Personality
The word personality is derived from the Greek word “persona” which means “to speak through.” Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that forms a person’s unique identity. It signifies the role which a person plays in public. Every individual has a unique, personal and major determinant of his behaviour that defines his/her personality.
A personality trait is basically influenced by two major features −
Inherited characteristics
Learned characteristics
Inherited Characteristics
The features an individual acquires from their parents or forefathers, in other words, the gifted features an individual possesses by birth are considered anherited characteristics. It consists of the following features −
Colour of a person’s eye
Religion/Race of a person
The shape of the nose
Shape of earlobes
Learned Characteristics
Nobody learns everything by birth. First, our school is our home, then our society, followed by educational institutes. The characteristics an individual acquires by observing, practising, and learning from others and the surroundings are known as learned characteristics.
Learned characteristics include the following features −
Perception− Result of different senses like feeling, hearing etc.
Values− Influences perception of a situation, and decision-making process.
Personality− Patterns of thinking, feeling, understanding and behaving.
Attitude− Positive or negative attitude like expressing one’s thoughts.
Traits of Personality
Personality traits are the enduring features that define an individual’s behaviour. A personality trait is a unique feature of an individual. Psychologists resolved that there are five major personality traits and every individual can be categorized into at least one of them. These five personality traits are −
Extrovert
Neurotic
Open
Agreeable
Conscientious
Major Personality Attributes
Following are the five major personality attributes that influence OB
Locus of Control
Locus of control is the centre of control of an individual’s code of conduct. People can be grouped into two categories i.e., internals and externals respectively.
People who consider themselves as the masters of their own fates are known as internals, while those who affirm that their lives are controlled by outside forces are known as externals.
Before making any decision, internals actively search for information, they are achievement driven and want to command their environment. Thus, interns do well on jobs that crave complex information processing, taking initiative and independent action.
Externals, on the other hand, are more compliant, mand ore willing to follow instructions, so they do well in structured, routine jobs.
Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism is being practical, emotionally distant, and believing that ends justify means.
Machiavellians are always wanting to win and are great persuaders. Here are the significant features of high-Mach individuals −
High-Machs prefer precise interactions rather than beating about the bush.
High-Machs tend to improvise; they do not necessarily abide by rules and regulations all the time.
High-Machs get distracted by emotional details that are irrelevant to the outcome of a project.
Self-esteem
It is the extent to which people either like or dislike themselves. Self-Esteem is directly related to the expectations of success and on-the-job satisfaction.
Individuals with high self-esteem think that they have what it takes to succeed. So, they take more challenges while selecting a job.
On the other hand, individuals with low self-esteem are more susceptible to external distractions. So, they are more likely to seek the approval of others and to adopt the beliefs and behaviours of those they respect.
Self-monitoring
Self-monitoring is the capability of regulating one’s behaviour according to social situations. Individuals with high self-monitoring skills easily adjust their behaviour according to external, situational factors. Their impulsive talents allow them to present public personae which are completely different from their private personalities.
However, people with low self-monitoring skills cannot cover themselves. Regardless of any situation, they are always themselves. They have an attitude of, “what you see is what you get.”
Risk-taking
Generally, managers are reluctant to take risks. However, individual risk-taking inclination affects the bulk of information required by managers and how long it takes them to make decisions.
Thus, it is very important to recognize these differences and align risk-taking propensity with precise job demands that can make sense.
Perception
Perception is an intellectual process of transforming sensory stimuli into meaningful information. It is the process of interpreting something that we see or hear in our mind and uusingit later to judge and give a verdict on a situation, person, group etc.
It can be divided into six types −
Of sound− The ability to receive sound by identifying vibrations.
Of speech− The competence of interpreting and understanding the sounds of language heard.
Touch− Identifying objects through patterns of their surface by touching them.
Taste− The ability to receive the flavour of substances by tasting them through sensory organs known as taste buds.
Other senses− They approve perception through the body, like balance, acceleration, pain, time, the sensation felt in the throat and lungs etc.
Of the social world− It permits people to understand other individuals and groups in their social world. Example − Priya goes to a restaurant and likes their customer service, so she will perceive that it is a good place to hang out and will recommend it to her friends, who may or may not like it. Priya’s perception aofthe restaurant is good.
Perceptual Process
Perceptual processes are the different stages of perception we go through. The different stages are:
Receiving
Selecting
Organizing
Interpreting
Receiving
Receiving is the first and most important stage in the process of perception. It is the initial stage in which a person collects all information and receives the information through the sense organs.
Selecting
Selecting is the second stage in the process. Here a person doesn’t receive the data randomly but selectively. A person selects some information out of all by his interest or needs. The selection of data is dominated by various external and internal factors.
External factors− The factors that influence the perception of an individual externally are intensity, size, contrast, movement, repetition, familiarity, and novelty.
Internal factors− The factors that influence the perception of an individual internally are psychological requirements, learning, background, experience, self-acceptance, and interest.
Organizing
Keeping things in order or say in a synchronized way is organizing. To make sense of the data received, it is important to organize them.
We can organize the data by −
Grouping them based on their similarity, proximity, closure, and continuity.
Establishing a figure-ground is the basic process in perception. Here by a figure we mean what is kept as the main focus and by ground,,,, we mean background stimuli, which are not given attention.
Perceptual constancy is the tendency to stabilize perception so that contextual changes don’t affect them.
Interpreting
Finally, we have the process of interpreting which means forming an idea about a particular object depending on the need or interest. Interpretation means that the information we have sensed and organized is finally given meaning by turning it into something that can be categorized. It includes stereotyping, halo effects etc.
Importance of Perception in OB
We need to understand the role of perception in an organization. It is very important in establishing the different roles of perceptions like −
Understanding the tasks to be performed.
Understanding the associated importance of tasks allotted.
Understanding preferred behaviour to complete respective tasks.
Clarifying role perceptions.
For example, every member of a group has to be clear regarding the role allotted to them. The programmer writes the code, the tester checks it, etc.
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