1. Individual Differences:
Mental Functioning, Emotional Intelligence,
Personality Perception, Attitudes, and
Values
B = f (P,E)
(Behavior is a function
of the person and the
environment.)
2. Why is the study of
Individual Differences of
interest to managers?
Selection
Placement
Training
Motivation
Leadership
3. Mental Ability
General Intelligence (g factor)
Correlates with most tests of specific ability
Correlates with performance in most jobs
Specific Intelligences (s factors)
e.g., memory verbal comprehension, numerical ability,
word comprehension, perceptual speed
Correlate with Job Satisfaction in work utilizing the
specific ability in question
4. Cognitive Styles
How do we gather information?
Sensing - Look at the facts, details.
Intuiting - Brainstorm, get a general overview.
How do we choose between alternatives?
Thinking - Analyze objectively, reason.
Feeling - Consider the impact on people.
6. Myers-Briggs Test
Has 4 dimensions:
Sensing vs. Intuiting
Thinking vs. Feeling
Extraversion vs. Introversion
Judger vs. Perceiver
(decisive vs. flexible)
Higher and lower positions in each of the dimensions
are used to classify people into one of 16 different
personality categories.
7. Emotional Intelligence
Dimensions
1) Knowing one’s own emotions
2) Controlling one’s emotions
3) Recognizing others’ emotions (Empathy)
4) Influencing others’ emotions
Author Daniel Goleman says incompetence in
management occurs more often from lack of EQ
than lack of IQ
8.
9. Personality
Nature of Personality
Internal State
Uniqueness
Consistency
Stability
Managers should be aware of subordinates’
characteristics.
Managers should also be aware of their own
characteristics.
10. Personality Theories
Developmental Stage (Psychodynamic)
(Freud, etc.)
Trait-Based (“Big Five”, etc.)
e.g., Neurotic, Extraversion, Authoritarian (Eysenck)
Motive-Based
e.g., Achievement, Affiliation, Power (McClelland)
Belief-Based
e.g., Internal vs. External Locus of Control (Rotter)
11. Personality Theory: The Big
Five Traits:
Extraversion (vs. Introversion)
Sociable, friendly.
Emotional Stability (vs. Neuroticism):
Neurotics are often critical and feel angry with
others and themselves.
Agreeableness
Likable, care about others.
Conscientiousness
Careful, persevering.
Openness to Experience:
Flexible, with broad interests.
12. Other Characteristics
Self-Monitoring: Tendency to manage impressions
others have of you
Risk taking and thrill seeking
Self-Esteem: Degree to which people feel good about
themselves and abilities.
13. Locus of Control
People who believe that they are in control of their
own lives are said to have an Internal locus of
control.
People who think that forces beyond their control
dictate what happens to them are said to have an
External locus of control.
14. Testing Intelligence and
Personality
When using in
selection and
placement: Back up
with validity studies.
In General:
Intelligence Tests-
Moderate Validity
Personality Tests- Low
Validity
15. Perception
“The link between the person and the
environment”
Broadly defined, includes Social Perception
(impressions of people)
16. The Perception Process
Organizing the
Screening the
Observing “data” selected “data” into
“data” and
via the senses patterns for
selecting what to
interpretation and
process
response
17. Perception
Why are perceptions often distorted?
Why do people not always perceive things as they are?
Why do people perceive things differently?
Different people
Same person at different times
18. Sources of Perceptual Distortions
Selectivity (perceiving only part of envir. or
some parts more than others)
External Factors (i.e., currently in physical
environment)
Similarity, Size, Nearness, Motion
Internal Factors
Experience, Motivation
Closure (adding to your perception)
Stereotyping
Halo Effects
Projection
19. General Perception Problems
Selectivity
Only notice stimuli which are consistent
with our values and beliefs
Closure
Assume that what we don’t know is
consistent with what we do know
20. VALUES AND ATTITUDES
Values (Basic Convictions – What is right, good, desirable)
» General - Contain many attitudes
» e.g., Conservative, Liberal, etc.
Attitudes (Beliefs, Assumptions)
» Evaluative judgments focused on specific objects,
concepts
» e.g., Attitude toward welfare payments
21. Types of Values
Terminal Values
Desired Goals
e.g., World Peace, Happiness, Freedom, True
Friendship, Equality, Family Security
Instrumental Values
Means of Achieving Terminal Values
e.g., Ambition, Politeness, Self-Reliance, Honesty,
Cheerfulness, Open-Mindedness
22. Work Values Across Generations
Group Entered Workforce Values
Veterans 1945-1964 Loyal to Organization
Conforming
Boomers 1965-1984 Loyal to Careers
Dislike Authority
Xers 1985-1999 Loyal to Relationships
Seek Work-Life Balance
Nexters 2000-Present Loyal to Self & Relationships
Self-Reliant but
Team-oriented
23. ATTITUDES: THE ABC MODEL
Affect
» Feelings for an object
Behavioral Intentions
» Observed Behavior toward it
Cognition
» Beliefs about it
24. ATTITUDE CHANGE TECHNIQUES
Persuasion
» Cognition -> Behavior
Conditioning
» Affective -> Cognition -> Behavior
Cognitive Dissonance Production
» Behavior -> Cognition -> Affective
(Based on the assumption that people are motivated to
protect their self-concepts. This requires a perceived
consistency among the three components.)
At work, we are constantly bombarded with sensory stimuli—the phone ringing, people talking in the background, the sounds of our computers dinging as new e-mail arrives, people calling our names, etc. As limited processors of information, we cannot possibly notice, receive, and interpret all of this information. As a result, we attend to and accept some stimuli but screen out and reject others. However, this isn't a random process. Selective perception is the tendency to notice and accept objects and information consistent with our values, beliefs, and expectations, while ignoring or screening out or not accepting inconsistent information. Once we have initial information about a person, event, or process, closure is the tendency to fill in the gaps where information is missing, that is, to assume that what we don't know is consistent with what we already know. If employees are told that budgets must be cut by 10 percent, they may automatically assume that 10 percent of employees will lose their jobs, too, even if that isn't the case. Not surprisingly, when closure occurs, people sometimes "fill in the gaps" with inaccurate information, and this can create problems for organizations.