MODULE 18 INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR

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MODULE 18INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR

• How do personalities influence individual
  behavior?
• How do perceptions influence individual
  behavior?
• How do attitudes influence individual behavior?

• Theres beauty in individual differences

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalitiesMODULE GUIDE
18.1

• The Big Five personality traits describe
  work-related individual differences.
• Additional personality traits can also influence
  work behavior.
• People with Type A personalities tend to stress
  themselves.
• Stress has consequences for work performance and
  personal health.

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities

• Personality is the profile of characteristics
  making a person unique from others.

If you were to describe a person using the Big
Five personality traits, you would be talking
about the degree to which he or she is
extroverted or introverted, agreeable or
disagreeable, conscientious or not, emotionally
stable or not, and open or closed minded. Other
personality traits that may play a role in the
workplace are locus of control, authoritarianism,
Machiavellianism, problem-solving styles, and
self-monitoring.
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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities

• How to Identify the Big Five Personality Traits
• Extraversion
• An extravert is talkative, comfortable, and
  confident in interpersonal relationships an
  introvert is more private, withdrawn and
  reserved.
• Agreeableness
• An agreeable person is trusting, courteous and
  helpful, getting along well with others a
  disagreeable person is self-serving, skeptical
  and tough, creating discomfort for others.
• Conscientiousness
• A conscientious person is dependable, organized,
  and focused on getting things done a person who
  lacks conscientiousness is careless, impulsive,
  and not achievement oriented.
• Emotional Stability
• A person who is emotionally stable is secure,
  calm, steady, and self-confident a person
  lacking emotional stability is excitable,
  anxious, nervous, and tense.
• Openness to Experience
• A person open to experience is broad-minded,
  imaginative, and open to new ideas a person who
  lacks openness is narrow-minded, has few
  interests, and resists change.

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities

• Authoritarianism
• the degree to which a person defers to authority
  and accepts status differences.
• Machiavellianism
• the degree to which someone uses power
  manipulatively.
• Locus of control
• the extent to which one believes that what
  happens is within ones control.
• Self-monitoring
• the degree to which someone is able to adjust
  behavior in response to external factors.

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities

• Stress
• a state of tension experienced by individuals
  facing extraordinary demands, constraints, or
  opportunities.
• Constructive Stress
• a positive influence on effort, creativity, and
  diligence in work.
• Destructive Stress
• a negative influence on ones performance.

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities

• Stress in the U.S.
• 31 of college-educated businesspeople work 50
  hours per week.
• 40 of adults get less than 7 hours of sleep
  nightly during workweek.
• 60 of meals are rushed 34 of lunches are
  eaten on the run.
• 33 of workers feel dead-ended in their jobs.
• 47 of workers under 35 report having feelings
  of burnout versus 28 of those over 35.

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities

• Type A Personality
• oriented toward extreme achievement, impatience,
  and perfectionism.

• Type A Personality Indicators
• Always moving, walking, and eating rapidly
• Impatient, disliking waiting
• Doing or trying to do several things at once
• Feeling guilty when relaxing
• Trying to schedule more in less time
• Using nervous gestures such as clenched fists
• Hurrying or interrupting the speech of others

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPersonalities

• Job Burnout
• is physical and mental exhaustion from work
  stress.
• Workplace Rage
• is aggressive behavior toward co-workers or the
  work setting.
• Personal Wellness
• is the pursuit of a personal-health promotion
  program.

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPerceptionsMODULE GUIDE 18.2

• Perceptual distortions can obscure individual
  differences.
• Perception sometimes causes attribution errors as
  we explain events and problems.
• Impression management is a way of influencing how
  others perceive us.

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPerceptions

• Perception
• the process through which people receive and
  interpret information from the environment.
• Stereotype
• using attributes commonly associated with a group
  to an individual.
• Halo effect
• uses one attribute to develop an overall
  impression of a person or situation.
• Selective Perception
• the tendency to single out for attention those
  aspects of a situation or person that reinforce
  or appear consistent with ones existing beliefs,
  values, or needs.
• Projection
• occurs when we assign our personal attributes to
  other individuals. Some call this the
  similar-to-me error.

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPerceptions
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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORPerceptions

• Fundamental Attribution Error
• overestimates internal factors and underestimates
  external factors as influences on someones
  behavior.
• Self-serving Bias
• occurs when, in judging our own performance, we
  take personal credit for successes and blame
  failures on external factors.
• Impression Management
• Attempts to create desired perceptions in the
  minds of others

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORAttitudesMODULE GUIDE 18.3

• Attitudes predispose people to act in certain
  ways.
• Job satisfaction is a positive attitude toward
  ones job and work experiences.
• Job satisfaction can predict absenteeism,
  turnover, and organizational citizenship.
• Job satisfaction has a complex relationship with
  job performance.

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORAttitudes

• An attitude is a predisposition to respond in a
  certain way to people and things.
• Cognitive dissonance occurs when a persons
  attitude and behavior are inconsistent.

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INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORAttitudes

• Job satisfaction is an important work attitude,
  reflecting a persons evaluation of the job,
  co-workers, and other aspects of the work
  setting.

What we know from job satisfaction studies
Majority of American workers at least somewhat
satisfied with jobs. About 14 are very
satisfied. Job satisfaction declined 9 from
1995 to 2005. Job satisfaction higher in
smaller firms (50 employees) than larger
ones (5000). Job satisfaction and life
satisfaction tend to run together.