People Management Week 3: Personality and Selection 10/10/2023 PDF

People Management Week 3: Personality and selection 10/10/2023 Dr Chris Blunkell This week Personality – why it matters and how we understand it. Assignment 1 briefing. What is Personality? Why is studying personality in the workplace important? • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJgt6HIuDv8...

People Management Week 3: Personality and selection 10/10/2023 Dr Chris Blunkell This week Personality – why it matters and how we understand it. Assignment 1 briefing. What is Personality? Why is studying personality in the workplace important? • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJgt6HIuDv8 Approaches to study of individual personality: • Nomothetic • Ideographic • Social-radical Nomothetic approach to personality: • Personality is measurable • Can be studied objectively • Can be represented as a set of standard characteristics/traits • Is composed of discrete and identifiable elements • Less interested in environmental factors. Traits vs types of personality • Personality traits – describing what a person is like • There are almost 20,000 words to describe traits in the English language. • Type theories of personality – set of traits associated with each personality type • Trait theories – often on scales of opposite traits • Personality tests – used in workplace selection, training, and development Types Vs Traits of Personality TYPES= Marmite Lover OR Marmite Hater Types have sets of traits Marmite Lover TRAITS = ➢ Excitable ➢ Optimistic ➢ Active ➢ Sociable ➢ Impulsive Building blocks of personality Activity (5 mins): What traits should a successful manager possess? Theories of Personality Type • Hippocrates and the four humours (c.460-370bc) • Carl Jung (1923) – introversion and extraversion • Myers-Briggs – development of Jung into the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) (Myers, 1962) • Keirsey’s (1988) temperament sorter Hippocrates’ four humours and associated personality types Carl Jung (1923): Introverts and extraverts • Extroverts • Thrive on action and being engaged with people • Energy gained from others in a social situation • Introverts • Thrive on working alone: consideration and contemplation • Energy from within: social situations drain energy • Seen by Jung as more stable Jung’s personality type matrix Thinking ST: Sensation-thinking Practical, down-to-earth, impersonal, wants facts, needs order and precision, dislikes ambiguity, values efficiency and clear lines of authority NT: Intuition-Thinking Conceptual, analytical, sees future possibilities, generates creative new ideas, welcomes change, sparks enthusiasm in others Sensation SF: Sensation-Feeling Gregarious, sociable, interested in other people, little or no time for personal reflection, dislikes ambiguity, enjoys getting people to care for and support each other Intuition NF: Intuition-Feeling Creative, warm, enthusiastic, hates rules, hierarchies and procedures, persistent and committed, flexible and communicative, can be overambitious and idealistic Feeling Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (1962) Isabel Briggs Myers (1897-1980) Katherine Cook Briggs (1875-1968) Six videos that help illustrate MBTI type • https://www.opp.com/en/Knowledgecentre/Blog/2014/October/Six-videos-thathelp-illustrate-MBTI-type Keirsey’s (1988) temperament sorter Grouping Artisan Guardian Rational idealist Common SP (sensingcharacteristics perceiving) from MBTI SJ (sensingJudging) NT (IntuitionThinking) NF (IntuitionFeeling) Related Hippocratic group Sanguine Melancholic Phlegmatic Choleric Personality types and related occupations Promoter (ESTP) Crafter (ISTP) Performer (ESFP) Composer (ISFP) Supervisor (ESTJ) Inspector (ISTJ) Provider (ESFJ) Protector (ISFJ) Fieldmarshal (ENTJ) Mastermind (INTJ) Inventor (ENTP) Architect (INTP) Teacher (ENFJ) Counsellor (INFJ) Champion (ENFP) Healer (INFP) Activity (45 mins then group discussion) • 1) Go to the following website and do the online version of the MBTI test: • http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgiwin/JTypes2.asp • Note the four-letter personality type that is given to you in the test results: • 2) Now go to the Keirsey website at • https://www.keirsey.com • Find your MBTI type on the website – what type of occupation does it suggest you are best suited for? • 3) How much do you think this matches your own personality? • • 5) How easy or difficult did you find answering the questions? • • 6) Do you think that you answered all of the questions honestly? If not, why not? • 7) For more information, please go to: http://careerassessmentsite.com/tests/myersbriggs-tests/about-the-myers-briggs-typeindicator/the-16-myers-briggs-personality-types/ Trait theories of personality • Eysenck (1958) model of personality • Cattell (1966) 16PF (personality factor) theory • Big-five (OCEAN) scale (McRae and Costa) Hans Eysenck (1916-1997) Raymond Cattell (1905-1998) Paul T Costa (b1943) Robert McCrae (b.1949) Eysenck’s model of personality (1958) Cattel’s (1966) 16PF traits The Five Factor Model of Personality The Big Five (OCEAN) scale (Costa and McCrae 1990, 1996) High Low Explorer (O+) Creative, curious, open-minded, intellectual Openness to experience Rigidity of beliefs and range of interests Preserver (O-) Conventional, unimaginative, narrow-minded Focused (C+) Organised, self-disciplined, achievement-oriented Consciousness Desire to impose order and precision Flexible (C-) Disorganised, careless, frivolous, irresponsible Extravert (E+) Outgoing, social, talkative, assertive Extraversion Introvert (E-) Level of comfort with relationships Reserved, quiet, introverted Adapter (A+) Good-natured, trusting, compliant, soft-hearted Agreeableness The ability to get along with others Challenger (A-) Rude, quarrelsome, uncaring, irritable, uncooperative Reactive (N+) Anxious, depressed, self-conscious Neuroticism Tendency to maintain a balanced emotional state Resilient (N-) Calm, contented, self-assured High Low The dark side personality traits Source: Hogan Development Survey Manual (Hogan and Hogan, 2009) Activity (15 mins): in pairs, read the article and consider the pros and cons of personality testing, then group discussion. • http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/201 70818-the-new-way-yourpersonality-could-be-holding-youback The idiographic approach to personality • Personalities are complex and dynamic – can they be measured or reduced to broad personality types? • Nature vs nurture debate • Freud (1927) – psychodynamic approach to personality – Personalities are not static, they are a result of our interactions and experiences, always developing and being shaped, changed by various influences (even the unconscious ones). Freud’s Conception of Personality Influences on the self • Family and upbringing • School • University • Organisations/workplaces • Social categories such as gender, race, religion, class • The list is potentially infinite Problems with the ideographic approach • Freud developed from clinical settings, not used as much in workplace settings as Jung, more concerned with identifying personality problems • Time needed to get to know complex personalities • Interpretation of personalities open to bias • Raises questions about validity of nomothetic measures of personality (scientific generalisations) rather than offering solutions The idiographic approach and selection • Interview – opportunity for richer, more complex understanding of personality • BUT – predictive validity of an unstructured interview even lower than that of personality tests • Interpersonal perception • Halo/horns effect • Similarity effect • Stereotypes and discrimination Predictive validity of different selection methods ACTIVITY • ??? The effects of work/an organisation on the personality: a social-radical approach • Personality measurable by an organisation, or influenced by the organisation? • Foucault’s (1977) critique of categorisation • Categorisations, e.g. from MBTI, are means of convenience • People identify themselves with the labels • Radical critique of the effects of organisation • Guattari and Negri (1990) people have potential to become someone else, strive for new experiences and interactions