PERSONALITY & WORK BEHAVIOUR

• the use of personality at work• expected relationships between

personality and work behaviour• approaches to the study of personality at

work• two instruments for selection and team

building • does personality predict work behaviour?

FURTHER READING

• Barrett, P & Hutton, R (2000) “Psychometrics and Personality Questionnaires” Selection & Development

Review 16 (2) pp5-9 • Brown, R (1999) “The use of Personality Tests: a

Survey of Usage and Practice in the UK” Selection & Development Review 15 (1) pp3-8

• Furnham, A (1997) The Psychology of Behaviour at Work London Psychology Press

• Robertson, ! & Baron, H (2000) “Conscientiousness and Managerial Performance” Journal of Occupational & Organisational Psychology 73 (2) pp171-180

WHO USES WHAT?

• 78% use personality tests

• OPQ, 16PF & MBTI are most common

• used for recruitment and development

• most use publishers’ norms

• most give feedback to clients

• most don’t change their reports

THE SHAPE OF THE RELATIONSHIP

• Positive linear?

• Plateauing?

• Curvilinear?

• Negative linear?

APPROACHES TO PERSONALITY AT WORK

• classical personality theory

• classical occ psych/OB

• work-specific measures

• concepts of fit and misfit

• longitudinal studies

• case history research

PROS AND CONS

• Advantages– numbers– developmental– anti-corruption– comprehensive– scientific

• Disadvantages– fakeable– self-insight– unreliable– invalid– unimportant

COSTA & McCRAE’S BIG 5

• neuroticism• extraversion• openness to experience• agreeableness• conscientiousness

MYERS BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR

• extraversion v introversion

• sensing v intuition

• thinking v feeling

• judging v perceiving

CATTELL’S 16PF

• move from the brightly lit areas• use of factor analysis• sixteen primary factors• five global factors• links with the big five

SOME WORRIES

• the theory is wrong• the measurement is poor• there are self-report errors• the dv is not related to the iv• other things are more important• the problem of expertise• the problem of independence