Individual Differences: Mental Functioning, Emotional Intelligence, Personality Perception, Attitudes, and Values

1. Individual Differences:Mental Functioning, Emotional Intelligence, PersonalityPerception, Attitudes, and Values B = f (P,E) (Behavior is a function of the person and the environment.)

2. Why is the study of Individual Differences of interest to managers? • Selection • Placement • Training • Motivation • Leadership

3. Mental Ability • General Intelligence (g factor) • Correlates with most tests of specific ability • Correlates with performance in most jobs • Specific Intelligences (s factors) • e.g., memory verbal comprehension, numerical ability, word comprehension, perceptual speed • Correlate with Job Satisfaction in work utilizing the specific ability in question

4. Cognitive Styles • How do we gather information? • Sensing - Look at the facts, details. • Intuiting - Brainstorm, get a general overview. • How do we choose between alternatives? • Thinking - Analyze objectively, reason. • Feeling - Consider the impact on people.

5. Cognitive Styles • Sensation / Thinking (ST) (e.g., technician) • Intuitive / Thinking (NT) (e.g., planner) • Sensation / Feeling (SF) (e.g., teacher) • Intuitive / Feeling (NF) (e.g., artist)

6. Myers-Briggs Test • Has 4 dimensions: • Sensing vs. Intuiting • Thinking vs. Feeling • Extraversion vs. Introversion • Judger vs. Perceiver • (decisive vs. flexible) • Higher and lower positions in each of the dimensions are used to classify people into one of 16 different personality categories.

7. Emotional Intelligence Dimensions • Knowing one’s own emotions • Controlling one’s emotions • Recognizing others’ emotions (Empathy) • Influencing others’ emotions Author Daniel Goleman says incompetence in management occurs more often from lack of EQ than lack of IQ

9. Personality • Nature of Personality • Internal State • Uniqueness • Consistency • Stability • Managers should be aware of subordinates’ characteristics. • Managers should also be aware of their own characteristics.

10. Personality Theories • Developmental Stage (Psychodynamic) • (Freud, etc.) • Trait-Based (“Big Five”, etc.) • e.g., Neurotic, Extraversion, Authoritarian (Eysenck) • Motive-Based • e.g., Achievement, Affiliation, Power (McClelland) • Belief-Based • e.g., Internal vs. External Locus of Control (Rotter)

11. Personality Theory: The Big FiveTraits: • Extraversion (vs. Introversion) • Sociable, friendly. • Emotional Stability (vs. Neuroticism): • Neurotics are often critical and feel angry with others and themselves. • Agreeableness • Likable, care about others. • Conscientiousness • Careful, persevering. • OpennesstoExperience: • Flexible, with broad interests.

12. Other Characteristics • Self-Monitoring: Tendency to manage impressions others have of you • Risk taking and thrill seeking • Self-Esteem:Degree to which people feel good about themselves and abilities.

13. Locus of Control • People who believe that they are in control of their own lives are said to have an Internallocus of control. • People who think that forces beyond their control dictate what happens to them are said to have an Externallocus of control.

14. Testing Intelligence and Personality • When using in selection and placement: Back up with validity studies. • In General: • Intelligence Tests- Moderate Validity • PersonalityTests- Low Validity

15. Perception • “The link between the person and the environment” • Broadly defined, includes Social Perception (impressions of people)

16. The Perception Process Organizing the selected “data” into patterns for interpretation and response Screening the “data” and selecting what to process Observing “data” via the senses

17. Perception • Why are perceptions often distorted? • Why do people not always perceive things as they are? • Why do people perceive things differently? • Different people • Same person at different times

18. Sources of Perceptual Distortions • Selectivity (perceiving only part of envir. or some parts more than others) • External Factors (i.e., currently in physical environment) • Similarity, Size, Nearness, Motion • Internal Factors • Experience, Motivation • Closure (adding to your perception) • Stereotyping • Halo Effects • Projection

19. General Perception Problems • Selectivity • Only notice stimuli which are consistent with our values and beliefs • Closure • Assume that what we don’t know is consistent with what we do know

20. Values and Attitudes Values (Basic Convictions – What is right, good, desirable) General - Contain many attitudes e.g., Conservative, Liberal, etc. Attitudes (Beliefs, Assumptions) Evaluative judgments focused on specific objects, concepts e.g., Attitude toward welfare payments

21. Types of Values • Terminal Values • Desired Goals • e.g., World Peace, Happiness, Freedom, True Friendship, Equality, Family Security • Instrumental Values • Means of Achieving Terminal Values • e.g., Ambition, Politeness, Self-Reliance, Honesty, Cheerfulness, Open-Mindedness

22. Work Values Across Generations Group Entered Workforce Values Veterans 1945-1964 Loyal to Organization Conforming Boomers 1965-1984 Loyal to Careers Dislike Authority Xers 1985-1999 Loyal to Relationships Seek Work-Life Balance Nexters 2000-Present Loyal to Self & Relationships Self-Reliant but Team-oriented

23. Attitudes: The ABC Model Affect Feelings for an object Behavioral Intentions Observed Behavior toward it Cognition Beliefs about it

24. Attitude Change Techniques Persuasion Cognition -> Behavior Conditioning Affective -> Cognition -> Behavior Cognitive Dissonance Production Behavior -> Cognition -> Affective (Based on the assumption that people are motivated to protect their self-concepts. This requires a perceived consistency among the three components.)