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Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
5-1
CHAPTER FIVE: Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
LEARNING OJBECTIVES
See Slides 5-2, 5-3
When you finish studying the material in this chapter, you should be able to:
• Define self-esteem, and explain how it can be improved with Branden’s six pillars
of self-esteem.
• Define self-efficacy, and explain its sources.
• Contrast high and low self-monitoring individuals, and discuss the ethical
implications of organizational identification.
• Identify and describe the Big Five personality dimensions, and specify which one
is correlated most strongly with job performance.
• Describe the proactive personality and an internal locus of control.
• Identify at least five of Gardner’s eight multiple intelligences.
• Distinguish between positive and negative emotions, and explain how they can
be judged.
• Identify the four key components of emotional intelligence, and discuss the
practical significance of emotional contagion and emotional labor.
• Explain how psychological capital, deliberate practice, luck, and humility can
pave your road to success.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Chapter 5 discusses individual differences and presents a model for understanding the
individual differences of the self-concept, personality, abilities and emotions. Self-
concept includes self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-monitoring and organizational
identification. Chapter 5 discusses personality dynamics, including the Big Five
personality dimensions and the proactive personality. This chapter also explores the
concepts of intelligence and cognitive abilities and discusses their practical implications.
This chapter describes positive and negative emotions, and explores the concepts of
emotional intelligence, emotional contagion, and emotional labor. Finally, this chapter
closes with a practical capstone section about achieving success.
Figure 5-1 provides a broad structure for integrating the various individual differences
discussed in the chapter, starting with the self-concept. Self-esteem is a belief about
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
5-2
one’s own self-worth based on an overall self-evaluation. People with high self-esteem
see themselves as worthwhile, capable, and acceptable while people with low self-
esteem view themselves in negative terms and are hampered by self-doubts. Self-
esteem can be improved, but it tends to decline in old age and it has a stronger
correlation with life satisfaction in individualistic cultures. Table 5-1 presents six pillars
of self-esteem.
Self-efficacy is a person’s belief about his or her chances of successfully accomplishing
a specific task. The sources of self-efficacy include prior experience, behavior models,
persuasion from others, and assessment of one’s physical and emotional states. Self-
efficacy beliefs influence behaviors which, in turn, become feedback for one’s base of
personal experience.
Self-monitoring represents the extent to which a person observes his or her own
behavior and adapts it to situational demands. High self-monitors regulate their self-
presentation to present the appropriate public appearance. Low self-monitors lack
either the ability or the motivation to regulate their expressive self-presentations. Those
on the high self-monitoring side experience greater career success.
Organizational identification occurs when one comes to integrate beliefs about one’s
organization into one’s identity. Employees with a strong organizational identification
may be more loyal, committed, and harder working, but if employees suspend their
critical thinking and lose their objectivity, unhealthy groupthink or lack of constructive
conflict may occur.
Personality is defined as the combination of stable physical and mental characteristics
that give an individual his or her identity. These characteristics or traits—including how
one looks, thinks, acts, and feels—are the product of interacting genetic, environmental
and organic influences and are stable over time and across cultures. The Big Five
personality dimensions, which are described in Table 5-2, are extraversion,
agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience.
Someone who has a proactive personality would be an action-oriented person who
shows initiative and perseveres to change things. Individuals differ in terms of how
much personal responsibility they take for their behavior and its consequences. Locus
of control helps explain these differences. People with an internal locus of control
believe they control the events and consequences that affect their lives. Those with an
external locus of control tend to attribute outcomes to environmental causes.
Research has demonstrated that specific personality dimensions correlate with job
performance. Despite the widespread use personality testing for making decisions
about hiring, training and promotions, faking, cheating, and illegal discrimination are
potential problems with on-the-job personality testing and the typical personality test
may not a valid predictor of job performance. Table 5-3 provides insights into how to
effectively use personality testing.
An ability represents a broad and stable characteristic responsible for a person’s
maximum performance on mental or physical tasks, while a skill is the specific capacity
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
5-3
to physically manipulate objects. Sleep deprivation is a modern-day threat to abilities,
skills, and general competence. Many Americans are sleep deprived and more
employers are creating nap-friendly quiet rooms.
Intelligence represents a person’s capacity for constructive thinking, reasoning, and
problem solving. Intelligence can be separated into two components: a general mental
ability required for all cognitive tasks, and a second component unique to the task at
hand. Table 5-4 provides definitions of the seven most frequently cited mental abilities.
A new paradigm for human intelligence includes the concept of multiple intelligences
(MIs) including not only cognitive abilities but social and physical abilities and skills.
Howard Gardner broadens the traditional cognitive abilities model of intelligence to
include social and physical abilities. His eight multiple intelligences include linguistic,
logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal,
and naturalist intelligence. Although some academic psychologists and intelligence
specialists criticize Gardner’s model as too subjective and poorly integrated, the
concept of MI may have important implications for employee selection, training, and
performance.
Emotions are complex, relatively brief responses to particular information or
experiences that change psychological and/or physiological states. Emotions can be
characterized as negative or positive. Figure 5-4 presents a typology of 10 positive and
negative emotions. Negative emotions are caused by frustration and failure in pursuing
one’s goals while positive emotions are goal congruent with an important lifetime goal.
A person’s felt emotions may not match his or her displayed emotions. Emotional
intelligence (EI) is the ability to manage oneself and one’s relationships in mature and
constructive ways and it has four components as describe in Table 5-5: self-awareness,
self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Emotional
contagion occurs when moods are transferred between individuals by one person
influencing the emotions of another person. Emotional labor is when someone displays
emotions different from felt emotions and it can be very detrimental psychologically and
physically since individuals may bottle up their emotions which are not appropriate to
display. Managers need to be sensitive to the emotional states and needs of their
people.
There are four key paving stones for your road to success: psychological capital,
deliberate practice, luck, and humility. Psychological capital (Psy-Cap) is defined as
striving for success by developing one’s self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resiliency.
Resiliency is the ability to handle pressure and quickly bounce back from personal and
career setbacks. Innate talent may play less of a role in success than the role of
preparation and deliberate practice, which is demanding and repetitive practice to
improve one’s performance. Luck is the third paving stone to success and lucky people,
through how they think and behave, make their own good fortune. Finally, it is
important to be humble. Humility involves a capability to evaluate success, failure,
work, and life without exaggeration and it is the mid-point between the two negative
extremes of arrogance and lack of self-esteem. People who are humble consider the
contributions of others and good fortune when gauging their success.
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
5-4
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. Self-Concept
i) Self-Concept Overview
(1) Figure 5-1: An Instructional Road Map for the Study of
Individual Differences in Chapters 5 and 6 presents the key
individual differences discussed in this and the next chapter.
See Slide 5-4
(2) Self-concept: person’s self-perception as a physical, social,
spiritual being.
(3) Cognitions: a person’s knowledge, opinions, or beliefs.
ii) Self-Esteem See Slide 5-5
(1) Self-Esteem Overview
(a) Self-esteem: belief about one’s own self-worth based on an
overall self-evaluation.
(b) People with high self-esteem see themselves as worthwhile,
capable, and acceptable while people with low self-esteem view
themselves in negative terms and are hampered by self-doubts.
(2) Changes in Self-Esteem during Adulthood
(a) Research indicates that self-esteem increases during young and
middle adulthood, reaches a peak at about age 60 years, and
then declines in old age.
(3) Self-Esteem across Cultures
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
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(a) In a survey of 13,118 students from 31 countries worldwide, a
moderate positive correlation was found between self-esteem
and life satisfaction.
(b) The relationship was stronger in individualistic cultures.
(c) People in individualistic cultures tend to focus on themselves
while people in collectivist cultures “are socialized to fit into the
community and to do their duty.”
(4) Can General Self-Esteem Be Improved?
(a) Table 5-1: Branden’s Six Pillars of Self-Esteem identifies the
following pillars of self-esteem: See Slide 5-6
(i) Live consciously.
(ii) Be self-accepting.
(iii)Take personal responsibility.
(iv)Be self-assertive.
(v) Live purposefully.
(vi)Have personal integrity.
(b) Low self-esteem can be raised by focusing on the desirable
characteristics possessed rather than the lack undesirable
characteristics. See Slide 5-7
iii) Self-Efficacy See Slide 5-8
(1) Self-Efficacy Overview
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
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(a) Self-efficacy: is a person’s belief about his or her chances of
successfully accomplishing a specific task.
(b) The Real World/Real People: Military Veterans Bring High
Self-Efficacy to MBA Programs profiles how role models can
inspire us to build self-efficacy.
(c) The relationship between self-efficacy and performance is a
cyclical one; success leads to higher self-efficacy, failure to
lower self-efficacy.
(2) What are the Mechanisms of Self-Efficacy?
(a) A basic model of self-efficacy is displayed in Figure 5-2: A
Model of How Self-Efficacy Beliefs Can Pave the Way for
Success or Failure. See Slide 5-9
(b) Self-efficacy belief sources:
(i) Prior experience.
(ii) Behavior models.
(iii)Persuasion from others.
(iv)Assessment of physical/emotion state.
(c) Because prior experience is the most potent source of self-
efficacy beliefs, in Figure 5-2 it is listed first and is connected to
self-efficacy beliefs with a solid line.
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
5-7
(d) A cognitive evaluation of these four sources of self-efficacy
beliefs would lead to a self-efficacy belief which could range
from high to low expectations for success.
(e) An individual acts out high or low self-efficacy beliefs through
behavior patterns.
(f) Positive or negative results become feedback for one’s base of
personal experience and influence future self-efficacy beliefs.
(3) Self-Efficacy Implications for Managers See Slide 5-10
(a) Research encourages managers to nurture self-efficacy both in
themselves and others. There is a positive correlation between
self-efficacy and job performance.
(b) Self-efficacy can be boosted in the workplace through careful
hiring, challenging assignments, training and coaching, goal
setting, supportive leadership and mentoring, and rewards for
improvement.
iv) Self-Monitoring
(1) Self-Monitoring Overview
(a) Self-monitoring: observing one’s own behavior and adapting it
to the situation. See Slide 5-11
(b) Persons who are high self-monitors tend to regulate how they
present themselves to others and respond to “social and
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
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interpersonal cues” about what behavior is appropriate to the
situation.
(c) High self-monitors can be viewed negatively when they too
readily adapt how they present themselves to their
surroundings.
(d) Low self-monitors often are criticized for being on their own
planet and being insensitive to others.
(2) A Matter of Degree
(a) Self-monitoring is not an either-or proposition, but rather a
matter of degree.
(3) Research Insights and Practical Recommendations
(a) According to field research, there is a positive relationship
between high self-monitoring and career success.
(b) Practical recommendations: See Slides 5-12, 5-13
(i) For high, moderate, and low self-monitors: become more
consciously aware of your self-image and how it affects
others.
(ii) For high self-monitors: don’t overdo it by turning from a
successful chameleon into someone who is widely perceived
as insincere, dishonest, phony, and untrustworthy.
(iii) For low self-monitors: you can bend without breaking, so try
to be a bit more accommodating while being true to your
basic beliefs.
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
5-9
v) Organizational Identification: A Social Aspect of Self-Concept
with Ethical Implications
(1) Organizational identification: organizational values or beliefs
become part of one’s self-identity. See Slide 5-14
(2) Managers hope that employees with high levels of organizational
identity will be more loyal, committed, and harder working.
(3) If employees suspend their critical thinking and lose their
objectivity, unhealthy groupthink can occur.
II. Personality: Concepts and Controversy
i) Personality Overview
(1) Personality: the combination of stable physical and mental
characteristics that give the individual his or her identity. See
Slide 5-15
(2) Personality is the product of interacting genetic and environmental
influences.
ii) The Big Five Personality Dimensions See Slide 5-16
(1) Table 5-2: The Big Five Personality Dimensions describes
personality dimensions as:
(a) Extraversion: outgoing, talkative, sociable, assertive.
(b) Agreeableness: trusting, good natured, cooperative,
softhearted.
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
5-10
(c) Conscientiousness: dependable, responsible, achievement
oriented, persistent.
(d) Emotional stability: relaxed, secure, unworried.
(e) Openness to experience: intellectual, imaginative, curious,
broad-minded.
(2) Research indicates the Big Five personality structure does have
cross-cultural applicability and it is not ethnocentric to the culture in
which it was developed.
(3) Big Five personality dimensions that correlate positively and
strongly with job performance would be helpful in the selection,
training, and appraisal of employees.
(4) Conscientiousness has the strongest positive correlation with job
performance and training performance. See Slide 5-18
iii) The Proactive Personality
(1) Proactive personality: action-oriented person who shows initiative
and perseveres to change things. See Slide 5-19
(2) Internal locus of control: attributing outcomes to one’s own
actions and abilities. See Slide 5-20
(3) External locus of control: attributing outcomes to circumstances
beyond one’s immediate control such as luck or fate. See
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
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Slide 5-20
(4) Successful entrepreneurs exemplify the proactive personality.
(5) Proactive employees need to be managed carefully and may prefer
soft-spoken leaders.
(6) The Real World/Real People: Julie Markham Is Making the
World a Better Place profiles a proactive personality.
iv) Issue: What about Personality Testing in the Workplace?
(1) Personality testing as a tool for making decisions about hiring,
training, and promotion is commonplace.
(2) Faking, cheating, and illegal discrimination are potential problems
with on-the-job personality testing.
(3) Table 5.3: Advice and Words of Caution about Personality
Testing in the Workplace discusses ways to use personality
assessments more effectively. See Slide 5-21
III. Abilities (Intelligence) and Performance
i) Abilities and Intelligence Overview See Slide 5-23
(1) Ability: stable characteristic responsible for a person’s maximum
physical or mental performance.
(2) Skill: specific capacity to manipulate objects.
(3) Figure 5-3: Performance Depends on the Right Combination of
Effort, Ability, and Skill indicates how successful performance
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
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depends on the right combination of effort, ability, and skill.
See Slide 5-24
ii) Abilities and the Need for Sleep
(1) Many Americans do not get a good night’s sleep on most nights
and job-related stress is depriving many of a good night’s sleep.
(2) Those who are sleep deprived are likely to be less effective
decision makers and problem solvers, more stressed, and more
prone to health problems than they should be.
iii) Intelligence and Cognitive Abilities
(1) Intelligence and Cognitive Abilities Overview
(a) Intelligence: an individual’s capacity for constructive thinking,
reasoning, problem solving. See Slide 5-25
(b) Intelligence is influenced by genetic, environmental and organic
factors.
(c) There has been a steady and significant rise in average
intelligence among those in developed countries over the last 70
years.
(2) Two Types of Abilities See Slide 5-26
(a) Charles Spearman proposed that cognitive performance is
determined by two types of abilities: a general mental ability
needed for all cognitive tasks and one unique to the task at
hand.
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
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(3) Seven Major Mental Abilities
(a) Table 5-4: Mental Abilities Underlying Performance provides
definitions of the seven most frequently cited mental abilities.
See Slide 5-28
(i) Verbal comprehension: the ability to understand what
words mean and to readily comprehend what is read.
(ii) Word fluency: the ability to produce isolated words that
fulfill specific symbolic or structural requirements.
(iii)Numerical: the ability to make quick and accurate arithmetic
computations such as adding and subtracting.
(iv)Spatial: being able to perceive spatial patterns and to
visualize how geometric shapes would look if transformed in
shape or position.
(v) Memory: having good rote memory for paired words,
symbols, lists of numbers, or other associated items.
(vi)Perceptual speed: the ability to perceive figures, identify
similarities and differences, and carry out tasks involving
visual perception.
(vii) Inductive reasoning: the ability to reason from specifics to
general conclusions.
Chapter 05 - Key Individual Differences and the Road to Success
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(b) Verbal ability, numerical ability, spatial ability, and inductive
reasoning have been found to be valid predictors of job
performance.
iv) Do We Have Multiple Intelligences?
(1) Howard Gardner identified eight different intelligences that include
cognitive, social, and physical aspects: See Slide 5-27
(a) Linguistic intelligence: potential to learn and use spoken and
written languages.
(b) Logical-mathematical intelligence: potential for deductive
reasoning, problem analysis, and mathematical calculation.
(c) Musical intelligence: potential to appreciate, compose, and
perform music.
(d) Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence: potential to use mind and
body to coordinate physical movement.
(e) Spatial intelligence: potential to recognize and use patterns.
(f) Interpersonal intelligence: potential to understand, connect
with, and effectively work with others.
(g) Intrapersonal intelligence: potential to understand and
regulate oneself.
(h) Naturalist intelligence: potential to live in harmony with one’s
environment.
5-15
(2) Gardner’s concept of multiple intelligences (MI) explains why
someone who scores poorly on a standard IQ test could be gifted in
other areas.
(3) Standard IQ tests deal only with the first two intelligences on
Gardner’s list.
(4) Many academic psychologists and intelligence specialists criticize
Gardner’s model as too subjective and poorly integrated and they
prefer the traditional model of intelligence as a unified variable
measured by a single test.
(5) The Real World/Real People: The Americans with Disabilities
Act Falls Short on Employment profiles the challenges
individuals with disabilities face in gaining employment.
IV. Emotions in the Workplace
i) Positive and Negative Emotions
(1) Emotions: complex human reactions to personal achievements
and setbacks that may be felt and displayed. See Slide 5-30
(2) There can be a difference between felt and displayed emotions.
(3) Negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, guilt, sadness, envy and
disgust are triggered by frustration and failure when pursuing one’s
goals.
(4) Positive emotions such as happiness, pride and affection, love, and
relief are congruent with achieving important goals.
