Class 2_personality.pdf - Personality Understanding The Big...

Personality
Understanding
The Big Five
Personality
Traits

Learning objectives:
• What is the structure (and the facets) of
personality
• What are the implications of understanding
traits for organizations?
• Understanding your own personality

Personality Traits
• What is a personality trait?
– Habitual pattern of cognition, affect, behavior
Source: Chaplin et al., 1988

The Big Five Personality Traits
• Capture broad categories of personality
– Openness to Experience
– Conscientiousness
– Extraversion
– Agreeableness
– Neuroticism
• Best representation of core dimensions of personality
– Observer judgments of infant/childhood traits highly predictive of
adulthood traits
– Relatively stable across lifespan
– Empirically validated across cultures
Source: Caspi et al., 2005; McCrae & Costa, 2003

Where does personality come from?
Personality
(free trait
theory)
Biogenic
Idiogenic Sociogenic

Extraversion
• Attention-seeking and sensitivity to stimulation
• Facets
– Friendliness
– Gregariousness
– Assertiveness
– Activity level
– Excitement-seeking
– What do you think: Do extroverts like big or small
groups?

Patterns for Extraversion
• Strengths
– Breadth of network
– Motivated by rewards
– Quantity of work
– Leading assertively
• Vulnerabilities
– Impulsivity and reliance on
external stimulation
– Quality of work
– Impact on introverts
– Leading proactive employees
• Sociable introverts versus
shy extraverts

Who Benefits More from Facebook:
Extraverts or Introverts?
• Extraverts spend more time on
Facebook (but so do narcissists)
• Exraverts have more friends on
Facebook
Sources: Sheldon, 2008;
Buffardi & Campbell, 2008

Conscientiousness
• Dependability
• Six facets
– Competence
– Orderliness
– Dutifulness
– Achievement striving
– Self-discipline
– Cautiousness

Patterns for Conscientiousness
• Strengths
– Setting, pursuing, and achieving goals
– Greater attention, dedication, vigilance
• Vulnerabilities
– Flexibility and creativity
– Reactions to less conscientious people

Self-Discipline
• Essential facet of conscientiousness
– # of seconds preschoolers were able to delay choosing 1
marshmallow to get 2 marshmallows later predicts cognitive and