Title: MODULE 18 INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR
1MODULE 18INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR
- How do personalities influence individual
behavior? - How do perceptions influence individual
behavior? - How do attitudes influence individual behavior?
- Theres beauty in individual differences
2INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalitiesMODULE GUIDE
18.1
- The Big Five personality traits describe
work-related individual differences. - Additional personality traits can also influence
work behavior. - People with Type A personalities tend to stress
themselves. - Stress has consequences for work performance and
personal health.
3INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities
- Personality is the profile of characteristics
making a person unique from others.
If you were to describe a person using the Big
Five personality traits, you would be talking
about the degree to which he or she is
extroverted or introverted, agreeable or
disagreeable, conscientious or not, emotionally
stable or not, and open or closed minded. Other
personality traits that may play a role in the
workplace are locus of control, authoritarianism,
Machiavellianism, problem-solving styles, and
self-monitoring.
4INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities
- How to Identify the Big Five Personality Traits
- Extraversion
- An extravert is talkative, comfortable, and
confident in interpersonal relationships an
introvert is more private, withdrawn and
reserved. - Agreeableness
- An agreeable person is trusting, courteous and
helpful, getting along well with others a
disagreeable person is self-serving, skeptical
and tough, creating discomfort for others. - Conscientiousness
- A conscientious person is dependable, organized,
and focused on getting things done a person who
lacks conscientiousness is careless, impulsive,
and not achievement oriented. - Emotional Stability
- A person who is emotionally stable is secure,
calm, steady, and self-confident a person
lacking emotional stability is excitable,
anxious, nervous, and tense. - Openness to Experience
- A person open to experience is broad-minded,
imaginative, and open to new ideas a person who
lacks openness is narrow-minded, has few
interests, and resists change.
5INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities
- Authoritarianism
- the degree to which a person defers to authority
and accepts status differences. - Machiavellianism
- the degree to which someone uses power
manipulatively. - Locus of control
- the extent to which one believes that what
happens is within ones control. - Self-monitoring
- the degree to which someone is able to adjust
behavior in response to external factors.
6INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities
- Stress
- a state of tension experienced by individuals
facing extraordinary demands, constraints, or
opportunities. - Constructive Stress
- a positive influence on effort, creativity, and
diligence in work. - Destructive Stress
- a negative influence on ones performance.
7INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities
- Stress in the U.S.
- 31 of college-educated businesspeople work 50
hours per week. - 40 of adults get less than 7 hours of sleep
nightly during workweek. - 60 of meals are rushed 34 of lunches are
eaten on the run. - 33 of workers feel dead-ended in their jobs.
- 47 of workers under 35 report having feelings
of burnout versus 28 of those over 35.
8INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities
- Type A Personality
- oriented toward extreme achievement, impatience,
and perfectionism.
- Type A Personality Indicators
- Always moving, walking, and eating rapidly
- Impatient, disliking waiting
- Doing or trying to do several things at once
- Feeling guilty when relaxing
- Trying to schedule more in less time
- Using nervous gestures such as clenched fists
- Hurrying or interrupting the speech of others
9INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities
- Job Burnout
- is physical and mental exhaustion from work
stress. - Workplace Rage
- is aggressive behavior toward co-workers or the
work setting. - Personal Wellness
- is the pursuit of a personal-health promotion
program.
10INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPerceptionsMODULE GUIDE 18.2
- Perceptual distortions can obscure individual
differences. - Perception sometimes causes attribution errors as
we explain events and problems. - Impression management is a way of influencing how
others perceive us.
11INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPerceptions
- Perception
- the process through which people receive and
interpret information from the environment. - Stereotype
- using attributes commonly associated with a group
to an individual. - Halo effect
- uses one attribute to develop an overall
impression of a person or situation. - Selective Perception
- the tendency to single out for attention those
aspects of a situation or person that reinforce
or appear consistent with ones existing beliefs,
values, or needs. - Projection
- occurs when we assign our personal attributes to
other individuals. Some call this the
similar-to-me error.
12INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPerceptions
13INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPerceptions
- Fundamental Attribution Error
- overestimates internal factors and underestimates
external factors as influences on someones
behavior. - Self-serving Bias
- occurs when, in judging our own performance, we
take personal credit for successes and blame
failures on external factors. - Impression Management
- Attempts to create desired perceptions in the
minds of others
14INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORAttitudesMODULE GUIDE 18.3
- Attitudes predispose people to act in certain
ways. - Job satisfaction is a positive attitude toward
ones job and work experiences. - Job satisfaction can predict absenteeism,
turnover, and organizational citizenship. - Job satisfaction has a complex relationship with
job performance.
15INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORAttitudes
- An attitude is a predisposition to respond in a
certain way to people and things. - Cognitive dissonance occurs when a persons
attitude and behavior are inconsistent.
16INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORAttitudes
- Job satisfaction is an important work attitude,
reflecting a persons evaluation of the job,
co-workers, and other aspects of the work
setting.
What we know from job satisfaction studies
Majority of American workers at least somewhat
satisfied with jobs. About 14 are very
satisfied. Job satisfaction declined 9 from
1995 to 2005. Job satisfaction higher in
smaller firms (50 employees) than larger
ones (5000). Job satisfaction and life
satisfaction tend to run together.