others’ opinions in the work setting, set higher goals for themselves and place more value on attaining those goals, and are less susceptible to adverse job conditions (e.g., stress, conflict, ambiguity, poor supervision, poor working conditions, etc.).

K.Locus of control.

1.Locus of control refers to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events affecting them. Locus of control may be internal or external. People with an internal locus of control(internals) believe that their own behavior and actions primarily, but not necessarily totally, determine many of the events in their lives. People with an external locus of control(externals) believe that chance, fate, or other people primarily determine what happens to them.(see Power Point 2.11).