Understanding Individual Differences

1. Understanding Individual Differences Dr. Martha Reavley Odette School of Business

2. Introduction • Understanding Individual Differences • Why is it important?

3. Topics of Discussion • Components of Individual Differences: • Personality • Intelligence

4. Personality • Definition: • 1. persistent and enduring behaviour patterns that tend to be expressed in a wide variety of situations • 2. relatively stable set of characteristics,tendencies, and temperaments formed by inheritance, social, cultural and environmental factors

5. Personality Typologies • Carl Jung - inborn preferences for how we function (traits dominate as with left or right handedness) • 16 factors identified

6. Personality Factors • Reserved…outgoing • Less intelligent…more intelligent • Affected by feelings…emotionally stable • Submissive…dominant • Serious…happy go lucky • Expedient…conscientious • Apprehensive…venturesome • Tough-minded…sensitive

7. Personality Factors (cont’d) • Trusting…Suspicious • Practical…imaginative • Forthright…shrewd • Self-assured…apprehensive • Conservative…experimenting • Group dependent…self-sufficient • Uncontrolled…controlled • Relaxed…tense

8. Factors..factors..factors • Each factor has 10 degrees • possible personality permutations: • 10 to the 16th power! • Thus the need to categorize more

9. 16 Personality Types: The consequences…. • Conflict • conflict resolution • deeper interpersonal relations • others?

10. Personality Dimensions:Myers-Briggs (4D’s) • Introversion…extroversion • Intuition…sensing • Thinking…feeling • Judging…perceiving

11. Introversion…Extroversion • Orientation to inner world of ideas (I) vs external world of ideas (E) • I - draws energy from more solitary activities • E - energized by being social

12. Intuition…sensing • Concerned with how one gathers information • Intuitively: “big picture” people • Sensing: fact gatherer

13. Thinking…feeling • Concerned with how one evaluates information • thinking people rely on reason, facts, logic, data • feeling people rely on “gut”, values and beliefs

14. Judging…perceiving • Continuum reflects one’s attitude toward the external world • judging…task completion oriented • “Act! What are you waiting for?” • perceiving…information seeking • “Don’t be hasty. Get all the facts.”

15. What would you do if? • Your boss is: • introverted • sensing • judging • feeling • You have to give her a report on your project

16. Implications for Teams: • How would you use this to develop your team?

17. The “Big 6”O.C.E.A.N.S….away • Openness to experience • Conscientiousness • Extroversion • Agreeableness • Neuroticism (emotional stability) • Self-monitoring • tests abound

18. Role Plays • Pg. 24 text • 3 - four person groups • 2 person role plays • 3rd/4th person observe and give feedback • switch roles • report - what worked/didn’t work?

19. Intelligence • Importance • many different types

20. Emotional Intelligence • More important than IQ! • Components - self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness and social skills

21. Self-awareness: • 1. Emotional self-awareness - recognizing our emotions and their effects • 2. Accurate self-assessment - knowing our strengths and limits • 3. Self confidence - a strong sense of our self-worth and capabilities

22. Self-management: • 1. Self-control • 2. Trustworthiness • 3. Conscientiousness • 4. Adaptability • 5. Achievement-drive to improve • 6. Initiative-readiness to act

23. Social Awareness • 1. Empathy with people • 2. Empathy with the organization • 3. Empathy with the customer

24. Social Skills • 1. Developing others • 2. Leadership inspiring • 3. Influence wielding • 4, Communication sending • 5. Conflict resolution • 6. Team work • etc.

25. EQ: • EQ can be learned • Training must be individualized • Gender differences in general: --men need to learn better listening and empathy skills women need to learn better assertion and negotiating skills