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3.3 Individual Differences: Values and Personality
L EA R N I N G O B J EC T I V E S
1. Understand what values are.
2. Describe the link between values and individual behavior.
3. Iden�fy the major personality traits that are relevant to organiza�onal behavior.
4. Explain the link between personality, work behavior, and work a�tudes.
5. Explain the poten�al pi�alls of personality tes�ng.
Values
Values refer to stable life goals that people have, reflecting what is most important to them. Values
are established throughout one’s life as a result of the accumulating life experiences and tend to be
relatively stable.Lusk, E. J., & Oliver, B. L. (1974). Research Notes. American manager’s personal
value systems-revisited. Academy of Management Journal, 17(3), 549–554; Rokeach, M. (1973). The
nature of human values. New York: Free Press. The values that are important to people tend to affect
the types of decisions they make, how they perceive their environment, and their actual behaviors.
Moreover, people are more likely to accept job offers when the company possesses the values people
care about.Judge, T. A., & Bretz, R. D. (1992). Effects of work values on job choice decisions. Journal
of Applied Psychology, 77, 261–271; Ravlin, E. C., & Meglino, B. M. (1987). Effect of values on
perception and decision making: A study of alternative work values measures. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 72, 666–673. Value attainment is one reason why people stay in a company, and when an
organization does not help them attain their values, they are more likely to decide to leave if they are
dissatisfied with the job itself.George, J. M., & Jones, G. R. (1996). The experience of work and
turnover intentions: Interactive effects of value attainment, job satisfaction, and positive mood.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 318–325.
What are the values people care about? There are many typologies of values. One of the most
established surveys to assess individual values is the Rokeach Value Survey.Rokeach, M. (1973). The
nature of human values. New York: The Free Press. This survey lists 18 terminal and 18 instrumental
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values in alphabetical order. Terminal values refer to end states people desire in life, such as
leading a prosperous life and a world at peace. Instrumental values deal with views on acceptable
modes of conduct, such as being honest and ethical, and being ambitious.
According to Rokeach, values are arranged in hierarchical fashion. In other words, an accurate way of
assessing someone’s values is to ask them to rank the 36 values in order of importance. By comparing
these values, people develop a sense of which value can be sacrificed to achieve the other, and the
individual priority of each value emerges.
Figure 3.2 Sample Items From Rokeach (1973) Value Survey
Where do values come from? Research indicates that they are shaped early in life and show stability
over the course of a lifetime. Early family experiences are important influences over the dominant
values. People who were raised in families with low socioeconomic status and those who experienced
restrictive parenting often display conformity values when they are adults, while those who were
raised by parents who were cold toward their children would likely value and desire security.Kasser,
T., Koestner, R., & Lekes, N. (2002). Early family experiences and adult values: A 26-year prospective
longitudinal study. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 826–835.
Values of a generation also change and evolve in response to the historical context that the generation
grows up in. Research comparing the values of different generations resulted in interesting findings.
For example, Generation Xers (those born between the mid-1960s and 1980s) are more
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individualistic and are interested in working toward organizational goals so long as they coincide with
their personal goals. This group, compared to the baby boomers (born between the 1940s and 1960s),
is also less likely to see work as central to their life and more likely to desire a quick promotion.Smola,
K. W., & Sutton, C. D. (2002). Generational differences: Revisiting generational work values for the
new millennium. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23, 363–382.
The values a person holds will affect his or her employment. For example, someone who has an
orientation toward strong stimulation may pursue extreme sports and select an occupation that
involves fast action and high risk, such as fire fighter, police officer, or emergency medical doctor.
Someone who has a drive for achievement may more readily act as an entrepreneur. Moreover,
whether individuals will be satisfied at a given job may depend on whether the job provides a way to
satisfy their dominant values. Therefore, understanding employees at work requires understanding
the value orientations of employees.
Personality
Personality encompasses the relatively stable feelings, thoughts, and behavioral patterns a person
has. Our personality differentiates us from other people, and understanding someone’s personality
gives us clues about how that person is likely to act and feel in a variety of situations. In order to
effectively manage organizational behavior, an understanding of different employees’ personalities is
helpful. Having this knowledge is also useful for placing people in jobs and organizations.
If personality is stable, does this mean that it does not change? You probably remember how you have
changed and evolved as a result of your own life experiences, attention you received in early
childhood, the style of parenting you were exposed to, successes and failures you had in high school,
and other life events. In fact, our personality changes over long periods of time. For example, we tend
to become more socially dominant, more conscientious (organized and dependable), and more
emotionally stable between the ages of 20 and 40, whereas openness to new experiences may begin to
decline during this same time.Roberts, B. W., Walton, K. E., & Viechtbauer, W. (2006). Patterns of
mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.
Psychological Bulletin, 132, 1–25. In other words, even though we treat personality as relatively
stable, changes occur. Moreover, even in childhood, our personality shapes who we are and has
lasting consequences for us. For example, studies show that part of our career success and job
satisfaction later in life can be explained by our childhood personality.Judge, T. A., & Higgins, C. A.
(1999). The Big Five personality traits, general mental ability, and career success across the life span.
Personnel Psychology, 52, 621–652; Staw, B. M., Bell, N. E., & Clausen, J. A. (1986). The
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dispositional approach to job attitudes: A lifetime longitudinal test. Administrative Science
Quarterly, 31, 56–77.
Is our behavior in organizations dependent on our personality? To some extent, yes, and to some
extent, no. While we will discuss the effects of personality for employee behavior, you must remember
that the relationships we describe are modest correlations. For example, having a sociable and
outgoing personality may encourage people to seek friends and prefer social situations. This does not
mean that their personality will immediately affect their work behavior. At work, we have a job to do
and a role to perform. Therefore, our behavior may be more strongly affected by what is expected of
us, as opposed to how we want to behave. When people have a lot of freedom at work, their
personality will become a stronger influence over their behavior.Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K.
(1993). Autonomy as a moderator of the relationships between the Big Five personality dimensions
and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 111–118.
Big Five Personality Traits
How many personality traits are there? How do we even know? In every language, there are many
words describing a person’s personality. In fact, in the English language, more than 15,000 words
describing personality have been identified. When researchers analyzed the terms describing
personality characteristics, they realized that there were many words that were pointing to each
dimension of personality. When these words were grouped, five dimensions seemed to emerge that
explain a lot of the variation in our personalities.Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative “description of
personality”: The big-five factor structure. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 59, 1216–
1229. Keep in mind that these five are not necessarily the only traits out there. There are other,
specific traits that represent dimensions not captured by the Big Five. Still, understanding the main
five traits gives us a good start for describing personality. A summary of the Big Five traits is
presented in Figure 3.4 "Big Five Personality Traits".
Figure 3.4 Big Five Personality Traits
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Openness is the degree to which a person is curious, original, intellectual, creative, and open to new
ideas. People high in openness seem to thrive in situations that require being flexible and learning
new things. They are highly motivated to learn new skills, and they do well in training
settings.Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job
performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 1–26; Lievens, F., Harris, M. M., Van Keer,
E., & Bisqueret, C. (2003). Predicting cross-cultural training performance: The validity of personality,
cognitive ability, and dimensions measured by an assessment center and a behavior description
interview. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 476–489. They also have an advantage when they
enter into a new organization. Their open-mindedness leads them to seek a lot of information and
feedback about how they are doing and to build relationships, which leads to quicker adjustment to
the new job.Wanberg, C. R., & Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D. (2000). Predictors and outcomes of
proactivity in the socialization process. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 373–385. When
supported, they tend to be creative.Baer, M., & Oldham, G. R. (2006). The curvilinear relation
between experienced creative time pressure and creativity: Moderating effects of openness to
experience and support for creativity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 963–970. Open people are
highly adaptable to change, and teams that experience unforeseen changes in their tasks do well if
they are populated with people high in openness.LePine, J. A. (2003). Team adaptation and
postchange performance: Effects of team composition in terms of members’ cognitive ability and
personality. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 27–39. Compared to people low in openness, they
are also more likely to start their own business.Zhao, H., & Seibert, S. E. (2006). The Big Five
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personality dimensions and entrepreneurial status: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 91, 259–271.
Conscientiousness refers to the degree to which a person is organized, systematic, punctual,
achievement oriented, and dependable. Conscientiousness is the one personality trait that uniformly
predicts how high a person’s performance will be, across a variety of occupations and jobs.Barrick, M.
R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-
analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 1–26. In fact, conscientiousness is the trait most desired by
recruiters and results in the most success in interviews.Dunn, W. S., Mount, M. K., Barrick, M. R., &
Ones, D. S. (1995). Relative importance of personality and general mental ability in managers’
judgments of applicant qualifications. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80, 500–509; Tay, C., Ang, S.,
& Van Dyne, L. (2006). Personality, biographical characteristics, and job interview success: A
longitudinal study of the mediating effects of interviewing self-efficacy and the moderating effects of
internal locus of control. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 446–454. This is not a surprise, because
in addition to their high performance, conscientious people have higher levels of motivation to
perform, lower levels of turnover, lower levels of absenteeism, and higher levels of safety performance
at work.Judge, T. A., & Ilies, R. (2002). Relationship of personality to performance motivation: A
meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 797–807; Judge, T. A., Martocchio, J. J., &
Thoresen, C. J. (1997). Five-factor model of personality and employee absence. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 82, 745–755; Wallace, C., & Chen, G. (2006). A multilevel integration of personality,
climate, self-regulation, and performance. Personnel Psychology, 59, 529–557; Zimmerman, R. D.
(2008). Understanding the impact of personality traits on individuals’ turnover decisions: A meta-
analytic path model. Personnel Psychology, 61, 309–348. One’s conscientiousness is related to career
success and being satisfied with one’s career over time.Judge, T. A., & Higgins, C. A. (1999). The Big
Five personality traits, general mental ability, and career success across the life span. Personnel
Psychology, 52, 621–652. Finally, it seems that conscientiousness is a good trait to have for
entrepreneurs. Highly conscientious people are more likely to start their own business compared to
those who are not conscientious, and their firms have longer survival rates.Certo, S. T., & Certo, S. C.
(2005). Spotlight on entrepreneurship. Business Horizons, 48, 271–274; Zhao, H., & Seibert, S. E.
(2006). The Big Five personality dimensions and entrepreneurial status: A meta-analytic review.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 259–271.
Extraversion is the degree to which a person is outgoing, talkative, and sociable, and enjoys being in
social situations. One of the established findings is that they tend to be effective in jobs involving
sales.Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job
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performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 1–26; Vinchur, A. J., Schippmann, J. S.,
Switzer, F. S., & Roth, P. L. (1998). A meta-analytic review of predictors of job performance for
salespeople. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 586–597. Moreover, they tend to be effective as
managers and they demonstrate inspirational leadership behaviors.Bauer, T. N., Erdogan, B., Liden,
R. C., & Wayne, S. J. (2006). A longitudinal study of the moderating role of extraversion: Leader-
member exchange, performance, and turnover during new executive development. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 91, 298–310; Bono, J. E., & Judge, T. A. (2004). Personality and transformational and
transactional leadership: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 901–910. Extraverts
do well in social situations, and as a result they tend to be effective in job interviews. Part of their
success comes from how they prepare for the job interview, as they are likely to use their social
network.Caldwell, D. F., & Burger, J. M. (1998). Personality characteristics of job applicants and
success in screening interviews. Personnel Psychology, 51, 119–136; Tay, C., Ang, S., & Van Dyne, L.
(2006). Personality, biographical characteristics, and job interview success: A longitudinal study of
the mediating effects of interviewing self-efficacy and the moderating effects of internal locus of
control. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 446–454. Extraverts have an easier time than introverts
when adjusting to a new job. They actively seek information and feedback, and build effective
relationships, which helps with their adjustment.Wanberg, C. R., & Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D. (2000).
Predictors and outcomes of proactivity in the socialization process. Journal of Applied Psychology,
85, 373–385. Interestingly, extraverts are also found to be happier at work, which may be because of
the relationships they build with the people around them and their relative ease in adjusting to a new
job.Judge, T. A., Heller, D., & Mount, M. K. (2002). Five-factor model of personality and job
satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 530–541. However, they do not
necessarily perform well in all jobs, and jobs depriving them of social interaction may be a poor fit.
Moreover, they are not necessarily model employees. For example, they tend to have higher levels of
absenteeism at work, potentially because they may miss work to hang out with or attend to the needs
of their friends.Judge, T. A., Martocchio, J. J., & Thoresen, C. J. (1997). Five-factor model of
personality and employee absence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 745–755.
Agreeableness is the degree to which a person is nice, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind, and warm.
In other words, people who are high in agreeableness are likeable people who get along with others.
Not surprisingly, agreeable people help others at work consistently, and this helping behavior is not
dependent on being in a good mood.Ilies, R., Scott, B. A., & Judge, T. A. (2006). The interactive
effects of personal traits and experienced states on intraindividual patterns of citizenship behavior.
Academy of Management Journal, 49, 561–575. They are also less likely to retaliate when other
people treat them unfairly.Skarlicki, D. P., Folger, R., & Tesluk, P. (1999). Personality as a moderator
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in the relationship between fairness and retaliation. Academy of Management Journal, 42, 100–108.
This may reflect their ability to show empathy and give people the benefit of the doubt. Agreeable
people may be a valuable addition to their teams and may be effective leaders because they create a
fair environment when they are in leadership positions.Mayer, D., Nishii, L., Schneider, B., &
Goldstein, H. (2007). The precursors and products of justice climates: Group leader antecedents and
employee attitudinal consequences. Personnel Psychology, 60, 929–963. At the other end of the
spectrum, people low in agreeableness are less likely to show these positive behaviors. Moreover,
people who are not agreeable are shown to quit their jobs unexpectedly, perhaps in response to a
conflict they engage with a boss or a peer.Zimmerman, R. D. (2008). Understanding the impact of
personality traits on individuals’ turnover decisions: A meta-analytic path model. Personnel
Psychology, 61, 309–348. If agreeable people are so nice, does this mean that we should only look for
agreeable people when hiring? Some jobs may actually be a better fit for someone with a low level of
agreeableness. Think about it: When hiring a lawyer, would you prefer a kind and gentle person, or a
pit bull? Also, high agreeableness has a downside: Agreeable people are less likely to engage in
constructive and change-oriented communication.LePine, J. A., & Van Dyne, L. (2001). Voice and
cooperative behavior as contrasting forms of contextual performance: Evidence of differential
relationships with Big Five personality characteristics and cognitive ability. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 86, 326–336. Disagreeing with the status quo may create conflict and agreeable people
will likely avoid creating such conflict, missing an opportunity for constructive change.
How Accurately Can You Describe Your Big Five Personality Factors?
Go to http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/ to see how you score on these factors.
Neuroticism refers to the degree to which a person is anxious, irritable, aggressive, temperamental,
and moody. These people have a tendency to have emotional adjustment problems and experience
stress and depression on a habitual basis. People very high in neuroticism experience a number of
problems at work. For example, they are less likely to be someone people go to for advice and
friendship.Klein, K. J., Beng-Chong, L., Saltz, J. L., & Mayer, D. M. (2004). How do they get there? An
examination of the antecedents of centrality in team networks. Academy of Management Journal, 47,
952–963. In other words, they may experience relationship difficulties. They tend to be habitually
unhappy in their jobs and report high intentions to leave, but they do not necessarily actually leave
their jobs.Judge, T. A., Heller, D., & Mount, M. K. (2002). Five-factor model of personality and job
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satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 530–541; Zimmerman, R. D.
(2008). Understanding the impact of personality traits on individuals’ turnover decisions: A meta-
analytic path model. Personnel Psychology, 61, 309–348. Being high in neuroticism seems to be
harmful to one’s career, as they have lower levels of career success (measured with income and
occupational status achieved in one’s career). Finally, if they achieve managerial jobs, they tend to
create an unfair climate at work.Mayer, D., Nishii, L., Schneider, B., & Goldstein, H. (2007). The
precursors and products of justice climates: Group leader antecedents and employee attitudinal
consequences. Personnel Psychology, 60, 929–963.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Aside from the Big Five personality traits, perhaps the most well-known and most often used
personality assessment is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Unlike the Big Five, which
assesses traits, MBTI measures types. Assessments of the Big Five do not classify people as neurotic
or extravert: It is all a matter of degrees. MBTI on the other hand, classifies people as one of 16
types.Carlyn, M. (1977). An assessment of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Journal of Personality
Assessment, 41, 461–473; Myers, I. B. (1962). The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press. In MBTI, people are grouped using four dimensions. Based on how a
person is classified on these four dimensions, it is possible to talk about 16 unique personality types,
such as ESTJ and ISTP.
MBTI was developed in 1943 by a mother–daughter team, Isabel Myers and Katherine Cook Briggs.
Its objective at the time was to aid World War II veterans in identifying the occupation that would suit
their personalities. Since that time, MBTI has become immensely popular, and according to one
estimate, around 2.5 million people take the test annually. The survey is criticized because it relies on
types as opposed to traits, but organizations who use the survey find it very useful for training and
team-building purposes. More than 80 of the Fortune 100 companies used Myers-Briggs tests in
some form. One distinguishing characteristic of this test is that it is explicitly designed for learning,
not for employee selection purposes. In fact, the Myers & Briggs Foundation has strict guidelines
against the use of the test for employee selection. Instead, the test is used to provide mutual
understanding within the team and to gain a better understanding of the working styles of team
members.Leonard, D., & Straus, S. (1997). Identifying how we think: The Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator and the Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument. Harvard Business Review, 75(4), 114–115;
Shuit, D. P. (2003). At 60, Myers-Briggs is still sorting out and identifying people’s types. Workforce
Management, 82(13), 72–74.
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Figure 3.6 Summary of MBTI Types
Posi�ve and Nega�ve Affec�vity
You may have noticed that behavior is also a function of moods. When people are in a good mood,
they may be more cooperative, smile more, and act friendly. When these same people are in a bad
mood, they may have a tendency to be picky, irritable, and less tolerant of different opinions. Yet,
some people seem to be in a good mood most of the time, and others seem to be in a bad mood most
of the time regardless of what is actually going on in their lives. This distinction is manifested by
positive and negative affectivity traits. Positive affective people experience positive moods more
frequently, whereas negative affective people experience negative moods with greater frequency.
Negative affective people focus on the “glass half empty” and experience more anxiety and
nervousness.Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1984). Negative affectivity: The disposition to experience
aversive emotional states. Psychological Bulletin, 96, 465–490. Positive affective people tend to be
happier at work,Ilies, R., & Judge, T. A. (2003). On the heritability of job satisfaction: The mediating
role of personality. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 750–759. and their happiness spreads to the
rest of the work environment. As may be expected, this personality trait sets the tone in the work
atmosphere. When a team comprises mostly negative affective people, there tend to be fewer
instances of helping and cooperation. Teams dominated by positive affective people experience lower
levels of absenteeism.George, J. M. (1989). Mood and absence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74,
317–324. When people with a lot of power are also high in positive affectivity, the work environment
is affected in a positive manner and can lead to greater levels of cooperation and finding mutually
agreeable solutions to problems.Anderson, C., & Thompson, L. L. (2004). Affect from the top down:
How powerful individuals’ positive affect shapes negotiations. Organizational Behavior and Human
Decision Processes, 95, 125–139.
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OB Toolbox: Help, I work with a nega�ve person!
Employees who have high levels of neuroticism or high levels of negative affectivity may act
overly negative at work, criticize others, complain about trivial things, or create an overall
negative work environment. Here are some tips for how to work with them effectively.
Understand that you are unlikely to change someone else’s personality. Personality is
relatively stable and criticizing someone’s personality will not bring about change. If the
behavior is truly disruptive, focus on behavior, not personality.
Keep an open mind. Just because a person is constantly negative does not mean that they are
not sometimes right. Listen to the feedback they are giving you.
Set a time limit. If you are dealing with someone who constantly complains about things, you
may want to limit these conversations to prevent them from consuming your time at work.
You may also empower them to act on the negatives they mention. The next time an overly
negative individual complains about something, ask that person to think of ways to change
the situation and get back to you.
Ask for specifics. If someone has a negative tone in general, you may want to ask for specific
examples for what the problem is.
Sources: Adapted from ideas in Ferguson, J. (2006, October 31). Expert’s view…on managing
office moaners. Personnel Today, 29; Karcher, C. (2003, September), Working with difficult
people. National Public Accountant, 39–40; Mudore, C. F. (2001, February/March). Working
with difficult people. Career World, 29(5), 16–18; How to manage difficult people. (2000, May).
Leadership for the Front Lines, 3–4.
Self-Monitoring
Self-monitoring refers to the extent to which a person is capable of monitoring his or her actions
and appearance in social situations. In other words, people who are social monitors are social
chameleons who understand what the situation demands and act accordingly, while low social
monitors tend to act the way they feel.Snyder, M. (1974). Self-monitoring of expressive behavior.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30, 526–537; Snyder, M. (1987). Public
appearances/public realities: The psychology of self-monitoring. New York: Freeman. High social
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monitors are sensitive to the types of behaviors the social environment expects from them. Their
greater ability to modify their behavior according to the demands of the situation and to manage their
impressions effectively is a great advantage for them.Turnley, W. H., & Bolino, M. C. (2001).
Achieving desired images while avoiding undesired images: Exploring the role of self-monitoring in
impression management. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 351–360. In general, they tend to be
more successful in their careers. They are more likely to get cross-company promotions, and even
when they stay with one company, they are more likely to advance.Day, D. V., & Schleicher, D. J. Self-
monitoring at work: A motive-based perspective. Journal of Personality, 74, 685-714; Kilduff, M., &
Day, D. V. (1994). Do chameleons get ahead? The effects of self-monitoring on managerial careers.
Academy of Management Journal, 37, 1047–1060. Social monitors also become the “go to” person in
their company and they enjoy central positions in their social networks.Mehra, A., Kilduff, M., &
Brass, D. J. (2001). The social networks of high and low self-monitors: Implications for workplace
performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46, 121–146. They are rated as higher performers,
and emerge as leaders.Day, D. V., Schleicher, D. J., Unckless, A. L., & Hiller, N. J. (2002). Self-
monitoring personality at work: A meta-analytic investigation of construct validity. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 87, 390–401. While they are effective in influencing other people and get things
done by managing their impressions, this personality trait has some challenges that need to be
addressed. First, when evaluating the performance of other employees, they tend to be less accurate.
It seems that while trying to manage their impressions, they may avoid giving accurate feedback to
their subordinates to avoid confrontations.Jawahar, I. M. (2001). Attitudes, self-monitoring, and
appraisal behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 875–883. This tendency may create
problems for them if they are managers. Second, high social monitors tend to experience higher levels
of stress, probably caused by behaving in ways that conflict with their true feelings. In situations that
demand positive emotions, they may act happy although they are not feeling happy, which puts an
emotional burden on them. Finally, high social monitors tend to be less committed to their
companies. They may see their jobs as a stepping-stone for greater things, which may prevent them
from forming strong attachments and loyalty to their current employer.Day, D. V., Schleicher, D. J.,
Unckless, A. L., & Hiller, N. J. (2002). Self-monitoring personality at work: A meta-analytic
investigation of construct validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 390–401.
Proac�ve Personality
Proactive personality refers to a person’s inclination to fix what is perceived as wrong, change the
status quo, and use initiative to solve problems. Instead of waiting to be told what to do, proactive
people take action to initiate meaningful change and remove the obstacles they face along the way. In
general, having a proactive personality has a number of advantages for these people. For example,
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they tend to be more successful in their job searches.Brown, D. J., Cober, R. T., Kane, K., Levy, P. E.,
& Shalhoop, J. (2006). Proactive personality and the successful job search: A field investigation with
college graduates. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 717–726. They are also more successful over the
course of their careers, because they use initiative and acquire greater understanding of the politics
within the organization.Seibert, S. E. (1999). Proactive personality and career success. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 84, 416–427; Seibert, S. E., Kraimer, M. L., & Crant, M. J. (2001). What do
proactive people do? A longitudinal model linking proactive personality and career success. Personnel
Psychology, 54, 845–874. Proactive people are valuable assets to their companies because they may
have higher levels of performance.Crant, M. J. (1995). The proactive personality scale and objective
job performance among real estate agents. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80, 532–537. They adjust
to their new jobs quickly because they understand the political environment better and often make
friends more quickly.Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D., & Wanberg, C. R. (2003). Unwrapping the
organizational entry process: Disentangling multiple antecedents and their pathways to adjustment.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 779–794; Thompson, J. A. (2005). Proactive personality and job
performance: A social capital perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1011–1017. Proactive
people are eager to learn and engage in many developmental activities to improve their skills.Major,
D. A., Turner, J. E., & Fletcher, T. D. (2006). Linking proactive personality and the Big Five to
motivation to learn and development activity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 927–935. Despite
all their potential, under some circumstances a proactive personality may be a liability for an
individual or an organization. Imagine a person who is proactive but is perceived as being too pushy,
trying to change things other people are not willing to let go, or using their initiative to make
decisions that do not serve a company’s best interests. Research shows that the success of proactive
people depends on their understanding of a company’s core values, their ability and skills to perform
their jobs, and their ability to assess situational demands correctly.Chan, D. (2006). Interactive
effects of situational judgment effectiveness and proactive personality on work perceptions and work
outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 475–481; Erdogan, B., & Bauer, T. N. (2005).
Enhancing career benefits of employee proactive personality: The role of fit with jobs and
organizations. Personnel Psychology, 58, 859–891.
Self-Esteem
Self-esteem is the degree to which a person has overall positive feelings about his or herself. People
with high self-esteem view themselves in a positive light, are confident, and respect themselves. On
the other hand, people with low self-esteem experience high levels of self-doubt and question their
self-worth. High self-esteem is related to higher levels of satisfaction with one’s job and higher levels
of performance on the job.Judge, T. A., & Bono, J. E. (2001). Relationship of core self-evaluations
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traits—self esteem, generalized self efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability—with job
satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 80–92. People
with low self-esteem are attracted to situations in which they will be relatively invisible, such as large
companies.Turban, D. B., & Keon, T. L. (1993). Organizational attractiveness: An interactionist
perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 184–193. Managing employees with low self-esteem
may be challenging at times, because negative feedback given with the intention to improve
performance may be viewed as a judgment on their worth as an employee. Therefore, effectively
managing employees with relatively low self-esteem requires tact and providing lots of positive
feedback when discussing performance incidents.
Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is a belief that one can perform a specific task successfully. Research shows that the
belief that we can do something is a good predictor of whether we can actually do it. Self-efficacy is
different from other personality traits in that it is job specific. You may have high self-efficacy in being
successful academically, but low self-efficacy in relation to your ability to fix your car. At the same
time, people have a certain level of generalized self-efficacy and they have the belief that whatever
task or hobby they tackle, they are likely to be successful in it.
Research shows that self-efficacy at work is related to job performance.Bauer, T. N., Bodner, T.,
Erdogan, B., Truxillo, D. M., & Tucker, J. S. (2007). Newcomer adjustment during organizational
socialization: A meta-analytic review of antecedents, outcomes, and methods. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 92, 707–721; Judge, T. A., Jackson, C. L., Shaw, J. C., Scott, B. A., & Rich, B. L. (2007).
Self-efficacy and work-related performance: The integral role of individual differences. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 92, 107–127; Stajkovic, A. D., & Luthans, F. (1998). Self-efficacy and work-
related performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 240–261. This relationship is
probably a result of people with high self-efficacy setting higher goals for themselves and being more
committed to these goals, whereas people with low self-efficacy tend to procrastinate.Phillips, J. M., &
Gully, S. M. (1997). Role of goal orientation, ability, need for achievement, and locus of control in the
self-efficacy and goal setting process. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 792–802; Steel, P. (2007).
The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory
failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 65–94; Wofford, J. C., Goodwin, V. L., & Premack, S. (1992).
Meta-analysis of the antecedents of personal goal level and of the antecedents and consequences of
goal commitment. Journal of Management, 18, 595–615. Academic self-efficacy is a good predictor of
your GPA, whether you persist in your studies, or drop out of college.Robbins, S. B., Lauver, K., Le,
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H., Davis, D., Langley, R., & Carlstrom, A. (2004). Do psychosocial and study skill factors predict
college outcomes? A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 261–288.
Is there a way of increasing employees’ self-efficacy? Hiring people who are capable of performing
their tasks and training people to increase their self-efficacy may be effective. Some people may also
respond well to verbal encouragement. By showing that you believe they can be successful and
effectively playing the role of a cheerleader, you may be able to increase self-efficacy. Giving people
opportunities to test their skills so that they can see what they are capable of doing (or empowering
them) is also a good way of increasing self-efficacy.Ahearne, M., Mathieu, J., & Rapp, A. (2005). To
empower or not to empower your sales force? An empirical examination of the influence of leadership
empowerment behavior on customer satisfaction and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology,
90, 945–955.
OB Toolbox: Ways to Build Your Self-Confidence
Having high self-efficacy and self-esteem are boons to your career. People who have an overall
positive view of themselves and those who have positive attitudes toward their abilities project an
aura of confidence. How do you achieve higher self-confidence?
Take a self-inventory. What are the areas in which you lack confidence? Then consciously
tackle these areas. Take part in training programs; seek opportunities to practice these skills.
Confront your fears head-on.
Set manageable goals. Success in challenging goals will breed self-confidence, but do not
make your goals impossible to reach. If a task seems daunting, break it apart and set mini
goals.
Find a mentor. A mentor can point out areas in need of improvement, provide accurate
feedback, and point to ways of improving yourself.
Don’t judge yourself by your failures. Everyone fails, and the most successful people have
more failures in life. Instead of assessing your self-worth by your failures, learn from mistakes
and move on.
Until you can feel confident, be sure to act confident. Acting confident will influence how
others treat you, which will boost your confidence level. Pay attention to how you talk and
behave, and act like someone who has high confidence.
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Know when to ignore negative advice. If you receive negative feedback from someone who is
usually negative, try to ignore it. Surrounding yourself with naysayers is not good for your
self-esteem. This does not mean that you should ignore all negative feedback, but be sure to
look at a person’s overall attitude before making serious judgments based on that feedback.
Sources: Adapted from information in Beagrie, S. (2006, September 26). How to…build up self
confidence. Personnel Today, p. 31; Beste, F. J., III. (2007, November–December). Are you an
entrepreneur? In Business, 29(6), 22; Goldsmith, B. (2006, October). Building self confidence.
PA Times, Education Supplement, p. 30; Kennett, M. (2006, October). The scale of confidence.
Management Today, p. 40–45; Parachin, V. M. (March 2003, October). Developing dynamic
self-confidence. Supervision, 64(3), 13–15.
Locus of Control
Locus of control deals with the degree to which people feel accountable for their own behaviors.
Individuals with high internal locus of control believe that they control their own destiny and
what happens to them is their own doing, while those with high external locus of control feel that
things happen to them because of other people, luck, or a powerful being. Internals feel greater
control over their own lives and therefore they act in ways that will increase their chances of success.
For example, they take the initiative to start mentor-protégé relationships. They are more involved
with their jobs. They demonstrate higher levels of motivation and have more positive experiences at
work.Ng, T. W. H., Soresen, K. L., & Eby, L. T. (2006). Locus of control at work: A meta-analysis.
Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 1057–1087; Reitz, H. J., & Jewell, L. N. (1979). Sex, locus of
control, and job involvement: A six-country investigation. Academy of Management Journal, 22, 72–
80; Turban, D. B., & Dougherty, T. W. (1994). Role of protégé personality in receipt of mentoring and
career success. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 688–702. Interestingly, internal locus is also
related to one’s subjective well-being and happiness in life, while being high in external locus is
related to a higher rate of depression.Benassi, V. A., Sweeney, P. D., & Dufour, C. L. (1988). Is there a
relation between locus of control orientation and depression? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97,
357–367; DeNeve, K. M., & Cooper, H. (1998). The happy personality: A meta-analysis of 137
personality traits and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 197–229. The connection
between internal locus of control and health is interesting, but perhaps not surprising. In fact, one
study showed that having internal locus of control at the age of 10 was related to a number of health
outcomes, such as lower obesity and lower blood pressure later in life.Gale, C. R., Batty, G. D., &
Deary, I. J. (2008). Locus of control at age 10 years and health outcomes and behaviors at age 30
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years: The 1970 British Cohort Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70, 397–403. It is possible that
internals take more responsibility for their health and adopt healthier habits, while externals may see
less of a connection between how they live and their health. Internals thrive in contexts in which they
have the ability to influence their own behavior. Successful entrepreneurs tend to have high levels of
internal locus of control.Certo, S. T., & Certo, S. C. (2005). Spotlight on entrepreneurship. Business
Horizons, 48, 271–274.
Understand Your Locus of Control by Taking a Survey at the Following Web Site:
http://discoveryhealth.queendom.com/questions/lc_short_1.html
Personality Tes�ng in Employee Selec�on
Personality is a potentially important predictor of work behavior. Matching people to jobs matters,
because when people do not fit with their jobs or the company, they are more likely to leave, costing
companies as much as a person’s annual salary to replace them. In job interviews, companies try to
assess a candidate’s personality and the potential for a good match, but interviews are only as good as
the people conducting them. In fact, interviewers are not particularly good at detecting the best trait
that predicts performance: conscientiousness.Barrick, M. R., Patton, G. K., & Haugland, S. N. (2000).
Accuracy of interviewer judgments of job applicant personality traits. Personnel Psychology, 53, 925–
951. One method some companies use to improve this match and detect the people who are
potentially good job candidates is personality testing. Companies such as Kronos and Hogan
Assessment Systems conduct preemployment personality tests. Companies using them believe that
these tests improve the effectiveness of their selection and reduce turnover. For example, Overnight
Transportation in Atlanta found that using such tests reduced their on-the-job delinquency by 50%–
100%.Emmett, A. (2004). Snake oil or science? That’s the raging debate on personality testing.
Workforce Management, 83, 90–92; Gale, S. F. (2002). Three companies cut turnover with tests.
Workforce, 81(4), 66–69.
Yet, are these methods good ways of selecting employees? Experts have not yet reached an agreement
on this subject and the topic is highly controversial. Some experts believe, based on data, that
personality tests predict performance and other important criteria such as job satisfaction. However,
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we must understand that how a personality test is used influences its validity. Imagine filling out a
personality test in class. You may be more likely to fill it out as honestly as you can. Then, if your
instructor correlates your personality scores with your class performance, we could say that the
correlation is meaningful. In employee selection, one complicating factor is that people filling out the
survey do not have a strong incentive to be honest. In fact, they have a greater incentive to guess what
the job requires and answer the questions to match what they think the company is looking for. As a
result, the rankings of the candidates who take the test may be affected by their ability to fake. Some
experts believe that this is a serious problem.Morgeson, F. P., Campion, M. A., Dipboye, R. L.,
Hollenbeck, J. R., Murphy, K., & Schmitt, N. (2007). Reconsidering the use of personality tests in
personnel selection contexts. Personnel Psychology, 60, 683–729; Morgeson, F. P., Campion, M. A.,
Dipboye, R. L., Hollenbeck, J. R., Murphy, K., & Schmitt, N. (2007). Are we getting fooled again?
Coming to terms with limitations in the use of personality tests for personnel selection. Personnel
Psychology, 60, 1029–1049. Others point out that even with faking, the tests remain valid—the
scores are still related to job performance.Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1996). Effects of
impression management and self-deception on the predictive validity of personality constructs.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 261–272; Ones, D. S., Dilchert, S., Viswesvaran, C., & Judge, T. A.
(2007). In support of personality assessment in organizational settings. Personnel Psychology, 60,
995–1027; Ones, D. S., Viswesvaran, C., & Reiss, A. D. (1996). Role of social desirability in personality
testing for personnel selection. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 660–679; Tett, R. P., &
Christiansen, N. D. (2007). Personality tests at the crossroads: A response to Morgeson, Campion,
Dipboye, Hollenbeck, Murphy, and Schmitt (2007). Personnel Psychology, 60, 967–993. It is even
possible that the ability to fake is related to a personality trait that increases success at work, such as
social monitoring. This issue raises potential questions regarding whether personality tests are the
most effective way of measuring candidate personality.
Scores are not only distorted because of some candidates faking better than others. Do we even know
our own personality? Are we the best person to ask this question? How supervisors, coworkers, and
customers see our personality matters more than how we see ourselves. Therefore, using self-report
measures of performance may not be the best way of measuring someone’s personality.Mount, M. K.,
Barrick, M. R., & Strauss, J. P. (1994). Validity of observer ratings of the Big Five personality factors.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 272–280. We all have blind areas. We may also give
“aspirational” answers. If you are asked if you are honest, you may think, “Yes, I always have the
intention to be honest.” This response says nothing about your actual level of honesty.
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There is another problem with using these tests: How good a predictor of performance is personality
anyway? Based on research, not a particularly strong one. According to one estimate, personality only
explains about 10%–15% of variation in job performance. Our performance at work depends on so
many factors, and personality does not seem to be the key factor for performance. In fact, cognitive
ability (your overall mental intelligence) is a much more powerful influence on job performance, and
instead of personality tests, cognitive ability tests may do a better job of predicting who will be good
performers. Personality is a better predictor of job satisfaction and other attitudes, but screening
people out on the assumption that they may be unhappy at work is a challenging argument to make in
the context of employee selection.
In any case, if you decide to use these tests for selection, you need to be aware of their limitations.
Relying only on personality tests for selection of an employee is a bad idea, but if they are used
together with other tests such as tests of cognitive abilities, better decisions may be made. The
company should ensure that the test fits the job and actually predicts performance. This process is
called validating the test. Before giving the test to applicants, the company could give it to existing
employees to find out the traits that are most important for success in the particular company and
job. Then, in the selection context, the company can pay particular attention to those traits. The
company should also make sure that the test does not discriminate against people on the basis of sex,
race, age, disabilities, and other legally protected characteristics. Rent-A-Center experienced legal
difficulties when the test they used was found to be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA). The test they used for selection, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, was
developed to diagnose severe mental illnesses and included items such as “I see things or people
around me others do not see.” In effect, the test served the purpose of a clinical evaluation and was
discriminating against people with mental illnesses, which is a protected category under ADA.Heller,
M. (2005). Court ruling that employer’s integrity test violated ADA could open door to litigation.
Workforce Management, 84(9), 74–77.
K E Y TA K EAWAY
Values and personality traits are two dimensions on which people differ. Values are stable life goals.
When seeking jobs, employees are more likely to accept a job that provides opportuni�es for value
a�ainment, and they are more likely to remain in situa�ons that sa�sfy their values. Personality
comprises the stable feelings, thoughts, and behavioral pa�erns people have. The Big Five personality
traits (openness, conscien�ousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuro�cism) are important traits
that seem to be stable and can be generalized to other cultures. Other important traits for work
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behavior include self-efficacy, self-esteem, social monitoring, proac�ve personality, posi�ve and
nega�ve affec�vity, and locus of control. It is important to remember that a person’s behavior depends
on the match between the person and the situa�on. While personality is a strong influence on job
a�tudes, its rela�on to job performance is weaker. Some companies use personality tes�ng to screen
out candidates. This method has certain limita�ons, and companies using personality tests are advised
to validate their tests and use them as a supplement to other techniques that have greater validity.
E X E R C I S E S
1. Think about the personality traits covered in this sec�on. Can you think of jobs or occupa�ons that
seem par�cularly suited to each trait? Which traits would be universally desirable across all jobs?
2. What are the unique challenges of managing employees who have low self-efficacy and low self-
esteem? How would you deal with this situa�on?
3. What are some methods that companies can use to assess employee personality?
4. Have you ever held a job where your personality did not match the demands of the job? How did
you react to this situa�on? How were your a�tudes and behaviors affected?
5. Can you think of any limita�ons of developing an “ideal employee” profile and looking for
employees who fit that profile while hiring?
Table of Contents
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