Running head: MSM 500 BEHAVIORAL INSTRUMENTS
MSM 500 Behavioral Instruments
Edward M Kuligowski
Bellevue University
MSM 500
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MSM 500 BEHAVIORAL INSTRUMENTS
Abstract
“This course focuses on the management of self and others with an emphasis on administration
and interpretation of diagnostic instruments that help clarify behaviors and skills that influence
organizational and interpersonal outcomes” ("MSM 500"). In this course we applied the skills
gained from the Jung-Myers Briggs personality test, Understanding Learning Styles instrument
and Brain Dominance, Emotional Intelligence, Tolerance of Ambiguity, and Locus of Control.
This paper will summarize the results of these instruments and relate them to how they can be
beneficial to managers in the industrial and educational environments.
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MSM 500 Behavioral Instruments
Management of People in Society (MSM 500) covered the application of several
behavioral instruments including the Myers Briggs personality test, Understanding Learning
Styles instrument and Brain Dominance, Emotional Intelligence, Tolerance of Ambiguity, and
Locus of Control. These instruments proved to be useful tool in the understanding and managing
one’s self and others.
Jung-Myers-Briggs provides a data set into how an individual will take in information for
a given task and what recharges your batteries by determining whether a person is extraversion
or introversion. An extraversion individual will look to outside sources to process problems and
gain insights to a solution, and enjoys the company of others to reflect and draw from.
Introversion types look within for answers and guidance and don’t rely on outside help, and
prefer solitude and isolation. The information is then processed by a sensing type individual or
an intuitive type. Sensing types tend to focus on the hard concrete and here and know of the
situation. Furthermore, an intuitive type thinks on possibilities and what if scenarios. The
decisions are then made based on rather the individual bases them on thinking or feeling.
Thinking types rely on hard facts and data to support decision making; whereas a feeling
individual bases decisions on perception and impact on others. Finally the execution of the task
is based on an individual who is either judging or perceptive. Judging people like to organize,
use lists, and complete the task and move on. Moreover, a perceptive person doesn’t rely on list
and order but focuses on the future and the impact on other individuals (Bellevue University [],
n.d.) .
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After the administration of the JMB personality test I learned that my personality code is
E22N88T1J56. Being an extravert I tend to gain information from outsides sources and like
spending time with friends and family. The test classified me a slightly extravert and I have to
agree. I tend to favor reliable outside sources for information, but lean on personal experience
and knowledge to get me through the day. In addition I sometime prefer solitude over crowds to
just sit back and clear my mind. The study classified me as having a highly expressed intuitive
personality. Although I do like my information to be concrete in nature I often seek out creative
solutions to problems. The study also classified me as slightly thinking when expressing my
personality. Many times I tend to look and think of situations in a logical point of view, but my
faith and compassion still allows me to be a feeling type individual. Often I find myself applying
logic to feeling decisions. Lastly the study classified me as a moderately expressed judging
personality. I also agree with this finding as well. I tend to get things done through organization
and effort, but when given the opportunity relaxing and having a good time is what my heart
really prefers.
ENTJ’s are classified as leaders according to the Myers-Briggs foundation. I feel this is
a true statement in that ENTJ’s tend to exhibit a balance between all the 16 different scenarios’s
generated from the study. This is beneficial as a member of management because it provides the
manger with the ability to relate to other individuals through a better understanding of Emotional
Intelligence, relay information in a way that makes sense to the individuals receiving it through a
high Tolerance of Ambiguity, make informative and confident decisions with the provided
information with a internal Locus of Control, and get the task done with a judging type
personality blended with a perceiving personality type to make the task somewhat enjoyable yet
still accomplishing the goal.
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Having an understanding of personality types is beneficial to managers and educators
when forming groups and teams to perform task. Selecting appropriate personality types to work
together can make or break a team when it comes to completing the set goals. In addition
conflict is something managers deal with at least 20% of their day (Farner, 2008). Different
personalities don’t mix well and often interrupt the daily task that need to be performed in the
organization. Knowing how to handle and approach different personality type as well as
knowing how these types will interact with your personality can be very beneficial when dealing
with conflict within an organization.
The Learning Styles in the Work Place and Brian Dominance instruments determine an
individual’s learning style and how they process the received information. With regards to
learning styles individual are classified in to three categories, visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.
Visual individuals take in information through organization, list making, and watching
demonstration. In addition a visual style learning individual plans in advance, deliberates through
problems, and becomes quiet and impatient when long explanations are required. Auditory
individuals learn through verbal instructions and talks through pros and cons of problems.
Auditory individuals are easily distracted and give lengthy repetitive response to problems.
Kinesthetic individual learn the best with hands on involvement. Kinesthetic people seem
distracted during auditory and visual presentations, but attack problems with energy and physical
exertion. They tend to gesture when communicating and stand close when engaged in
conversation (University, n.d.). Brian Dominance refers to what hemisphere you use to process
the information in conjunction with your learning style. Right Brained Individuals prefer picture
and charts or graphs, videos, talking about feelings, social activities, music, and attention to the
“big picture, and creative activities and projects. Right Brained Individuals are considered
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random, intuitive, and creative. Left Brained Individuals prefer logic, sequential information,
rationalization, analytical thinking, objectiveness, and accuracy. Left Brained individuals are
considered logical, sequential, and rational (Caine & Caine, 11-30-2010).
Learning styles and Brain Dominance describe how individual’s processes information
and is beneficial in industrial and educational setting. As a manager or an instructor knowing
how to present the information to certain individuals based on how they take in information and
process it will help eliminate conflicts, stress caused by miscommunication, and improve
efficiency (University, n.d.). In industrial settings training on machinery and production
procedures need to be conveyed so there is a complete understanding to ensure product quality
and that quotas are meet during the shift. Knowing how your employees perceive the information
and process it will help you as a manager relay that information to your constituents to ensure the
job is preformed correctly. In addition the style in which individuals learn should be considered
when communicating the task to an individual. Visual people as stated above should be given
written directions and perhaps a training video, whereas a kinesthetic person should be given
more of hands on type demonstration. In educational settings learning style should be
considered when instructing students and conveying the topics to your students. By
understanding an individual’s brain dominance coupled with the individuals learning style a
manger can effectively present the information to the individual in order to effectively achieve
the goal.
After administering the instrument to myself I learned that I am a Visual12 learner with a
close balance of Auditory10 and Kinesthetic10 learning types. I tend to learn quickly through
visual aids coupled with auditory instructions and then reinforce the process with a more hands
on approach to anchor the instructions. Relating back to my personality type test I favor the
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more creative intuitive form of information processing. Therefore, I am classified as being
Right Brained8 dominance although I do also favor a Left Brian5 approach to information
processing. This result supports my theory about ENTJ personalities favoring a blend of both
creative sensing, and perceiving personalities along with structured, thinking, and judging
personalities.
Emotional Intelligence can be defined as the recognition of emotions in our self as well
as others for motivating ourselves, and the management of emotions in both ourselves and
relationships (Goleman, 1998). The Queendom EI instrument is a gage used to establish your
ability to understand and identify your own emotions as well as the emotions of others. After
taking the test I scored a 67 and received the following explanation of my score. “You are
reasonably skilled when it comes to the core ability of identifying, perceiving and expressing
emotions in yourself and others. There is still, however, room for growth. Overall, your skills in
this area of emotional intelligence aid you in the process of reading others, understanding how
they feel, and effectively identifying your own emotions. These skills form the basis of your
ability to relate to the emotions of others as well as well as your ability to understand yourself.
Review the results below for further information on areas that could use further improvement.”
(http:\\Queendom.com). As the above summary state I have a reasonable ability to identify
perceive and express emotions in myself and others. These skills are important to a manger in
order to maintain what Goleman called a star performance rating with your subordinates. EI
gives the manager the skills need to relate and communicate with their subordinates in order to
give instructions for task, handle conflict, relate to employees on a personal level to maintain a
high level of citizenship behavior, and establish a people first organization. People first
organization demonstrates low rates of turnovers due to increased loyalty to the organization. In
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today’s economy it is important for an organization to demonstrate an understanding of EI in
retaining talent and dealing with customers. Organizations with high levels of EI are projected
as easy to work with and for and are labeled by employees a great place to work (Goleman,
1998). In the educational field EI is important in understanding how individuals perceive
information and how they react to it. Some subjects can often become emotionally charged
when discussing people positions on issues and moral stances. By understanding and have a
high degree of EI an individual can receive and relay information in a constructive and beneficial
format that will benefit in discussions and group activities in the classroom. It has been my own
experience that EI can become a valuable tool in my own place of business. If individuals
damage equipment or mess a test up I often have to approach the technician and correct the
problem. Some techs beat themselves up when data is lost or tests are ran incorrectly; and it
takes some tacked and understanding of how an individual will react when told they made a
mistake. EI has benefitted me in the ability to explain the mistakes to the tech and get the
problem corrected by avoiding conflict and further upsetting the individual.
Tolerance of Ambiguity can be defined as an individual’s ability to react to vague,
limited, hazy and unclear information (https://cyberactive.bellevue.edu/courses/1/MSM500T302_2121_1/content/_5007980_1/dir_TOA_Presentation_0621.zip/player.html, n.d.). As a
general rule of thumb an individual with a high tolerance of ambiguity tend to fair well in the
work place. These individual’s react to information quickly, utilize what information is
available, and don’t become disenfranchised by cloudy or unclear directions. The instrument we
took in the class was a short questionnaire to determine an individual’s reaction to certain
situations. I scored a 66 (18 Novelty, 30 Complexity, and 18 Insolubility). Novelty describes
your tolerance to new and unfamiliar information and situations. Your novelty tolerance in the
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work place can predict how well you except change and adapt to new challenges and
environments. Managers can chose people with a high novelty score to spear head new avenues
of business and introduce new technology and change to the group. In an educational
environment your level of novelty score could be used to determine how well you take in new
information and new concepts and ideas. On a personal note this area of ambiguity is one I have
always dealt with head on. My ability to except changes to our day to day operation without the
aid of little or no training has made me a valuable asset to our testing group. Technology is
always advancing and can prove to be beneficial to our organization at times. Often we are
called upon to evaluate this new advancement to see if it is something we can implement. That’s
where I get called in. I’m usually handed the equipment, the software and some parts and told
see if it will work for us? That’s where a high tolerance of ambiguity comes in handy.
Complexity is a measurement of the tolerance of multiple, relative, or unrelated information
being given. In many problems several sets of data are presented and can be overwhelming. The
ability to sift through that information and determine its relevance is important when problem
solving. In the industrial world, a high complexity tolerance can be important to a manager in
order to solve difficult issues and conflicts by looking at all the data available and determining
how relevant it is to the situation. In the education world this tolerance is important especially in
research. When researching a topic an individual receives an influx of information. That
information needs to be processed based on relevance to the subject and then compiled into the
student’s discoveries. In my past education life my tolerance of complexity has benefited me in
research and problem solving in school and work. It has become even more of a valuable tool
since I started my Master’s Degree. Insolubility is defined by one’s ability to solve difficult and
complex issues were little or no information is available and no clear paths are defined. In the
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industrial world this tolerance is very valuable. The ability to walk into a complex situation with
no defined solutions is great for high pressure situations were deadlines are crucial and issues
have to be solved immediately. In the educational world this is relevant in test taking, debating,
and pop quizzes. I have always excelled in this area. I am often called upon to come up with
solutions when problems need to be solved right away and they solution isn’t clear. The higher
the pressure, the more I excel, it is by far one of my best strengths
(TOA_Presentation_0621.zip/player.html, n.d.).
Locus of Control can be defined as a trait that measures the level of control that we have
over situations that happen in our lives (Farner Ph.D., 2008). There are two basic views of locus
of control. An internal locus of control can be viewed as people who have the perception that
they are in control of the destiny and the world around them. An external locus of control can be
viewed as people who feel that outside influences out of their control are the reasons for the
results of the situation. My results of the instrument taken in class were a total of 68 being
defined as “You have a fairly internal attribution style when it comes to success. In general, you
interpret your success as a result of your skills, intelligence, nice personality, etc. although you
might think it takes a bit of luck as well. As a result, you are usually able to accept the credit you
deserve. Your self-esteem, motivation, and general well-being certainly benefit from this
orientation.” (http:\\Queendom.com). In an industrial or work environment a person that views
the world through a “I’m in control of my life lens” is beneficial in that the individual is faced
with failure or challenges they will make the necessary changes to direct the outcome the way
they want it to happen. An external individual who relies on luck and faults outside influences
for their failure can become toxic to an organization over time. If one looks within for change
and reason than issues can be resolved changes and adaptations can be made and the individual
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can move on. If the individual faults luck and the system them a sort of toxic attitude can
possibly be projected to others in the group causing moral problems as is the case in the short
story “In Downsizing. Do Unto Others…..” by Bob Evans (Frost, Nord, & Krefting, 2003). In
this stories two individuals were downsized from their organization and their locus of control
determined how they reacted to the news they received about their job loss. One individual
looked within for reasons and made changes accordingly while the other chose to blame the
system and capitalism for her dismissal. In the educational field looking within to make changes
can aid in determining the outcome of your performance in the class. If you make the changes to
study more and put more effort into your work than the grade in the class is effected by your
input. If you view the grade as based on you teacher’s opinion or rather luck had anything to do
with your success than you are taking a large risk and probably not benefiting from the material.
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References
Bellevue University . (Producer). (n.d.). Myers-Briggs Video [.AVI Recording]. Available from .
Caine, G., & Caine, R. (11-30-2010). Right Brain vs. Left Brain. Retrieved from
http://www.funderstanding.com/v2/educators/right-brain-vs-left-brain/
Farner Ph.D., S. (2008). Hey! I’m the Manager...Why Aren’t You Listening to Me?. Omaha, NE:
Farner Group.
Frost, P. J., Nord, W. R., & Krefting, L. A. (2003). Managerial and Organizational Reality :
Stories of Life and Work. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Person, Prentice Hall.
Goleman, D. (1998). Working with Emotional Intelligence. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
https://cyberactive.bellevue.edu/courses/1/MSM500T302_2121_1/content/_5007980_1/dir_TOA_Presentation_0621.zip/player.html. (n.d.).
https://cyberactive.bellevue.edu/courses/1/MSM500T302_2121_1/content/_5007980_1/dir_TOA_Presentation_0621.zip/player.html
MSM 500 Course Description. (). Retrieved from www.bellevueuniversity.com