1. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Chapter 3 Personality, Perception, and Attribution

2. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-2 Lewin’s Formula B = f(P,E), where B = behavior P = person E = Environment B = f(P,E), where B = behavior P = person E = Environment

3. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Variables Influencing Individual Behavior

4. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

5. 3-5 Skills and Abilities Personality Emotional Intelligence (EI) General Mental Ability (GMA) –Defined as an individual’s innate cognitive intelligence. –Single best predictor of work performance across many occupations studied both in the U.S. and across many different cultures. –What are the implications of this “fact”? See the article Dweck Research.

6. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-6 Pfeffer & Sutton (2006) on talent Treat talent as something almost everyone can earn, not that just a few people own. Talent isn’t fixed unless you believe it is. The law of crappy systems trumps the law of crappy people Wisdom, not intelligence, is probably the most important talent for sustaining organizational performance Encourage people to be noisy and nosy – it promotes wisdom

7. Pfeffer & Sutton (2006) on talent Wisdom Acting with knowledge (??) while doubting what you know Antithesis Acting without knowledge or without doubting; also inaction combined with endless analysis or, worse yet, no effort to learn what to do Understanding and acknowledging the limits of your knowledge Acting like a know-it-all, not seeming to understand, accept, or acknowledge the limits of your knowledge Having humility about your knowledgeBeing arrogant or insecure about your knowledge Asking for and accepting help from othersNot asking for, or refusing, help from others Giving helpNot giving help, even when people clearly need your knowledge and skill Being curious – asking questions, listening, constantly striving to learn new things from the events, information, and people around you Lacking curiosity about people, things, and ideas; answering questions and talking only to show people how smart you are, without learning anything from them

8. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-8 Pfeffer & Sutton (2006) The talents of wisdom: people who sustain organizational learning Noisy complainers: Repair problems right away and then let every relevant person know that the system failed Noisy troublemakers: always point out others’ mistakes, but do so to help them and the system learn, not to point fingers (purposeful vs. egocentric) Mindful error-makers: Tell managers about their own mistakes, so that others can avoid making them too. When others spot their errors, they communicate learning – not making the best impression – is their goal. Disruptive questioners: won’t leave well enough alone. They constantly ask why things are done the way they are done. Is there a better way of doing things?

9. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-9 Definition of Personality A set of relatively stable characteristics that lead to consistent patterns of behavior As a manager, how can you know or assess an individual’s personality? Why would you want to do this?

10. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Value of understanding personality is primarily to help leaders understand their own basic personality dimensions, and then to learn to emphasize the positive and mitigate the negative aspects of their own style. Also helps you understand others to know something about their personality – knowledge that you can use to guide YOUR behavior.

11. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Big Five Personality Traits

12. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Firm Performance ROA ROI ROS Strategic Flexibility Openness to Experience + Extraversion + Conscientiousness - Emotional Stability + Agreeableness + Nadkarni & Herrmann, AMJ, 2010

13. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-13 Personality Core self-evaluation (CSE) is a broad set of personality traits that refers to self-concept. CSE is comprised of –Locus of control –Self-esteem –Generalized self-efficacy –Emotional stability

14. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Personality Locus of Control InternalExternal I control what happens to me! People and circumstances control my fate!

15. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-15 Locus of control Internals have higher job satisfaction, are more likely to assume managerial positions, prefer participative management, have higher work motivation, hold stronger belief that efforts lead to performance, receive higher salaries, and display less anxiety than externals. Will not react well to being closely supervised. Externals prefer more structured work setting and may be more reluctant to participate in decision making.

16. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Self-Esteem Success tends to increase self-esteem Failure tends to decrease self-esteem

17. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-17 High SE: perceive strengths as well as weaknesses, but believe strengths more important; perform better and are more satisfied with their jobs; seek out higher status jobs; contribute to success of teams; may also be seen by others as bragging. Low SE: more strongly affected by what other people think of them; compliment individuals who give them positive feedback while cutting down people who give them negative feedback Encourage SE by giving subordinates challenges and opportunities for success. Self Esteem: An individual’s general feeing of self-worth

18. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-18 Self-monitoring The extent to which people base their behavior on cues from other people and situations High SM pay attention to what is appropriate in particular situations and to the behavior of other people, and they behave accordingly Low SM are not as vigilant to situational cues and act from internal states rather than paying attention to the situation

19. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Self-Monitoring Behavior based on cues High self monitors –flexible: adjust behavior according to the situation and the behavior of others –can appear unpredictable and inconsistent Low self monitors –act from internal states rather than from situational cues –show consistency –less likely to respond to work group norms or supervisory feedback

20. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO... Low self monitors High self monitors Get promoted Change employers Make a job-related geographic move

21. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. The Role of Affect Positive Affect – an individual’s tendency to accentuate the positive aspects of oneself, other people, and the world in general Negative Affect – an individual’s tendency to accentuate the negative aspects of oneself, other people, and the world in general

22. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-22 Attachment Orientation Characteristic related to how people form and maintain supportive relationships with others. Three patterns of attachment behavior that affect the ways individuals perceive and enact relationships at work: Interdependence Counterdependence Overdependence

23. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-23 Attachment Orientation Interdependence: secure pattern of behavior, involves the formation of flexible, reciprocal relationships. Belief that others will be there for help when they are needed. Counterdependence: pattern of behavior in which individuals, believing that no one will be available to turn to in stressful situations, isolate themselves and resist supportive overtures by others.

24. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-24 Attachment Orientation Overdependence: pattern of behavior where individuals cling too tightly to others and may drain their support systems by failing to reciprocate support. Previous research: Counterdependence and overdependence negatively related to worker health and interdependence positively related to worker health

25. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-25 Interdependence Hope Trust Burnout Performance -0.64 0.39 0.64 0.21

26. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-26 Machiavellianism A personality trait involving willingness to manipulate others for one’s own (selfish) purposes. Do whatever it takes to get your way. Machiavellian tactics: Neglecting to share important information (e.g., claiming to “forget” to tell you about key meetings and assignments). Finding subtle ways of making you look bad to management (e.g., damning you with faint praise). Failing to meet obligations (e.g., not holding up their end on joint projects, thereby causing you to look bad). Spreading false rumors about you (e.g., making up things about you that embarrass you in front of others).

27. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Narcissism Exploitativeness/Entitlement: I deserve respect, and insist you give it to me Leadership/Authority: I love to be the center of attention Superiority/Arrogance: I am better than others Self-absorption/Self-Admiration: I truly am extraordinary and special 3-27

28. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Narcissistic Leaders Not concerned with treating people fairly Not good for morale and motivation Higher manager turnover 3-28

29. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Narcissistic Employees Do not have a realistic conception of their own talent and abilities. Likely to also be extraverted and agreeable Not good in teams Don’t take negative feedback well –Disparage evaluator –Disparage co-workers 3-29

30. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. If the CEO is a Narcissist Bold, risky actions Big wins or big losses Performances swings between the extremes No significant difference in corporate performance 3-30

31. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-31 Strong Situation A situation that overwhelms the effects of individual personalities by providing strong cues for appropriate behavior. Strong personalities will dominate in weak situations Implications?

32. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-32 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Based on Carl Jung’s work People are fundamentally different People are fundamentally alike People have preference combinations for extraversion/introversion, perception, judgment Briggs & Myers developed the MBTI to understand individual differences

33. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. MBTI Preferences E/I S/N T/F J/P

34. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-34 Type Theory Preferences and Descriptions

35. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-35 MBTI All individuals have some development of both sides of each pair of functions/attitudes. Each type has advantages and pitfalls. No type is better than another. Accepting and understanding type helps individuals be more effective. Understanding the full range of types helps an individual to communicate and work effectively with others. Pitfalls: labeling or excuse for behavior

36. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-36 Social Perception The process of interpreting information about another person Three categories of factors influence our perception of another person: –Characteristics of ourselves, as perceivers –Characteristics of the target person we are perceiving –Characteristics of the situation in which the interaction takes place

37. Social Perception Model Social Perception Target Characteristics Physical appearance Verbal communication Nonverbal cues Intentions Perceiver Characteristics Familiarity with target Attitudes/Mood Self-concept Cognitive structure Situational Characteristics Interaction context Strength of situational cues Barriers Selective perception Stereotyping First-impression error Projection Self-fulfilling prophecies © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

38. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Barriers to Social Perception Impression Management Stereotype First Impression Error Projection Self-fulfilling prophecy

39. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-39 Stereotypes Psychological representations of the characteristics of people that belong to particular groups. It is a categorization process. Aids to explanation. Help the perceiver make sense of a situation. Energy saving devices Shared group beliefs. Categorization is the cognitive process by which we detect differences and similarities between groups.

40. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Impression Management The process by which individuals try to control the impression others have of them –Name dropping –Appearance –Self-description –Flattery –Favors –Agreement with opinion

41. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-41 Attribution Theory Attribution theory - explains how individuals pinpoint the causes of their own behavior or that of others – two theories of attribution in this chapter (be familiar with text examples) and chapter 6 (Kelley’s Theory)). Information cues for attribution information gathering (relates to the behavior/performance of others) consensus distinctiveness consistency

42. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3-42 Explaining the behavior of others Consensus - the extent to which peers in the same situation behave the same way (within task comparison) Distinctiveness - degree to which the person behaves the same way in other situations (between task comparison) Consistency - the frequency of a particular behavior over time

43. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. The Attribution Process Antecedents-- factors internal to the perceiver Attributions made by the perceiver Consequences for the perceiver Information Beliefs Motivation Perceived external or internal causes of behavior Behavior Feelings Expectations

44. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Information Cues & Attributions

45. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Information Cues & Attributions

46. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Attributions (explanations) of the causes of behavior in yourself. Internal –Ability and effort External –Task difficulty and luck

47. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Causal Attributions Of Your Behavior (Success and Failure) Stable Unstable Internal External S = esteem, efficacy F = depression S = luck F = hope/optimism F = frustration

48. Attributional biases Two types of attribution errors –Fundamental attribution error: tendency to make attributions to internal causes when focusing on someone else’s behavior –Self-serving bias –Prevents individuals from accurately assessing their own performance and abilities and makes more difficult determining real cause of failure –Tendency to blame others for a person’s own failures associated with poor performance and an inability to establish satisfying interpersonal relationships at work and other social settings When problems occur at work, managers and employees often make different attributions about the causes.

49. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Advice for managers when problems occur at work Avoid the fundamental attribution error (stop blaming) Anticipate the employee’s self-serving bias and be proactive. Know that the employee will attribute causes of failure to (blame) the environment, including management. Account for the impact of the environment, including your own behavior, on the employee’s behavior. Look inside first. Eliminate all other causes as much as possible before you blame employees. Employees that see you doing this will credit you with procedural justice. If the environment is a major cause, it will be affecting others as well. Fix the system and stop blaming.