Behavior and Personality
Overview
 Explaining and
predicting behavior
 Personality theories
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Quick Write
How well are you able to “read” the behavior
of people close to you? Can you give an
instance when you knew in advance how
someone would act? Explain how you knew.
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
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Explaining and
Predicting Behavior
Visible Aspects
Strategies
Objectives
Policies and procedures
Structure
Technology
Formal authority
Chains of command
Hidden Aspects
Attitudes
Perceptions
Group norms
Informal interactions
Interpersonal and
Intergroup conflicts
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Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Adapted from Fundamentals of Management, 5th Ed.
By Robbins/DeCenzo, p. 262
Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005
Introduction
 Personality is a potent force in shaping
behavior
 The better you learn to “read” different
personality types, the better you will be
able to work with others
 Organizational behavior (OB) is the
study of the actions of people at work
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Goals of Organizational
Behavior
 Explain and help predict behavior
 Allow managers to understand why
employees do some things and not
others
 Allow managers to be able to predict
how employees may respond to
different actions they might take
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
OB Focuses on
Four Kinds of Employee Behavior
 Productivity
 Absenteeism
 Turnover
 Organizational
Citizenship
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
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Three Elements of Attitude
 Cognitive (thinking)
 Affective (feeling)
 Behavioral (action)
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
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Employee Attitudes that
Concern Managers
 Job Satisfaction
an employee’s general attitude toward his
or her job
 Job Involvement
degree to which the employee sees
success on the job as important to
success as a whole
 Organizational Commitment
an employee’s loyalty to an organization
and whether he or she identifies with the
organization
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Optional Exercise
“Job” Attitudes in School
(1) attending school (classes)
(2) studying and preparing
for class
(3) taking tests, writing
papers, reports
(4) engaging in
extracurricular activities
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
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“Job” Satisfaction Survey
5 = totally satisfied
4 = somewhat satisfied
3 = barely satisfied
2 = dissatisfied
1 = totally dissatisfied
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
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“Job” Involvement Survey
5 = very important
4 = somewhat important
3 = barely important
2 = unimportant
1 = completely unimportant
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Organizational
Commitment Survey
5 = strongly committed
4 = somewhat committed
3 = barely committed
2 = not committed
1 = against the organization
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
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Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is any incompatibility
between two or more attitudes or between
behavior and attitudes
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
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Dissonance Challenge
If you were a manager who opposes laying off
workers and your company announced a layoff of
1,000 people in your division, would you go along
with it (actions do not match attitude), object to it,
but keep your job (actions do not match attitude),
change your opinion by justifying the layoff in this
situation (attitude changes to maintain congruence)
or resign your position in protest (actions match
attitude)?
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Personality Theories
 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
 The Big Five Model
 Emotional Intelligence
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Myers Briggs Type Indicator
 What energizes you?
The extraversion and introversion scale (EI)
 How do you gather information?
The sensing and intuition scale (SN)
 How do you prefer to make decisions?
The thinking and feeling scale (TF)
 What is your life style preference?
The judging and perceiving scale (JP)
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
The Big Five Model
Dimension
Definition Parameters
Characteristics
Extroversion
Sociability
Introversion Assertiveness, energy
Agreeableness
Compliance
Suspicion
Conscientiousness
Discipline
Impulsivity
Order, efficiency
Emotional Stability
Volatility
Steadiness
Anxiety, hostility…
Openness to experience
Curiosity
Trust, modesty
Conservation Ideas, Ambiguities
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Adapted from Fundamentals of Management, 5th Ed.
By Robbins/DeCenzo, p. 268
Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005
Emotional Intelligence
Five Dimensions

Self awareness: being aware of your own feelings

Self-management: being able to manage your
emotions and impulses

Self-motivation: being able to persist in the face of
setbacks and discouragement

Empathy: being able to “read” others and sense
how they’re feeling

Social skills: being able to handle other people’s
feelings
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Five Personality Traits that
Explain Behavior
 Locus of control
 Machiavellianism
 Self-Esteem
 Self-Monitoring
 Risk Propensity
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
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Holland’s Six
Personality Types
TYPE
CHARACTERISTICS
PERSONALITY
SAMPLE
OCCUPATIONS
Realistic Prefers physical Shy, genuine, persistent,
activities that require
stable, conforming
skill, strength, and
practical
coordination
Mechanic, drill-press
operator, assembly-line
worker, farmer
Investigative Prefers
activities involving
thinking organizing, and
understanding
Analytical, original,
curious independent
Biologist, economist,
mathematician, reporter
Social Prefers activities
that involve helping and
developing others
Sociable, friendly,
cooperative,
understanding
Social worker, teacher,
counselor, clinical
psychologist
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Adapted from Fundamentals of Management, 5th Ed.
By Robbins/DeCenzo, p. 271
Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005
Holland’s Six
Personality Types
TYPE
CHARACTERISTICS
PERSONALITY
SAMPLE
OCCUPATIONS
Conventional Prefers ruleregulated, orderly, and
unambiguous activities
Conforming, efficient,
practical,
unimaginative,
inflexible
Accountant, corporate
manager, bank teller,
file clerk
Enterprising Prefers verbal
activities where there are
opportunities to influence
others and attain power
Self-confident,
ambitious, energetic,
domineering
Lawyer, real estate
agent, public relations
specialist, small
business manager
Artistic Prefers ambiguous
and unsystematic activities
that allow creative
expression
Imaginative, disorderly,
idealistic, emotional,
impractical
Painter, musician,
writer, interior
decorator
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Adapted from Fundamentals of Management, 5th Ed.
By Robbins/DeCenzo, p. 271
Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005
Relationship Among
Holland’s Six Personality Types
Realistic
(R)
A
ing
s
i
pr
r
e
t
)
En (E
e
tiv
ga
s ti )
(I
Con
vent
iona
l
(C )
e
Inv
tic
is
rt A)
(
Social
(S)
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Adapted from Fundamentals of Management, 5th Ed.
By Robbins/DeCenzo, p. 272
Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005
Optional Exercise
Personality and Jobs
Based on your understanding of Holland’s six basic
employee personality types, rate your personal
preferences from 1 (most preferred) to 6 (least preferred).
After completing your personal preference rating, see how
well you can do predicting the preferences of those in your
group. Rate each group member as you see them.
Discuss your answers together and be sure to include an
explanation of why you responded as you did.
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Entrepreneurs and Personality
 If you look at Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey as
two entrepreneurs, it is clear that their
personality types are very different
 One thing the experts are sure of is that
entrepreneurs are proactive
 Researchers use the term proactive personality
to describe those individuals who are more
prone to take actions to influence their
environment
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Review
 Organizational behavior (OB) is the study of
the actions of people at work
 The study of OB focuses on four kinds of
employee behavior – productivity, absenteeism,
turnover, and organizational citizenship
 The three elements of attitude are the cognitive
component (thinking), the affective component
(feeling), and the behavioral component
(action)
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Review
 Three specific concerns about employee job
attitudes are job satisfaction, job involvement,
and organizational commitment
 Cognitive dissonance is any incompatibility
between two or more attitudes or between
behavior and attitudes
 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a method of
identifying personality types, assesses people
according to four dimensions of personality and
leads to 16 different personality types
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Review
 The four dimensions the Myers-Briggs
classification measures are extraversion and
introversion (EI), sensing and intuitive (SN),
thinking and feeling (TF), and judging and
perceiving (JP)
 The five elements in the Five-Factor model
are extroversion, agreeableness,
conscientiousness, emotional stability, and
openness
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Review
 Emotional intelligence is an assortment
of noncognitive skills, capabilities, and
competencies that influences a person’s
ability to cope with environmental
demands and pressures
 The five aspects of emotional intelligence
are self-awareness, self-management,
self-motivation, empathy, and social skills
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Review
 The five elements that are most important in explaining
personal behavior in an organization are locus of
control, Machiavellianism, self-esteem, self-monitoring,
and risk propensity
 John Holland’s six job-fit “types” are realistic,
investigative, social, conventional, enterprising, and
artistic
 Researchers use the term proactive personality to
describe those individuals who are more prone to take
actions to influence their environment
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
Summary
 Explaining and
predicting behavior
 Personality theories
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
What’s Next…
Group Behavior
Chapter 7 Lesson 1
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