Behaviour Individual Personality and Learning
Chapter Two
Personality and Organizational Behaviour
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The role of personality in organizational behaviour has often been debated in what is known as the "personsituation debate" This has led to three approaches:
The dispositional approach; person is responsible for their behaviour n The situational approach; situational factors affect the way people behave n The interactionist approach; combination of situational and dispositional;
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Personality and the Situation
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Personality has the strongest effect in weak situations.; personality is more influential; roles and regulations are not defined clearly Personality has less of an impact in strong situations.; people know what they have to do;
The FiveFactor Model of Personality
Five basic but general dimensions that describe personality:
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Extraversion (sociable, talkative Vs. withdrawn, shy) Emotional stability/neuroticism (stable, confident Vs. depressed, anxious); Agreeableness (tolerant, cooperative Vs. cold, rude) Conscientiousness (dependable, responsible Vs. careless, impulsive); related to emotional stability Openness to experience (curious, original Vs. dull, unimaginative)
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Locus of Control; extent to which people take responsibility for
their actions; externalsbelieve fate controls the, outcome internalcontrol their destiny, take responsibility for their actions whereas externals don't
Some additional personality characteristics
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SelfMonitoring ability to monitor ones own behaviour SelfEsteem Competitiveness Type A and B; type Astrong focus, obsessed with goals; type B
more flexible, relaxed, take on more things at the same time
Recent Developments in Personality and Organizational Behaviour
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Five new personality variables that have been found to be important for organizational behaviour:
Positive and negative affectivity n Proactive personality think they are never perfect, make
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consistent improvements
General selfefficacy n Core selfevaluations
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What is Learning?
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A relatively permanent change in behaviour potential that occurs due to practice or experience.
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4 Stages of learning
1. 2. 3. 4.
biological maturation experience social interaction equilibrium balance between what you know and what you don't know
What Do Employees Learn?
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Practical skills technical skills; jobspecific skills Intrapersonal skills critical reasoning, time management, how
people think and process information
Interpersonal skills effective communication awareness Cultural social norms of the company,
Operant Learning Theory
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The subject learns to operate on the environment to achieve certain consequences.
E.g., sales people learning sales techniques but learning from the environment and feedback etc. as well.
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Operantly learned behaviour is controlled by the consequences that follow it reinforcement
Positive Reinforcement
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The application or addition of a stimulus that increases or maintains the probability of some behaviour (e.g., praise or money, business success etc.).
Negative Reinforcement
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The removal of a stimulus from a situation that, in turn, increases or maintains the probability of some behaviour. Tend to be unpleasant things such as threats, fines etc. The removed or prevented stimulus is a negative reinforcer.
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Reducing the Probability of Behaviour
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There are two strategies that can reduce the probability of learned behaviour: n Extinction (The gradual dissipation of behaviour following the termination of reinforcement). n Punishment (The application of an aversive stimulus following some behaviour designed to decrease the probability of that behaviour).
Using Punishment Effectively
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Provide an acceptable alternative for the punished response. Limit the emotions involved in punishment. Make sure the chosen punishment is truly aversive. Punish immediately or reinstate the circumstances surrounding the problem behaviour at a more appropriate time. Do not reward unwanted behaviours before or after punishment.
Social Cognitive Theory
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Social learning involves:
observing the behaviour of others n seeing what consequences they experience n thinking about what might happen if we act the same way
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Observational Learning (Modelling), Selfefficacy, and Selfmanagement/Selfregulation are part of social learning theory.
Organizational Learning Practices
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Organizational behaviour modification Employee recognition programs Training and formal learning Informal learning Career development
Class activity:
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Break into groups. In each group members should take turns introducing themselves and then describing to others either the best or the worse job that they ever had. Take particular care to explain why this particular job was either satisfying or dissatisfying. Using this info, each group should develop a profile of 4 5 characteristics that seem to contribute to satisfaction and dissatisfaction in a job.
[Time available 10 minutes]
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Share your profile with the class.