PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
The personality development of an individual starts at birth and continues throughout.
Three major types of factors play important roles in personality formation. They are determinants, stages and traits.
Determinants: The most widely studied determinants of personality are biological, social
and cultural. Hereditary characteristics (eg body shape and height) and the social context (family and friends) and cultural context (religion and values) in which people grow up interact to shape personality. As people grow into adulthood, their personalities become very clearly defined and generally stable.
Stages and Traits: Sigmund Freud saw human personality development as progressing through four stages: dependent, compulsive, oedipal and mature. The concept of stages of growth provides a valuable perspective from which to view organisational behaviour. Experienced managers become aware of the stages that their employees often go through and they learn how to deal with these stages to promote maximum growth for the individual and for the organisation.
Trait : approaches to personality formation are also based on psychology. According to some trait theories, all people share common traits, like social, political, religious and aesthetic
preferences but each individual’s disposition differentiates that person from all others.
Personality Factors in Organisations
Some of the important personality factors that determine what kind of behaviours are
exhibited at work include the following :
1. Need Pattern
2. Locus of Control
3. Introversion and Extroversion
4. Tolerance for Ambiguity
5. Self-esteem and Self-concept
6. Authoritarianism and Dogmatism
7. Risk Propensity
8. Machiavellianism
9. Types A and B Personalities
10. Work-Ethic Orientation
1. Need Pattern :
Steers and Braunstein (1976) developed a scale for the four personality needs that manisfest
themselves in the work setting. They are: the needs for achievement, affiliation, autonomy and
dominance. Those who are high in achievement engage themselves proactively in work behaviours in order to feel proud about their achievements and successes; those high in need for affiliation like to work cooperatively with others; those high in need for autonomy function best when not closely supervised; and those high in their need for dominance are very effective while operating in environments where they can actively enforce their legitimate authority.
2. Locus of Control :
Locus of control is the degree to which an individual believes that his/her behaviour has
direct impact on the consequences of that behaviour. Some people, for example, believe that if
they work hard they are certain to succeed. They strongly believe that each individual is in control of his/her life. They are said to have an internal locus of control. By contrast, some people think that what happens to them is a result of fate, chance, luck or the behaviour of other people, rather than lack of skills or poor performance. Because these individuals think that forces beyond their control dictate what happens to them, they are said to have an external locus of control.
As a personality attribute, locus of control has clear implications for organisations. For example, individuals with an internal locus of control may have a relatively strong desire to participate in the management of their organisations and have a freedom in how do their jobs. Thus, they may prefer a decentralised organisation where right of decision-making is given to them and a leader who provides them freedom and autonomy. They may like a reward system that recognises individual performance and contributions.
People with an external locus of control, on the other hand, are likely to prefer a more
centralised organisation where they need not take any decisions. They may gravitate to structured jobs where standard procedures are defined for them. They may prefer a leader who makes most of the decisions and may prefer a reward system that considers mainly seniority rather than merit.
3. Introversion and Extroversion :
Introversion is the tendency in individuals which directs them to turn inward and experience and process feelings, thoughts and ideas within themselves.
Extroversion, on the other hand, refers to the tendency in individuals to turn outward of themselves searching for external stimuli with which they can interact. While there is some element of introversion as well as extroversion in all of us, people tend to be dominant as either extroverts or introverts. Extroverts are sociable, lively, gregarious and seek outward stimuli or external interactions. Such individuals are likely to be most successful working in the sales department, publicity office, personal relations unit, and so on, where they can interact face to face with others. Introverts, on the other hand, are quiet, reflective, introspective, and intellectual people, preferring
to interact with a small intimate circle of friends. Introverts are more likely to be successful when they can work on highly abstract ideas (such as R&D work), in a relatively quiet atmosphere. Since managers have to constantly interact with individuals both within and outside the organisation and influence people to achieve the organisation’s goals, it is believed that extroverts are likely to be more successful as managers.
4. Tolerance for Ambiguity :
This personality characteristic indicates the level of uncertainty that people can tolerate
without experiencing undue stress and can still function effectively. Managers have to work well under conditions of extreme uncertainty and insufficient information, especially when things are rapidly changing in the organisation’s external environment. Managers who have a high tolerance for ambiguity can cope well under these conditions. Managers, who have a low tolerance for ambiguity may be effective in structured work settings but find it almost impossible to operate effectively when things are rapidly changing and much information about the future turn of events is not available. Thus, tolerance for ambiguity is a personality dimension necessary for managerial success.
5. Self-Esteem and Self-Concept :
Self-esteem denotes the extent to which individuals consistently regard themselves as
capable, successful, important and worthy individuals. Self-esteem is an important personality
factor that determines how managers perceive themselves and their role in the organisation. Self-esteem is important to self-concept, i.e. the way individuals define themselves as to who they are and derive their sense of identity. High self-esteem provides a high sense of self-concept; high self-concept, in turn, reinforces high self-esteem. Thus, the two are mutually reinforcing. Individuals high in self-esteem will try to take on more challenging assignments and be successful, thus enhancing their self-concept; i.e. they would tend to define themselves as highly valuable and valued individuals in the organisational system. The higher the self-concept and self-esteem, the greater will be their contributions to the goals of the organisation, especially when the system rewards them for their contributions.
6. Authoritarianism and Dogmatism :
Authoritarianism is the extent to which an individual believes that power and status
differences are appropriate within hierarchical social systems like organisations. For example, an employee who is highly authoritarian may unquestioningly accept directives or orders from his superior with more authority. A person who is not highly authoritarian may agree to carry out appropriate and reasonable directives from his boss but is also likely to raise questions, express disagreement and even refuse to carry out requests if they are for some reason objectionable.
Dogmatism is the rigidity of a person’s beliefs and his/her openness to other view points.
The popular terms ‘close-minded’ and ‘open-minded’ describe people who are more and less dogmatic in their beliefs. For example, a manager may be unwilling to listen to a new idea for doing something more efficiently. He is said to be a person with close-minded or highly dogmatic. A manager in the same circumstances who is very receptive to hearing about and trying out new ideas might be seen as more open-minded or less dogmatic. Dogmatism can be either beneficial or detrimental to organisations, but given the degree of change in the nature of organisations and their environments, individuals who are not dogmatic are most likely to be useful and productive organisational members.
7. Risk Propensity:
Risk-propensity is the degree to which an individual is willing to take chances and make risky
decisions. A manager with a high risk propensity might be expected to experiment with new
ideas and to lead the organisation in new directions. In contrast, a manager with low risk
propensity might lead to a stagnant and overly conservative organisation.
8. Machiavellianism :
Machiavellianism is manipulation or influencing of other people as a primary way of
achieving one’s goal. An individual tends to be machiavellian, if he tends to be cool, logical in
assessing the system around them, willing to twist and turn facts to influence others, and try to gain control of people, events and situations by manipulating the system to his advantage.
9. Types A and B Personalities :
Type A persons feel a chronic sense of time urgency, are highly achievement-oriented,
exhibit a competitive drive, and are impatient when their work is slowed down for any reason. Type B persons are easy-going individuals who do not sense the time urgency, and who do not experience the competitive drive. Type A individuals are significantly more prone to heart attacks than Type B individuals. While Type A persons help the organisation to move ahead in a relatively short period of time they may also suffer health problems which might be detrimental to both themselves and the organisation in the long-run.
10. Work-Ethic Orientation :
Some individuals are highly work-oriented while others try to do the minimum that is
necessary to get by without being fired on-the-job. The extremely work ethic oriented person gets greatly involved in the job. Extreme work ethic values could lead to traits of “workohlism” when work becomes to be considered as the only primary motive for living with very little outside interests. For the workoholic, turning to work can sometimes become a viable alternative to facing non-work-related problems. Though a high level of work ethic orientation of members is good for the organisation to achieve its goals, too much “workoholism” which might lead to premature burnout and health problems is dysfunctional for both organisation and the workoholic members.
The above ten different personality predispositions are important for individual, managerial and organisational effectiveness.
Personality Dimensions
The big five personality dimensions are – extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience. Ideally, these personality dimensions that correlate positively and strongly with job performance would be helpful in the selection, training and appraisal of employees. The individuals who exhibit traits associated with a strong sense of purpose, obligation and persistence generally perform better than those who do not.
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