1. Chapter 3 Personality, Perception, and Attribution
Describe individual differences and explain why they are important in understanding organizational behavior.
Articulate key personality traits and explain how they influence behavior in organizations.
Discuss how personality theories may be applied in organizations.
Define social perception and explain the factors that affect it.
Identify five common barriers to social perception.
Explain the attribution process and how attributions affect managerial behavior.
Learning Outcomes
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Learning Outcome
Describe individual differences and explain why they are important in understanding organizational behavior.
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3. Variables Influencing Individual Behavior
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4. Propositions of Interactional Psychology
Behavior is a function of continuous, multidirectional interaction between the person and the situation.
The person is active in this process and both changes situation and is changed by them.
People vary in many characteristics, including cognitive, affective, motivational and ability factors.
Two aspects of a situation are important: the objective situation and the person’s subjective view of the situation.
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Learning Outcome
Articulate key personality traits and explain how they influence behavior in organizations.
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Personality
The relatively stable set of characteristics that influences an individual’s behavior and lend it consistency.
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Personality Theories
Trait Theory – understand individuals by breaking down behavior patterns into observable traits
Psychodynamic Theory – emphasizes the unconscious determinants of behavior
Humanistic Theory – emphasizes individual growth and improvement
Integrative Approach – describes personality as a composite of an individual’s psychological processes
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8. Big Five Personality Traits
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9. Personality Characteristics in Organizations
A strong
situation can
overwhelm the effects
of individual personalities
by providing strong cues
for appropriate behavior
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10. Personality Characteristics in Organizations
Strong
personalities
will dominate
in a weak
situation
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11. Personality Characteristics in Organizations
Locus of Control
Internal
External
I control what
happens to me!
People and circumstances control my fate!
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12. Beyond the Book: What’s Your Locus of Control?
Choose A or B for each item:
1. a. Becoming a success is a matter of hard work; luck has little or nothing to do with it.
b. Getting a good job depends mainly on being in the right place at the right time.
2. a. The average citizen can have an influence in government decisions.
b. This world is run by the few people in power, and there is not much the little guy can
do about it.
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13. Beyond the Book: What’s Your Locus of Control?
3. a. As far as world affairs are concerned, most of us are the victims of forces we can neither understand nor control.
b. By taking an active part in political and social affairs, people can control world events.
4. a. With enough effort we can wipe out political corruption.
b. It is difficult for people to have much control over the things politicians do in office.
Scoring Key:
The internal locus of control answers are: 1a, 2a, 3b, 4a
The external locus of control answers are: 1b, 2b, 3a, 4b
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Self-Efficacy
beliefs and expectations about one’s ability to accomplish a specific task effectively
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15. Personality Characteristics in Organizations
Sources of self-efficacy
Prior experiences and prior success
Behavior models (observing success)
Persuasion
Assessment of current physical and emotional capabilities
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Self-Esteem
Failure tends
to decrease
self-esteem
Success tends
to increase
self-esteem
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Self-Monitoring
Behavior based on cues
High self monitors
flexible: adjust behavior according to the situation and the behavior of others
can appear unpredictable and inconsistent
Low self monitors
act from internal states rather than from situational cues
show consistency
less likely to respond to work group norms or supervisory feedback
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18. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO. . .    Low self monitors High self monitors
Get promoted 
Change employers
Make a job-related geographic move 
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The Role of Affect
Positive Affect – an individual’s tendency to accentuate the positive aspects of oneself, other people, and the world in general
Negative Affect – an individual’s tendency to accentuate the negative aspects of oneself, other people, and the world in general
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Learning Outcome
Discuss how personality theories may be applied in organizations.
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21. Four Measures of Personality
[Projective Test]
elicits an individual’s response to abstract stimuli
[Behavioral Measures] personality assessments that involve observing an individual’s behavior in a controlled situation
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22. Four Measures of Personality
[Self-Report Questionnaire]
assessment involving an individual’s responses to questions
[Myers-Briggs Type Indicator MBTI)]
instrument measuring Jung’s theory of individual differences
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23. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
[Based on Carl Jung’s theories]
People are fundamentally different
People are fundamentally alike
Population made up of extraverted and introverted types.
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24. [Based on Carl Jung’s theories]
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
[Based on Carl Jung’s theories]
Human similarities/differences understood by combining preferences
No preferences better than others
Understand, celebrate, and appreciate differences
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25. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
In the 1940’s, Myers and Briggs
developed the MBTI to understand
individual differences by analyzing
the combinations of preferences.
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MBTI Preferences
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27. MBTI Scales ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ ISTP ISFP INFP INTP ESTP ESFP ENFP
ENTP
ESTJ
ESFJ
ENFJ
ENTJ
Introverts
Extraverts
SOURCE: Modified and reproduced by special permission of the Publisher. Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. Palo Alto, CA from Introduction to Type, Sixth Edition by Isabel Briggs Myers. Copyright 1998 by Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Further reproduction is prohibited without the Publisher’s written consent.
Sensing Types
Intuitive Types
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Uses of MBTI
Understand different viewpoints of others in the organization.
Team building.
Show benefits of diversity and differences.
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Learning Outcome
Define social perception and explain the factors that affect it.
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30. Social Perception Model
Perceiver Characteristics
Familiarity with target
Attitudes/Mood
Self-concept
Cognitive structure
Target Characteristics
Physical appearance
Verbal communication
Nonverbal cues
Intentions
Barriers
Selective perception
Stereotyping
First-impression error
Projection
Self-fulfilling prophecies
Social Perception
Social Perception Model
Situational Characteristics
Interaction context
Strength of situational cues
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31. Beyond the Book: Synesthesia: Unusual Perception
Synesthesia is a rare perceptual condition in which one sensory perception triggers another—for example, music evokes colors or smells.
How quickly can you spot the 2’s in the picture to the right?
Synesthesia: Unusual Perception
Quick, find all the 2s in the box on the top. If you’re like most people, the only way for you to pick out the 2s is to methodically examine each number in the box. But for a small group of people called “synesthetes,” this task is both instantaneous and effortless. Why? Because when they look at the same box of numbers, they see a unique color code, making the 2s stand out in sharp contrast to the 5s (like the box on the bottom). Synesthesia, from the Greek words for “perception” and “together,” is a rare condition in which the perception of one sensory input creates an additional perception. So for some synesthetes, sights have sounds and sounds have tastes. For others, music evokes brilliant colors, with the shade depending on the instrument being played. One researcher, who himself has synesthesia, recalls attending a concert as a child and being convinced that the lights were dimmed so the audience could see the colors better. In his mind’s eye, violins produce bright shades of burgundy, piano music is purple, and cellos produce
sounds that are a rich shade of gold.
While people have described the perception of synesthesia for centuries, scientists have often written it off as a figment of imagination, an artifact of childhood memories, or even a side effect of illicit drug use. While synesthetes have known all along that these experiences were real, not until recently have scientists become convinced. A 2002 study using the box of 2s and 5s shown here provided the definitive evidence that synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon rather than the result of an overactive imagination.
What can synesthesia teach us about organizational behavior? First, people see the world differently. Successful managers often surround themselves with advisors and team members who see the world from a slightly different perspective. Second, what seems impossible to one person may be child’s play to another. Not surprisingly, a large number of synesthetes enjoy creative endeavors such as composing or painting. Sometimes, the solution to a seemingly impossible task is simply to ask for help.
SOURCES: T. J. Palmeri, R. Blake, R. Marois, M. A. Flanery, and
W. Whetsell, Jr., “The Perceptual Reality of Synesthetic Colors,”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United
States of America 99 (2003): 4127–4131; V. S. Ramachandran and
E. M. Hubbard, “Hearing Colors, Tasting Shapes: Color-Coded
World,” Scientific American (April 14, 2003),
.com/article.cfm?articleID=000AB1B4-A5D0-1E8F-8EA5809EC588
0000; V. S. Ramachandran, and E. M. Hubbard, “Neural Cross
Wiring and Synesthesia [Abstract],” Journal of Vision 1(3) (2001):
67a; and A. Underwood, “Real Rhapsody in Blue,” Newsweek
(November 25, 2003),
The task is effortless for “synesthetes,” who perceive the 2’s as a different color from the 5’s.
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Learning Outcome
Identify the common barriers to social perception and explain the difficulties they cause.
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33. Barriers to Social Perception
Impression Management
Stereotype
First Impression Error
Projection
Self-fulfilling prophecy
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34. Beyond the Book: Racial Stereotypes in Hiring
Despite decades of progress in race relations, discrimination against non-white workers is a harsh reality.
In a study of the low-wage labor market in New York city, researchers found that white applicants were twice as more likely to receive a job offer than equally-qualified black counterparts.
The study also showed that white individuals just released from prison were just as likely to receive a job offer as blacks or Latinos with no criminal background.
SOURCE: Pager, D. et al., “Discrimination in a Low-Wage Labor Market: A Field Experiment,” American Sociological Review (October 20099),
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35. Impression Management
The process by which individuals try to control the impression others have of them
Name dropping
Appearance
Self-description
Flattery
Favors
Agreement with opinion
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36. Beyond the Book: Flattery Will Get You Somewhere
According to new research from Hong Kong University of Science and Management, suggests that insincere flattery is quite effective. Though often viewed negatively, the report shows that flattery with an obvious ulterior motive leads to a initial favorable reaction.
SOURCES: Elaine Chan and Jaideep Sengupta “Insincere Flatter Actually Works: A Dual Attitudes Perspective” Journal of Marketing Research (forthcoming).
To test the effects of insincere flattery, the researchers ran an experiment in a department store in which potential customers were sent a direct-mail advertising from a department store looking for their business, an obvious ulterior motive. In addition to announcing a grand opening of a store, the mailing contained overtly flattering comments, e.g, “We are contacting you directly because we know that you are a fashionable and stylish person. Your dress sense is not only classy but also chic. As someone with exceptional taste in clothes, you will enjoy the designs feature in our new collection, featuring ‘must-haves’ for the coming season.” The results of their study showed that overt flattery with ulterior motives produced two reactions – an initial favorable reaction and a discounted evaluation. Further, the results showed that the initial favorable reaction was not replaced by the discounter evaluation, and in fact, was more influential in determining behavior.
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Learning Outcome
Explain the attribution process and how attributions affect managerial behavior.
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Attribution Theory
explains how individuals pinpoint the causes of their own behavior or that of others
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Internal and External
Internal attributions:
Attributing events to something within the individual’s control.
External attributions:
Attributing events to something outside the individual’s control.
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Attribution Biases
Fundamental Attribution Error – tendency to make attributions to internal causes when focusing on someone else’s behavior
Self-Serving Bias – tendency to attribute one’s own successes to internal causes and one’s failures to external causes
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41. Beyond the Book: What’s in a Name?
Researchers at MIT and the University of Chicago mailed 5000 résumés to potential employers, using “white-sounding” and “black-sounding” names
Callback rates on identical résumés were substantially higher for white-sounding names than for black-sounding names
Conclusion: stereotypes and false attributions can lead to discrimination in hiring.
SOURCES: M. Bertrand and S. Mullainathan, “Are Emily and
Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment
on Labor Market Discrimination,” American Economic Review,
94 (2004): 991–1013.
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42. Which Big Five personality traits best describe Daphne
Which Big Five personality traits best describe Daphne? Give examples of behavior from the film scene to support your observations.
2. Which Big Five personality traits best describe Millie? Give examples of behavior from the film scene to support your observations.
3. Review the discussion of the “Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® instrument” in this chapter. Assess both Daphne and Millie with the content of Table 3.3, “Characteristics Frequently Associated with Each Type.”
Because I Said So
Daphne Wilder (Diane Keaton) is trying to find a mate for her last unmarried daughter, Millie (Mandy Moore). Daphne places an ad online, screens the applicants, and submits those she approves to Millie. Along the way, Daphne meets Joe (Stephen Collins), the father of one of the applicants. This scene starts after Daphne answers her cell phone and says the person has the wrong number. It follows the frantic rearrangement of the sofa, which ends up in the same place it started.
Ask your students:
Which Big Five personality traits best describe Daphne? Give examples of behavior from the film scene to support your observations.
Which Big Five personality traits best describe Millie? Give examples of behavior from the film scene to support your observations.
Review the discussion of the “Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® instrument” earlier in this chapter. Assess both Daphne and Millie with the content of Table 3.3, “Characteristics Frequently Associated with Each Type.”