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We’ve come a long way, baby!
Studies have been assessing mood, personality, communication, and the
interaction of people for a long time. In 1953, Roethlisberger examined an interaction
between a supervisor and subordinate, concluding that “Hart [the supervisor] will learn
to evaluate Bing more properly only when he understands the personality structures of
himself and Bing and the social system of which they are a part.” Roethlisberger offers
“the solution lies in transferring Bing to a supervisor whose personality will be more
compatible with Bing's and in giving Hart a worker whose personality will be more
compatible with Hart's.” Today’s studies provide more guidance than simply reassigning
colleagues based on personality compatibility. The interplay of personality traits and
interpersonal communication styles and effectiveness has gone the way of many social
and Internet-based elements of society: web-like.
There is no one item, cause or effect that can be pointed to in defining
interpersonal communications and what affects them, rather, “understanding of group
dynamics requires a considerable study of the personality of each group member, with
their motives and past experiences; the peculiar makeup of the group as a whole; and
an analysis of the situation in which the organization exists” (Henderson). This is not to
say that numerous studies have not drawn correlations between specific types of
personalities and their ability or inability to excel in interpersonal communication. One of
the more recent studies drew a parallel between happy people and the success of their
communication (regarding requests) and sad people and their lack of success. This
indicates the importance of happy or sad personality types in relation to communication
success.
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In the late 1990’s, Forgas examined affective influence on language use and
found that “happy persons tend to be more confident and ambitious, set themselves
higher goals, overestimate the likelihood of success, take more moderate risks, and
prefer simple and direct solutions, while negative mood in turn tends to produce more
negative assessments of the self, reduce self-confidence and self-efficacy, increase
vigilance, and lead to more self-deprecating and pessimistic attributions and
judgments.”
Shortly after this mood study, Shoda (2002) found that “central to this emerging
conception of personality is the idea that mental representations of the psychological
meaning of situations, representations of self, others, possible future events, goals,
affects, beliefs, expectations, as well as behavioral alternatives are not isolated, but are
interconnected.” Shoda’s study supported his hypothesis by affirming that “the
thoughts, affects, and behaviors that an individual typically experiences are a function
not of that individual's personality system alone, but rather a function of the
interpersonal system of which the individual is a part.”
Rather than a web-like interaction of interpersonal elements, Tracey found a
pattern of circularity in interpersonal communication styles: “The results of the study
indicate that interpersonal behavior elicits complementary behavior. Each behavior
constrains the subsequent behavior of others in initial interactions. This pattern of
interpersonal constraint in general follows the interpersonal models of Carson (1969),
Kiesler (1983), and Wiggins (1979) even though there exist some differences among
these three models.”
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One of the greatest inhibitors in effective interpersonal communication styles is the
Neurotic personality. Anolli undertook a study of personality traits; “the personality traits
taken into consideration were those proposed by Eysenck, who classifies them in three
basic dimensions: Psychoticism (P), Extraversion (E), and Neuroticism (N).”
Neuroticism, also known as emotional instability, is the extent to which one experiences
angst, anxiety, depression, insecurity, and vulnerability. Weaver (1998) found those
high in neuroticism report being apprehensive, imperceptive, and frustrated when
engaged in interpersonal interaction (Tidwell). Tidwell also mentions Weaver’s work in
that Weaver “found that individuals demonstrating high extroversion were gregarious
and assertive, leading them to be very open and proactive communicators.” Interacting
with a neurotic personality does not lead to poor interpersonal communications,
however.
Tidwell (2005) approaches solutions to interacting with various personality types,
stating that “knowing if a newcomer is neurotic or introverted would provide business
communication practitioners with a reason to use differential approaches to information
dispersal, thereby reducing uncertainty and avoiding potential communication and
performance problems.”
Personality clashes continue to play a major role in all aspects of life, not just the
work environment. What has changed since 1953 is our ability to recognize a number of
elements that effect our interpersonal communications, and even begin to find ways of
working around them. These solutions apply not only to specific interpersonal
communications, but to overall job performance and satisfaction. Williamson found a
direct correlation in that “personality traits are significantly related to job and career
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satisfaction for the information professionals.” More specifically, he points out that
“information professionals who were more optimistic, emotionally resilient, team minded,
visionary in their work style, and hard working were more likely to report higher levels of
job satisfaction.”
The ability to communicate with colleagues and clients is imperative in today’s everincreasingly information-based society. While the business world is getting harder to
navigate and more demanding, so too is the classification of skills it takes to succeed in
the business world. What were traditionally labeled "soft skills" in the past, have now
been identified as the "hard skills" in today's business environment, One of these skills
is interpersonal skills (Buhler).” A good personality trait for anyone in a job demanding
interpersonal communication is Extroversion. Henderson claims extraverts are more
fluent in speech production and more effective in constructive verbal communication.”
In some ways, many of the more recent studies have concurred that Henderson’s
claims are true, however, a number take into account other factors influencing the
success or failure of both communication and leadership in the workplace. Green
indicates the importance of personality in leadership: “It is clear that under conditions of
threat, leaders are apt to respond in different manners depending upon their
personality,” but Matthews suggests a more interrelational nature: “whether a trait is
manifested is conditional upon both the situation and on interpersonal dynamics.”
There is more involved than a person’s personality traits and the interpersonal
communication itself. The situation, the materials or information to be communicated, all
play a part in the success or failure of the communication – making the theories
surrounding interpersonal communication and personality trait interaction more web-like
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– concerning more than just one element and with all elements interdependent on one
another.
A clear example of this can be found in the Web itself. Online (Internet-based)
virtual communications are increasing on a number of levels, from personal chat rooms
and groups to Human Resource-based mediation conferences. Anolli’s study addressed
a basic question concerning whether there was a prevailing personality type and a
predominant value that drove the behaviors of individuals using Chat as a means to
develop on-line relationships. Of note in the findings were that “individuals who have a
noticeable inclination toward introversion and neuroticism put their "real me" in the
Internet, while extroverted ones put it in traditional face-to-face social interactions”
(Anolli).
Gordon also addressed role-playing online. “Role-playing and personality are
inseparable. The socio-identities we project to others are highly flexible, and are
minutely adjusted to the particular situations in which we find ourselves.” In addition, it
was noted that “people become remarkably disinhibited on the Internet, and are likely to
try out entirely new modes of self-presentation, personality, and/or behavior they would
never attempt during face-to-face meetings.” The results of these studies concerning
online or virtual communications have a direct impact on the information professional.
Radford suggests the importance and application of new theories on interpersonal
communication for information professionals: “An important implication is that because
these interpersonal dimensions are present in virtual reference environments, chat
librarians and clients need to be aware of their impact on the reference process and
skilled in the basics of interpersonal communication.”
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From modifying placement of persons in jobs where manager and employee
personalities are compatible (1953) to today’s views of modifying communication styles
based on awareness of the receiver’s personality type, it is clear we’ve come a long way
in understanding how personality affects interpersonal communication. While we’ve
come a long way, it is clear we still have a long way to go. The fluid and dynamic
nature of interpersonal communication has made it difficult to accurately identify exactly
what influences what during the course of communication. What is abundantly clear is
that there are a lot of interrelated factors – almost weblike– that apply in every
interpersonal communication: from situation and setting, to communication
requirements (what needs to be communicated) to personality and mood. Add to that
(now) whether or not the communication is F2F (face-to-face) or virtual, and it is clear
there is a lot more to learn about personality traits and their effect on interpersonal
communication.
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