Personality and Identity

1. Personality and Identity Chapter 3: 104-118 Organizational Behavior 261 Gabrielle Durepos

2. Outline • Towards an understanding of Personality • Personality Test: • The Five Factor Model • Vocational Choice Theory • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator • Criticisms of Personality Tests • Towards an understanding of Identity • Social Identity Theory • Social Identity & The Organization • Conclusions

3. Towards an Understanding of: Personality • Refers to all the mental and behavioral characteristics that make up and define the uniqueness of an individual • These characteristics are called personality traits • Examples include: shy, kind, anxious, trustworthy, extraverted, introverted, conscientious • Personality is shaped by both genetic (nature) and environmental (nurture) influences • Personality traits remain stable over time • This is unlike identity which is fluid

4. Personality Test:The Five Factor Model • A framework developed to characterize personality • Used by organizations for hiring and assessing leadership styles • The model represents five basic dimensions of personality: • Extraversion – outgoing, assertive, active, excitement seeking • Agreeableness – the degree to which someone is warm, likeable, kind, gentle, trusting • Conscientiousness – dependability, conformity • Emotional Stability – opposite includes anxious, neurotic, fearful, depressed, moody • Openness to experience – creative, imaginative, perceptive, thoughtful behaviors

5. Personality Test:The Five Factor Model Extraversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Emotional stability Openness to experience Each of these dimensions are representative of a continuum

6. Personality Test:The Five Factor Model • The only good predictor of job performance has been shown to be Conscientiousness • Different test instruments (NEO) are used to measure where individuals fall each continuum • Interviews are sometimes used to assess personality traits • however studies have shown that interviewers can not assess traits that are good predictors of job performance • Eg: Conscientiousness • Reliability of The Five Factor Model is high

7. Personality Test:Vocational Choice Theory • Holland’s Vocational Choice looks at the individual’s: • Distinct personality traits • Choices of occupation • Their level of satisfaction & productivity level within the occupation • The premise of Vocational Choice Theory: • People select occupations based on their personality traits • Best-fit between an individual and the organization leads to: • high performance • high satisfaction • low levels of stress • Lack of fit between an individual and the organization leads to: • increased levels of stress • decreased employee moral • low productivity • high levels of absenteeism

8. Personality Test:Vocational Choice Theory • Holland’s occupational classification system: Personalities & occupations are grouped in 6 categories: • realistic • investigative • artistic • social • enterprising • conventional • Each category represents an interaction of: • Cultural forces • Personal forces; example: biological heredity, parents, peers, social class • Individuals seek to match -- Their personality characterization with an occupation’s characterization • Example: Someone is characterized as enterprising • this means they are ambitious, extroverted, self-confident, energetic • They will seek out occupations that have been categorized in the enterprising category – they will seek out occupations that are consistent with these traits, such as business executive • Vocational choice theory is less reliable

9. Personality Test:Myers-Briggs Type Indicator • The Myers-Briggs test is a personality type indicator • Myers-Briggs Test was designed to: • Help individuals understand their & others personality type • Find their proper niche of work • Enable them to be productive at work • Enable a good person-organization fit • Myers and Briggs develop a typology of 16 psychological types • Individuals are classified into the typology • The instrument: • Self-report questionnaire • individuals report their personal preference on certain situations • Answers are used to classify individuals into 1 of 16 personality types

10. Criticisms of Personality Test • Personality tests are used to assess the personality of individuals to see if they may fit a: • Job • Workgroup • Organization 1. Do we know for certain if there is a relationship between personality traits & job performance? • Two meta-analyses were conducted • only some aspects of personality tests are found to be “good predictors” of job performance 2. High costs of administering personality test 3. Assumes that jobs remain stable over time 4. Rely on self-reportage; People can lie on tests 5. Scores on personality tests can lead to individuals being classified rigidly and can lead to stereotypes or discrimination • ** Hiring decisions, promotion or termination should never be based solely on results of personality tests – they should accompany other methods

11. Towards an Understanding of: Identity • Is the ‘sense of self’ that we experience in different situations, that we develop over time, as we are socialized through various experiences • Fluid, it changes based on situation and role within a situation • Ex: At work I have a different ‘identity’ than at the pub on Friday • Shaped by the various groups (musical band; soccer team; Amnesty International) and social categories (sex, gender, race, occupation) to which we belong • Is what we use to tell others ‘who we are’ • Is subject to many different interpretations

12. Social Identity Theory • Social Identity theory states that: • people attach meaning to and develop an ‘identity’ … • through their membership with various social groups / categories • The premise is that: • All individuals have an individuated identity • Individuals also have a social identity, which is defined by their self identification with a social category (ex. race, age, gender, sex) • Through time / experience, we come to associate meaning and values with certain social categories: • “oh yeah… you know how irresponsible they are at that age…” • “…and he didn’t apologize? typical man...” • “well he is one of us, strong, determined and pays attention to detail. He will do well in the reserves…” • The meaning we attach to certain social categories to which we belong shapes our identity

13. Social Identity Theory • The downside: Stereotyping • Judging a stranger based on the social group or category to which they are associated • Example: • “I don’t know her but she is a feminist and you know how they are…”

14. Social Identity & The Organization • The organization influences identity through: • The establishment of norms that affect individuals • such as professional codes of conduct, dress codes etc. • Categorizing and classifying individuals through the use of titles • allocation of physical space • location in the hierarchy • roles / sets of tasks and their ascribed importance • occupation • department • workgroup

15. Social Identity & The Organization Silos • Silos in organizations: • Groups who become closely knit and do not interact with other departments • often to their detriment • May be due to: • hierarchal structures • social identity of members • Members of silos: • perceive themselves to be different and unique from members of other groups • may want to maintain that sense of uniqueness • Downside includes: • lack of communication • lack of coordination • duplication of work • stereotyping • discrimination

16. Conclusions • What are the downsides of hiring practices based on personality tests? • What does assimilation mean in terms of identity? • To what degree should / can organizations shape an individuals identity?