Chapter 5 Personality and Values Page
a.
II. Cultural Values
A. Hofstede’s Framework for Assessing Cultures
1. Five value dimensions of national culture:
a. Power distance: the degree to which people in a country accept that power in
institutions and organizations is distributed unequally.
c. Masculinity versus femininity: masculinity is the degree to which the culture
favors traditional masculine roles such as achievement, power, and control, as
over unstructured situations.
e. Long-term versus short-term orientation: long-term orientations look to the
future and value thrift and persistence. In a short-term orientation, people value
impediments to change.
2. Hofstede’s research findings. (Exhibit 5-6)
d. Russia and The Netherlands were low on masculinity.
3. Hofstede’s recent research
a. Studies investigated the relationship of cultural values and a variety of
organizational criteria at both the individual and national level of analysis.
b. Overall, the five original culture dimensions were equally strong predictors of
relevant outcomes, meaning researchers and practicing managers need to think
about culture holistically and not just focus on one or two dimensions.
c. The researchers also found that individual scores were much better predictors of
most outcomes than assigning all people in a country the same cultural values.
d. In sum, this research suggests that Hofstede’s value framework may be a valuable
way of thinking about differences among people, but we should be cautious about
assuming all people from a country have the same values.
B. The GLOBE Framework for Assessing Cultures
2. Variables similar to Hofstede’s.
C. Comparison of Hofstede’s Framework and the GLOBE Framework
1. We give more emphasis to Hofstede’s dimensions here because they have stood the
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2. Researchers continue to debate the differences between these frameworks, and future
III. Summary and Implications For Managers
A. Personality matters to organizational behavior.
1. It does not explain all behavior, but it sets the stage.
B. Emerging theory and research reveal how personality matters more in some situations
than others.
other traits matter as well.
1. Every trait has advantages and disadvantages for work behavior and there is no
perfect constellation of traits that is ideal in every situation.
for) when searching for a job.
E. Values often underlie and explain attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions. Values tend to
national culture.
1. Consider screening job candidates for high conscientiousness—as well as the other
Big Five traits—depending on the criteria your organization finds most important.
situations.
2. Although the MBTI has faults, you can use it for training and development; to help
possibly reduce conflicts.
personality fit.
5. The more you consider people’s different cultures, the better you will be able to
determine their work behavior and create a positive organizational climate that
performs well.
Career OBjectives
How do I ace the personality test?
This exercise contributes to:
Learning Objectives: Describe personality, the way it is measured, and the factors that shape it; Describe how the
situation affects whether personality predicts behavior
Learning Outcome: Describe the factors that influence the formation of individual attitudes and values
AACSB: Reflective thinking; Ethical understanding and reasoning
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I just landed a second-round interview with a great company, and I’m super excited. And super
nervous because I hear that they’ll give me tests. I’ve read a few articles about how more and
more companies are using them. Do you have tips for how I can put my best foot forward? —
Lauren
Dear Lauren:
Congratulations! It’s natural for you to want to understand the tests your prospective employer
uses. You’ve probably deduced that it’s possible to respond in a favorable manner. For example,
if a statement says, “I am always prepared,” you know that employers are looking for an
applicant who agrees with this statement. You might think responding in the most favorable way
possible increases your chances of getting hired, and you might be right.
There are a few caveats, however. First, some companies build in “lie scales” that flag
individuals who respond to statements in an extremely favorable manner. It’s not always easy to
detect them, but they usually appear across a number of items. If you respond in the most
are in the organization if you have not represented yourself correctly in the hiring process? What
is your general attitude toward lying? How are you going to make sure your behavior fits the
traits you tried to portray?
Finally, perhaps you should look at the assessment differently. The organization—and you—
future employer!
Sources: M. N. Bing, H. K. Davison, and J. Smothers, “Item-Level Frame-of-Reference Effects in Personality
Testing: An Investigation of Incremental Validity in an Organizational Setting,” International Journal of Selection
and Assessment 22, no. 2 (2014): 165–78; P. R. Sackett and P. T. Walmsley, “Which Personality Attributes Are Most
Important in the Workplace?” Perspectives on Psychological Science 9, no. 5 (2014): 538–51; and L. Weber, “To
MyLab Management
Watch It!
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Verizon: Honest Tea—Ethics-Company Mission and
Values
to complete the video exercise.
MyLab Management
Personal Inventory Assessments
Core Five Personality Dimensions
What’s your personality? You’ve probably been wondering as you read this chapter. Take this
Myth or Science?
“We Can Accurately Judge Individuals’ Personalities a Few
Seconds After Meeting Them”
This exercise contributes to:
Learning Objectives: Describe how the situation affects whether personality predicts behavior
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Surprisingly, this statement appears to be true.
Research indicates that individuals can accurately appraise others’ personalities only a few
seconds after first meeting them, or sometimes even from a photo. This “zero acquaintance”
approach shows that regardless of the way in which people first meet someone, whether in
viewing only photos.
Some traits, such as extraversion, are easier to perceive than others upon initial acquaintance, but
less obvious traits like self-esteem are also often judged fairly accurately by others. Even being
forced to make intuitive, quick judgments rather than deliberate evaluations does not seem to
undermine the accuracy of the appraisals.
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to fall asleep!
The moderate accuracy of “thin slices” helps to explain the moderate validity of employment
interviews, which we discuss in Chapter 17. Specifically, research shows that interviewers make
up their minds about candidates within 2 minutes of first meeting them. While this is hardly an
ideal way to make important employment decisions, the research on personality shows these
Zero Acquaintance: A Question of Relevance,” Journal of Personality 83, no. 2 (2015): 221–28; S. Hirschmüller, B.
Egloff, S. Nestler, and D. Mitja, “The Dual Lens Model: A Comprehensive Framework for Understanding
Self–Other Agreement of Personality Judgments at Zero Acquaintance,” Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology 104 (2013): 335–53; and J. M. Stopfer, B. Egloff, S. Nestler, and M. D. Back, “Personality Expression
Class Exercise
1. Place the students in teams of five.
2. Ask students to have a two-minute conversation with each other.
3. Then, ask students to write down a description of each team member.
4. Next, ask students to record their own assessment of their personalities.
6. Finally, ask students to present their results to the class and explain their experience with
the concept of “zero-acquaintance.”
Teaching Notes
This exercise is applicable to face-to-face classes or synchronous online classes such as
BlackBoard 9.1, WIMBA, and Second Life Virtual Classrooms. See
(http://www.wimba.com/solutions/higher-education/wimba_classroom_for_higher_education),
(http://go.secondlife.com/landing/education/) and
(http://docplayer.net/19442732-Effective-use-of-collaboration-tools-for-online-learning-jennifer-pontano-ke-anna-sk
ipwith-drexel-university-e-learning-2-0-conference-march-2011.html) for more information.
An Ethical Choice
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Do You Have a Cheating Personality?
This exercise contributes to:
Learning Objective: – Describe how the situation affects whether personality predicts behavior
Learning Outcome: Describe the factors that influence the formation of individual attitudes and values
AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning; Reflective thinking
Stories of widespread cheating have been on the rise, leading many experts to conclude that the
incidence of cheating is increasing. Recently a major cheating scandal was uncovered at Harvard
University, where more than 125 students were found to be involved in an organized cheating
scheme.
Like most complex behaviors, cheating in school, at work, and in life is a product of the person
and the situation. As for the person, research reveals that certain traits are related to the tendency
to cheat, including high levels of narcissism, low levels of conscientiousness and agreeableness,
and high levels of competitiveness.
As for the situation, cheating increases when it is easier to cheat (such as on take-home exams),
when there is greater pressure to cheat, and when clear standards are lacking or are not
reinforced (such as when an organization’s sexual harassment policy is not communicated to
employees).
How can this research help inform you as a student and employee?
the probability of being caught.
2. If you score high on certain traits that predispose you to cheat, this does not mean you are
destined to cheat. However, you should realize that you might be more susceptible and
therefore need to avoid certain situations, especially unethical ones.
Sources: M. J. Cooper, and C. Pullig, “I’m Number One! Does Narcissism Impair Ethical Judgment Even for the Highly Religious?” Journal of
Globe (April 2, 2013),
http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/04/02/secret-mail-searches-harvard-cheating-scandal-broader-than-initially-described/Mgz0mc8hSk3Ig
WGjxLwsJP/story.html; P. E. Mudrack, J. M. Bloodgood, and W. H. Turnley, “Some Ethical Implications of Individual Competitiveness,”
Journal of Business Ethics 108 (2012), pp. 347–359; and R. Pérez-Peña, “Studies Find More Students Cheating, with High Achievers No
Exception,” The New York Times (September 8, 2012), p. A13.
Class Exercise
place.
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2. Then, ask students what, if anything, they did about it. Students should consider why they
friend who is cheating?
Point/Counterpoint
Millennials Are More Narcissistic Than Their Parents
This exercise contributes to:
Learning Objective: Describe how the situation affects whether personality predicts behavior; Describe
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Point
Millennials have some great virtues: as a group, they are technologically savvy, socially tolerant,
and engaged. They value their quality of life as equal to their career, seeking a balance between
home and work. In these ways, millennials surpass their baby boomer parents, who are less
also more likely to agree they would be “very good” spouses (56 percent, compared to 37
percent among 1980 graduates), parents (54 percent; 36 percent for 1980 graduates), and workers
(65 percent; 49 percent for 1980 graduates).
Cliff Zukin, a senior faculty fellow at Rutgers University, believes the reason is in the childhood
“I can’t expect them to work on one project for any amount of time without getting bored.”
Counterpoint
Wasn’t “The Me Generation” generations ago? Honestly, every generation thinks they are better
than the ones that come after! “You can find complaints [about the younger generation] in Greek
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evidence millennials are different. They’re just younger.” While Millennials are the
20-somethings of today, what is universally true is that young people share certain characteristics
…because they are young.
different when in fact they’re just the way today’s older folks were when they were younger. In
other words, “Every generation is Generation Me.”
In some ways, millennials may be less narcissistic than baby boomers today. As one manager
observed, “[millennials] don’t have that line between work and home that used to exist, so
more narcissistic than baby boomers were in their youth.
Sources: J. M. Twenge, W. K. Campbell, and E. C. Freeman, “Generational Differences in Young Adults’ Life Goals, Concern for Others, and
Civic Orientation, 1966–2009,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 102 (2012), pp. 1045–1062; J. Jin and J. Rounds, “Stability and
Change in Work Values: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies,” Journal of Vocational Behavior 80 (2012), pp. 326–339; and S. W. Lester, R.
Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 19 (2012), pp. 341–354.
Class Exercise
1. Divide the class into paired groups of three to four students each.
2. Assign half the paired groups to take the Point position and the other half to take the
Counterpoint position.
Teaching Notes
This exercise is applicable to face-to-face classes or synchronous online classes such as
BlackBoard 9.1, WIMBA, and Second Life Virtual Classrooms. See
(http://www.wimba.com/solutions/higher-education/wimba_classroom_for_higher_education),
(http://go.secondlife.com/landing/education/) and
(http://docplayer.net/19442732-Effective-use-of-collaboration-tools-for-online-learning-jennifer-pontano-ke-anna-sk
ipwith-drexel-university-e-learning-2-0-conference-march-2011.html) for more information.
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