Chapter 4

Personality at work– and the dark side of personality

Lack of consensus but a common base

• Personality is the more or less stable and enduring organization of a person’s character, temperament, intellect and physique which determines his/her unique adjustment to the environment. (Eysenck, 1947)

• [Our personality traits] account for consistent patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. (Pervin et al., 2004)

A long lasting endeavor

• The attempt to measure personality in order to identify, classify and differentiate has a long history.

• Chinese emperors used selection methods to identify which personalities would be working hard and which would be troublesome around 3000 BC.

• Hippocrates (460-370 BC) thought there are four temperaments which were connected to four natural fluids in human body.

Measuring Personality

• Helpful in hiring decisions

• Common and useful method: self-report surveys• self evaluating on a series of factors• impression management disadvantage

• Observer-ratings surveys provide an independent assessment of personality – often better predictors

Approaches and Theories of Personality

• The various theoretical perspectives give precedence to particular aspects of person and thus one may be more appealing than the other.

• The six major (competing) theories of personality– psychoanalytic– behavioristic– humanistic– biological– trait and type– social-cognitive

Early views of psychopathology

• Physical body as the source for some mental disorders explained some but not all symptoms– Hysteria: explained with a

psychological viewpoint

Psychosexual Theory of Personality

• Levels of processing: – Conscious: currently being thought about– Preconscious: easily available to us– Unconscious: unavailable to our (willed) thought

• Adult outcomes are strongly related to childhood patterns of relationships and how sexual and aggressive instincts are dealt with.

Figure 4.1 Freud’s conception of the human psyche: the iceberg metaphor

Structures of Personality

– Id: all other aspects of personality emerge from this basic, primitive, instinctual part «pleasure principle»

– Ego: deals with reality and its demands; copes with demands from Id and …

– Superego: society’s rules and parents’ rules, internalized and imposed on the ego

• Meant to be primarily metaphors for our impulses, not literal parts of our personality

Techniques of analysis

• Hypnosis at first; but Freud abandoned it early

• Free association: a way at getting at thoughts that were typically “repressed”– Freud’s assumption: ideas and thoughts are

associated with each other – Therefore…eventually you will “say” something

associated with the forgotten or repressed memory

Windows into the Unconscious

• “Psychopathology of everyday life”– Slips of the tongue– Need to do something and forgetting little later on

• Dreams

• Myths, legends, fairy-tales: stories of mankind’s wishes, hopes, and fears

• Plato’s two horse chariot analogy– Spirit– Appetite

• When ego fails to moderate between id and superego, the personality becomes dysfunctional.

One problem….

• “Resistance”– Anxiety arises: we worry about the consequences

of remembering– Patients “resist” talking about their memories– Freud’s underlying belief: when conflict was

revealed, and when memories were uncovered, neurotic and hysterical symptoms would subside

Defense mechanisms• Avoiding anxiety is prime directive• Defense mechanisms are in place to protect the

personality from anxiety that may feel overwhelming

• Repression: the primary defense mechanism• Projection• Displacement• Rationalization • Reaction formation, etc.!

The Developing Mind

• Formative events in childhood: lasting impact – Sexual impulses, aggressive impulses: many

important formative events in childhood center on these; what is forbidden? what is expected?

• Stages of psychosexual development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital• Conflicts at each stage handled differently by

each person, which is the cause of variation of personality (and of psychopathology)

Fixation

• If we don’t manage the shift form one stage to the next: “fixated”– Orally fixated: passive dependency in an adult– Anally fixated: compulsive refusal to “make a

mess;” everything must be “just so”– Oedipal complex: the phallic stage fixation?

• Oedipal complex: we must separate from our parents, especially from same-sex parent

• Complex issues around our feelings for the opposite-sex parent

Criticisms and Critiques• Freud’s theory is often regarded dogmatic, limited

in theory and wholly lacking methodology

• Theory of repression: – Much data inconsistent with his theory about repressed memories

• Developmental theories: – “oral” traits: no evidence to support this stage; – “anal” traits: no relationship to toilet training practices

• Methods (free association, etc.):– interpretation of patients’ reports difficult to replicate; many

different theories can account for patient profiles more parsimoniously

Psychodynamic formulations after Freud

• Neo-Freudians– Alfred Adler, Rollo May, Karen Horney, Erich Fromm..– Eric Erikson formulated 8 stages that includes adulthood– Carl G. Jung had a major influence on work psychology– Jungian theory underpins one of the most widely used

instrument in the organizations today. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

• Role of the ego and conscious motivations: more pronounced

• Sexual / stages of development less emphasized

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator• Participants are classified on four axes to determine one of

16 possible personality types, such as ENTJ.

Flexible and Spontaneous

Sociable and Assertive

Quiet and Shy

UnconsciousProcesses

Uses Values & Emotions

Practical andOrderly

Use Reasonand Logic

Want Order& Structure

The Types and Their Uses• Each of the sixteen possible combinations has a name, for

instance: – Visionaries (INTJ) – original, stubborn, and driven– Organizers (ESTJ) – realistic, logical, analytical, and

businesslike– Conceptualizer (ENTP) – entrepreneurial, innovative,

individualistic, and resourceful

– http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

• Research results on validity mixed.– MBTI is a good tool for self-awareness and counseling.– Should not be used as a selection test for job candidates.

Psychodynamic Approach’s Contributions

• We are conflicted: – different goals and different processes vie for

supremacy

• Motivations can be unconscious and mysterious even to ourselves

• Most far-reaching, complex, ambitious theory of human behavior: – flawed but comprehensive in its considerations

Behaviorism

• is diametrically opposed to the psychodynamic explanation of personality

• According to behaviorists, personality is explained as the sum total of all learned associations, although they would not prefer to use the term personality.

Behaviorists believe

• The only truly scientific and appropriate method is analyzing observable, measurable behavior.

• Personality can be explained as sum total of all learned associations.

• Basic assumption: all behaviors can be permanently changed through the experience of reinforcement (whether punishment or reward).

Classical conditioning

• Long examined associations• Classical conditioning: examined

experimentally in late 1800s• Major contributor: Ivan Pavlov

– First work: digestive processes of dogs– Examined cues that elicited salivation & how dogs

learned the cues

• Learning is governed by certain general laws that apply to all situations and all species.

1.All learned activities are composed of simpler ones.

2.Identifiable stimulus leads to identifiable response.

Instrumental Conditioning

• “Law of Effect”– The strength of a response is adjusted according to

that response’s consequences – response followed by reward strengthened – response followed by punishment weakened

• Organisms that learn successful adaptations will be the winners in natural selection.

The primary tenets of behaviorism• is that psychology should have only concerned itself with

observable events. Personality is the sum total of all learned associations.

• Pavlov investigated classical conditioning—which depends on stimulus procedures to establish reflexes and respondent behaviors. Well learned associations between a stimulus and a response lead us to behave in certain ways:

– When you hear someone sneeze, you most likely respond by saying “Bless you”– The sight of the bed that you usually sleep makes you drowsy.

• Radical behaviorism suggests that the presence of private events—including cognition and emotions—and are subject to the same controlling variables as are observable behaviors.

• Edward Thorndike and B.F. Skinner sought to restrict psychology to observable behaviors; conducted research on instrumental conditioning (which uses antecedents and consequences to change behavior).

• An antecedent is a stimulus that cues an organism to perform a

learned behavior. When an organism perceives an antecedent stimulus, it behaves in a way that maximizes reinforcing consequences and minimizes punishing consequences.

• Antecedent stimuli that have been paired with reinforcing consequences activate brain centers involved in motivation, while antecedents that have been paired with punishing consequences activate brain centers involved in fear.

Extensions of Classical Conditioning

• Classical conditioning may be at the base of some phobias (irrational and intense fear)

•Conditioned emotions – often arise out of associations between events– can resolved by reversing the fear which has

developed

• People are motivated by reward and punishment.– Social systems work best with a clear chain of command, managers

guide their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements.

– When people have agreed to do a job, a part of the deal is that they accept authority of to their manager.

– The prime purpose of a subordinate is to do what their manager tells them to do.

• The main limitation is the assumption of 'rational man', a person who is largely motivated by money and simple reward, and hence whose behavior is predictable.

• The underlying psychological assumptions are derived from Behaviorism, including the Classical Conditioning and Instrumental Conditioning.

Early Management AssumptionsAssumptions

• Called the 3rd force because formed as a reaction to behavioristic and psychodynamic theories

• Primary difference: conception of human motivation where is the representation of our potential and desire for growth of our humanity?

• ‘empowerment’, ‘choice’, ‘reinventing yourself’

• Humanistic perspective brings a more optimistic approach of understanding personality.

Humanistic perspective

• Personality is created as a result of each experiences’ interaction both with other people and the situation.

• Personality is a unique expression of individuality.

• Proponents of humanistic perspective– Carl Rogers: person centered therapy– Eric Perls: existentialism– Roberto Assagioli: determinism and will– Abraham Maslow: actualization and motivation theory

Humanistic Approach: Appreciating our potential

Fig. 15.8

Contributions of the Humanistic Approach

• New directions for important aspects of our lives: – Health– Creativity– Wisdom– Growth

• It is useful for individual counselling at work.

Positive Psychology

• Recent movement that builds on humanistic Ψ Focus: how do we build well-being?

• How can we highlight our gains? Focus on good things in your life to increase our sense of our gifts– write down 3 good things that happened each day

• Positive organizational behavior (hope, confidence, optimism, resiliency) "the study and application of positively oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed, and effectively managed for performance improvement in today’s workplace"

Biological Perspective• Argument: there is a genetic basis for behavior

• Key concepts: genes, neurons, chemicals, hormones, nervous system

• Personality is the total of all internal, inherited processes which interact (so there is little we can do about it)

• Exercise produces endorphins (a natural pain killer): people who exercise heavily feel happy afterwards

Sources of Emotion and Moods• Personality is a key component and will definitely

impact the intensity of the emotions we feel.

• Weather can be an example: Seasonal Affective Disorder is a result of too little sunlight in winter

• Due to too little serotonin (a hormone produced when sunlight reached the brain through the eyes)– Results in apathy, depression, anxiety, irritability, difficulty

in concentrating, carbohydrate cravings and weight gain

Moods according to day of the week

Negative moods are highest on Sundays and Mondays and fall throughout the week

Mood AveragePositive moods are highest At the end of the week

Positive affect Negative affect

The Case of Phineas Gage

• A piece of metal rod drove through his head destroying most of his left brain (1860s)

• Survived; yet personality has changed dramatically: selfish, irresponsible..

• Loss of emotions unable to make personal decisions

A final analysis on biological perspective

• Biological perspective demonstrate how dependent our personalities are on biological processes

• Criticism of being reductionist and limitations in explaining personality as a whole

• Argument: Mind, body and personality are all connected and personality is a reflection of these internal processes and not a separate concept.

Trait and Type

• There is a trait component of behavior.

• How people are different from each other and how they are similar?

• Traits are characteristic emotional/behavioral patterns evident from a very young age, relatively stable over time and in different situations– As opposed to “states” – temporary patterns that

influence our behavior (e.g., a “state of anger”)

• May grow out of temperament primarily determined through genetic features

• Trait theory is considered the most useful of personality theories for work psychology

• It both identifies the major patters of behavior in which individuals differ and can classify this information.

• Organizations often use normative personality measurements during selection

Eysenck’s Theory of Personality

• Extraversion vs. Introversion as a trait• Emotional Stability vs. Neuroticism

• Assumes two continuous dimensions

Emotional stability ------------------------------ Neuroticism

Neurotic people are notoriously hard to work with, and thus organizations prefer the other end.

Table 4.1 The ‘Big Five’ factors or the OCEAN theory of personality

Evaluating the Big Five• A more or less general consensus that the Big Five is

the most relevant measurement of personality– Able to predict real-world behaviors– Useful for selection and promotion decisions

• Yet, an estimated %50 of variability in differences due to environment, situation, learned behavior, developmental influences..

• There appear to be limits to the cross-cultural universality and 5 factors are not enough to cover complexity of human behavior

The Social Cognitive Perspective• How do we construe the world?

– In 3 ways individuals learns by observing others, by interacting with and adapting to the environment

• Borrows from 2 long traditions: – Behavioral psychology:

• Role of experience, learning: What we become can be powerfully influenced by what we have learned.

– Cognitive psychology• How do we interpret our world? What are our beliefs

and expectancies? What is our explanatory style?• How are the schemas constructed? by observing

other people being reinforced (e.g., praise, reward vs. social rejection)

Control

• Autonomy and to have a meaningful say in our environment and what experiences we have

• Will power; self-discipline these are outcomes of “self-control” or “self-regulation”– Higher control often results in self-efficacy feeling

– Associated with better performance, and satisfaction with outcome, higher success, greater tolerance of frustration

– Locus of Control • Attribution of events to an internal/external source• Internals believe they are in charge of their decisions and behaviors• Externals tend to perceive that the world happens to them

Delay of Gratification• Almost everyone, everyday, practices delay of gratification

– deciding to skip dessert in order to lose weight – giving up an entertaining evening to complete assigned work

• The ability to forgo an immediate pleasure or reward in order to gain a more substantial one later.

• Often a sign of emotional and social maturity. – Young children find it more difficult to delay gratification. – Crucial skill to obtain for adult success– Ability to delay gratification at 4 years has high correlation with

later ability to do so – better sustained attention– better ability to tolerate frustration and set-backs

Using personality in organizations

• The differences do occur and research shows personality can shape our career choices and success.

• Traits can make a huge difference in the way people work together

• Using insights from personality psychology can help reduce conflict, engage effective functioning teams, select potential leaders, reduce absenteeism, etc.

• How applicant do represent themselves makes an impact on selection and recruitment..

Final thoughts on personality theories:

• Most practitioners use liberally from all six approaches– complementary

• The need for multiple approaches– overlap common between some approaches, but

all have insight into important aspects of human functioning

11 personality dimensions showing both positive and potential dark side traits