1. Individual Processes: Personality, Emotions, Perception, and Learning
Chapter Three
Individual Processes: Personality, Emotions, Perception, and Learning

2. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Three Good Reasons Why You Should Care About Individual Processes
Understanding people’s personalities helps us know what to expect of them, and understanding our own personalities provides valuable insight into our own behavior
The process by which we perceive others is fundamental to a wide variety of organizational activities
Effectively training, managing, and disciplining employees requires knowing the basic principles of learning
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004 2

3. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Individual Processes
Psychological processes that occur within individuals that cannot be seen but whose existence can be inferred on the basis of people’s behavior
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

4. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Personality Concepts
Personality can be defined as the unique and relatively stable pattern of behavior, thoughts, and emotions shown by individuals
Key personality dimensions
The “Big Five”
Type A, Type B, and Type C behavior patters
Achievement motivation
Self-monitoring (self-perception)
Self-efficacy
Self-esteem
Locus of control
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

5. Sources of Personality
Personality from an interactionist perspective: personality can change, develops over time, and can change with the situation
Key sources of personality
Heredity (50%)
Culture (existing values)
Family (role models, reward/punish)
Group membership (church, clubs)
Life experiences (maturation process)
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

6. The Big Five Dimensions of Personality
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

7. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Type A vs. Type B
Type A Behavior Pattern: A pattern of behavior involving high levels of competitiveness, time urgency, and irritability.
Type B Behavior Pattern: A pattern of behavior characterized by a casual, laid-back style; the lack of the Type A behavior pattern.
Type C Behavior Pattern: Converse of Type A, with Type B falling between A and C, characterized by non-expressiveness of neg/pos emotion, depression, helplessness/hopelessness.
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

8. Personality Types A, B, and C
Type A Behavior Pattern: Studies began in the 1950’s relating Type A behavior to CHD (Chronic Heart Disease)
Type A and B Behavior Pattern: Popularized in the late 1960’s in studies of stress.
Type C Behavior Pattern: Converse of Type A, with more recent studies linking Type C behavior to cancer
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

9. Achievement Motivation
The strength of an individual’s desire to excel – to succeed at difficult tasks and to do them better than anyone else
nAch, need for achievement can be learned (‘Two Faces of Power’)
nAch: closely related to self-efficacy which can be increased through training (Bandura’s Social Learning Model)
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

10. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Task Attraction
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

11. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
“Self” Concepts
Self-monitoring: the extent to which individuals attempt to exercise control over the way they present themselves to others (self-perception/self-presentation)
Self-efficacy: one’s belief in his or her own capacity to perform a task (lack of self-efficacy leads to learned helplessness-Seligman)
Self-esteem: the extent to which people hold positive or negative views about themselves
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

12. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
“Self” Concepts
Self-perception: can result from how others view us, develop a role or set of behaviors expected of us from a group
Self-presentation: impression management: control how boss perceives us or construct specific self-concept or social image (Presentation of Self in Everyday Life – Goffle, 1959)
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

13. Boosting Low Self-Esteem
Suggestion
Make people feel uniquely
valuable
Make people feel competent
Make people feel secure
Make people feel empowered
Description
Create opportunities for people to feel
accepted by finding ways to make use of
their unique skills and experiences
Recognize the good things that people do and
praise them accordingly. That is, “catch
someone in the act of doing something right”
Employees’ self-esteem will be enhanced when
managers make their expectations clear and
are forthright with them
People given opportunities to decide how to
do their jobs feel good about themselves
and their work
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004 9

14. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Emotions
Emotions can be defined as overt reactions that express feelings about events
Emotional dissonance is a phenomenon that occurs when people are required to display emotions on the job that are inconsistent with how they actually feel
Emotional intelligence can be defined as a cluster of skills related to the emotional aspects of life, such as the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ emotions, to discriminate among emotions, and to use such information to direct one’s thoughts and actions
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

15. Categories of Emotion (usually all expressed on face-Ekman)
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

16. Characteristics of a High EQ
Skill in regulating one’s own emotions: People with high EQs are aware of their own feelings and display the most appropriate emotions
Ability to monitor others’ emotions: People with high EQs are very good at judging how they are affecting other people, and behave accordingly
Interest in motivating oneself: People with high EQs are able to motivate themselves to sustain their performance, directing their emotions toward personal goals, and resisting the temptation to quit
Highly developed social skills: People with high EQs are very good at keeping a great number of relationships going over long periods of time
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

17. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Moods
Moods can be defined as unfocused, relatively mild feelings that exist as background to our daily experiences
Moods result from both
Feeling states: short-term differences in the way we feel
Personality traits: consistent differences between people’s predispositions toward experiencing positive or negative affect
Positive affectivity
Negative affectivity
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

18. Positive and Negative Affectivity
High Positive
Affectivity
(joy, enthusiasm)
Negative Affectivity
Positive Affectivity
Low Negative
Affectivity
(calm, relaxed)
High Negative
Affectivity
(fear, nervousness)
Low Positive
Affectivity
(apathy, sluggishness)
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Fig. 3.2

19. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Social Perception
Social perception is the process of integrating and interpreting information about others so as to accurately understand them, trying to make sense of the world Paradigm: Humans as information processors or ‘naïve scientists’ with cognitions leading to emotions leading to behaviors
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

20. Social Perception: framed by perception itself
Perception: sensation, selection, organization, interpretation (making sense of reality)
Perceptual Selectivity: external and internal
Perceptual Organization: assimilate or accomodate
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

21. Perceptual Selectivity
External: intensity, size, contrast, repetition, motion, novelty, familiarity
Internal: see objects compatible with:
Learning: single biggest role in perceptual set
Motivation: need for affiliation
Personality: young vs. old
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

22. Perceptual Organization
Assimilate: easy – incorporates information into current cognitive structure
Accommodate: hard – changes cognitive structure
Mechanisms:
Recency: most current
Constancy: person’s height same from a distance
Proximity: people in a group
Similarity: male/female
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

23. Social Identity Theory
Personal Identity: The characteristics that define a particular individual
Social Identity: Who a person is, as defined in terms of his or her membership in various social groups (ingroup/outgroup)
Social Identity Theory: A conceptualization recognizing that the way we perceive others and ourselves is based on our unique characteristics and our membership in various groups – and we are influenced by visible traits: status and roles of sender and receiver (Weick’s theory of enactment)
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

24. Social Identity Theory
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

25. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Attribution
Attribution: The process through which individuals attempt to determine the causes behind others’ behavior
Correspondent inferences: Judgments about people’s dispositions, traits, and characteristics, that correspond to what we have observed of their actions
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

26. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Causal Attribution
Causes of Behavior:
Internal: Explanations based on actions for which the individual is responsible
External: Explanations based on situations over which the individual has no control
Kelley’s Theory of Causal Attribution: The approach suggesting that people will believe others’ actions to be caused by internal or external factors based on three types of information: consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

27. Kelley’s Theory of Attribution
Consensus: Information regarding the extent to which other people behave in the same manner as the person being judged
Consistency: Information regarding the extent to which the person being judged acts the same way at other times
Distinctiveness: Information regarding the extent to which a person behaves in the same manner in other contexts
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

28. Kelley’s Theory of Attribution
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

29. Biases in Social Perception
Fundamental attribution error: Individuals are generally prone to assume that others’ behavior is due to the way they are, their traits and dispositions
Halo effect: The tendency for a person’s overall impression to bias his or her assessment of another on specific dimensions
Stereotypes: Beliefs that all members of specific groups share similar traits and behaviors
Self-fulfilling prophecies: The tendency for someone’s expectations about another to cause that individual to behave in a manner consistent with those expectations
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

30. Other Biases in Social Perception
Self-serving bias: Individuals are generally prone to present themselves favorably assuming own successful behavior is due to internal factors and failure is to due external factors – increases self-esteem
Actor/Observer effect: The tendency for a person to explain own behavior to situational factors and others to dispositional factors
Gender bias: A woman’s promotion is due to luck and a man’s promotion is due to abilities
Self-fulfilling prophecies: The tendency for someone’s expectations about another to cause that individual to behave in a manner consistent with those expectations
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

31. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
The Team Halo Effect
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

32. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy (enactment)
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

33. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Overcoming Biases
Do not overlook the external cases of others’ behaviors
Identify and confront your stereotypes
Evaluate people based on objective factors
Avoid making rash judgments
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

34. © Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004
Learning
Learning is defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior occurring as a result of experience
Operant conditioning (Skinner) describes the process of learning that results when the consequences of our behaviors determine whether we will be likely to repeat them in the future
When our behaviors produce pleasant consequences, we are likely to repeat them
When our behaviors produce unpleasant consequences, we are not likely to repeat them
Observational (social) learning occurs when someone acquires new knowledge vicariously -- that is, by observing what happens to others
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

35. Learning: rewards as reinforcers response theories
Classical conditioning: Pavlov (1927) S-R a learned response or a conditioned response
Operant conditioning: Skinner (1938) R-S a behavioral theory derived from Thorndike’s Law of Effect (1911): a response followed by a reward is strengthened
Weak law – reinforcers change behavior
Strong law – Hull’s drive reduction theory, a motivational theory requiring drive reduction necessary for reinforcment
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

36. Learning: rewards as incentives stimulus theories
Cognitive approach: Tolman (1932) S-S, incentives motivate, ‘if I do this then this will occur’: behavior is purposeful and directed towards goals, learning is a function of expectancy, valence, and instrumentality.
Social Learning Model: Bandura (1980’s) learn from observing others, incorporates both behavioral and cognitive aproaches
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

37. Operant Conditioning Process
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

38. Operant Conditioning Concepts
Positive Reinforcement: The process by which people learn to perform behaviors that lead to the presentation of desired outcomes
Negative Reinforcement: The process by which people learn to perform acts that lead to the removal of undesired events
Punishment: The process of decreasing undesirable behavior by following it with undesirable consequences
Extinction: The process through which responses that are no longer reinforced tend to gradually diminish in strength
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

39. Contingencies of Reinforcement
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

40. Applications of Learning
Training: The process through which people systematically acquire and improve the skills and abilities needed to better their job performance
Organizational Behavior Management: The systematic application of positive reinforcement principles in organizational settings for the purpose of raising the incidence of desirable organizational behaviors
Discipline: The systematic administration of punishment
Knowledge Management: The process of gathering, organizing, and sharing a company’s information and knowledge assets
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

41. Tips for Improving Training
Participation: People not only learn more quickly, but also retain the skills longer when they have actively participated in the learning process
Repetition: Practice enhances the effectiveness of the learning experience
Transfer of Training: The more closely a training program matches the demands of a job, the more effective the training will be
Feedback: Knowledge about the effectiveness of one’s training enhances the learning experience
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

42. Examples of Training Efforts
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004

43. Tips for Effective Discipline
Deliver punishment immediately after the undesirable response occurs
Give moderate levels of punishment -- nothing too high or too low
Punish the undesirable behavior, not the person
Use punishment consistently -- all the time, for all employees
Clearly communicate the reasons for the punishment given
© Copyright Prentice-Hall 2004