PART TWO – INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORS AND PROCESSES IN
ORGANIZATIONS
Chapter Three – Individual Characteristics
Overview
Chapter 1 showed how managers strive to enhance performance behaviors, enhance commitment and
engagement, promote citizenship behaviors, and minimize dysfunctional behaviors by their employees.
Chapter 2 identified how various environmental factors—diversity, globalization, technology, ethics, and
new employment relationships—all impact organizational behavior.
The text now turns to part two with a fundamental question underlying organizational behavior: Why do
individuals do what they do? Chapter 3 identifies and discusses critical individual characteristics that
affect people’s behaviors in organizations. The discussion of other important individual characteristics is
continued in Chapter 4. Core theories and concepts that drive employee motivation are introduced and
discussed in Chapter 5. Finally, in Chapter 6 we focus on how managers can implement motivation
theories and concepts.
In this chapter we explore some of the key characteristics that differentiate people from one another in
organizations. We first introduce the essential nature of individual differences and how people “fit” as
individuals in organizations. We then look at personality frameworks that shed considerable light on
different personality profiles. Next, we examine other specific personality traits and discuss different
types of intelligence. We close this chapter with an examination of different styles for processing
information and learning.
Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Explain the nature of individual differences, the concept of fit, and the role of realistic job previews.
2. Define personality and describe general personality frameworks and attributes that affect behavior
in organizations.
3. Identify and discuss other important personality traits that affect behavior in organizations.
4. Discuss different kinds of intelligence that affect behavior in organizations.
5. Describe different learning styles that influence how people process information and that affect
behavior in organizations.
Real World Challenge: Individual Differences That Make a Difference at
Southwest Airlines
Summary: Fun and friendly customer service is essential to the success of Southwest Airlines’ business
strategy. Southwest believes it can train new hires on whatever they need to do, but it cannot change
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employees’ inherent nature. To support its goals of hiring fun, creative, innovative employees, Southwest
Airlines looks for leadership and a sense of humor in the people it hires. The company looks for
empathetic people with other-oriented, outgoing personalities who work hard and have fun at the same
time.
Real World Challenge: Southwest asks for your advice about how to better hire empathetic employees
with creativity and fun-loving characteristics who fit with the company’s unique culture. After reading
this chapter, you should have some good ideas.
Real World Response: Job candidates do more than interview for a job; they audition—and the audition
begins the moment they request an application. Managers jot down anything memorable about the initial
conversation, both good and bad. Employees observe whether recruits are consistently friendly to the
crew and to other passengers or if they complain. Southwest’s flight attendant assessment methods not
only ensure that it hires people whose personalities fit the culture, but also help it execute its customer
service strategy.
Chapter Outline
I. People in Organizations
A. Individual Differences
Individual differences are personal attributes that vary from one person to another. Individual
differences may be physical, psychological, and emotional.
Basic categories of individual differences include personality, intelligence, learning styles,
attitudes, values and emotions, perception, and stress.
Managers should also be aware of psychological contracts that exist between the organization
and its employees. In an ideal situation, then, understanding differences across people and
creating effective psychological contracts can help facilitate a good fit between people and the
organization.
B. The Concept of Fit
Being good at our job is important, but is not enough—we need to fit with our organization and
workgroup as well. That is, there are actually different forms of fit. These different forms of fit
are summarized in Table 3.1.
1. Person-Job Fit
Person-job fit is the fit between a person’s abilities and the demands of the job, and the fit
between a person’s desires and motivations and the attributes and rewards of a job.
Because job performance is usually the most important determinant of an employee’s
success, person-job fit is usually the primary focus of most staffing efforts.
It is important to consider not only the fit between an individual’s talents and the job
requirements, but also the fit between an individual’s motivations and the rewards offered
by the job.
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Research suggests that person-job fit leads to higher job performance, satisfaction,
organizational commitment, and intent to stay with the company. People differ in their
personality and motivations as well as their skills. Organizations must consider individual
differences beyond skills when making hiring decisions.
2. Person-Group Fit
Good person-group fit (or person-team fit) means that an individual fits with the
workgroup’s work styles, skills, and goals.
Person-group fit leads to improved job satisfaction, organizational commitment, intent to
stay with the company, and critical in team-oriented organizations.
3. Person-Organization Fit
Person-organization fit is the fit between an individual’s values, beliefs, and personality
and the values, norms, and culture of the organization.
The strength of this fit influences important organizational outcomes including job
performance, retention, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment.
Organizational values and norms that are important for person-organization fit include
integrity, fairness, work ethic, competitiveness, cooperativeness, and compassion for fellow
employees and customers.
Research suggests that people may experience differing degrees of fit with the job and with
the organization. Essentially, it is possible to like what you do but not where you do it, or
to like where you work but not what you do there.
So how can you maximize person-organization fit? A good place to start is to identify those
qualifications, competencies, and traits that relate to the organization’s strategy, values, and
processes and hire people with those characteristics.
Employees must be able and willing to adapt to a company by learning, negotiating,
enacting, and maintaining the behaviors appropriate to the company’s environment.
Of course, hiring for any type of fit does not mean simply hiring those with whom we are
most comfortable, which can lead to dysfunctional stereotyping and discrimination against
people who may actually contribute a great deal to the company’s success.
4. Person-Vocation Fit
Person-vocation fit is the fit between a person’s interests, abilities, values, and personality
and a profession. Our adjustment and satisfaction are greater when our occupation meets
our needs.
Although individuals usually choose a vocation long before applying to an organization,
understanding person-vocation fit can still be useful to organizations and managers.
Companies wanting to develop their own future leaders, or smaller organizations that need
employees to fill multiple roles, may be able to use vocational interests in determining
whether job applicants would be a good fit with the organization’s future needs.
C. Realistic Job Previews
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Realistic job previews (RJPs) involve the presentation of both positive and potentially negative
information to job candidates.
The goal is not to deter candidates, but rather to provide accurate information about the job and
organization and build trust.
If a common reason for employees leaving an organization is that the job is not what they
expected, this is a good sign that the recruiting message can be improved.
Given the relatively low cost associated with their development, RJPs may be useful for
organizations trying to reduce turnover rates for jobs that departing employees say were not
what they expected when they accepted job offers.
II. Personality and Individual Behavior
Personality is the relatively stable set of psychological attributes that distinguish one person from
another.
Managers should strive to understand basic personality attributes and how they can affect people’s
behavior and fit in organizational situations, not to mention their perceptions of and attitudes
toward the organization.
A. The “Big Five” Framework
Researchers have identified five fundamental personality traits that are especially relevant to
organizations. These traits, illustrated in Figure 3.1, are now commonly called the “Big Five”
personality traits.
The personality of any given person can fall anywhere along each of these five traits.
Agreeableness refers to a person’s ability to get along with others.
It seems likely that highly agreeable people are better at developing good working relationships
with coworkers, subordinates, and higher-level managers, whereas less agreeable people are not
likely to have particularly good working relationships. The same pattern might extend to
relationships with customers, suppliers, and other key organizational constituents.
Conscientiousness refers to the extent to which a person can be counted on to get things done.
In general, research suggests that being strong on conscientiousness is often a good predictor of
job performance for many jobs.
The third of the Big Five personality dimensions is neuroticism. People who are relatively
more neurotic tend to experience unpleasant emotions such as anger, anxiety, depression, and
feelings of vulnerability more often than do people who are relatively less neurotic.
People with less neuroticism might be expected to better handle job stress, pressure, and
tension. Their stability might also lead them to be seen as being more reliable than their less
stable counterparts.
Extraversion reflects a person’s comfort level with relationships.
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Research suggests that extroverts tend to be higher overall job performers than introverts and
that they are more likely to be attracted to jobs based on personal relationships, such as sales
and marketing positions.
For this particular trait, the opposite version is also given a name—introversion. An introvert
tends to be less comfortable in social situations.
Finally, openness reflects a person’s rigidity of beliefs and range of interests.
People with more openness might be expected to be better performers due to their flexibility
and the likelihood that they will be better accepted by others in the organization. Openness may
also encompass a person’s willingness to accept change; people with high levels of openness
may be more receptive to change, whereas people with little openness may resist change.
The potential value of the Big Five framework is that it encompasses an integrated set of traits
that appear to be valid predictors of certain behaviors in certain situations. Thus, managers who
can both understand the framework and assess these traits in their employees are in a good
position to understand how and why they behave as they do.
On the other hand, managers must be careful to not overestimate their ability to assess the Big
Five traits in others. There are also times when using more specific personality traits to predict
outcomes such as turnover or performance are more useful than the more general Big Five traits
because the more specific trait more directly influences the intended outcome.
Another limitation of the Big Five framework is that it is primarily based on research conducted
in the United States. Thus, generalizing it to other cultures (or even within the U.S.) presents
unanswered questions.
B. The Myers-Briggs Framework
The Myers-Briggs framework is also a popular framework that some people use to characterize
personality. Many people know of this framework through a widely-used questionnaire called
the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI.
The MBTI was based on Carl Jung’s work and first developed by Isabel Briggs Myers (1897–
1979) and her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, to help people understand themselves and each
other so that they could find work that matches their personality.
The MBTI uses four scales with opposite poles to assess four sets of preferences. The four
scales are:
1. Extroversion (E)/Introversion (I): Extroverts are energized by things and people. Their
motto is, “ready, fire, aim.” Introverts find energy in ideas, concepts, and abstractions. They
are reflective thinkers whose motto is, “ready, aim, aim.”
2. Sensing (S)/Intuition (N): Sensing people are detail oriented. They want and trust facts.
Intuitive people seek out patterns and relationships among the facts they have learned. They
trust their intuition and look for the “big picture.”
3. Thinking (T)/Feeling (F): Thinkers value fairness, and decide things impersonally based on
objective criteria and logic. Feelers value harmony, and focus on human values and needs
as they make decisions or judgments.
4. Judging (J)/Perceiving (P): Judging people are decisive and tend to plan. They develop
plans and follow them, adhering to deadlines. Perceptive people are adaptable,
spontaneous, and curious. They start many tasks, and often find it difficult to complete
them. Deadlines are meant to be stretched.
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The possible combinations of these preferences result in sixteen personality types, which are
identified by the four letters that represent one’s tendencies on the four scales. For example,
ENTJ reflects extraversion, intuition, thinking, and judging.
Although the framework and Myers-Briggs instrument were not developed or intended to be
used to identify personality profiles and label people, too often this is what is done with the
results. This is problematic as it can lead to discrimination and poor career counseling.
The classification of individuals means nothing, nothing at all. Nonetheless, the MBTI has
become so popular that it is likely that you will encounter it during your career.
It can be a fun team-building tool for illustrating some of the ways that people differ, but it
should not be used in making organizational decisions including hiring and promotions.
III. Other Important Personality Traits
A. Locus of Control
Locus of control is the extent to which people believe that their behavior has a real effect on
what happens to them.
Some people, for example, believe that if they work hard they will succeed. They may also
believe that people who fail do so because they lack ability or motivation. People who believe
that individuals are in control of their lives are said to have an internal locus of control.
Other people think that fate, chance, luck, or other people’s behavior determines what happens
to them. People who think that forces beyond their control dictate what happens to them are
said to have an external locus of control.
B. Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is our confidence in our ability to cope, perform, and be successful on a specific
task. It is possible to have high self-esteem but low self-efficacy for certain tasks.
Self-efficacy is a key factor influencing motivation and engagement in an activity.
General self-efficacy reflects a generalized belief that we will be successful at whatever
challenges or tasks we might face.
Because self-efficacy and general self-efficacy are related to setting higher goals, persisting in
the face of obstacles, and performing better, it is important for you to maintain a positive sense
of self-efficacy.
C. Self-Esteem
Self-esteem refers to our feelings of self-worth and our liking or disliking of ourselves.
Self-esteem is positively related to job performance and learning.
D. Authoritarianism
Another important personality characteristic is authoritarianism, the extent to which a person
believes that power and status differences are appropriate within hierarchical social systems
such as organizations.
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A person who is highly authoritarian may accept directives or orders from someone with more
authority purely because the other person is “the boss.”
On the other hand, a person who is not highly authoritarian, although she or he may still carry
out reasonable directives from the boss, is more likely to question things, express disagreement
with the boss, and even refuse to carry out orders if they are for some reason objectionable.
E. Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism is another important personality trait.
The term “Machiavellianism” is used to describe behavior directed at gaining power and
controlling the behavior of others.
More Machiavellian individuals tend to be rational and unemotional, may be willing to lie to
attain their personal goals, put little emphasis on loyalty and friendship, and enjoy manipulating
others’ behavior.
Less Machiavellian individuals are more emotional, less willing to lie to succeed, value loyalty
and friendship highly, and get little personal pleasure from manipulating others.
F. Tolerance for Risk and Ambiguity
Two other closely related traits are tolerance for risk and tolerance for ambiguity.
Tolerance for risk (also called risk propensity) is the degree to which a person is comfortable
accepting risk, willing to take chances and to make risky decisions.
A manager with a high tolerance for risk might lead the organization in new and different
directions.
A manager with low tolerance for risk might lead an organization to stagnation and excessive
conservatism, or might help the organization successfully weather turbulent and unpredictable
times by maintaining stability and calm.
Tolerance for ambiguity reflects the tendency to view ambiguous situations as either
threatening or desirable.
Intolerance for ambiguity reflects a tendency to perceive or interpret vague, incomplete, or
fragmented information or information with multiple, inconsistent, or contradictory meanings
as an actual or potential source of psychological discomfort or threat.
Being tolerant of ambiguity is related to creativity, positive attitudes toward risk, and
orientation to diversity.
The best managerial strategy is to place individuals with a low tolerance for ambiguity in well-
defined and regulated tasks.
G. Type A and B Traits
The Type A personality is impatient, competitive, ambitious, and uptight. The Type B
personality is more relaxed and easygoing and less overtly competitive than Type A.
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Although Type As often have higher job performance than Type Bs, Type As are also more
prone to stress and coronary heart disease.
As shown in Figure 3.2, Type A and B profiles reflect extremes with most people simply
tending toward one or the other.
Understanding the personality type of your coworkers and boss can help you to better
understand and manage this potential source of work conflicts. Recognizing your personality
type can help you to identify work situations that are good fits for you.
H. The Bullying Personality
Workplace bullying is a repeated mistreatment of another employee through verbal abuse;
conduct that is threatening, humiliating, or intimidating; or sabotage that interferes with the
other person’s work.
Bullying costs employers through higher turnover, greater absenteeism, higher workers’
compensation costs, and higher disability insurance rates, not to mention a diminished
reputation as a desirable place to work.
It is four times more common than harassment.
Who tends to become a bully? Bullying is complex and comes in a variety of forms, but
common to all types is the abuse of authority and power, stemming from the bully’s need to
control another person.
High Machiavellians manipulate and exploit others to advance their personal agendas, which is
the foundation of bullying.
Although there is no clear personality profile that predicts who will be targeted, people who are
more introverted, less agreeable, less conscientious, less open to experience, and more
emotionally unstable seem to be more likely to be bullied.
I. Role of the Situation
The relationship between personality and behavior changes depending on the strength of the
situation we are in.
Strong organizational cultures might decrease the influence of personality on employee
behaviors by creating clear guidelines for employee behavior. Weaker organizational cultures
might allow greater individual employee expression, resulting in a wider variety of employee
behaviors.