Individual Differences in the Workplace

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  • Individual Differences in the Workplace (Chapter 3) I attached chapter 3

Write one-page Reflective Writing Assignment.

How is the role that personality plays in highly structured blue-collar jobs different from the role that it plays in unstructured white-collar jobs?

What is the fundamental difference between the Big 5 Personality Inventory and Myers-Briggs? How might companies like Google foster experiments that embrace gender and personality differences (cf., https://www.economist.com/news/business-and-financ...?)

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CHAPTER 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following: 1. Define personality and describe how it affects work behaviors. 2. Understand the role of values in determining work behaviors. 3. Explain the process of perception and how it affects work behaviors. 4. Understand how individual differences affect ethics. 5. Understand cross-cultural influences on individual differences and perception. Individuals bring a number of differences to work, such as unique personalities, values, emotions, and moods. When new employees enter organizations, their stable or transient characteristics affect how they behave and perform. Moreover, companies hire people with the expectation that those individuals have certain skills, abilities, personalities, and values. Therefore, it is important to understand individual characteristics that matter for employee behaviors at work. 3.1 Hiring for Match: The Case of Netflix FIGURE 3.1 Source: chrisdorney / Shutterstock.com Hiring is perhaps one of the most important activities that takes place in a company, and it is common to hear managers talk about hiring the “best” people. Who exactly are the best people, though? And how do you get them to join your organization? Netflix, the entertainment company specializing in media streaming, is a thought leader in recruitment and hiring, and is responsible for many talent management practices adopted by other firms in recent years, including unlimited vacation time and eliminating annual performance reviews. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. 84 Organizational Behavior In terms of the skills they look for, Netflix considers future as well as current needs. Past experience and keyword matches may not be so helpful if the job itself is new. For example, when the company first became interested in hiring someone who could analyze big data, this was not a skill listed on many résumés. So they had to look for the right people in all sorts of industries that handled large amounts of data, such as insurance or credit card companies. They caution that job descriptions may be outdated and written for the person who left the job, and the company needs to consider the skills they will need in the future, or the skills they need right now in order to solve the business problems they are experiencing. Netflix has a unique culture. Unlike many Silicon Valley technology companies, they do not have a lot of perks such as free lunch or on-site gaming. They also pride themselves in treating people like adults, which means a high level of empowerment and trust. Realizing that this culture is not for everyone, they try to attract the right person in multiple ways. The description of their culture is available for everyone to read, which they hope will weed out people who may not feel comfortable in such an environment. They also make sure that their recruitment and hiring experience signals their most important values. They avoid misleading people as part of the process. They share their biggest attractions, which they see as the ability to work with top-notch people. They also are honest in giving job candidates feedback about their concerns. Nellie Peshkov, vice president of global talent acquisition, sees this as a test: “Do they get defensive, or do they accept the feedback and seek to engage in a healthy and productive dialogue? That’s a clue to see if they will be successful or not.” [1] Video: Multimedia Extension—Patty McCord: Lessons from a Silicon Valley Maverick View the video online at: //www.youtube.com/embed/uvG0aCbuG60?rel=0 Read about the Netflix culture here: https://jobs.netflix.com/culture © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Who is Netflix looking for? Patty McCord, who served as the Chief Talent Officer for Netflix for 14 years until her departure in 2012, suggests that they are looking for a good “match.” She cautions that when people say they hire for fit with company culture, they typically are thinking of someone they would enjoy sharing a beer with, which is not how match should be defined. Such an approach leads to restricting diversity as hiring managers and teams end up hiring people who are similar to them. Instead, they should be looking for someone who can solve their current and future business problems, and someone who shares the key values and goals of the company. In a Harvard Business Review article and a follow-up podcast, she shares the example of hiring a programmer who was working in an Arizona bank. The candidate was not a typical Silicon Valley hire, as he was a quiet guy who enjoyed woodworking in his free time, and was working in a traditional industry, but he had built an app enhancing Netflix. Ultimately, he fit the company so well because he was passionate about Netflix and the customer experience, despite his different background and personality. He was hired, and eventually rose through the ranks to become a vice president. Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 85 Case Discussion Questions 1. Patty McCord cautions that in many companies, culture fit is treated as finding someone you would like to spend time with. Do you agree with this observation? How do you think culture fit should be defined? 2. How can organizations successfully hire someone who fits with their organization? What are some methods they can use? 3. Based on the case, what are the values and skills of someone who could be successful at Netflix? 4. Netflix uses realistic job previews of their culture. Do you believe that all companies should do this? Why or why not? Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab 5. Netflix cautions that hiring managers should not rely too much on the job descriptions. What are the downsides of ignoring job descriptions when hiring someone? 3.2 The Interactionist Perspective: The Role of Fit Learning Objectives 1. Differentiate between person–organization and person–job fit. 2. Understand the relationship between person–job fit and work behaviors. 3. Understand the relationship between person–organization fit and work behaviors. Individual differences matter in the workplace. Human beings bring their personality, physical and mental abilities, and other stable traits to work. Imagine that you are interviewing an employee who is proactive, creative, and willing to take risks. Would this person be a good job candidate? What behaviors would you expect this person to demonstrate? The question posed above is misleading. While human beings bring their traits to work, every organization is different, and every job within the organization is also different. According to the interactionist perspective, behavior is a function of the person and the situation interacting with each other. Think about it. Would a shy person speak up in class? While a shy person may not feel like speaking, if the individual is very interested in the subject, knows the answers to the questions, and feels comfortable within the classroom environment, and if the instructor encourages participation and participation is 30% of the course grade, regardless of the level of shyness, the student may feel inclined to participate. Similarly, the behavior you may expect from someone who is proactive, creative, and willing to take risks will depend on the situation. When hiring employees, companies are interested in assessing at least two types of fit. Person–organization fit refers to the degree to which a person’s values, personality, goals, and other characteristics match those of the organization. Person–job fit is the degree to which a person’s skill, knowledge, abilities, and other characteristics match the job demands. Thus, someone who is proactive and creative may be a great fit for a company in the high-tech sector that would benefit from risk-taking employees, but may be a poor fit for a company that rewards routine and predictable behavior, such as an accounting firm. Similarly, this person may be a great fit for a job such as a scientist, but a poor fit for a routine office job. The first thing many recruiters look for is the degree of person–job fit. This is not surprising, because person–job fit is related to a number of positive work attitudes such as satisfaction with the work environment, identification with the organization, job satisfaction, and work behaviors such as job performance. Companies are often also interested in hiring candidates who will fit into the company culture (those with high person–organization fit). When people fit into their organi© 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. person-organization fit The degree to which a person’s values, personality, goals, and other characteristics match those of the organization. person-job fit The degree to which a person’s skill, knowledge, abilities, and other characteristics match the job demands. 86 Organizational Behavior overqualification The degree to which a person’s skill, knowledge, abilities, and other characteristics exceed the job requirements. A special case of not fitting one’s job is being overqualified for the job. Overqualification is a situation in which the employee has more skills, education, and experience than the job requires. People take jobs for which they are overqualified for a number of reasons, including a lack of alternatives, to gain entry into a new field, or not realizing that the job is actually below his or her skill level. Research shows that overqualification is related to negative job attitudes, greater tendency to look for a job, and higher likelihood of counterproductive behaviors. At the same time, studies have shown that there are situations where overqualification is positively related to job performance, particularly when these employees work with other overqualified workers. Further, the negative effects of overqualification only seem to emerge when employees are not empowered. In other words, by allowing employees to control their work environment and have a say in how things are done at work, companies can benefit from these highly qualified workers.[7] Key Takeaway While personality traits and other individual differences are important, we need to keep in mind that behavior is jointly determined by the person and the situation. Certain situations bring out the best in people, and someone who is a poor performer in one job may turn into a star employee in a different job. What do you think? 1. How can a company assess person–job fit before hiring employees? What are the methods you think would be helpful? 2. How can a company determine person–organization fit before hiring employees? Which methods do you think would be helpful? 3. What can organizations do to increase person–job and person–organization fit after they hire employees? 4. How do you think organizations react to overqualified workers? Are these candidates viewed as highly desirable job candidates? Why or why not? 3.3 Individual Differences: Values and Personality Learning Objectives 1. Understand what values are. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab zation, they tend to be more satisfied with their jobs, more committed to their companies, and less likely to experience burnout, and they actually remain longer in their company.[2] Further, applicants who believe that they fit with the organization during the stages of recruitment are more attracted to the firm and are more likely to accept an offer by that company.[3] One area of controversy is whether these people perform better. Some studies have found a positive relationship between person–organization fit and job performance, but this finding was not present in all studies, so it seems that fitting with a company’s culture will only sometimes predict job performance.[4] It also seems that fitting in with the company culture is more important to some people than to others. For example, people who are in more advanced stages of their careers are more strongly affected by their level of person–organization fit.[5] Also, when they build good relationships with their supervisors and the company, being a misfit does not seem to lead to dissatisfaction on the job.[6] Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 87 2. Describe the link between values and individual behavior. 3. Identify the major personality traits that are relevant to organizational behavior. 4. Explain the link between personality, work behavior, and work attitudes. 5. Explain the potential pitfalls of personality testing. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Values Values refer to stable life goals that people have, reflecting what is most important to them. Values are established throughout one’s life as a result of the accumulating life experiences and tend to be relatively stable.[8] The values that are important to people tend to affect the types of decisions they make, how they perceive their environment, and their actual behaviors. Moreover, people are more likely to accept job offers when the company possesses the values people care about.[9] Value attainment is one reason why people stay in a company, and when an organization does not help them attain their values, they are more likely to decide to leave if they are dissatisfied with the job itself.[10] values Stable life goals people have, reflecting what is most important to them. What are the values people care about? There are many typologies of values. One of the most established surveys to assess individual values is the Rokeach Value Survey.[11] This survey lists 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values in alphabetical order. Terminal values refer to end states people desire in life, such as leading a prosperous life and a world at peace. Instrumental values deal with views on acceptable modes of conduct, such as being honest and ethical, and being ambitious. terminal values According to Rokeach, values are arranged in hierarchical fashion. In other words, an accurate way of assessing someone’s values is to ask them to rank the 36 values in order of importance. By comparing these values, people develop a sense of which value can be sacrificed to achieve the other, and the individual priority of each value emerges. instrumental values TABLE 3.1 Sample Items from Rokeach (1973) Value Survey Terminal Values Instrumental Values A world of beauty Broad minded An exciting life Clean Family security Forgiving Inner harmony Imaginative Self-respect Obedient Where do values come from? Research indicates that they are shaped early in life and show stability over the course of a lifetime. Early family experiences are important influences over the dominant values. People who were raised in families with low socioeconomic status and those who experienced restrictive parenting often display conformity values when they are adults, while those who were raised by parents who were cold toward their children would likely value and desire security.[12] Values of a generation also change and evolve in response to the historical context that the generation grows up in. It is important to keep in mind that generational differences, where they exist, are modest, and are not strong enough to justify treating different age groups differently in the workplace. At the same time, research identified some differences in the values of different generations. For example, Generation Xers (those born between 1965 and 1979) are thought to be more individualistic and are interested in working toward organizational goals so long as they coincide with their personal goals. This group, compared to the Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964), is also less likely to see work as central to their life and more likely to desire a quick promotion.[13] Millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) value leisure more, report less work centrality than boomers, and value work-life balance.[14] At the same time, the cut-offs between generations tend to be fuzzy, and the trends tend to be gradual.[15] © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. End states people desire in life, such as leading a prosperous life and a world at peace. Views on acceptable modes of conduct, such as being honest and ethical, and being ambitious. 88 Organizational Behavior FIGURE 3.2 Source: Shutterstock.com The values a person holds may affect their employment. For example, someone who has an orientation toward strong stimulation may pursue extreme sports and select an occupation that involves fast action and high risk, such as fire fighter, police officer, or emergency medical doctor. Someone who has a drive for achievement may more readily act as an entrepreneur. Moreover, whether individuals will be satisfied at a given job may depend on whether the job provides a way to satisfy their dominant values. Therefore, understanding employees at work requires understanding the value orientations of employees. Personality personality The relatively stable feelings, thoughts, and behavioral patterns a person has. Personality encompasses the relatively stable feelings, thoughts, and behavioral patterns a person has. Our personality differentiates us from other people, and understanding someone’s personality gives us clues about how that person is likely to act and feel in a variety of situations. In order to effectively manage organizational behavior, an understanding of different employees’ personalities is helpful. Having this knowledge is also useful for placing people in jobs and organizations. When scholars discuss personality characteristics as being “stable,” this does not mean that an individual’s personality exhibits no degree of change. You probably remember how you have changed and evolved as a result of your own life experiences, attention you received in early childhood, the style of parenting you were exposed to, successes and failures you had in high school, and other life events. In fact, our personality changes over long periods of time. For example, we tend to become more socially dominant, more conscientious (organized and dependable), and more emotionally stable between ages 20 and 40, whereas openness to new experiences tends to decline as we age.[16] In other words, even though we treat personality as relatively stable over short periods of time, changes occur. Moreover, even in childhood, our personality shapes who we are and has lasting consequences for us. For example, studies show that part of our career success and job satisfaction later in life can be explained by our childhood personality.[17] © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Values will affect the choices people make. For example, someone who has a strong stimulation orientation may pursue extreme sports and be drawn to risky business ventures with a high potential for payoff. Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 89 Is our behavior in organizations dependent on our personality? Yes and no. While we will discuss the effects of personality for employee behavior, you must remember that the relationships we describe are modest correlations. For example, having a sociable and outgoing personality may encourage people to seek friends and prefer social situations. This does not mean that their personality will immediately affect their work behavior. At work, we have a job to do and a role to perform. Therefore, our behavior may be more strongly affected by what is expected of us, as opposed to how we want to behave. When people have a lot of freedom at work, their personality will become a stronger influence over their behavior.[18] Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Big Five Personality Traits How many personality traits exist? In the English language alone, more than 15,000 words describing personality have been identified. When researchers analyzed the terms describing personality characteristics, they realized that many different words might be used to describe a single dimension of personality. When these words were grouped, five dimensions seemed to emerge that explain a lot of the variation in our personalities.[19] The “Big Five” dimensions of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism can be remembered using the acronym OCEAN. Everyone has some degree of each of these traits; it is the unique configuration of how high a person rates on some traits and how low on others that produces the individual quality we call personality. Keep in mind that these five traits are not necessarily the only ones that exist. There are other, specific traits that represent dimensions not captured by the Big Five. Still, understanding the main five traits gives us a good start for describing personality. Openness is the degree to which a person is curious, original, intellectual, creative, and open to new ideas. People high in openness thrive in situations that require being flexible and learning new things. For example, in a study tracking individuals from childhood to the age of 64, childhood openness showed indirect effects on upward social mobility because these individuals were more likely to acquire higher levels of education.[20] As employees, they have an advantage when they enter into a new organization. Their open-mindedness leads them to seek a lot of information and feedback about how they are doing and to build relationships, which leads to quicker adjustment to the new job.[21] Open people are highly adaptable to change, and teams that experience unforeseen changes in their tasks do well if they are populated with people high in openness.[22] Compared to people low in openness, they are also more likely to start their own business.[23] One downside of openness is that their absorption in creative pursuits has been shown to result in less time spent with spouses at home, which could lead to higher work-life conflict. [24] openness Conscientiousness refers to the degree to which a person is organized, systematic, punctual, achievement oriented, and dependable. Conscientiousness is the one personality trait that uniformly predicts how high a person’s performance will be across a variety of occupations and jobs. Conscientiousness has advantages on and off the job. For example, conscientiousness measured during childhood predicts likelihood of unemployment in adulthood (with high conscientiousness predicting low unemployment.[25] Not surprisingly, conscientiousness is the trait most desired by recruiters, and highly conscientious applicants tend to succeed in interviews.[26] Once they are hired, conscientious employees not only tend to perform well, but they also have higher levels of motivation to perform, lower levels of turnover, lower levels of absenteeism, and higher levels of safety performance at work.[27] In other words, conscientious employees are highly desirable to businesses. In return, companies tend to reward those who have this trait, treating them in more fair and considerate ways.[28] Finally, conscientiousness is a particularly valuable trait for entrepreneurs. Highly conscientious people are more likely to start their own business compared with those who are not, and their firms have longer survival rates and better performance.[29] This trait is not without a downside, however. When they experience failure, such as in the form of unemployment, the wellbeing of conscientious people is much more negatively affected.[30] conscientiousness © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. The degree to which a person is curious, original, intellectual, creative, and open to new ideas. The degree to which a person is organized, systematic, punctual, achievement oriented, and dependable. extraversion The degree to which a person is outgoing, talkative, sociable, and enjoys being in social situations. Organizational Behavior Extraversion is the degree to which a person is outgoing, talkative, sociable, and enjoys socializing. Interacting with others and being social energizes extraverts, whereas similar levels of stimulation and interactions may be viewed as draining to someone who is an introvert. One of the established findings is that extraverts tend to be effective in jobs involving sales. For example, when they force themselves to show “service with a smile,” they are more effective and convincing, which results in earning more tips from customers, whereas similar behaviors seem to backfire for introverts and result in less tips![31] Moreover, they tend to be effective as managers and they demonstrate inspirational leadership behaviors.[32] Extraverts tend to be effective in job interviews and even have higher starting salaries. Part of this success comes from preparation, as they are likely to reach out to their social network in order to prepare for the interview.[33] Extraverts have an easier time than introverts do when adjusting to a new job. Adjusting to a new job requires seeking a lot of information and feedback early on, which they seem to be more comfortable with.[34] Interestingly, extraverts are also found to be happier at work, which may be because of the relationships they build with the people around them and their easier adjustment to a new job.[35] However, they do not necessarily perform well in all jobs; jobs depriving them of social interaction may be a poor fit. Moreover, they are not necessarily model employees. For example, they tend to have higher levels of absenteeism at work, potentially because they may miss work to hang out with or attend to the needs of their friends.[36] FIGURE 3.3 Studies show a positive relationship between being extraverted and effectiveness as a salesperson. Source: Shutterstock.com agreeableness The degree to which a person is nice, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind, and warm. Agreeableness is the degree to which a person is affable, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind, and warm. In other words, people who are high in agreeableness are likable and get along with others. Not surprisingly, agreeable people help others at work consistently; this helping behavior does not depend on their good mood.[37] They are also better able to cope with stressors such as family interference with work.[38] This may reflect their ability to show empathy and to give people the benefit of the doubt. Agreeable people may be a valuable addition to their teams and may be effective leaders because they create a positive environment when they are in leadership positions. In fact, they are regarded as highly ethical leaders by their subordinates.[39] At the other end of the spectrum, people low in agreeableness are less likely to show these positive behaviors. Moreover, people who are disagreeable are shown to quit their jobs unexpectedly, perhaps in response to a conflict with a © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab 90 Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 91 boss or a peer.[40] Despite its advantages, agreeableness also has some downsides. Research shows that agreeable individuals tend to have lower levels of financial credit ratings, which may be a result of making promises they are not able to keep, or even co-signing loans for friends and family and then getting into financial trouble because of it.[41] Because they avoid conflict, they may miss opportunities for initiating constructive change or may get into difficulties while attempting to please others. Finally, recent research answered the age-old question: Do nice guys finish last? It seems that for men, agreeableness negatively relates to income level, whereas no relationship exists for women.[42] What are your Big Five traits? Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Go to http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/ to see how you score on these factors. Neuroticism refers to the degree to which a person is anxious, irritable, temperamental, and moody. It is the only Big Five dimension in which scoring high is undesirable. People very high in neuroticism experience a number of problems at work. Most of their problems are due to difficulties in handling stress. Neurotic employees experience lower levels of satisfaction with their lives, indicating their habitual levels of unhappiness.[43] Research has shown that they are more prone to experience stressors such as work-life conflict, more negatively affected by stressors such as autocratic leadership, and have less healthy ways of coping with their daily stress, such as in the form of increasing their daily intake of alcohol.[44] Out of the big five traits, this one is the strongest (and negative) correlate of job satisfaction.[45] This personality trait has mixed effects on job search behavior: On the one hand, they experience greater burnout on the job and greater financial inadequacy, motivating them to look for an alternative. On the other hand, they feel less confident about their ability to find a new job, discouraging them from seeking a new job.[46] FIGURE 3.4 One of the world’s most famous (and most neurotic) artists, Vincent Van Gogh did not see success during his lifetime. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Aside from the Big Five personality traits, perhaps the most well-known and most often used personality assessment is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Unlike the Big Five, which assesses traits, MBTI measures types. Assessments of the Big Five do not classify people as neurotic or extravert: It is all a matter of degrees. MBTI on the other hand, classifies people as one of 16 types.[47] In MBTI, people are grouped using four dimensions. Based on how a person is classified on these four dimensions, it is possible to talk about 16 unique personality types, such as ESTJ and ISTP. MBTI was developed in 1943 by a mother-daughter team, Isabel Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs. Its objective at the time was to aid World War II veterans in identifying the occupation that would suit their personalities. Since that time, MBTI has become immensely popular, and according to one estimate, around 2.5 million people take the test annually. The survey is criticized because it relies on types as opposed to traits, but organizations who use the survey find it very useful for training and team-building purposes. More than 80 of the Fortune 100 companies used Myers-Briggs tests in some form. One distinguishing characteristic of this test is that it is explicitly designed for learning, not for employee selection purposes. In fact, the Myers & Briggs Foundation has strict guidelines against the use of the test for employee selection. Instead, the test is used to provide mutual understanding within the team and to gain a better understanding of the working styles of team members.[48] © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Source: Shutterstock.com neuroticism The degree to which a person is anxious, irritable, temperamental, and moody. 92 Organizational Behavior TABLE 3.2 Summary of MBTI Types Dimension Explanation EI Introversion: Those who derive their energy from inside. Extraversion: Those who derive their energy from other people and objects. SN Sensing: Those who rely on their five senses to perceive the external environment. Intuition: Those who rely on their intuition and hunches to perceive the external environment. TF Thinking: Those who use logic to arrive at solutions. Feeling: Those who use their values and ideas about what is right and wrong to arrive at solutions. Positive and Negative Affectivity positive affective people People who experience positive moods more frequently, who tend to be happier at work. negative affective people People who experience negative moods with greater frequency, focus on the “glass half empty,” and experience more anxiety and nervousness. You may have noticed that behavior is also a function of moods. When people are in a good mood, they may be more cooperative, smile more, and act friendly. When these same people are in a bad mood, they may have a tendency to be picky, irritable, and less tolerant of different opinions. Yet some people seem to be in a good mood most of the time, and others seem to be in a bad mood most of the time regardless of what is actually going on in their lives. This distinction is manifested by positive and negative affectivity traits. Positive affective people experience positive moods more frequently, whereas negative affective people experience negative moods with greater frequency. Negative affective people focus on the “glass half empty” and experience more anxiety and nervousness.[49] Positive affective people tend to be happier at work,[50] and their happiness spreads to the rest of the work environment. As may be expected, this personality trait sets the tone in the work atmosphere. When a team comprises mostly negative affective people, there tend to be fewer instances of helping and cooperation. Teams dominated by positive affective people experience lower levels of absenteeism.[51] When people with a lot of power are also high in positive affectivity, the work environment is affected in a positive manner and can lead to greater levels of cooperation and finding mutually agreeable solutions to problems.[52] OB Toolbox: Help, I Work With a Negative Person! Source: Shutterstock.com Employees who have high levels of neuroticism or high levels of negative affectivity may act overly negative at work, criticize others, complain about trivial things, or create an overall negative work environment. Here are some tips for how to work with them effectively.[53] • Understand that you are unlikely to change someone else’s personality. Personality is relatively stable and criticizing someone’s personality will not bring about change. If the behavior is truly disruptive, focus on behavior, not personality. • Keep your emotional distance. It is very easy for their emotions to affect yours. As much as you can, maintain emotional distance from their negativity. • Keep an open mind. Just because a person is constantly negative does not mean that they are not sometimes right. Listen to the feedback they are giving you. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab JP Judgment: Those who are organized, Perception: Those who are curious, open systematic, and would like to have clarity and minded, and prefer to have some ambiguity. closure. Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 93 • Set a time limit. If you are dealing with someone who constantly complains about things, you may want to limit these conversations to prevent them from consuming your time at work. • You may also empower them to act on the negatives they mention. The next time an overly negative individual complains about something, ask that person to think of ways to change the situation and get back to you. • Ask for specifics. If someone has a negative tone in general, you may want to ask for specific examples and evidence for the problems they have identified. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Self-Monitoring Self-monitoring refers to the extent to which a person is capable of altering his or her actions and appearance in social situations. In other words, people who are self-monitors are social chameleons who understand what the situation demands and act accordingly, while low self-monitors tend to act the way they feel.[54] High self-monitors are sensitive to the types of behaviors the social environment expects from them. Their greater ability to modify their behavior according to the demands of the situation and to manage their impressions effectively is a great advantage for them.[55] In general, they tend to be more successful in their careers. They are more likely to get cross-company promotions, and even when they stay with one company, they are more likely to advance.[56] Self-monitors also become the “go to” person in their company and they enjoy central positions in social networks.[57] They are rated as higher performers, and emerge as leaders.[58] While they are effective in influencing other people and get things done by managing their impressions, this personality trait has some challenges that need to be addressed. First, when evaluating the performance of other employees, they tend to be less accurate. It seems that while trying to manage their impressions, they may avoid giving accurate feedback to their subordinates to avoid confrontations.[59] This tendency may create problems for them if they are managers. Second, high self-monitors tend to experience higher levels of stress, probably caused by behaving in ways that conflict with their true feelings. In situations that demand positive emotions, they may act happy although they are not feeling happy, which puts an emotional burden on them. Finally, high selfmonitors tend to be less committed to their companies. They may see their jobs as a stepping-stone for greater things, which may prevent them from forming strong attachments and loyalty to their current employer.[60] self-monitoring The extent to which people are capable of monitoring their actions and appearance in social situations. Proactive Personality Proactive personality refers to a person’s inclination to fix what is perceived as wrong, change the status quo, and use initiative to solve problems. Instead of waiting to be told what to do, proactive people take action to initiate meaningful change and remove the obstacles they face along the way. In general, having a proactive personality has a number of advantages for these people. For example, they tend to be more successful in their job searches.[61] Proactive employees are also more successful over the course of their careers, because they use initiative and acquire greater understanding of the politics within the organization.[62] Proactive people are valuable assets to their companies because they may have higher levels of performance.[63] They adjust to their new jobs quickly because they understand the political environment better and often make friends more quickly and are more responsive to the feedback they receive.[64] Proactive people are eager to learn and engage in many developmental activities to improve their skills.[65] Despite all their potential, under some circumstances a proactive personality may be a liability for an individual or an organization. Individuals who are proactive but who are perceived as being too pushy try to change things other people are not willing to let go, or use their initiative to make decisions that do not serve a company’s best interests. Research shows that the success of proactive people depends on their © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. proactive personality A person’s inclination to fix what is perceived to be wrong, change the status quo, and use initiative to solve problems. 94 Organizational Behavior understanding of a company’s core values, their ability and skills to perform their jobs, and their ability to assess situational demands correctly.[66] self-esteem The degree to which a person has overall positive feelings about oneself. Self-esteem is the degree to which a person has overall positive feelings about themselves. People with high self-esteem view themselves in a positive light, are confident, and respect themselves. On the other hand, people with low self-esteem experience high levels of self-doubt and question their self-worth. High self-esteem is related to higher levels of satisfaction with one’s job and higher levels of performance on the job as well as higher levels of creativity at work.[67] People with low selfesteem are attracted to situations in which they will be relatively invisible, such as large companies.[68] Managing employees with low self-esteem may be challenging at times, because negative feedback given with the intention to improve performance may be viewed as a judgment on their worth as an employee. Individuals with low self- esteem are sensitive to social feedback, and they interpret ambiguous situations as definitive signals of social exclusion, which in turn leads to negative self-evaluations.[69] Therefore, effectively managing employees with relatively low selfesteem requires tact and providing lots of positive feedback when discussing performance incidents. FIGURE 3.5 Source: Adapted from information in Denissen, J. J. A., Penke, L., & Schmitt, D. P. (2008, July). Self-esteem reactions to social interactions: Evidence for sociometer mechanisms across days, people, and nations. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 95, 181–196; Hitti, M. (2005). Who’s No. 1 in self-esteem? Serbia is tops, Japan ranks lowest, U.S. is no. 6 in global survey. WebMD. Retrieved June 1, 2018 from http://www.webmd.com/skin-beauty/news/20050927/whos-number-1-in-self-esteem; Schmitt, D. P., & Allik, J. (2005). The simultaneous administration of the Rosenberg self-esteem scale in 53 nationals: Culture-specific features of global self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 623–642. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Self-Esteem Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 95 Self-Efficacy Self-efficacy is a belief that one can perform a specific task successfully. Research shows that the belief that we can do something is a good predictor of whether we can actually do it. Self-efficacy is different from other personality traits in that it is job specific. You may have high self-efficacy in being successful academically, but low self-efficacy in relation to your ability to fix your car. At the same time, people have a certain level of generalized self-efficacy, and they have the belief that whatever task or hobby they tackle, they are likely to be successful in it. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Research shows that self-efficacy at work is related to job performance.[70] This relationship is probably a result of people with high self-efficacy setting higher goals for themselves and being more committed to these goals, whereas people with low self-efficacy tend to procrastinate.[71] Managerial self-efficacy is a good predictor of whether the manager seeks input from employees as managers with low self-efficacy will be more defensive of themselves, and less likely to want to hear about how they can manage more effectively. [72] Is there a way of increasing employees’ self-efficacy? Hiring people who are capable of performing their tasks and training people to increase their self-efficacy may be effective. Some people may also respond well to verbal encouragement. By showing that you believe they can be successful and effectively playing the role of a cheerleader, you may be able to increase self-efficacy. Giving people opportunities to test their skills so that they can see what they are capable of doing (or empowering them) is also a good way of increasing self-efficacy.[73] OB Toolbox: Ways to Build Your Self-Confidence Source: Shutterstock.com Having high self-efficacy and self-esteem are boons to your career. People who have an overall positive view of themselves and those who have positive attitudes toward their abilities project an aura of confidence. How do you achieve higher self-confidence?[74] • Take a self-inventory. What are the areas in which you lack confidence? Then consciously tackle these areas. Take part in training programs; seek opportunities to practice these skills. Confront your fears head-on. • Set manageable goals. Success in challenging goals will breed self-confidence, but do not make your goals impossible to reach. If a task seems daunting, break it apart and set mini goals. • Find a mentor. A mentor can point out areas in need of improvement, provide accurate feedback, and point to ways of improving yourself. • Don’t judge yourself by your failures. Everyone fails, and the most successful people have more failures in life. Instead of assessing your self-worth by your failures, learn from mistakes and move on. • Until you can feel confident, be sure to act confident. Acting confident will influence how others treat you, which will boost your confidence level. Pay attention to how you talk and behave, and act like someone who has high confidence. • Know when to ignore negative advice. If you receive negative feedback from someone who is usually negative, try to ignore it. Surrounding yourself with naysayers is not good for your self-esteem. This does not mean that you should ignore all negative feedback, but be sure to look at a person’s overall attitude before making serious judgments based on that feedback. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. self-efficacy A belief that one can perform a specific task successfully. 96 Organizational Behavior internal locus of control A person’s belief they they control their own destiny and what happens to them is their own doing. external locus of control A person’s belief that things happen because of other people, luck, or a powerful being. Locus of control deals with the degree to which people feel accountable for their own behaviors. Individuals with high internal locus of control believe that they control their own destiny and what happens to them is their own doing, while those with high external locus of control feel that things happen to them because of other people, luck, or a powerful being. Internals feel greater control over their own lives, and therefore they act in ways that will increase their chances of success. For example, they are more involved with their jobs. They demonstrate higher levels of motivation and have more positive experiences at work. When they are faced with problems, they adopt problem-focused coping strategies.[75] Interestingly, internal locus is also related to one’s subjective well-being and happiness in life, while being high in external locus is related to a higher rate of depression.[76] The connection between internal locus of control and health is interesting, but perhaps not surprising. In fact, one study showed that having internal locus of control at the age of 10 was related to a number of health outcomes, such as lower obesity and lower blood pressure later in life.[77] It is possible that internals take more responsibility for their health and adopt healthier habits, while externals may see less of a connection between how they live and their health. Internals thrive in contexts in which they have the ability to influence their own behavior. Successful entrepreneurs tend to have high levels of internal locus of control.[78] FIGURE 3.6 Core Self-Evaluations Researchers view neuroticism, locus of control, self-efficacy, and self-esteem as part of a person’s self-evaluations. Positive feelings about oneself are beneficial for effectiveness and happiness at work. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Locus of Control Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 97 Personality Testing in Employee Selection FIGURE 3.7 Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Goldman Sachs started using a personality test focusing on the Big Five traits in 2018. Source: 360b / Shutterstock.com Personality is a potentially important predictor of work behavior. Matching people to jobs matters, because when people do not fit with their jobs or the company, they are more likely to leave, costing companies as much as a person’s annual salary to replace them. In job interviews, companies try to assess a candidate’s personality and the potential for a good match, but interviews are only as good as the people conducting them. Unfortunately, research has shown that most interviewers are not particularly good at detecting the one trait that best predicts performance: conscientiousness.[79] One method some companies use to improve this match and detect the people who are potentially good job candidates is personality testing. Several companies conduct pre-employment personality tests. Companies using them believe that these tests improve the effectiveness of their selection and reduce turnover. For example, Overnight Transportation in Atlanta found that using such tests reduced their on-the-job delinquency by 50%–100%.[80] Experts have not yet reached an agreement regarding the best way to select employees, and the topic is highly controversial. Some experts cite data that personality tests predict performance and other important criteria such as job satisfaction. A key consideration in this debate is the knowledge that how a personality test is used influences its validity. Imagine filling out a personality test in class. You may be more likely to fill it out as honestly as you can. Then, if your instructor correlates your personality scores with your class performance, we could say that the correlation is meaningful. In employee selection, one complicating factor is that people filling out the survey in a hiring context do not have a strong incentive to be honest. In fact, they have a greater incentive to guess what the job requires and answer the questions to match what they think the company is looking for. As a result, the rankings of the candidates who take the test may be affected by their ability to fake desired qualities. Some experts believe that this is a serious problem. In fact, it is estimated that 20%–50% of all job applicants give fake responses in personality tests.[81] Others point out that even with faking, the tests remain valid because the scores are still related to job performance.[82] It is even possible that the ability to fake is related to a personality trait that increases © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. faking The practice of answering questions in a way one thinks the company is looking for. 98 Organizational Behavior success at work, such as self-monitoring. This issue raises potential questions regarding whether personality tests are the most effective way of measuring candidate personality. Another problem with personality tests is the uncertain relationship between performance and personality. Research has shown that personality is not a particularly strong indicator of how a person will perform at work. According to one estimate, personality only explains about 10%–15% of variation in job performance. Our performance at work depends on many factors, and personality does not seem to be the key factor for performance. In fact, cognitive ability (your overall mental intelligence) is a much more powerful influence on job performance, and instead of personality tests, cognitive ability tests may do a better job of predicting who will be good performers. Personality is a better predictor of job satisfaction and other attitudes, but screening people out on the assumption that they may be unhappy at work is a challenging argument to make in the context of employee selection. Reprinted by permission. Originally published on ScienceForWork. In any case, if you decide to use personality tests for selection, you need to be aware of their limitations. Relying only on personality tests for selection of an employee is a bad idea, but if they are used together with other tests such as tests of cognitive abilities, better decisions may be made. The company should ensure that the test fits the job and actually predicts performance. This process is called validating the test. Before giving the test to applicants, the company could give © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Scores are not only distorted because of some candidates faking better than others. For example, using a survey assumes that individuals understand their own personalities, but this may not be the case. How supervisors, coworkers, and customers see our personality matters more than how we see ourselves. Therefore, using self-report measures of performance may not be the best way of measuring someone’s personality, whereas asking our former colleagues or supervisors may reveal more accurate answers. In fact, observers are surprisingly accurate in assessing our personality. In one study, evaluators were able to accurately assess the personality of others simply by looking at and rating their Facebook pages.[83] In addition, individuals may be tempted to give “aspirational” answers to surveys. If you are asked if you are honest, you may think, “Yes, I always have the intention to be honest.” While this answer is related to how you value honesty, it may say nothing about your actual level of honest behavior in any given situation. Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception it to existing employees to find out the traits that are most important for success in the particular company and job. Then, in the selection context, the company can pay particular attention to those traits. The company should also make sure that the test does not discriminate against people on the basis of sex, race, age, disabilities, and other legally protected characteristics. Rent-A-Center experienced legal difficulties when the test they used was found to be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The test they used for selection, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, was developed to diagnose severe mental illnesses and included items such as “I see things or people around me others do not see.” In effect, the test served the purpose of a clinical evaluation and was discriminating against people with mental illnesses, which is a protected category under ADA.[84] Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Key Takeaway Values and personality traits are two dimensions on which people differ. Values are stable life goals. When seeking jobs, employees are more likely to accept a job that provides opportunities for value attainment, and they are more likely to remain in situations that satisfy their values. Personality comprises the stable feelings, thoughts, and behavioral patterns people have. The Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) are important traits that seem to be stable and can be generalized to other cultures. Other important traits for work behavior include self-efficacy, self-esteem, self-monitoring, proactive personality, positive and negative affectivity, and locus of control. It is important to remember that a person’s behavior depends on the match between the person and the situation. While personality is a strong influence on job attitudes, its relation to job performance is weaker. Some companies use personality testing to screen out candidates. This method has certain limitations, and companies using personality tests are advised to validate their tests and use them as a supplement to other techniques that have greater validity. What do you think? 1. Think about the personality traits covered in this section. Can you think of jobs or occupations that seem particularly suited to each trait? Which traits would be universally desirable across all jobs? 2. What are the unique challenges of managing employees who have low self-efficacy and low self-esteem? How would you deal with this situation? 3. What are some methods that companies can use to assess employee personality? 4. Have you ever held a job where your personality did not match the demands of the job? How did you react to this situation? How were your attitudes and behaviors affected? 5. Can you think of any limitations of developing an “ideal employee” profile and looking for employees who fit that profile while hiring? 3.4 Perception Learning Objectives 1. Understand the influence of self in the process of perception. 2. Describe how we perceive visual objects and how these tendencies may affect our behavior. 3. Describe the biases of self-perception. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. 99 100 Organizational Behavior 4. Describe the biases inherent in perception of other people. perception The process with which individuals detect and interpret environmental stimuli. Our behavior is not only a function of our personality, values, and preferences, but also of the situation. We interpret our environment, formulate responses, and act accordingly. Perception may be defined as the process with which individuals detect and interpret environmental stimuli. What makes human perception so interesting is that we do not solely respond to the stimuli in our environment. We go beyond the information that is present in our environment, pay selective attention to some aspects of the environment, and ignore other elements that may be immediately apparent to other people. Our perception of the environment is not entirely rational. For example, have you ever noticed that while glancing at a news website, information that is interesting or important to you seems to jump out of the page and catches your eye? If you are a sports fan, while scrolling down the pages you may immediately see a news item describing the latest success of your team. If you were recently turned down for a loan, an item of financial news may jump out at you. Therefore, what we see in the environment is a function of what we value, our needs, our fears, and our emotions.[85] In fact, what we see in the environment may be objectively, flat-out wrong because of our personality, values, or emotions. For example, one experiment showed that when people who were afraid of spiders were shown spiders, they inaccurately thought that the spider was moving toward them.[86] In this section, we will describe some common tendencies we engage in when perceiving objects or other people, and the consequences of such perceptions. Our coverage of biases and tendencies in perception is not exhaustive—there are many other biases and tendencies on our social perception. Visual Perception FIGURE 3.8 What do you see? Our visual perception definitely goes beyond the physical information available to us. First of all, we extrapolate from the information available to us. Take a look at the figure with three circles. The white triangle you see in the middle is not really there, but we extrapolate from the information available to us and see it there.[87] Our visual perception is often biased because we do not perceive objects in isolation. The contrast between our focus of attention and the remainder of the environment may make an object appear bigger or smaller. This principle is illustrated in the figure with circles. Which of the middle circles is bigger? To most people, the one on the left appears bigger, but this is because it is surrounded by smaller circles. The contrast between the focal object and the objects surrounding it may make an object bigger or smaller to our eye. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab 5. Explain what attributions mean, how we form attributions, and their consequences for organizational behavior. Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 101 FIGURE 3.9 Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Which of the circles in the middle is bigger? At first glance, the one on the left may appear bigger, but they are in fact the same size. We compare the middle circle on the left to its surrounding circles, whereas the middle circle on the right is compared to the bigger circles surrounding it. How do these tendencies influence behavior in organizations? You may have realized that the fact that our visual perception is faulty may make witness testimony faulty and biased. How do we know whether the employee you judge to be hardworking, fast, and neat is really like that? Is it really true, or are we comparing this person to other people in the immediate environment? Or let’s say that you do not like one of your peers and you think that this person is constantly surfing the Web during work hours. Are you sure? Have you really seen this person surf unrelated websites, or is it possible that the person was surfing the Web for work-related purposes? Our biased visual perception may lead to inaccurate inferences about the people around us. Self-Perception Human beings are prone to errors and biases when perceiving themselves. The types of bias people have depends on their personality. Many people suffer from self-enhancement bias, in which individuals hold the tendency to overestimate their performance and capabilities and see themselves in a more positive light than others see us. At the same time, other people have the opposing extreme, which may be labeled as self-effacement bias (or modesty bias). This is the tendency to underestimate performance and capabilities and see events in a way that puts oneself in a more negative light. Individuals with low self-esteem are more prone to making this error. These tendencies have real consequences for behavior in organizations. For example, people who suffer from extreme levels of self-enhancement tendencies may not understand why they are not getting promoted or rewarded, while those who have a tendency to self-efface may project low confidence and take more blame for their failures than necessary. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. self-enhancement bias The tendency to overestimate our performance and capabilities, and to see ourselves in a more positive light than others see us. self-effacement bias The tendency to underestimate our performance and capabilities, and to see events in a way that puts ourselves in a more negative light. 102 false consensus error How we as human beings overestimate how similar we are to other people. Organizational Behavior When human beings perceive themselves, they are also subject to the false consensus error. Simply put, such individuals overestimate how similar they are to other people.[88] Another example of this error is when individuals assume that whatever quirks they have are shared by a larger number of people than in reality. People who take home office supplies, tell white lies to their boss or colleagues, or take credit for other people’s work to get ahead may genuinely feel that these behaviors are more common than they are in reality. The problem for behavior in organizations is that, when people believe that a behavior is common and normal, they may repeat the behavior more freely. Under some circumstances, this may lead to a high level of unethical or even illegal behaviors. How we perceive other people in our environment is also shaped by our values, emotions, feelings, and personality. Moreover, how we perceive others will shape our behavior, which in turn will shape the behavior of the person we are interacting with. stereotypes Generalizations based on a perceived group characteristic. self-fulfilling prophecy This happens when an established stereotype causes one to behave in a certain way, which leads the other party to behave in a way that makes the stereotype come true. selective perception When we pay selective attention to parts of the environment while ignoring other parts. One of the factors biasing our perception is stereotypes. Stereotypes are generalizations based on group characteristics. For example, believing that women are more cooperative than men, or men are more assertive than women, is a stereotype. Stereotypes may be positive, negative, or neutral. Human beings have a natural tendency to categorize the information around them to make sense of their environment. What makes stereotypes potentially discriminatory and a perceptual bias is the tendency to generalize from a group to a particular individual. If the belief that men are more assertive than women leads to choosing a man over an equally (or potentially more) qualified female candidate for a position, the decision will be biased, illegal, and unfair. Stereotypes often create a situation called a self-fulfilling prophecy. This cycle occurs when people automatically behave as if an established stereotype is accurate, which leads to reactive behavior from the other party that confirms the stereotype.[89] If you have a stereotype such as “Asians are friendly,” you are more likely to be friendly toward an Asian. Because you are treating the other person better, the response you get may also be better, confirming your original belief that Asians are friendly. Of course, just the opposite is also true. Suppose you believe that “young employees are slackers.” You are less likely to give a young employee high levels of responsibility or interesting and challenging assignments. The result may be that the young employee reporting to you may become increasingly bored at work and start goofing off, confirming your suspicions that young people are slackers. Stereotypes persist because of a process called selective perception. Selective perception simply means that we pay selective attention to parts of the environment while ignoring other parts. When we observe our environment, we see what we want to see and ignore information that may seem out of place. Here is an interesting example of how selective perception leads our perception to be shaped by the context: As part of a social experiment, the Washington Post newspaper arranged for Joshua Bell, the internationally acclaimed violin virtuoso, to perform in a corner of the Metro station in Washington, D.C. The violin he was playing was worth $3.5 million, and tickets for Bell’s concerts usually cost around $100. During the rush hour in which he played for 45 minutes, only one person recognized him, only a few realized that they were hearing extraordinary music, and he made only $32 in tips. When you see someone playing at the metro station, would you expect them to be extraordinary?[90] Our background, expectations, and beliefs will shape which events we notice and which events we ignore. For example, the functional background of executives affects the changes they perceive in their environment.[91] Executives with a background in sales and marketing see the changes in the demand for their product, while executives with a background in information technology may more readily perceive the changes in the technology the company is using. Selective perception may perpetuate stereotypes, because we are less likely to notice events that go against our beliefs. A person who believes that men drive better than women may be more likely to notice women dri- © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Social Perception Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 103 ving poorly than men driving poorly. As a result, a stereotype is maintained because information to the contrary may not reach our brain. FIGURE 3.10 Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab First impressions are lasting. A job interview is one situation in which first impressions formed during the first few minutes may have consequences for your relationship with your future boss or colleagues. Source: Shutterstock.com Let’s say we noticed information that goes against our beliefs. What then? Unfortunately, this is no guarantee that we will modify our beliefs and prejudices. First, when we see examples that go against our stereotypes, we tend to come up with subcategories. For example, when people who believe that women are more cooperative, upon seeing a woman who is assertive, they may classify this person as a “career woman.” Therefore, the example to the contrary does not violate the stereotype, and instead is explained away as an exception to the rule.[92] Second, we may simply discount the information. In one study, people who were either in favor of or opposed to the death penalty were shown two studies, one showing purported benefits from the death penalty and the other discounting any benefits. People rejected the study that went against their belief as methodologically inferior and actually reinforced the belief in their original position even more.[93] In other words, trying to debunk people’s beliefs or previously established opinions with data may not necessarily help. One other perceptual tendency that may affect work behavior is that of first impressions. The first impressions we form about people tend to have a lasting impact. People have a tendency to use irrelevant information such as baby-faceness, similarity to familiar faces, fitness, or youthfulness to arrive at impressions relating to the person’s competence, warmth, or power.[94] First impressions, once formed, are surprisingly resilient to contrary information. The reason is that, once we form first impressions, they become independent of the evidence that created them. It is possible to reverse first impressions by providing information that results in a complete reinterpretation of initial information, but this is not always easy and feasible.[95] Being aware of this tendency and consciously opening your mind to new information may protect you against some of the downsides of this bias. Also, it would be to your advantage to pay careful attention to the first impressions you create, particularly during job interviews. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. first impressions Initial thoughts and perceptions we form about people, which tend to be stable and resilient to contrary information. 104 Organizational Behavior OB Toolbox: How Can I Make a Great First Impression in a Job Interview? Source: Shutterstock.com • Your first opportunity to make a great impression starts even before the interview, the moment you send your résumé. Make sure that your résumé looks professional and is free from typos and grammar problems. Have someone else read it before you upload or send your résumé. • Dress the part. Take a shower. Keep make-up, perfume, and jewelry light. Clean and trim nails. Wear clean and pressed clothes. These tips seem obvious, except that many interviewees skip on some of these steps, only to be remembered in stories of what not to do. What to wear is a harder question due to industry and geographic differences, but it should probably be more formal than what you would wear to work on a daily basis, and something you feel comfortable in. • Be prepared for the interview. Many interviews have some standard questions such as “Tell me about yourself” or “Why do you want to work here?” Be ready to answer these questions. Prepare answers highlighting your skills and accomplishments, and practice your message. Better yet, practice an interview with a friend. Practicing your answers will prevent you from regretting your answers or finding a better answer after the interview is over! • Research the company. If you know a lot about the company and the job in question, you will come across as someone who is really interested in the job. If you ask basic questions such as “What does this company do?” you will not be taken as a serious candidate. Visit the company’s website as well as others, and learn as much about the company and the job as you can. • Be on time to the interview. Being late will show that you either don’t care about the interview or you are not very reliable. While waiting for the interview, don’t forget that your interview has already started. As soon as you enter the company’s parking lot, every person you see on the way or talk to may be a potential influence over the decision maker. Act professionally and treat everyone nicely. • During the interview, be polite. Use correct grammar, avoid filler words such as “umm” or “like,” show eagerness and enthusiasm, and watch your body language. From your handshake to your posture, your body is communicating whether you are the right person for the job! Attributions Your colleague Peter failed to meet the deadline. What do you do? Do you help him finish up his work? Do you give him the benefit of the doubt and place the blame on the difficulty of the project? Or do you think that he is irresponsible? Our behavior is a function of our perceptions. More specifically, when we observe others behave in a certain way, we ask ourselves a fundamental question: Why? Why did he fail to meet the deadline? Why did Mary get the promotion? Why did Mark help you when you needed help? The answer we give is the key to understanding our subsequent behavior. If you believe that Mark helped you because he is a nice person, your action will be different from your response if you think that Mark helped you because your boss pressured him to. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab A job interview is your first step to getting the job of your dreams. It is also a social interaction in which your actions during the first 5 minutes will determine the impression you make. Here are some tips to help you create a positive first impression.[96] Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 105 An attribution is the causal explanation we give for an observed behavior. If you believe that a behavior is due to the internal characteristics of an actor, you are making an internal attribution. For example, let’s say your classmate Erin complained a lot when completing a finance assignment. If you think that she complained because she is a negative person, you are making an internal attribution. An external attribution is explaining someone’s behavior by referring to the situation. If you believe that Erin complained because the finance homework was difficult, you are making an external attribution. When do we make internal or external attributions? Research shows that three factors are the key to understanding what kind of attributions we make. Consensus: Do other people behave the same way? The causal explanation we give for an observed behavior. internal attribution Explaining someone’s behavior using the internal characteristics of the actor. external attribution Distinctiveness: Does this person behave the same way across different situations? Consistency: Does this person behave this way in different occasions in the same situation? Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab attribution Explaining someone’s behavior by referring to the situation. Let’s assume that in addition to Erin, other people in the same class also complained (high consensus). Erin does not usually complain in other classes (high distinctiveness). Erin usually does not complain in finance class (low consistency). In this situation, you are likely to make an external attribution, such as thinking that this finance homework is difficult. On the other hand, let’s assume that Erin is the only person complaining (low consensus). Erin complains in a variety of situations (low distinctiveness), and every time she is in finance, she complains (high consistency). In this situation, you are likely to make an internal attribution such as thinking that Erin is a negative person.[97] Interestingly though, our attributions do not always depend on the consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency we observe in a given situation. In other words, when making attributions, we do not always look at the situation objectively. For example, our overall relationship is a factor. When a manager likes a subordinate, the attributions made would be more favorable (successes are attributed to internal causes, while failures are attributed to external causes).[98] Moreover, when interpreting our own behavior, we suffer from self-serving bias. This is the tendency to attribute our failures to the situation while attributing our successes to internal causes.[99] TABLE 3.3 Consensus, Distinctiveness, and Consistency Determine Types of Attributions Made Consensus Distinctiveness Consistency Type of Attribution High consensus High distinctiveness Low consistency External Everyone else behaves the same way. This person does not usually behave in this way in different situations. This person does not usually behave this way in this situation. Low consensus Low distinctiveness High consistency No one else behaves the same way. This person usually behaves this way in different situations. Every time this person is in this situation, he or she acts the same way. Internal How we react to other people’s behavior would depend on the type of attributions we make. When faced with poor performance, such as missing a deadline, we are more likely to punish the person if an internal attribution is made (such as “the person being unreliable”). In the same situation, if we make an external attribution (such as “the timeline was unreasonable”), instead of punishing the person we might extend the deadline or assign more help to the person. If we feel that someone’s failure is due to external causes, we may feel empathy toward the person and even offer help.[100] On the other hand, if someone succeeds and we make an internal attribution (he worked hard), we are more likely to reward the person, whereas an external attribution (the project was easy) is less likely to yield rewards for the person in question. Therefore, understanding attributions is important to predicting subsequent behavior. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. self-serving bias The tendency to attribute our failures to the situation while attributing our successes to internal causes. 106 Organizational Behavior Key Takeaway What do you think? 1. What are the implications of contrast error for interpersonal interactions? Does this error occur only when we observe physical objects? Or have you encountered this error when perceiving behavior of others? 2. What are the problems of false consensus error? How can managers deal with this tendency? 3. Is there such a thing as a “good” stereotype? Is a “good” stereotype useful or still problematic? 4. How do we manage the fact that human beings develop stereotypes? How would you prevent stereotypes from creating unfairness in decision making? 5. Is it possible to manage the attributions other people make about our behavior? Let’s assume that you have completed a project successfully. How would you maximize the chances that your manager will make an internal attribution? How would you increase the chances of an external attribution when you fail in a task? 3.5 The Role of Ethics and National Culture Learning Objectives 1. Consider the role of individual differences for ethical behavior. 2. Consider the role of national culture on individual differences. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Perception is how we make sense of our environment in response to environmental stimuli. While perceiving our surroundings, we go beyond the objective information available to us, and our perception is affected by our values, needs, and emotions. There are many biases that affect human perception of objects, self, and others. When perceiving the physical environment, we fill in gaps and extrapolate from the available information. We also contrast physical objects to their surroundings and may perceive something as bigger, smaller, slower, or faster than it really is. In self-perception, we may commit the self-enhancement or self-effacement bias, depending on our personality. We also overestimate how much we are like other people. When perceiving others, stereotypes infect our behavior. Stereotypes may lead to self-fulfilling prophecies. Stereotypes are perpetuated because of our tendency to pay selective attention to aspects of the environment and ignore information inconsistent with our beliefs. When perceiving others, the attributions we make will determine how we respond to the situation. Understanding the perception process gives us clues to understand human behavior. Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 107 Individual Differences and Ethics Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Our values and personality influence how ethically we behave. Situational factors, rewards, and punishments following unethical choices as well as a company’s culture are extremely important, but the role of personality and personal values should not be ignored. Research reveals that individuals high in conscientiousness and agreeableness demonstrate lower levels of academic dishonesty (i.e., cheating).[101] Employees with external locus of control were found to make more unethical choices.[102] Our perceptual processes are clear influences on whether or not we behave ethically and how we respond to other people’s unethical behaviors. It seems that self-enhancement bias operates for our ethical decisions as well: We tend to overestimate how ethical we are in general. Our self-ratings of ethics tend to be higher than how other people rate us. This belief can create a glaring problem: If we think that we are more ethical than we are, we will have little motivation to improve. Therefore, understanding how other people perceive our actions is important to getting a better understanding of ourselves. Source: Shutterstock.com How we respond to unethical behavior of others will, to a large extent, depend on the attributions we make. If we attribute responsibility to the person in question, we are more likely to punish that person. In a study on sexual harassment that occurred after a workplace romance turned sour, results showed that if we attribute responsibility to the victim, we are less likely to punish the harasser.[103] Therefore, how we make attributions in a given situation will determine how we respond to others’ actions, including their unethical behaviors. Individual Differences Around the Globe Values that people care about vary around the world. In fact, when we refer to a country’s culture, we are referring to values that distinguish one nation from others. In other words, there is systematic variance in individuals’ personality and work values around the world, and this variance explains people’s behavior, attitudes, preferences, and the transferability of management practices to other cultures. When we refer to a country’s values, this does not mean that everyone in a given country shares the same values. People differ within and across nations. There will always be people who care more about money and others who care more about relationships within each culture. Yet there are also national differences in the percentage of people holding each value. A researcher from the Netherlands, Geert Hofstede, conducted a landmark study covering more than 60 countries and found that countries differ in four dimensions: the extent to which they put individuals or groups first (individualism), whether the society subscribes to equality or hierarchy among people (power distance), the degree to which the society fears change (uncertainty avoidance), and the extent to which the culture emphasizes acquiring money and being successful (masculinity).[104] Knowing about the values held in a society will tell us what type of a workplace would satisfy and motivate employees. Are personality traits universal? Researchers found that personality traits identified in Western cultures translate well to other cultures. For example, the five-factor model of personality is universal in that it explains how people differ from each other in over 79 countries. At the same time, there is variation among cultures in the dominant personality traits. In some countries, extraverts seem to be the majority, and in some countries the dominant trait is low emotional stability. For example, people from Europe and the United States are characterized by higher levels of extraversion compared to those from Asia and Africa. There are many factors explaining why some personality traits are dominant in some cultures. For example, the presence of democratic values is related to extraversion. Because democracy usually protects freedom of speech, people may feel more comfortable socializing with strangers as well as with friends, partly explaining the larger number of extraverts in democratic nations. Research also shows that in regions of the world that historically suffered from infectious diseases, extraversion and openness to experience © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Source: Shutterstock.com 108 Organizational Behavior was less dominant. Infectious diseases led people to limit social contact with strangers, explaining higher levels of introversion. Plus, to cope with infectious diseases, people developed strict habits for hygiene and the amount of spice to use in food, and deviating from these standards was bad for survival. This explains the lower levels of openness to experience in regions that experienced infectious diseases.[105] There seems to be some variation in the perceptual biases we commit as well. For example, human beings have a tendency to self-enhance. We see ourselves in a more positive light than others do. Yet the traits in which we self-enhance are culturally dependent. In Western cultures, people may overestimate how independent and self-reliant they are. In Asian cultures, such traits are not necessarily desirable, so they may not embellish their degree of independence. Yet they may overestimate how cooperative and loyal to the group they are because these traits are more desirable in collectivistic cultures.[107] Given the variation in individual differences around the globe, being sensitive to these differences will increase our managerial effectiveness when managing a diverse group of people. Key Takeaway There is a connection between how ethically we behave and our individual values, personality, and perception. Possessing values emphasizing economic well-being predicts unethical behavior. Having an external locus of control is also related to unethical decision making. We are also likely to overestimate how ethical we are, which can be a barrier against behaving ethically. Culture seems to be an influence over our values, personality traits, perceptions, attitudes, and work behaviors. Therefore, understanding individual differences requires paying careful attention to the cultural context. What do you think? 1. If ethical decision making depends partially on personality, what can organizations do to increase the frequency of ethical behaviors? 2. Do you think personality tests used in Western cultures in employee selection can be used in other cultures? © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Is basic human perception universal? It seems that there is variation around the globe in how we perceive other people as well as ourselves. One difference is the importance of the context. Studies show that when perceiving people or objects, Westerners pay more attention to the individual, while Asians pay more attention to the context. For example, in one study, when judging the emotion felt by the person, the Americans mainly looked at the face of the person in question, while the Japanese also considered the emotions of the people surrounding the focal person. In other words, the Asian subjects of the experiment derived meaning from the context as well as by looking at the person.[106] Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 3.6 Using Big Data to Match Applicants to Jobs: The Case of Cornerstone OnDemand Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab FIGURE 3.11 Source: Shutterstock.com You are interviewing a candidate for a position at a call center. You need someone polite, courteous, patient, and dependable. The candidate you are talking to seems nice. But how do you know who is the right person for the job? Will the job candidate like the job or get bored? Will they steal from the company or be fired for misconduct? Don’t you wish you knew before hiring? Retail employers do a lot of hiring, given their growth and high turnover rate. According to one estimate, replacing an employee who leaves in retail costs companies around $4,000. High turnover also endangers customer service. Therefore, retail employers have an incentive to screen people carefully so that they hire people with the best chance of being successful and happy on the job. One company approaches this problem scientifically, saving companies time and money on hiring hourly wage employees. Evolv finds data-driven predictors of job performance and uses this information to help select the right fit for the job. In October 2014, Cornerstone OnDemand, a publicly traded talent management company, acquired Evolv for $42.5 million, potentially extending its reach. The idea behind the software is simple: If you have a lot of employees and keep track of your data over time, you have access to an enormous resource. By analyzing data from a large number of employees, you can specify the profile of the “ideal” employee. The software captures the profile of high performers, and applicants are screened to assess their fit with this particular profile. As the database gets larger, the software does a better job of identifying the right people for the job. Employers such as Xerox are using the software developed by Evolv, where job applicants complete a test that takes half an hour. The system compares the applicant to the ideal profile, and the hiring manager gets a color-coded message from the system, where green indicates a high potential employee. Xerox won’t even look at a résumé if the system generates a red sign. The profile of the ideal candidate is often counterintuitive. For example, data on call center employees indicate that the best candidate has a short commute to work and participates in a small number of social networking sites. Contrary to what some people may think, job-hopping and unemployment status are not good predictors of effectiveness in the next job. One thing the system pays a lot of attention to is personality. It seems that for call center workers, being inquisitive results in leaving the job sooner. The system also measures honesty. For example, one question asks candidates to report how much computer skills they have, and then a follow-up question asks what control-V does. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. 109 110 Organizational Behavior The users of the system praise the time savings and the results: Xerox saw increases in performance and reductions in the turnover of their employees after adopting the system. On the negative side, anti-discrimination lawyers think that this is new territory with potential legal downsides. Moreover, these systems are used only for hourly or retail workers where data exists for thousands of employees and the system can identify a reliable employee profile. Its applicability to higher-level, professional, and more unique jobs is not yet clear. How big data approaches change the face of selection continues to evolve, including becoming Cornerstone OnDemand.[108] View the video online at: //www.youtube.com/embed/DHc8NJCG3Rs?rel=0 Case Discussion Questions 1. Have you ever taken part in a selection system such as the one described in the case? How do you feel about these tests as a job candidate? 2. Should organizations care about how job applicants react to pre-employment selection tests? 3. Do you feel these tests do a good job of selecting the right person for the job? What are the barriers to their effectiveness? What problems can organizations experience when they use employee selection tests measuring personality and other attributes described in the case? 3.7 Conclusion In conclusion, in this chapter we have reviewed major individual differences that affect employee attitudes and behaviors. Our values and personality explain our preferences and the situations we feel comfortable with. Personality may influence our behavior, but the importance of the context in which behavior occurs should not be neglected. Many organizations use personality tests in employee selection, but the use of such tests is controversial because of problems such as faking and low predictive value of personality for job performance. Perception is how we interpret our environment. It is a major influence over our behavior, but many systematic biases color our perception and lead to misunderstandings. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Video: Multimedia Extension—Take a Tour of Cornerstone OnDemand Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and Perception 3.8 Exercises Ethical Dilemma You are interviewing a job applicant for a corporate sales position. The job involves frequent interactions with clients, an impeccable work ethic and punctuality. There is a job candidate you thought was a good fit for the position, but now you have doubts. In a moment of weakness, you googled the applicant’s name and you came across his Facebook profile, several public posts, and past tweets. The online presence of this person suggests that he frequently parties - there are many photos where he seems to be drinking with friends, and other posts where he talks about his dislike of routine and deadlines. Now you are torn. Should you hire this person or not? Created exclusively for modi alabdulwahab Discussion Questions 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of checking the online footprint of prospective employees? 2. What would you really do in a situation like this? Individual Exercise Changing Others’ Perceptions of You How do other people perceive you? Identify one element of how others perceive you that you are interested in changing. It could be a positive perception (maybe they think you are more helpful than you really are) or a negative perception (maybe they think you don’t take your studies seriously). • What are the reasons why they formed this perception? Think about the underlying reasons. • What have you done to contribute to the development of this perception? • Do you think there are perceptual errors that contribute to this perception? Are they stereotyping? Are they engaging in selective perception? • Are you sure that your perception is the accurate one? What information do you have that makes your perceptions more valid than theirs? • Create an action plan about how you can change this perception. Group Exercise Selecting an Expatriate Using Personality Tests Your department has over 50 expatriates working around the globe. One of the problems you encounter is that the people you send to other cultures for long-term (2- to 5-year) assignments have a high failure rate. They either want to return home before their assignment is complete, or they are not very successful in building relationships with the local employees. You suspect that this is because you have been sending people overseas solely because of their technical skills, which does not seem to be effective in predicting whether these people will make a successful adjustment to the local culture. Now you have decided that when selecting people to go on these assignments, personality traits should be given some weight. 1. Identify the personality traits you think might be relevant to being successful in an expatriate assignment. 2. Develop a personality test aimed at measuring these dimensions. Make sure that each dimension you want to measure is captured by at least 10 questions. © 2018 Boston Academic Publishing, Inc., d.b.a. FlatWorld. All rights reserved. 111 112 Organizational Behavior 3. Exchange the test you have developed with a different team in class. Have them fill out the survey and make sure that you fill out theirs. What problems have you encountered? How would you feel if you were a candidate taking this test? 4. Do you think that prospective employees would fill out this questionnaire honestly? If not, how would you ensure that the results you get would be honest and truly reflect their personality? 5. How would you validate such a test? Describe the steps you would take. 1. Case written by Berrin Erdogan and Talya Bauer to accompany Bauer, T. N., & Erdogan, B. (2018). Organizational Behavior (3.0). Boston, MA: FlatWorld. Partially based on ideas and information contained in Anonymous (January 2, 2018). Hiring the best people. Retrieved June 1, 2018 from https://hbr.org/ ideacast/2018/01/hiring-the-best-people; Anonymous (March 27, 2018). Former Netflix talent chief shares her secrets for hiring successfully. Retrieved June 1, 2018 from https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/business-and-economy/2018-03-27-former-netflix-talent-chief-shares-her-secrets-for-hiring-successfully/; Eyring, A. (August 24, 2017). Why you need to only hire people who fit your culture (No matter how overqualified they are). Retrieved June 1, 2018 from https://www.inc.com/alison-eyring/why-linkedin-and-netflix-only-hire-people-who-fit-.html; McCord, P. (January-February 2018). How to hire. Harvard Business Review, pp. 90-97. 2. Cable, D. M., & DeRue, D. S. (2002). The convergent and discriminant validity of subjective fit perceptions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 875–884; Caldwell, D. F., & O’Reilly, C. A. (1990). Measuring person–job fit with a profile comparison process. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 648–657; Chatman, J. A. (1991). Matching people and organizations: ...
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