Individual Behavior, Personality, and Values

McGraw-Hill/IrwinMcShane/Von Glinow OB 5e Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Values, Personality, and Self-Concept at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has

excelled as North America’s

largest luxury hotel operator by

hiring people such as

Yasmeen Youssef (shown

here) with the right values and

personality and then nurturing

their self-concept.

YasmeenYoussefFairmont Hotels & Resorts

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MARS Model of Individual Behavior

Individual Individual behavior and behavior and

resultsresults

Individual Individual behavior and behavior and

resultsresults

SituationalSituationalfactorsfactors

SituationalSituationalfactorsfactors

Values

Personality

Perceptions

Emotions

Attitudes

Stress

Values

Personality

Perceptions

Emotions

Attitudes

Stress Role Role perceptionsperceptions

Role Role perceptionsperceptions

MotivationMotivationMotivationMotivation

AbilityAbilityAbilityAbility

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Employee Motivation

Internal forces that affect a person’s voluntary choice ofbehavior• direction• intensity• persistence

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Employee Ability

Natural aptitudes and learned capabilities required to successfully complete a task

Competencies personal characteristics that lead to superior performance

Person job matching• selecting• developing• redesigning

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Role Perceptions

Beliefs about what behavior is required to achieve the desired results:• understanding what tasks to perform• understanding relative importance of tasks• understanding preferred

behaviors to accomplish tasks

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Situational Factors

Environmental conditions beyond the individual’s short-term control that constrain or facilitate behavior• time• people• budget• work facilities

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Defining Personality

Relatively enduring pattern of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize a person, along with the psychological processes behind those characteristics• External traits – observable behaviors• Internal states – thoughts, values, etc inferred from

behaviors• Some variability, adjust to suit the situation

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Nature vs. Nurture of Personality Influenced by Nature

• Heredity explains about 50 percent of behavioural tendencies and 30 percent of temperament

• Minnesota studies – twins had similar behaviour patterns

Influenced by Nurture• Socialization, life experiences, learning also affect

personality• Personality isn’t stable at birth• Stabilizes throughout adolescence• Executive function steers using our self-concept as

a guide

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Five-Factor Personality Model (CANOE)

Outgoing, talkative

Sensitive, flexible

Careful, dependable

Courteous, caring

Anxious, hostile

ConscientiousnessConscientiousnessConscientiousnessConscientiousness

AgreeablenessAgreeablenessAgreeablenessAgreeableness

NeuroticismNeuroticismNeuroticismNeuroticism

Openness to ExperienceOpenness to ExperienceOpenness to ExperienceOpenness to Experience

ExtroversionExtroversionExtroversionExtroversion

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Five-Factor Personality and Organizational Behavior

Conscientiousness and emotional stability• Motivational components of personality• Strongest personality predictors of performance

Extroversion• Linked to sales and mgt performance• Related to social interaction and persuasion

Agreeableness• Effective in jobs requiring cooperation and helpfulness

Openness to experience• Linked to higher creativity and adaptability to change

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MBTI at Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines uses the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to help staff understand and respect co-workers’ different personalities and thinking styles. “You can walk by and see someone's [MBTI type] posted up in their cube,” says Elizabeth Bryant, Southwest’s leadership development director (shown here).

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Jungian Personality Theory

Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung

Identifies preferences for perceiving the environment and obtaining/processing information

Commonly measured by Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Extroversion versus introversion

• similar to five-factor dimension Sensing versus intuition

• collecting information through senses versus through intuition, inspiration or subjective sources

Thinking versus feeling• processing and evaluating information• using rational logic versus personal values

Judging versus perceiving• orient themselves to the outer world• order and structure or flexibility and spontaneity

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Feeling Valued at Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is one of the most respected employers because it recognizes the value of supporting each employee’s self-concept

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Self-Concept Defined

An individual’s self-beliefs and self-evaluations “Who am I?” and “How do I feel about myself?” Guides individual decisions and behavior

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Three “C’s” of Self-Concept

Complexity• People have multiple self-concepts

Consistency• Improved wellbeing when multiple self-concepts

require similar personality traits and values

Clarity• Clearly and confidently described, internally

consistent, and stable across time. • Self-concept clarity requires self-concept

consistency

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Four “Selves” of Self-Concept Self-enhancement

• Promoting and protecting our positive self-view

Self-verification• Affirming our existing self-concept (good and bad

elements)

Self-evaluation• Evaluating ourselves through self-esteem, self-

efficacy, and locus of control

Social self• Defining ourselves in terms of group membership

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Self-Concept: Self-Enhancement

Drive to promote/protect a positive self-view • competent, attractive, lucky, ethical, valued

Strongest in common/important situations Positive self-concept outcomes:

• better personal adjustment and mental/physical health

• inflates personal causation and probability of success

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Self-Concept: Self-Verification Motivation to verify/maintain our existing self-

concept Stabilizes our self-concept People prefer feedback consistent with their

self-concept Self-verification outcomes:

• We ignore or reject info inconsistent with self-concept

• We interact more with those who affirm/reflect self-concept

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Self-Concept: Self-Evaluation Defined mainly by three dimensions: Self-esteem

• High self-esteem -- less influenced, more persistent/logical

Self-efficacy• Belief in one’s ability, motivation, role perceptions, and

situation to complete a task successfully• General vs. task-specific self-efficacy

Locus of control• General belief about personal control over life events• Higher self-evaluation with internal locus of control

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Self-Concept: Social Self

Social identity -- defining ourselves in terms of groups to which we belong or have an emotional attachment

We identify with groups that have high status -- aids self-enhancement

Employees at Employees at other firmsother firms

People living in People living in other countriesother countries

Graduates of other Graduates of other schoolsschools

An individual’s

social identity

An individual’s

social identity

IBM EmployeeIBM Employee

Live in Live in U.S.A.U.S.A.

University of Dallas University of Dallas GraduateGraduate

Contrasting Groups

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Values in the Workplace

Stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our preferences

Define right or wrong, good or bad Value system -- hierarchy of values

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Schwartz’s Values Model

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Schwartz’s Values Model

Openness to change – motivation to pursue innovative ways

Conservation -- motivation to preserve the status quo

Self-enhancement -- motivated by self-interest

Self-transcendence -- motivation to promote welfare of others and nature

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Values and Behavior

Habitual behavior usually consistent with values, but conscious behavior less so because values are abstract constructs

Decisions and behavior are linked to values when:• Mindful of our values• Have logical reasons to apply values in that

situation• Situation does not interfere

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Values Congruence

Where two or more entities have similar value systems

Problems with incongruence• Incompatible decisions• Lower satisfaction/loyalty• Higher stress and turnover

Benefits of incongruence• Better decision making (diverse perspectives)• Avoids “corporate cults”

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Values Across Cultures: Individualism and Collectivism Degree that people value duty to their group

(collectivism) versus independence and person uniqueness (individualism)

Previously considered opposites, but unrelated -- i.e. possible to value high individualism and high collectivism

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Individualism

The degree to which people value personal freedom, self-sufficiency, control over themselves, being appreciated for unique qualitiesDenmarkDenmark

TaiwanTaiwan

ItalyItaly

High IndividualismU.S.U.S.

Low Individualism

IndiaIndia

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Collectivism

The degree to which people value their group membership and harmonious relationships within the group

IndiaIndia

U.S.U.S.

TaiwanTaiwan

High Collectivism

ItalyItaly

Low Collectivism

DenmarkDenmark

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Power Distance

High power distance• Value obedience to authority• Comfortable receiving

commands from superiors • Prefer formal rules and authority

to resolve conflicts Low power distance

• Expect relatively equal power sharing

• View relationship with boss as interdependence, not dependence

JapanJapan

IsraelIsraelDenmarkDenmark

VenezuelaVenezuela

High Power DistanceMalaysiaMalaysia

Low Power Distance

U.S.U.S.

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Uncertainty Avoidance

High uncertainty avoidance• feel threatened by ambiguity

and uncertainty• value structured situations and

direct communication

Low uncertainty avoidance• tolerate ambiguity and

uncertainty

High U. A.

Low U. A.

JapanJapanGreeceGreece

U.S.U.S.

ItalyItaly

SingaporeSingapore

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Achievement-Nurturing

High achievement orientation• assertiveness• competitiveness• materialism

High nurturing orientation• relationships• others’ well-being

Achievement

Nurturing

JapanJapan

U.S.U.S.

SwedenSweden

ChinaChina

ChileChile

FranceFrance

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UtilitarianismUtilitarianism

Individual Individual RightsRights

Greatest good for the greatest number of people

Fundamental entitlementsin society

Distributive Distributive JusticeJustice

People who are similar should receive similar benefits

Three Ethical Principles

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Influences on Ethical Conduct

Moral intensity• degree that issue demands ethical principles

Ethical sensitivity• ability to recognize the presence and determine the

relative importance of an ethical issue Situational influences

• competitive pressures and other conditions affect ethical behavior

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Supporting Ethical Behavior

Ethical code of conduct

Ethics training

Ethics hotlines

Ethical leadership and culture

Individual Behavior, Personality, and Values

2-37McGraw-Hill/IrwinMcShane/Von Glinow OB 5e Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.