LO 3. Describe your stress personality type.
Student answers will vary from Self-Assessment Exercise 2.2 Stress Personality Types. People have a Type A personality;
LO 4. List causes of stress, and be more effective at controlling stress.
Causes of stress include: personality type, organizational climate, management behavior, and the degree of job satisfaction.
LO 5. Describe the four learning styles and know which is your preferred learning style.
LO 6. Describe six biases influencing perception.
1. Stereotyping is the process of generalizing behavior of all members of a group.
2. Frame of reference refers to our tendency to see things from a narrow focus that directly affects us.
LO 7. Explain the importance of first impressions and how to project a positive image.
We only have up to four minutes to project a positive image. If we present a negative first impression to people our future
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
The following critical thinking questions can be used for class discussion and/or as written assignments to develop
communication skills. The questions can also be used for exams.
Note: The questions are based on opinions and personal experiences, so there are no correct answers.
1. Which personality traits used by others tend to irritate you? Which personality traits do you tend to use that irritate
others? How can you improve your personality?
2. Do you think that the Big Five or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is the more effective measure of personality?
3. Which cause of stress do you think is the major contributor to employee stress in organizations? What can organizations
do to help eliminate or reduce employee stress?
4. Do you agree that intelligence (general mental ability) is the most valid predictor of job performance? Should
organizations give an IQ test and hire based on the results? Why or why not?
5. How do you know if your perception or that of others is the correct interpretation of reality?
6. Is it ethical to judge and stereotype people based on a few seconds or minutes during first impressions? How do your
first impressions help and hinder your human relations?
WORK APPLICATION SAMPLE ANSWERS
You may give these student answers below as part of your lecture before, after, or in place of getting student answers. You
may have students write out their answers and pass them in to be graded. Another option is to use them on the exams.
All the work application questions appear in the test bank so that you can assess students’ ability to apply the concepts to
their work world.
You may also want to limit the number of work applications that you expect students to pass in for grading and/or to know
for the exams. For example, testing, you could select 2-5 from each chapter that you believe are the most important things
that students should be able to apply to their jobs. Assume you have a total of 10 for an exam. You could tell students to
have prepared answers to all 10 and that you will select 3 of them for the exam.
WA: 1. Describe your Big Five personality profile.
SA- I’m primarily conscientious then surgency, as I like to do a good job and to take charge. I’m also open to experience
WA 2 Select a present or past boss and describe how his or her personality profile affected behavior, human relations, and
performance.
SA —My boss had a strong surgency personality. Thus, his behavior was autocratic and employees had to behave as they
WA 3- What was your stress personality type score and letter? Should you work at changing your personality type?
Explain why or why not? Will you change?
SA- I scored a 90 Type A. I guess I should let up a bit. I do feel stressed out occasionally. I will not change because I’m
WA 4- Following the controlling stress plan 1. identify your major stressor, 2. determine its cause and consequences, and
SA- 1. Taking a test is my major stressor. 2. A major cause is the fact that I tend to wait until the night before the test to
study, which causes me to feel pressured. I tend to stay up late and feel poor the next day. 3. In the future I will start to
WA 5- Of the five ways to eliminate or decrease stress, which do you do best; which needs the most improvement and
why? What will you do, if anything, to improve in this area?
SA- I’m on the basketball team so I exercise regularly. My weakness is junk food. In the future I will try to eat more fresh
WA 6- What is your preferred learning style? Are the characteristics of the style a good description of you? Explain. Are
you flexible in changing styles?
SA- Converger, I definitely prefer learning by doing and thinking. I dislike sitting though lecture courses taking notes. I’m
WA 7- Think about the person you work/worked with whom you enjoy/enjoyed working with the most. Identify that
person’s learning style. Is it the same as yours? What is it that you enjoy about the person?
SA- I enjoy working with Judy the most. Judy is an accommodator and so am I. We get along so well, we share our
WA 8- Think about the person you work/worked with whom you dislike/disliked working with the most. Identify that
person’s learning style. Is it the same as yours? What is it that you dislike about the person?
SA- Rick was a jerk. His learning style was diverger and mine is converger. Rick was so slow to take action to get the job
WA 9- Give an example of when you and someone else experienced the same situation but perceived it differently. Which
of the five biases to perception seems to be the major reason for the difference in perceptions? Explain your answer.
SA- I play softball and often the play at first-base is close. When my team is at bat and the play is real close the people on
my team call him safe, while the team in the field call him out. This is due to selective exposure, both teams see what they
WA 10- Give an example of when others made a positive and negative first impression on you. Explain the causes
(appearance, nonverbal communications, behavior) of their success or failure.
SA- I once had this blind date with this girl. When I met her she had this ugly blue and white polka-dot dress, and her hair
Once when I went to this library I walked up to the counter and there was an attractive young woman behind the desk, she
WA 11- Which area of projecting a positive image (appearance, nonverbal communications, behavior) is your strongest
and weakest? Explain your answers. What will you do to project a positive image in the future?
SA- My strongest area is appearance. I always dress and groom neatly. My weakest area is nonverbal communications.
APPLICATION SITUATION ANSWERS
NOTE: There are multiple choice test questions in the test bank that are similar to the AS in the text to assess application
ability.
Personality Dimensions AC 2-1
1. B Agreeableness. Juan is being sociable.
2. E Openness to experience. The leader is seeking change.
3. C Adjustment. Ron is being unstable, while Susan is stable.
4. A. Surgency. The leader is using dominance behavior.
5. D Conscientiousness. This is dependable behavior.
Stressors AS 2-2
6. D. Job satisfaction. The person is stating satisfaction with the job.
7. A. Personality type. Pushing yourself is a characteristic of type A.
8. C. Management effectiveness. Management seems to be ineffective with micromanaging.
9. A. Personality type. This is a characteristic of type B.
10. B. Organizational climate. Morale is part of organizational climate.
Learning Styles, AS-2.3
11. A. Accommodator. They tend to go by gut feeling rather than rational standard approaches. Accommodators tend to do
well in sales.
12. D. Assimilator. Being impractical is a major con of the extreme assimilator.
13. C. Converger. They are solution oriented and want practical ideas. They tend to be impatient with assimilators.
14. B. Diverger. Slow decision making is the major con of divergers.
15. C. Converger. They enjoy technical jobs and solving problems.
Bias in Perception, AS-2.4
16. B. Frame of reference. One’s own point of view if called frame of reference.
17. D. Selective exposure. Joan appears to hearing selectively.
18. C. Expectations. George seems to only hear what he expects too.
19. E. Interest. May doesn’t seem to be interested in work, but is interested in talking sports.
20. A. Stereotyping. This is an assumption that all blacks like basketball.
CASE—ANSWERS
Mark Cuban: Billionaire Entrepreneur with Unique Personality Traits
1. Personality is a relatively stable set of traits that aids in explaining and predicting individual behavior. What
are some of Mark Cuban’s traits that can explain his behavior during Maverick games?
Mark Cuban is outspoken, aggressive, confident, successful, competitive and determined.
2. Would you describe Mark Cuban as a Type A or Type B personality type?
According to the text, a Type A personality is characterized as fast moving, hard driving, time conscious,
3. Why is Mark Cuban described as someone with an internal locus of control?
People with an external locus of control (externalizers) believe that they have little control over their performance
or destiny. Internalizers believe they are in control and are open to new experiences to improve performance.
4. The Big Five Model of Personality categorizes traits into the dimensions of surgency, agreeableness,
adjustment, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. Which of these dimensions are strongest or clearly
evident in Mark Cuban’s personality?
It would appear from the case that the surgency, conscientiousness and open to experience dimensions are the
5. Is Mark Cuban projecting a positive or negative image with his eccentric behavior during Maverick games?
As mentioned in the text, people’s attitudes toward us (our image), are developed by our appearance, nonverbal
communications, and behavior. Mark Cuban does not dress like the typical owner. He dresses in jeans and tie-shirt
when he attends Maverick games. He can be seen smiling, laughing and shaking hands with fans. His behavior is
Cumulative Case Question
6. Mark Cuban has had a lot of disagreements with the NBA Commissioner that have resulted in fines totaling
almost a million dollars. Each incident brings a lot of publicity to the team and Cuban himself; most of it
negative. Chapter 1 discusses three alternatives for resolving human relations problems – change the other
person, change the situation or change yourself. Which approach or combination of approaches will you
recommend for Mark Cuban and why?
The better approach is for Mark Cuban to try to change himself. He can change his behavior to be more in line with
NBA guidelines. Another approach may be for him to change the situation by not being so close to the action. He can
CASE EXERCISE AND ROLE-PLAY—There are no answers
OBJECTIVE CASE 2 ANSWERS
Personality Conflict
NOTE: There are no cases in the test bank. However, there are multiple choice test questions in the test bank that are
similar to case questions 1-10 to assess application ability.
1. B. Aggressive—passive. Wonda is pushy, he’s not.
2. D. Suspicious—trusting. Rich is gullible, she’s not.
7. D. Assimilator. Logical analysis is characteristic of assimilators.
8. A. Accommodator. Intuition is another word for “gut feelings,” which is the way accommodators like to make decisions.
9. C. Expectations. It seems they expected to work with people like themselves. 10. C. Both. Good human relations
11. As stated in chapter one, when we face human relations problems we have three alternatives—1. change the other
12. Carol should get the two of them to realize that both of them will need to make some changes, and get them both to
Role Play. You may have students role-play being Carol and having a meeting with Rich and Wonda. More detail on how
to handle conflicts will be covered in Chapter 8.
VIDEOS
Hot Seat Videos and Behavior Model Videos are available to be used with this chapter. See separate Instructor Resources
Guide for each type of video.
SKILL BUILDING EXERCISE, SB-2.1 IDEAS
Learning Styles
Total time (10-40 minutes)
If you show the video and discuss the effects different learning styles have on a group, just do procedures 1 and 2. Take
about 10 minutes to let the class break into groups according to learning styles and to discuss their preferred styles. Ask the
class which learning style is the best? Some say theirs and others state the real answer. There is no one best learning style,
all have advantages and disadvantages. However, being flexible can help your human relations.
To keep the exercise to 20 minutes do procedures 1-3 plus a conclusion, and application if you have time, if not have them
do it after class.
You can probably do this exercise in 30 minutes effectively. To keep the exercise to 30 minutes cut down on some of the
times. Procedures 2, 3, and 5 may not take as long as stated below. The conclusion can be shorter and the application done
after class.
Below is the recommended approximate time for a 40 minute period.
8:00 Procedure 1 3 minutes
8:03 “ 2 8 “
8:11 “ 3 10 “
8:21 “ 4 4 “
8:25 “ 5 5 “
8:30 “ 6 2 “
8:32 Conclusion 5 “
8:37 Application 3 “
8:40 40
Conclusion– In procedure 5 students should realize that all learning styles make positive contributions and should be
included. Generally, mixed groups make better decision because they take advantage of all strengths. We need to be aware
of our learning style pros and cons and utilize others input to maximize performance. Or in other words, to be effective in
human relations, we must be able to work with people of different learning styles than we have.
Skills Assessment of SB 2-1 (Questions and Answers also in Test Bank)
In the test bank, there are four descriptions of people. Students are asked to identify the learning style of the person by the
description. The description is similar to the “Characteristics” of each learning style in the text. The skill assessment is the
ability to identify a person’s learning style.
If you plan to test student on SB 2-1, you may want to tell them that on the exam you will give them a description of a
person’s behavior similar to the “Characteristics” statements in the text. Doing video exercise 2-1, which includes showing
behavior model video 2, is recommend as it focuses on identifying the four styles at once. The video exercise is more
difficult than the exam question descriptions because the exam questions include only one style. The four descriptions are:
1. Following is a description of Chris’s behavior. After reading the description, identify the learning style preferred by
Chris. Chris is a sales rep for your company. Chris likes to make quick decisions based primarily on input from people
without getting a lot of details. One of the things Chris likes about being a sales rep is the freedom to setting the sales
schedule and the challenge of trying to close sales. When it comes to training, Chris found that role playing how to make
sales was the best approach to increasing sales skills.
Chris’s Learning Style is ______________________
2. Following is a description of Chris’s behavior. After reading the description, identify the learning style preferred by
Chris. Chris is a nurse in your hospital. One of the reasons Chris became a nurse is his concern for helping others. Chris
likes to take his time when making decisions and gathers lots of information and seeks out a variety of alternatives. Chris
has learned a lot about nursing by watching other nurses, and he uses the techniques he likes on the job. However, Chris is
by no means a copier, as he has his own unique style, which is very successful.
Chris’s Learning Style is ______________________
3. Following is a description of Chris’s behavior. After reading the description, identify the learning style preferred by
Chris. Chris is an accountant at your company. Chris likes the objectivity of the job dealing with numbers and clear logical
accounting processes. When people from other departments come to Chris for help, Chris focuses on solving problems and
does not spend much time socializing. Although Chris enjoyed college, Chris believes you really learn about accounting
when you get on the job and run the real numbers.
Chris’s Learning Style is ______________________
4. Following is a description of Chris’s behavior. After reading the description, identify the learning style preferred by
Chris. Chris is a marketing researcher for your company. Chris enjoys marketing research because it is fun to gather data
from a variety of sources and put it all together to make decisions about how to sell products. Chris always follows the
scientific process when conducting research. Chris believes that questionnaires are useful, but actually getting into stores
and watching people select products is more valuable information.
Chris’s Learning Style is ______________________
SKILL-BUILDING EXERCISE 2-2 IDEAS
Personality Perception
Total time (15-30 minutes)
To keep the exercise to 20 minutes use groups of two and skip procedure 5. If your students need more time than 5
minutes, you can extend the time. After 5 minutes of procedure 3 ask if the class needs more time and give it to them if
they do.
Recommended Approximate Time for a 25-minute period:
8:00 Procedure 1 3 minutes
8:03 Procedure 2 5 minutes
8:08 Procedure 3 5 “
8:13 Procedure 4 5 “
8:18 Procedure 5 5 “
8:23 Conclusion 1 “
8:24 Application 1 “
8:25 Done
Testing on Skill-Building Exercise 2-2
Rather than write examples of personality types, I suggest using Work Application number 1 and or 2 as a skill building
question (WA 1. Describe your Big Five Personality profile. WA 2. Select a present or past boss and describe how his or
her personality profile affected behavior, human relations, and performance in your department.)
There is no one correct answer. Grade based on, did the student list each of the Big Five dimensions? Are the
traits and behavior listed for each correct for that dimension?
SKILL BUILDING EXERCISE, SB-2.3 IDEAS
First Impressions
Total time (15-45 minutes)
Select a time limit and option:
15 minutes.
Recommended approximate time for a 15 minute period.
8:00 Procedure 1 3 minutes
8:03 “ 2 4 minutes exactly
8:07 “ 3 8 “
20 minutes.
Add a conclusion, application, and/or sharing to the 15 minute period.
30 minutes.
Do the exercise twice. Have students form new partners.
45 minutes.
Same as 30 minutes but add a conclusion, application, and/or sharing.
Skills Assessment of SB 2-3 (No questions in Test Bank)
There are no questions in the test bank based on this exercise because first impressions are based on behavior and image
projection. Written descriptions of first impressions are not reliable measures of skill at projecting a positive first
impression.